歌词
Let me tell you a tale, stir a hornet' s nest
让我告诉你一个故事，捅个马蜂窝
Well remembered in the east, most forgotten in the west
在东方被人熟知，在西方被人遗忘
lt was the 1830’ s and the industrial revolution
那是19世纪30年代，工业革命
Was turning Europe into a land of wage slaves and air pollution
正把欧洲变成充满雇佣奴隶和空气污染的地方
The history books tell us it was the era of free trade
历史书告诉我们那是自由贸易的时代
And the entire world hungered for the products Europe made
整个世界都渴望得到欧洲制造的产品
Merchants plied their wares across the seven seas
商人们在七大洋上兜售他们的商品
And they brought back things like porcelain, silk and tea
他们带回了瓷器、丝绸和茶叶等物品
Soon all the tea in China could barely keep the west awake
很快，中国茶叶无法让西方人保持清醒
Such a thirst for Chinese products as could barely be slaked
对中国产品的渴求无法得到满足
They liked to drink their tea in cups of Chinese porcelain
他们喜欢用中国瓷器杯子喝茶
And those who could afford it loved the silk upon their skin
而那些买得起的人则喜爱皮肤上的丝绸
But what made the merchants and the monarchs scream and cry and shout
但是，是什么让商人和君主们大喊大叫?
They seemed to have little to offer that China couldn’ t live without
他们似乎没有什么必需品可以卖给中国
They didn’t want their muskets and they didn’t want their wool
中国不想要他们的火枪，也不想要他们的羊毛
Which left the British coffers empty and the Chinese coffers full
这使英国国库亏空，而中国国库却满当当
And they called it a "trade war”
他们称之为"贸易战争"
They called it a trade war and l guess that could be so
他们称其为贸易战，我想这可能是这样
They say it’ s not free trade if it's just a one-way flow
他们说，如果只是单向流动就不是自由贸易
Because apparently free trade is when the west comes out ahead
很明显，只有西方领先的时候才是自由贸易
That' s how it is in practice though that's never what is said
这就是现实情况，虽然人们不这么说
The fact of history they’ d have us sweep under the rug
他们想让我们把历史事实掩盖起来
The one thing they could sell in China was an addictive drug
他们能向中国倒卖的只有一种成瘾药物
lt had long been banned by Chinese law but the British didn’ t care
它早被中国法律禁止，但英国人并不在意
They packed the opium up in crates and they shipped it there
他们把鸦片装在箱子里，运到那里去
And they called it a "trade war”
他们称之为"贸易战争"
It all came to a head in 1838
这—切在1838年达到了顶峰
When the soldiers of the emperor torched twenty thousand crates
皇帝的士兵销毁了两万箱鸦片
lt took three days to burn it, and when the fires had gone out
花了三天时间才烧完，而当大火熄灭的时候
The Chinese people would soon learn what "free trade" was all about
中国人民很快将知道什么是“自由贸易”
Navies came from Britain, France and the USA
来自英国、法国和美国的海军
In blood, land and silver they would make the Chinese pay
他们将用鲜血、土地和白银让中国人付出代价
Cities levelled, thousands killed, the war was three years long
城市被夷为平地，成千上万的人被杀，战争持续了三年之久
That s how they "opened” China, that'’ s how they got Hong Kong
他们就这样"开放"中国，他们就这样夺去香港
And they called it a "trade war”
他们称之为"贸易战争"
专辑信息