香如故 — Fragrant as Ever

[Intro]

[Verse 1]

The post station was abandoned long ago

Half the broken bridge has collapsed, and no one repairs it

Passersby have long since taken another way

No one knows, a whole tree still blooms here

Can only bloom for the broken bridge to see

Blooming for the wild grass and evening mist

[Pre-Chorus]

Dusk presses down inch by inch

Wind and rain choose this very moment to pass through

[Chorus]

驿外断桥边，寂寞开无主 — Beyond the post station, beside a broken bridge, it blooms alone with no one to tend it

Alone at dusk I grieve, with wind and rain adding their cruelty

With no wish to struggle for spring's attention

一任群芳嫉妒 (Let all the other flowers envy me as they will)

Fallen into mud, then ground into dust

Only the fragrance remains as before

[Verse 2]

The flowers in the city bloom exuberantly

Vying to find a home in the visitors' eyes

They scorn the solitude of my blooming

They laugh that I do not know the ways of merrymaking

Let them say what they will

I never answer words of envy

[Pre-Chorus]

Spring is only so long

Spring itself knows whose blossoms flourish

[Chorus]

驿外断桥边，寂寞开无主 — Beyond the post station, beside a broken bridge, it blooms alone with no one to tend it

Alone at dusk I grieve, with wind and rain adding their cruelty

With no wish to struggle for spring's attention

一任群芳嫉妒 (Let all the other flowers envy me as they will)

Fallen into mud, then ground into dust

Only the fragrance remains as before

[Instrumental]

[Verse 3]

The petals begin to fall

Falling one by one, calm and unhurried

Fallen into the mud and trampled

Crushed deep into the earth by carriage wheels

Not even its shape remains

Only the fragrance still drifts on the air

[Bridge]

Someone asks if this is worth it

Blooming where no one is，falling in such lonely sorrow

I did not answer at once

Fragrance is the story I tell

The physical form will disappear

Crushed however fine, these bones still hold their pride

There are countless kinds of flowers in this world

How many dare entrust a whole lifetime to solitude

[Verse 4]

Spring will come again next year

Will another plum tree stand along the post road

None of this matters anymore

The fragrance has already seeped into this stretch of road

Those who pass this way next year

Will meet me again in the wind, just as at first

[Final Chorus]

驿外断桥边，寂寞开无主 — Beyond the post station, beside a broken bridge, it blooms alone with no one to tend it

Alone at dusk I grieve, with wind and rain adding their cruelty

With no wish to struggle for spring's attention

一任群芳嫉妒 (Let all the other flowers envy me as they will)

Fallen into mud, then ground into dust

Only the fragrance remains as before

[Outro]

The wind and rain will stop eventually

All that remains is the fragrance, unchanged