I like Jay Chou but his current favorite game of playing cat and mouse with the paps, then taunting them afterwards, is no longer fun to watch.

I know. He’s perhaps the most-chased star by the paps in Taiwan. And his hate-hate relationship with the paps has been immortalized in one of his songs, Besieged from All Sides that featured a not-so-famous Zhou Xun then and a catchy chorus that taunts the “dogs” or 狗 (gou), the slang for paparazzi in Mandarin.

It must be hard living Jay’s life, being tailed by the paps all the time.

And the gou coming up with all sorts of stories, of course, mainly about his personal life.

There’s the one with Jessie Chiang and involving him beating a red light to shake off the paps.

He goes out to dine with his mother and they right away zero in on the girl seated beside him and Chou Mama.

Who could forget the now-classic photo snapped of him and Patty Huo in Tokyo?

Patty is the only girl, so far, in Jay’s love-graphy (is there even such a word) that has gained public status as his girlfriend.

And now, the Taiwan paps are all over town (and up to France) trying to catch Jay with his latest rumored girl, Hannah Quinlivan, who just turned legal age last month. And the best that they could get was their back view while getting off a ferry in Marseille.

This of course prompted him to taunt the paps through a video message posted on a friend’s blog making fun of them for only succeeding at getting their backs.

“Either you can’t get a photo or you only managed to get one of our backs. Really sorry. Next time, I’ll help you out with a photo of our faces.”

But the cat and mouse game has not ended there. It seemed the paps are accepting the challenge to try to get the faces of Jay and his 18-year-old girlfriend from the front. And so the chase continues.

So far, it’s 2-0 in favor of Jay.

The paps’ latest attempts have only revealed Hannah being picked up by a fleet of sportscars driven by Jay’s friends.

This prompted another taunt from the Chairman:

“It’s so pitiful. You either got our back views or my friends. The paparazzi must be feeling sour. A word for you, observe carefully if I’m in the car next time.”

I can understand the distaste for the paps among celebrities. I totally do. Obviously, Jay is enjoying taunting the gous and making them fall flat on their faces. And his brush-in with the paps have been well documented as well. He’s one star who is not scared to get off his car and confront the paps. Or chase them like what happened when one of the cameras hit his assistant.

Thing like this go with the territory. It’s amusing to watch but if this wears on, it won’t be fun anymore. Not that my sympathy is with the paps and I badly want them to catch Jay with his latest paramour. I like Jay–his music–but I don’t care about who he goes out with. He’s rich, not that bad-looking and famous. I’m sure girls drop at his feet all the time.

I just feel that it should be beyond him to do the taunting. Why not be cooler like Nic Tse or harsh like Mike He?

And a word to the paps: make sure that if and when you catch Jay, it won’t be his stand-in. Or you’d end up being taunted again.

还是可以成为我的狗
You still can be my dog

The lyrics of 四面楚歌 (Besieged From All Sides) is very interesting:

我的生活像 拍了一齣戏
My life’s like a movie

有超多导演跟编剧 只说了台词一句
There’s countless directors and screenwriters and I had only said one line

而他们配了八百个语气 操控着我的情绪
But they already added 800 different tones, manipulating my emotions

那根本不是我的口气 想让观众看好戏
It was not what I had meant, but they are only keen on pleasing the audience

最后的目的 还不是在促进收视率
To fulfill their goal of getting higher viewership

我不知道我有没有勇气 拆下他们的面具
I don’t know if I have the courage to remove their masks

我只知道好像认真的男人最美丽
I just know that the serious men are the most attractive

会不会一直演下去 到他们满意
Should I carry on acting till they are satisfied?

啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦
lalalalala lalalalalala lalalala

Oh Oh 我不可能再回头
Oh Oh I can never turn back

啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦
lalalalala lalalalalala lalalala

Oh Oh 我只能一直往前走
Oh Oh I can only march on

我在回家路上 看到路标指着演艺圈
While I was on my way home, I saw the road sign pointing to Showbiz

如果选择往前走 我就必须强壮
If I choose to walk on, I would have to be strong

走着走着 莫名其妙 冲出来好几只狗
As I was walking, a few dogs rushed out from nowhere

我心想我什么时候认养这么多只狗
I thought to myself when did I adopt so many dogs

它们咬着苹果 手里那着长镜头
These dogs, with apples in their mouths, cameras in their hand

好像要对着我诉说什么 阴谋
They appeared to be trying to cling me on their plot

会说话的狗 它说它是为了狗周刊
These talking dogs, they say it’s for <<Dogs Weekly>>

看能不能拍我 多换几根骨头
To photograph me in exchange for a more few bones

如果伤害我是你的天性
If it’s in your nature to hurt me

那怜悯是我的座右铭 （狗狗狗狗）
Then, it’s in me to forgive you (dog dog dog dog)

需要我照亮你回家的路
If you ever need me to light your way home

那我会送你们手电筒 （狗狗狗狗）
I will give you all flashlights (dog dog dog dog)

我告诉他们 八卦是会过去的
I told them, rumours will pass

新闻是一时的 生活是永久的
News are only temporary, but life is permanent

音乐是会留下来的 我帮他们写了歌
Music will be handed down, and so I wrote them a song

因为我没写过保育动物之类的歌
because I’ve never written songs about animal protection

我始终还是我 谁都改变不了我
I’m still me, nobody can change me

虽然我知道很多弓箭手 想射下往上爬的我
Although I know of a lot of archers, trying to shoot me down

当我到了山顶上头 谁都伤不了我
But when I reached the summit, no one can hurt me anymore

这些弓箭手 辛苦了你们提笔的手
To this archers: I feel sorry for your futile efforts

我还是会把你们当朋友
I’ll still treat you as my friends

因为我知道 这是你们大家的工作
Because I know this is your job

加油 咬着苹果的狗 虽然不是我的对手
Work harder, you apple-biting dogs. Although you may not be my match,

还是可以成为我的狗
You still can be my dog

啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦
lalalalala lalalalalala lalalala

Oh Oh 我不可能再回头
Oh Oh I can never turn back

啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦
lalalalala lalalalalala lalalala

Oh Oh 我只能一直往前走
Oh Oh I can only march on

为什么 我去哪里都会跟着跑
Why? Why follow me wherever I go?

这些买卖人的人生的秘密
These bartering of others’ personal secrets

这种压力是不需要的
These pressures are unnecessary

这首歌结束之前 我会决定怎么处理
Before this song’s end, I’d have come to a decision

从失去我的隐私权到烦恼我的家人被骚扰
From losing my privacy to being vexed over my family being disturbed

该结束 因为反正你找不到你想找到的东西
All this will end, because you’ll never find what you wanted

啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦
lalalalala lalalalalala lalalala

Oh Oh 我不可能再回头
Oh Oh I can never turn back

啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦
lalalalala lalalalalala lalalala

Oh Oh 我只能一直往前走
Oh Oh I can only march on

深怕没有了新闻 才学会开车 来跟踪别人
Scared that there’s no more news, that’s why you learnt driving to stalk people

Oh Oh 为了什么 Oh Oh 为了骨头
Oh Oh what for? Oh Oh for the bones.

偷窥别人的生活 自以为侦探 看太多柯南
You spied on others’ lives, thinking that you are detectives, watched too much Detective Conan

Oh Oh 拍了什么 Oh Oh 什么都没有
Oh Oh what have you shot? Oh Oh, You have nothing

Lyrics and translation source