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I first heard the song “空壳 / Shen / (Empty Shell)” from #ZhouShen 's second album “Shenself” on 08/11/2024, which was the day of its first release on music platforms. I remember it was a warm morning. The room was dark, and the neighborhood started to wake up with its usual noises. I had put an alarm on my phone to remind myself that it was the date for Zhou Shen to unlock another song in Shenself. As soon as I put my headphone on, the sound of the guitar captured me by surprise, and then Zhou Shen’s voice came. I still could not describe my feeling when I first heard the song Empty Shell. It felt like the whole world suddenly stopped moving, including my brain, my heart, and my breathing. Without understanding a single word of the song, the melody and the sound of Zhou Shen’s voice became my only thought, my beating heart, and my air. I felt such a strange sadness and loneliness in Zhou Shen’s voice: it started out as calm as a newborn first looking at the world, then came the emotion, the outburst, and ended with a whisper. At that moment, a peculiar thought came to my mind, “This is my funeral song. If there is one last song I want to hear before saying goodbye to this world, it is this song”. A song without meaning, I used to refer to Empty Shell with that name. It was the only song I did not look up the meaning of the lyric for many weeks after it was released. I was in a daze, a trance, whenever I heard this song. Just Zhou Shen’s voice is enough to stop me thinking about anything else at that moment and brought me to the land of peace and quietness. Why bother with the lyric, I had thought. Even if it means nothing, I already love this song to death. I first knew about the meaning of the lyric on a cold day in October. I was riding the train back home from a long day at work. In the car train full of people and noises, I put on my headphone and surfing through the fan-cams of Zhou Shen’s concert in Hangzhou. When I heard the guitar of Empty Shell, I stopped moving my fingers, and I listened. It was the first time Zhou Shen sang this song in his concert, and a kind soul had taken the liberty to translate and insert the translation into the fan-cam’s video. When my eyes met the first line of the translation, it felt like someone just punched me in my chest: “They say that I am just an empty shell A face that knows neither cruelty nor tenderness” As the video rolled on and the translation of the lyric rolled out, I did not realize my whole face had been covered with tears. In a space full of strangers, I silently pulled down my mask and used my sleeve to wipe my face. My only thought at that moment was: “God, why was I so stupid. If only I had known the meaning earlier”. If I ever had any doubt before about having Empty Shell as my funeral song, after knowing the lyric, I am sure that this song will ease me in my passing moment. It is full of emotions and colors, imagery, and symbolism. It’s like reading a short story slowly unfolding in front of my eyes: it has a plot, characters, a conflict; there is a climax with character growth, and resolution. The lyricist used first person POV to set the tone of the story, and you can see how excellent the lyrics were woven together to form the theme of the song. There are three methods that were used exceptionally well by the lyricist: compare and contrast, symbolism, and metaphor. “Little by little, you filled me up With the piggy bank you love, the marbles you won The first bouquet you received The first pair of shoes you waited so long to own The dress you admired again and again, finally taken out from the display window You said these are what you call sweet And the hand you are not willing to let go The head bowed by the weight of life The you who always walks alone in the pitch-black tunnel The greetings that were never received The pain that nobody understood” In this passage, you can see the contrast that the lyricist used to highlight the different “gifts” that “I” received. The piggy bank, the marbles, the first bouquet, the first pair of shoes, the desired dress, these are childhood and happy memories that forever imprinted in our mind as “sweet”. Then, the hand that is not willing to let go, the bowed head, the lonely walk in the dark, the un-returned greeting, the indescribable pain, these are life-experiences that when we grew up, we all went through as we try to survive: separation, pressure, isolation, and discrimination. The subtle but immense changes from “sweet” to “bitter” was laid out gently but profoundly through different images, each symbolized a fragment of our lives that are full of up and down. As soon as we recalled these memories, the “empty shell” immediately followed, which raised curiosity as to what plot the story is going to unfold. Slowly, we saw the conflict of the main character: “I carry them as I go Cherishing all of them dearly Only after bidding you farewell Did I understand what it means to own The shell that has experienced the taste of life Doesn’t understand