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Cover of A Lifetime of Solitary Fragrance

Classical Chinese-style Ballad · AI music creation

A Lifetime of Solitary Fragrance

Ku Wuji · AI Music · 4 reads

Inspired by Cao Zu’s “Mo Shan Xi · Plum Blossoms.” 洗妆真态,不作铅花御;竹外一枝斜,想佳人,天寒日暮。 With makeup washed away, its true beauty shows, needing no lead-white powder; a branch leans beyond the bamboo, recalling a beautiful woman as the day turns cold and dusk falls. 黄昏院落无处著清香,风细细,雪垂垂,何况江头路。 In the courtyard at dusk, its pure fragrance has nowhere to settle; the wind is faint, the snow hangs heavy—how much more so on the riverside road. 月边疏影,梦到消魂处;梅子欲黄时,又须作廉纤细雨。 Sparse shadows beside the moon lead dreams to a place of soul-piercing longing; when the plums are about to yellow, fine, lingering rain must fall again. 孤芳一世,供断有情愁,消瘦损,东阳也,试问花知否? A lifetime of solitary fragrance brings endless sorrow to tender hearts; wasting away like the poet Shen Yue of Dongyang—tell me, do the blossoms know? Male and female voices sing the same lyrics.

A line from the song

The courtyard at dusk, the delicate fragrance has nowhere to go

风细细,雪垂垂,何况江头路 — The wind is faint, the snow hangs heavy, how much more so on the riverside road

Read the full lyrics ↓

Choose a recording below and let the music accompany your reading.

Music in the words

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]

This plum tree wears no powder or rouge

An unadorned face has an attitude of its own

Wash away the colors of makeup

Its true form proves more enduring

A branch slants out beyond the bamboo grove

Like a beautiful woman's backward glance

[Pre-Chorus]

The weather has turned cold so early

And the sun sets in such haste

[Chorus]

The courtyard at dusk, the delicate fragrance has nowhere to go

风细细,雪垂垂,何况江头路 — The wind is faint, the snow hangs heavy, how much more so on the riverside road

Beside the moon, sparse shadows stand stark and slender

Enraptured in dreams I wake to emptiness

It blooms alone for a lifetime

Bringing forth countless sorrows in loving hearts

[Verse 2]

A delicate fragrance circles the courtyard three times

Unable to find a doorway that offers shelter

It is colder on the road beside the river

Even wind and snow torment it twice as hard

Yet it still bloomed

Blooming in a wilderness where no one looks

[Pre-Chorus]

The moon has risen to the middle of the sky

Sparse shadows slant across, slender as ever

[Chorus]

The courtyard at dusk, the delicate fragrance has nowhere to go

风细细,雪垂垂,何况江头路 — The wind is faint, the snow hangs heavy, how much more so on the riverside road

Beside the moon, sparse shadows stand stark and slender

Enraptured in dreams I wake to emptiness

It blooms alone for a lifetime

Bringing forth countless sorrows in loving hearts

[Instrumental]

[Verse 3]

When the plums begin to turn yellow

Another fine rain weeps and tells its sorrow

The blossoms have fallen, green plums have formed

Sorrow, too, bears fruit and ripens

That is how time is

Rising and falling, wave after wave

[Bridge]

Someone wastes away for it

So thin that the sash hangs another span looser

A solitary blossom has bloomed a lifetime

Bearing all the sorrows of those who love

But what of the flower itself

Does anyone spare a thought for where it will end up

Dongyang is not the only one wasting away

There is also the loneliness watching blossoms beneath the tree

[Verse 4]

I ask whether it knows

The suffering these people endured for it

The wind gives its branches a shake

It counts as an answer, and as evasion too

The flowers never speak

Yet its fragrance says everything for it

[Final Chorus]

The courtyard at dusk, the delicate fragrance has nowhere to go

风细细,雪垂垂,何况江头路 — The wind is faint, the snow hangs heavy, how much more so on the riverside road

Beside the moon, sparse shadows stand stark and slender

Enraptured in dreams I wake to emptiness

It blooms alone for a lifetime

Bringing forth countless sorrows in loving hearts

[Outro]

Snow is falling again

Beyond the bamboo, one branch still leans toward dusk

Classical poetic imagery and original lyrics · AI music creation

The lyrics below are translated. The recording remains the original performance; no new audio has been generated.

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Rendition 1 · Male vocal

4:34

Rendition 1 · Female vocal

4:19

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