Lingering Echoes of the Old Ramparts

[Intro]

[Verse 1]

The wind on the battlements blows the view before me empty

The green mountains still stand in the distance of a thousand years ago

Those banners and sails that once veiled the sky

Now it sounds only softly within the murmur of water

[Pre-Chorus]

How many names have passed through this world in a bustle

In the end all are entrusted to this river’s silent waves

[Chorus]

Stone City still hears the echoes of the years

Hear how a grand dream scatters into dusk

If glory will eventually settle into ordinary bricks beneath our feet

May there be a little less nameless cold in this world

Stone City still hears the echoes of the years

I want to leave peace and security to the living people before me

[Instrumental Interlude]

[Verse 2]

Fragrant grass has overgrown the old palace road again

Yet the pine-lined path never hears the carriages of old return

I see my own dark hair slowly changing color too

Only then do I understand that one cup of wine cannot hold all life's comings, goings, rises and falls

[Pre-Chorus]

How many names have passed through this world in a bustle

In the end all are entrusted to this river’s silent waves

[Chorus]

Stone City still hears the echoes of the years

Hear how a grand dream scatters into dusk

If glory will eventually settle into ordinary bricks beneath our feet

May there be a little less nameless cold in this world

Stone City still hears the echoes of the years

I want to leave peace and security to the living people before me

[Bridge]

Be moved by more than the stories told on lofty platforms

Remember, too, the ordinary faces that upheld the splendor

When the next bright moon settles into the Qinhuai’s waters

May every little window shelter peaceful dreams

[Final Chorus]

Stone City still hears the echoes of the years

Hear how a grand dream scatters into dusk

If glory will eventually settle into ordinary bricks beneath our feet

May there be a little less nameless cold in this world

Stone City still hears the echoes of the years

I want to leave peace and security to the living people before me

[Outro]

I slowly draw my gaze back from the pages of old history

With a clear mind, I walk back to the people where lights still shine