While Eternal Brotherhood itself is an absolute banger of a C-drama, one of the things that makes it stand out even more is that beautiful yet heartbreaking ending theme song.
What is the song called? Who sings it? (Hint: it’s sung by one of the Chinese drama’s lead actors), and where can you listen to it?
What is the Eternal Brotherhood ending theme?
The song is called ‘Old Friend‘ (老朋友).
It is performed by the immensely talented actor and singer Liu Yu Ning, the actor who plays Di Lin in Eternal Brotherhood. and is one of an absolute slew of C-drama theme songs the now-35-year-old actor has released.
That means, if you thought you recognized his gorgeous voice, you probably did as he has also sung theme songs for Chinese dramas like Legend of Fei (‘No Extravagance‘), The Long Ballad (‘One Love as Always‘), Who Rules the World (‘Unparalleled‘), and Love Between Fairy and Devil (‘Searching for You‘) among many, many, many more.
You can hear many of Liu Yuning’s most popular C-drama theme songs via the actor/singer’s official Spotify page.
The ‘Old Friend‘ (老朋友) by Liu Yuning (刘宇宁) lyrics
The Eternal Brotherhood ending theme’s music was composed by Chen Xue Ran, with lyrics by Ming Tian. Its somber music featuring that heart-breaking cello will stay with you for days, and its lyrics about the loss of a beloved friend will devastate you if you let them.
The track was officially released on February 28th, 2024, along with the C-drama’s full soundtrack (listen to the entire OST below).
The ‘Old Friend‘ (老朋友) lyrics (in both Mandarin Chinese and English) go like this:
卸下沉重的铠甲
摘下疲惫的面具
灯下促膝 谈着一个梦
把酒言欢 直到天明
你的火把 还在烧着
照亮寒夜 崎岖的那条路
在我们作别的地方
铭刻着 无上光荣
消失的 老朋友
他始终 不曾远走
沉默不过是在等你 开口
放下沉重的过往
打开尘封的 一扇窗
天涯难觅 几个知己
生死与共 直到老去
彼此说好的事情
全都变成了曾经
有多少 游荡的声音
遗忘在 无人之境
消失的 老朋友
他始终 不曾远走
沉默不过是在等你 开口
舍不得 旧时光
别放开 往事的手
有个人习惯在老地方 停留
and its English lyrics:
Shed the heavy armor,
Remove the weary mask.
By the lamplight, we sit close, speaking of a dream,
Drinking and laughing until dawn.Your torch still burns,
Lighting the rugged path through the cold night.
At the place where we parted,
Eternal glory is engraved.The old friend who’s gone,
Never truly left.
Their silence is just waiting for you to speak.Let go of the heavy past,
Open the long-sealed window.
Across the world, how rare to find a kindred soul,
Together through life and death till old age.The promises we made,
All turned into memories.
How many wandering voices
Are lost in the land of no return?The old friend who’s gone,
Never truly left.
Their silence is just waiting for you to speak.Unwilling to let go of the past,
Don’t release the hand of bygone days.
Someone lingers in the old familiar place.
You can listen to ‘Old Friend‘ by Liu Yu Ning in the video and via the Spotify widget below. Be warned though, if you do, you will soon find yourself playing it on repeat and repeat and repeat.
As for Eternal Brotherhood, Season 1, alongside Liu Yu Ning (The Prisoner of Beauty), it stars Yang Xu Wen (Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty), and Zhang Ming En (Love on the Turquoise Land) as the three male leads, and Li Mo Zhi (A Beautiful Lie) as the FL.
The Chinese drama is streaming via iQIYI internationally, with Season 2 due to drop next week.
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