<blockquote>
<p>the &quot;friend&quot; is clearly the Queen</p>
</blockquote>
<p>you already get it </p>
<p>the three verses about “朋友”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>有個貴族朋友在硬幣背後</p>
</blockquote>
<p>the coins of hong kong, have the queen, or the king (older one) on one side, before 1997</p>
<blockquote>
<p>這個正義朋友面善又友善</p>
</blockquote>
<p>“面善”, familiar is, we had pictures of queen elizabeth ii in all governmental office, on the banknotes, and coins</p>
<p>seriously, no-one would describe communists as friendly “友善” </p>
<p>further, it was “royal hong kong jockey club” (英皇御准香港賽馬會), that’s why the following verse has the term “批准”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>這個漂亮朋友道別亦漂亮</p>
</blockquote>
<p>“道別” is farewell, it’s the british who say goodbye</p>
<p>and, the next verse “夜夜電視螢幕繼續舊形象”; well, before 1997; when a tv channel stop board-casting in early hours, they would board cast the national anthem, with the picture of queen elizabeth ii.</p>
<p>again, seriously, no-one would describe mr 鄧 as “漂亮”</p>
<p>have fun :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-17T02:28:41.207Z
*we had pictures of queen elizabeth ii in all governmental office, on the banknotes, and coins ... seriously, no-one would describe communists as friendly “友善”* - seems to me there must be at least some irony, if H.M.'s friendliness consists in letting the horses race, while the people also have to race like horses!
河南宝宝
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-17T03:50:58.873Z
the irony is; well, the welfare system in hong kong is minimum, not like the equivalent in uk 
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-17T01:38:57.340Z
2024-05-17T01:38:57.340Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>Lo Ta-yu's song 皇后大道东 contains the following 2 lines:</p>
<pre><code>这个正义朋友面善又友善
因此批准马匹一周跑两天
</code></pre>
<p>Which I understand to mean:</p>
<pre><code>This righteous friend has a kindly face and is friendly
Therefore (they) permit the horses to race 2 days per week.
</code></pre>
<p>I feel that this must be the same &quot;friend&quot; referenced throughout the song, who is H.M. the late Queen Elizabeth 2, former sovereign of Hong Kong. However according to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Road_East_(song)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia</a> it is in fact the &quot;Great Comrade&quot; who will have to &quot;come up with new ideas&quot; after 1997.</p>
<p>In support of the latter interpretation, it's said to refer to a promise by Deng Xiaoping: 马照跑、舞照跳 - &quot;Horses can run as usual, people can dance as usual&quot;. Also, Lo Ta-yu informs us that the &quot;comrades&quot; are in fact not the Mainland Chinese authorities.</p>
<p>But everywhere else in the song, the &quot;friend&quot; is clearly the Queen and it doesn't seem like this line should be any different.</p>
<p>From a native speaker's perspective, are there two &quot;friends&quot; here or one?</p>
<p>Below are the complete lyrics:</p>
<pre><code>皇后大道西又皇后大道东
皇后大道东转皇后大道中
皇后大道东上为何无皇宫
皇后大道中人民如潮涌

有个贵族朋友在硬币背后
青春不变名字叫做皇后
每次买卖随我到处去奔走
面上没有表情却汇聚成就

知己一声拜拜远去这都市
要靠伟大同志搞搞新意思
照买照卖楼花处处有单位
但是旺角可能要换换名字

这个正义朋友面善又友善
因此批准马匹一周跑两天
百姓也自然要斗快过终点
若做大国公民祇须身有钱

知己一声拜拜远去这都市
要靠伟大同志搞搞新意思
冷暖气候同样影响这都市
但是换季可能靠特异人士

空即是色　色即是空
空即是色即是色即是空....

这个漂亮朋友道别亦漂亮
夜夜电视萤幕继续旧形象
到了那日同庆个个要鼓掌
硬币上那尊容变烈士铜像

知己一声拜拜远去这都市
要靠伟大同志搞搞新意思
会有铁路城巴也会有的士
但是路线可能要问问何事
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-16T23:57:23.003Z
面善 means "the face is familiar" (most likely you have seen it before)
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-16T23:59:57.937Z
Is the language of the lyrics posted really Cantonese? That looks like Standard Chinese to me.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-17T00:21:53.123Z
@drOOOze It's sung in Cantonese.
河南宝宝
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-17T01:27:35.517Z
I've removed the [cantonese] tag - it should only be used in cases where Cantonese-specific idioms, vocabulary, or phonology is part of the question (we similarly don't add [mandarin] to songs/audio which happen to be sung/recorded in Mandarin, or [simplified/traditional-chinese] to text which happens to be written in Simplified/Traditional Chinese). [hong-kong] should cover any contextual information required to understand the question.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-17T13:35:27.477Z
"知己一声拜拜远去这都市 要靠伟大同志搞搞新意思", I think it hints the return of HK to China and predicting things to change.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-17T02:13:50.640Z
ohhhh this is a very good song with fantastic lyrics. Check out this:
https://www.rolia.net/f/64/p9756 This article analyzes the lyrics in detail with great depth.
user39678
<lyrics><hong-kong>
Queen's Road East - how many friends are there?
# Queen's Road East - how many friends are there?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-05-16)

Lo Ta-yu's song 皇后大道东 contains the following 2 lines:

```
这个正义朋友面善又友善
因此批准马匹一周跑两天

```

Which I understand to mean:

```
This righteous friend has a kindly face and is friendly
Therefore (they) permit the horses to race 2 days per week.

