Deep Moss in Changgan

[Intro]

[Verse 1]

My hair had only just grown over my forehead

I broke off a flowering branch, lost in play before the door

You came riding a bamboo horse

Circling the well's railing without ever tiring

Living together in Changgan

There has never been the slightest misunderstanding

[Pre-Chorus]

I married you at fourteen

Too shy to look at your brows

[Chorus]

郎骑竹马，绕床弄青梅 — You rode a bamboo horse, circling the well frame and playing with green plums

The years of innocent childhood affection

I would turn to dust and ashes with you

Faithful as the man who clasped the pillar, with no regrets even unto death

Green moss piles layer upon layer over the footprints

The moss is so deep no sweeping can turn it back

[Verse 2]

Head bowed, I stood facing the dark wall

Even if you call a thousand times, I still pretend to sleep

Only at fifteen did my brow relax

Only then do the words in my heart dare fly free

Swearing to live and die together

Keeping faith like Weisheng clinging to the bridge pillar

[Pre-Chorus]

You traveled far from home the year you turned sixteen

To brave the dangers of Qutang Gorge and Yanyu Rock

[Chorus]

郎骑竹马，绕床弄青梅 — You rode a bamboo horse, circling the well frame and playing with green plums

The years of innocent childhood affection

I would turn to dust and ashes with you

Faithful as the man who clasped the pillar, with no regrets even unto death

Green moss piles layer upon layer over the footprints

The moss is so deep no sweeping can turn it back

[Instrumental]

[Verse 3]

The river is most perilous in May

The cries of gibbons high above are heartbreaking

Every day I go to the doorway and gaze into the distance

Green moss climbs higher, layer upon layer

In the eighth month, butterflies fly in pairs

The western garden's grass grows green in twos and pairs

[Bridge]

How could seeing all this not bring sorrow

As I sit and sit, my youthful beauty wastes away

The shyness of fourteen, the sweetness of fifteen

All followed the boat to distant waters

Sooner or later you will return from Sanba

Please be sure to send a letter first, to comfort me

However far away, I will go to meet you

All the way to Changfengsha, without turning back

[Verse 4]

Marrying a merchant from Changgan

Learn to read the clouds, recognize the wind, and judge the water level

With May's south wind, you head down to Baling

In August's west wind I await your return from Yangzi

It is so hard to see you even once

After fretting over the river I fret over the fierce wind

[Final Chorus]

郎骑竹马，绕床弄青梅 — You rode a bamboo horse, circling the well frame and playing with green plums

The years of innocent childhood affection

I would turn to dust and ashes with you

Faithful as the man who clasped the pillar, with no regrets even unto death

Green moss piles layer upon layer over the footprints

The moss is so deep no sweeping can turn it back

[Outro]

Last night fierce winds crossed the river again

Across the vast river, I cannot see your boat's mast