The hit “Crazy Rich Asians” has broken ground as the first major Hollywood film featuring an all-Asian and Asian-American cast in 25 years. While Director Jon M. Chu and author Kevin Kwan could have cashed in with an huge offer from Netflix, they chose to go with Warner Brothers to prove that diversity in film can translate into ticket sales — and it certainly did.

The film was at the top of the box office in its first weekend out, earning $26.5 million. In addition to its positive ratings, fans are also wowed by its soundtrack, which features a mix of Chinese and English songs.

Chu picked Coldplay’s “Yellow” towards the end of the film because he said it was the first time he felt validated by a term that is often used as a slur towards Asians. Initial requests to use the song in “Crazy Rich Asians” was first rejected by the British band, so Chu wrote them a heartfelt letter which begins:

“…my whole life I’ve had a complicated relationship with the color yellow. From being called the word in a derogatory way throughout grade school, to watching movies where they called cowardly people yellow, it’s always had a negative connotation in my life. That is, until I heard your song. 

For the first time in my life, it described the color in the most beautiful, magical ways I had ever heard: the color of the stars, her skin, her love. It was an incredible image of attraction and aspiration that it made me rethink my own self image. It immediately became an anthem for me and my friends and gave us a new sense of pride we never felt before…”

Constance Wu as Rachel and Henry Golding as Nick in “Crazy Rich Asians”. (Photo Credit: Sanja Bucko. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Kimmel Distribution.)

Within an hour of sending the letter, Coldplay gave him permission.

Chu then sought out The Voice of China 3 contestant Liu Xing (she had previously sang a Chinese version of “Yellow”) to sing for “Crazy Rich Asians”, but she declined, according to the Hollywood Reporter. So they turned to Katherine Ho, a Chinese-American college student who was on the Voice in the United States in 2016.

Ho, who is from Thousand Oaks, California, had her parents help with the meaning of the words and proper diction, and submitted a demo of the song — not knowing what film it was for. When learned she got the job and it was for “Crazy Rich Asians” she told the Washington Post “my heart exploded”, because the film’s star, Constance Wu, is her idol, she said.

The Chinese lyrics to “Yellow” (“Liu Xing” or Shooting Star in Chinese) differ quite a bit from the English version. Perhaps one reason for the difference is that a literal translation of the song wouldn’t sound the same phonetically. We translated the Chinese version below. Compare the two side by side, and let us know what you think.

Translation help from Lihong Huang, Li Meng, and Du Yubin.