```

I feel that this must be the same "friend" referenced throughout the song, who is H.M. the late Queen Elizabeth 2, former sovereign of Hong Kong. However according to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Road_East_(song)) it is in fact the "Great Comrade" who will have to "come up with new ideas" after 1997.

In support of the latter interpretation, it's said to refer to a promise by Deng Xiaoping: 马照跑、舞照跳 - "Horses can run as usual, people can dance as usual". Also, Lo Ta-yu informs us that the "comrades" are in fact not the Mainland Chinese authorities.

But everywhere else in the song, the "friend" is clearly the Queen and it doesn't seem like this line should be any different.

From a native speaker's perspective, are there two "friends" here or one?

Below are the complete lyrics:

```
皇后大道西又皇后大道东
皇后大道东转皇后大道中
皇后大道东上为何无皇宫
皇后大道中人民如潮涌

有个贵族朋友在硬币背后
青春不变名字叫做皇后
每次买卖随我到处去奔走
面上没有表情却汇聚成就

知己一声拜拜远去这都市
要靠伟大同志搞搞新意思
照买照卖楼花处处有单位
但是旺角可能要换换名字

这个正义朋友面善又友善
因此批准马匹一周跑两天
百姓也自然要斗快过终点
若做大国公民祇须身有钱

知己一声拜拜远去这都市
要靠伟大同志搞搞新意思
冷暖气候同样影响这都市
但是换季可能靠特异人士

空即是色　色即是空
空即是色即是色即是空....

这个漂亮朋友道别亦漂亮
夜夜电视萤幕继续旧形象
到了那日同庆个个要鼓掌
硬币上那尊容变烈士铜像

知己一声拜拜远去这都市
要靠伟大同志搞搞新意思
会有铁路城巴也会有的士
但是路线可能要问问何事

```

**Tags:** lyrics, hong-kong

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 面善 means "the face is familiar" (most likely you have seen it before)  
> **username_2**: Is the language of the lyrics posted really Cantonese? That looks like Standard Chinese to me.  
> **username_0**: @drOOOze It's sung in Cantonese.  
> **username_2**: I've removed the [cantonese] tag - it should only be used in cases where Cantonese-specific idioms, vocabulary, or phonology is part of the question (we similarly don't add [mandarin] to songs/audio which happen to be sung/recorded in Mandarin, or [simplified/traditional-chinese] to text which happens to be written in Simplified/Traditional Chinese). [hong-kong] should cover any contextual information required to understand the question.  
> **username_3**: "知己一声拜拜远去这都市 要靠伟大同志搞搞新意思", I think it hints the return of HK to China and predicting things to change.  
> **username_4**: ohhhh this is a very good song with fantastic lyrics. Check out this: https://www.rolia.net/f/64/p9756 This article analyzes the lyrics in detail with great depth.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2024-05-17. Score: 1

> the "friend" is clearly the Queen

you already get it

the three verses about “朋友”

> 有個貴族朋友在硬幣背後

the coins of hong kong, have the queen, or the king (older one) on one side, before 1997

> 這個正義朋友面善又友善

“面善”, familiar is, we had pictures of queen elizabeth ii in all governmental office, on the banknotes, and coins

seriously, no-one would describe communists as friendly “友善”

further, it was “royal hong kong jockey club” (英皇御准香港賽馬會), that’s why the following verse has the term “批准”

> 這個漂亮朋友道別亦漂亮

“道別” is farewell, it’s the british who say goodbye

and, the next verse “夜夜電視螢幕繼續舊形象”; well, before 1997; when a tv channel stop board-casting in early hours, they would board cast the national anthem, with the picture of queen elizabeth ii.

again, seriously, no-one would describe mr 鄧 as “漂亮”

have fun :)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: *we had pictures of queen elizabeth ii in all governmental office, on the banknotes, and coins ... seriously, no-one would describe communists as friendly “友善”* - seems to me there must be at least some irony, if H.M.'s friendliness consists in letting the horses race, while the people also have to race like horses!  
> **username_5**: the irony is; well, the welfare system in hong kong is minimum, not like the equivalent in uk   

---

