Distant Longing with Dogwood

[Intro]

[Verse 1]

独在异乡为异客 (Alone in a strange land, a stranger far from home)

The rented room, its furniture still fairly new

Today is the Double Ninth Festival

People all over the city, are hurrying up the mountains

I counted the days

Counting it up, two springs have passed since I left home

[Pre-Chorus]

Whenever a festival like this comes around

My longing for home grows，especially earnest

[Chorus]

每逢佳节倍思亲 — At every festival I miss my loved ones all the more

遍插茱萸少一人 — All wear sprigs of dogwood, but one person is missing

From afar I know, it is time for my brothers to climb the heights

A thousand miles away, I count the dusks

I pin my longing to my own lapel

Words reach my lips, which I press together again and again

[Verse 2]

Imagining home at this moment from afar

My brothers set out together, just leaving the east gate

Climb that high mountain

Tucking dogwood sprigs into, hat brims and hair

They count how many are there

Suddenly realizing I am missing, they fall into a moment's reverie

[Pre-Chorus]

Will Mother speak of me

At the dinner table a voice is missing, mine

[Chorus]

每逢佳节倍思亲 — At every festival I miss my loved ones all the more

遍插茱萸少一人 — All wear sprigs of dogwood, but one person is missing

From afar I know, it is time for my brothers to climb the heights

A thousand miles away, I count the dusks

I pin my longing to my own lapel

Words reach my lips, which I press together again and again

[Instrumental]

[Verse 3]

I too have picked a sprig of dogwood

Pinned to my clothes, leaving a faint crease

The dogwood's scent is a little pungent

There is a breath, of the fresh fragrance of growing things

The elders speak of dogwood

They say wearing it keeps evil spirits away

[Bridge]

I wrote a letter home

Saying all is well here, please do not worry

I never mentioned being homesick

Afraid that reading it would keep them from sleeping soundly

At the end of the letter, I drew a mountain

Next year I will stand together with you all again, in a group

When I come to sign my name

Tears have left a damp streak, across the name

[Verse 4]

After darkness falls

I pour a cup of wine, and slowly drink

Toward home

Let the wine’s fragrance drift to them, for them to breathe in

The moon has risen

My hometown and I, we gaze at the same moon

[Final Chorus]

每逢佳节倍思亲 — At every festival I miss my loved ones all the more

遍插茱萸少一人 — All wear sprigs of dogwood, but one person is missing

From afar I know, it is time for my brothers to climb the heights

A thousand miles away, I count the dusks

I pin my longing to my own lapel

Words reach my lips, which I press together again and again

[Outro]

遍插茱萸少一人 — All wear sprigs of dogwood, but one person is missing

When the dogwood berries turn red next year, let us climb the heights together