Background of the song:
In the early 1970ies an unknown iron ship stranded on Lanyu's coast near the area of the five caves. The soldiers based on Lanyu at that time tied the boat to the rocks from all sides. Important documents were required to be safeguarded and delivered to the police station. The ship was broken by strong waves. Its fuel leaked and covered the whole beach. It smelled badly and the pollution killed all kinds of fish there. The metal parts of the ship sunk into the sea polluting the coral reef. Finally the ship completely sunk.
It took more than three years, until gradually the water quality improved, but the ecosystem needed even longer to recover from this pollution. While the government cared a lot about the documents on the ship, they didn't care for the harm to wildlife nor for the pollution of the fishing grounds, which were a burden for Iraraley village for many years.
After some years the Tao people began diving there for collecting the sunken ship's fragments as a resource of metal. They produced farming tools from it.
Original text:
avan nira ilasapen o
船 他們異族 者
Boat they not Tao people
oyata pinangad so kamaogan na i
它 拉長 製造
extend it, produce
iyangongozit da jida latai
快速 無法 超越
cannot surpass fast
jitalatai inganangana da sopozo namen na i ya
不能超越 跨越 各島 我們 這
cannot surpass this island, were here
pini raalin na maciriris
它被 損壞 而 漂流
it got dammaged, therefore drifting
maciriris rana ta i na lemayan
漂流 已 被 打擊
drifting, already hit
na no inazobob do cinalatawan
那 海象 在 航行中
the situation of the ocean during the the journey
na jirana longey
它 無法 再行駛
it was not possible to drive the boat
jirana longey o yamina siyasiwaz
無法 再行駛 已經 左右搖晃
impossible to go, moving left and right
do palanowan na i
在 海中
in the sea
i cinamogo no maoran ja lokeh
使恐懼 乘坐 者 船員
fearful go boat crew
ma oran ji loga o lominangara
乘 坐 者 船員 仰望
go boat crew looking up
so anit a lomi nawag tomlalap do langaraen
天 召 喚 隱身 在 天上
to the sky ...are calling what is hidden in sky
am lalap do langaraen
隱身 在 天上
hidden in sky
opey kamataen nira imanira do
那 負責（船長） 他們 外國
captain they foreigners
cinalarangan na oma lasiyas
停泊 在 陡峭 岩壁
anchor at steep rock coast
omalalasiyas do ni layolayong na no paong
陡峭 被 搖晃 浪
steep shaking waves
a lomolomoey siya zimokamoken
吞 噬 它 解體
swallow, break it apart
zimokamoken na o palamoamolonan nyo ta lowaji
裂解 那 世世代代 你們 長壽
broken apart, generations after generations, long life
paladadawen no ased no malano
被飄移 在 逆流 湧浪
drifting counter current, big waves
Verses
In 1971 an iron ship came.
A boat from abroad, they aren’t Tao people.
what is this ship, what does it bring along?
it’s construction design is long and stretched
it can’t surpass … it can’t go fast
it can’t pass the island, where we are.
the boat gets close to the five cave coast
where the ghosts stay around, in their dark compound.
the ship gets cracked, it is drifting uncontrolled
it is drifting, it is hit, it is cracked … no control
the ocean’s state … it is drifting, it is cracked,
they cannot steer, they cannot get control
they cannot drive this broken boat
it is shaking left and right … shaken in the oceans throat
the crew drives the boat …in the most scary way
they drive this boat … they are looking up to the sky
they call the sky … what is hidden in the sky?
oh hidden in the sky … what is hidden in the sky?
the captain from abroad … lets the anchor drops ashore,
tons of fuel spill, tons of fuel leak.
fuel covers the coast with its poisonous load.
big fish they're gonna die... small fish they're gonna die.
the oil is spreading, what a dirty cry!
the waves rock the boat so steep, it falls apart.
they devour the boat, it breaks it into parts,
scattered into pieces … broken into metal parts
the metal sinks on the oceans ground.
they corals get harmed in their area's wound.
this affects our lives from age to age
drifting counter current and big waves, too.
the years go by and nature gives a sigh
the metal pieces lie on the ocean's floor.
we collect the rests of the broken ship,
the metal can be used by the skilful smith.
this affects our lives from age to age,
what was this ship, what did it bring along?
