Thinking of You (female)

Imitating the lyric of "Thinking of You (male)," a popular Chinese song　

Yutang Lin

You, at east of the globe
Me, at west of the globe
Day in and day out, the globe turns
Separated, east and west
The same air we breathe

When will this separation be closed?
This longing will never end

Just knowing your mind is the same as mine
Although separated physically, our hearts remain inseparable

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thinking of You (male)

Li Zhi Yi of Song Dynasty

I live by the source of Yangzi River
You live by the mouth of Yangzi River
Day in and day out I am thinking of you
But not seeing you
We drink the same Yangzi water

When will this river stop flowing?
When will this melancholy come to an end?

Only wishing that your mind is similar to mine
Definitely I will not, let this mutual admiration down

Comments:

During the pilgrimage trip in China I sang the "Thinking of You (male)" song but I forgot the very last sentence. A Dharma practitioner should not remain dead in speechlessness when words are forgotten, so I made up "Xing Sui Fen, Xin Bu Li" (Although separated physically, our hearts remain inseparable). Later Xiao Yan looked it up on-line and found the original words. Tonight an inspiration came, so I composed this imitation. I used "at" instead of "live" because all things are impermanent, how do we know where we will be at the next moment? "This longing will never end" because when the longing is tense then it will not cease even when we meet. The original lyric used "wishing" indicated that it was a longing on one side. This lyric used "knowing" to indicate that the longing is mutual, and hence hearts inseparable.

Written in Chinese and translated on October 8, 2007
El Cerrito, California

---

[Home][Back to list][Back to Chinese versions]