譚詠麟, 陳慧嫻: To Live Carefree (活得瀟灑) - OST - State of Divinity 1996 (笑傲江湖) - English Translation

Translating the main theme song (片頭曲) “To Live Carefree" (活得瀟灑) from State of Divinity 1996 (笑傲江湖) into English.
Original Cantonese Song by Alan Tam (譚詠麟) and Priscilla Chan (陳慧嫻).
This 1996 series was made by TVB based on the The Smiling, Proud Wanderer (笑傲江湖) wuxia novel by Jin Yong (金庸), who is also referred to as Louis Cha in English. This was the second time that TVB decided to adapt the series. This series is actually a hidden gem, and is very underrated and undervalued by lots of people. Firstly, I love this series because it is 90%+ true to the novel. From the dialogue being taken straight from the novel, to the scenes, and to a large extent, the sequencing of the events. If you love novels by Jin Yong, this is the series to watch.
The series had the perfect casting of Jacky Liu (呂頌賢) in the lead role as a carefree swordsman in Linghu Chong (令狐冲), the eldest disciple from the Mount Hua Sect. He looked manly, heroic and carefree. He handled the action and dialogue well. I saw the recent mainland China version and the lead actor looked like a boy for example and could even be mistaken for a girl... The casting of the timid looking Timothy Ho (何寶生) as Lin Pingzhi (林平之) was also an excellent choice. He was a great contrast to Jacky Liu.
The female cast was somewhat of a let down, but I still enjoyed the performance of Fiona Leung (梁藝齡) as Ren Yingying (任盈盈). Cherie Chan (陳少霞) was okay as Yue Lingshan (岳靈珊). He Mietian (何美鈿) played the nun, Yilin (儀琳). The star of the series for me was Wong Wai (王偉) as the main villain of the series as Yue Buqun (岳不羣), the master of the Mount Hua Sect. He was excellent and played the role to near perfection.
I have to also mention a few flaws about the series. Firstly they cut the 6 fairies down to 4, most likely a budget measure or they ran out of actors as the characters was massive so it needed a massive cast. The series had uniforms for each of the Sects. I loved that idea, because with so many Sects and characters, it gave a good visual of who's who. But they got the colour schemes of the uniforms wrong... However, the most annoying change they made, which no reviewer seems to mention is extending the life of Yue Lingshan for a few episodes. It was unnecessary, and spoiled what would have been a perfect series. That was the only major change they made to the plot and a really odd choice. In the novel, Yue Lingshan dies after being stabbed right away... Not 2-3 draggy episodes later.
Now to my wish list. Athena Chu (朱茵) was asked to play Yue Lingshan but declined the role. Possibly after being unfairly criticized for her portrayal of Huang Yong in the Legend of the Condor Heroes 1994. If Athena Chu was in this series, it would have been "amazing"!!! Also better songs for the series would have been nice.
Now to the song. I have decided to title it "To Live Carefree". The lyrics are okay but I don't actually like the song as it was a disappointment. Does not compare well to the theme song from 1984. TVB should have invested in a better soundtrack as I said. Anway, enjoy....
I am willing to take requests to translate other TVB or wuxia songs in the comments section.
Also please subscribe and share with your friends and help grow this channel. The more subscribers, the more songs I'll translate to English!
Please Note: It's hard work translating and making videos. If you use my video or translation, please provide a link to my video. Thanks.

[@rukprivate2767]

Thank you for the translation

[@thaianhvu5852]

The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

[@chikinli1944]

被李克勤翻唱過的武俠歌曲！