why so much trust is given to me The shell that has grown flesh and blood Starts to feel emptier than before Because of what you’ve given me” I can’t say enough how beautiful this passage is. It’s like the moment when you witnessed a rose bud bloomed into flower, or a baby learned to walk and ran into your arms. Such development, if not done carefully, can be lengthy or fail to capture the significance of the growth. However, just through a few lines above, you can see how the lyricist exquisitely used each image to symbolize each awakening, and it left you with wonders. “The shell that has grown flesh and blood Starts to feel emptier than before Because of what you’ve given me” I had repeated this line over and over again in my head, and each time, my eyes were filled with tears. Something that you discarded easily and hastily becomes another person’s treasure. It’s like seeing a child picking up a toy from the pile that you disposed to Goodwill store and holding it dear to his heart as he had never received a single toy before in his life. The child turns to you and says: “Thank you very much for giving me such a precious gift”, and you thought: “Such a strange child, values a stupid toy for great love”. When walking away, have you ever looked back to see the light in that child’s eyes who regarding you as: “But you came walking from afar bearing tokens”. In this story, the child, or “I” alone, carries the hidden hope that nobody noticed. Through the eyes of the child, “I” looked at the raggedy things that you discarded with an understanding heart and open arms: “The piggy bank that is not full The marbles covered in dust The first bouquet has also withered away The hand that would eventually let go The head too weary to lift up You gave me everything without reserve I gladly accept them all” In that moment, the position of the giver and the given suddenly switched. The almighty you now lay on the child's lap. His little fingers gently stroke your hair and his voice warmly said: it's ok, I’m here, I accept you for who you are, what you feel is valid, don't beat yourself up, let it go, no matter what happens, I’ll never leave you. (Even if one day, you'll leave me. I will still be here, silently waiting and accepting everything about you. Even if you come to me in the most "tired and withered" form, even if life covered your light, even if you have nothing to offer, even if you don't say anything, I will still recognize you.) “I gladly accept them all Empty and full trade places at this moment.” The happy memories that you gave, "I" return to you now so you can be happy. The bitter memories that you discarded, "I" molded them into sweetness and filled you so you can be fulfilled. The missing pieces in your pending puzzle, "I" grew it inside my heart and torn it out, give it to you without hesitation when you need it, just so you can be "completed". “Yet you are still asking me The purpose of filing an empty shell But I’m just afraid that you Will lose yourself You said the old you is already On the verge of crumbling apart Yet you still don’t know Where to find the new you I carry them as I go.” When I read this passage, suddenly, the image of my parents appeared in my mind. When I graduated from high school, I could not wait to leave home to "make my own dream". I went to another State to study, got my first job, and got my first laid-off. At that time, I thought, "I want to go home now". But will my parents still want me? They already spent most of their lives raising me and received nothing but a, "Goodbye. I'm leaving this small, quaint town. There are so many wonderful and bigger things waiting for me" from their child. Would they still want me who is lost, broken, and have nothing to offer them? As soon as I called my parents, my dad said "Your mom had been keeping your room the same as when you left. Come home now". When I hold the Pooh bear pillow as I laid down on my bed that night in my parents' home, my tears soaked through the pillow cover. My favorite Pooh bear pillow, it's still here. My parents had kept it in perfect condition. What did they expect? Nothing. Maybe a small hope that one day, if I decide to come home, I would feel happy seeing it. Just that, nothing more. “Perhaps we will meet again Then I will gently embrace you once more The empty shell is me, and also you And also you.” ------*******----- Song title: 空壳 (Chinese)/ Shen (song’s name in the album) / Empty Shell (English translation) Singer: 周深 (Chinese) / Zhou Shen / Charlie Zhou (English name) Lyrics by: Zhou Shen Composed by: Qian Lei Listen to the song: https://t.co/2IqNoPfiXH Fan-cam with English translation by the “ZhouShen_Global_Fans_Family 周深C929星球海米家族” group: https://t.co/Sp8JtEYDVO Additional resources on Empty Shell’s background (English translation provided by Rockster929): https://t.co/ALrALwxEra Disclaimer: the lyric translation in the article is obtained from the Fan-cam by the “ZhouShen_Global_Fans_Family 周深C929星球海米家族” group: https://t.co/Sp8JtEYDVO

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