《当你老了》 When You Are Old

Many of you may have read the famous poem 《When You Are Old》, written by William Butler Yeats for his beloved woman Maud Gonne. Years ago, a Chinese singer and musician Zhao Zhao adapted this poem into a beautiful song, which soon caught ears and hearts of many Chinese audiences.

This song is written for Zhao Zhao’s mom. He says mom gave birth to him at a rather late age when she was already thirty. And now she is in her seventies. While Zhao was composing this song, she saw as if mom was sitting inside the room beside the window, dim light, full of sleep.

This is a complete version of this Chinese song 《当你老了》. You can always come back and sing along with the melody.

Lyrics:

dānɡ nǐ lǎole, tóufɑ báile 当 你 老了, 头发 白了 When you are old, hair turns gray.

shuìyì hūnchén 睡意 昏沉 Full of sleep.

dānɡ nǐ lǎole, zǒu búdònɡ le 当 你 老了, 走 不动 了 When you are old, not walking properly,

lúhuǒ pánɡ dǎdǔn, huíyì qīnɡchūn 炉火 旁 打盹, 回忆 青春 Nodding by the fire, remembering youth.

duōshǎo rén cénɡ ài nǐ qīnɡchūn huānchànɡ de shíchén 多少 人 曾 爱 你 青春 欢畅的 时辰 How many people once loved your moments of grace,

àimù nǐde měilì, jiǎyì huò zhēnxīn 爱慕 你的 美丽, 假意 或 真心 Loved your beauty, false or true.

zhǐyǒu yíɡè rén hái ài nǐ qiánchénɡ de línɡhún 只有 一个人 还 爱 你 虔诚 的 灵魂 But still one man loved the pure soul in you,

ài nǐ cānɡlǎo de liǎnshànɡ de zhòuwén 爱 你 苍老 的 脸上 的 皱纹 And loved the wrinkles of your aging face.

dānɡ nǐ lǎole, yǎnméi dīchuí 当 你 老了, 眼眉 低垂 When you are old, eyelids and eyebrows droop.

dēnɡhuǒ hūnhuánɡ búdìnɡ 灯火 昏黄 不定 Light is dim.

fēnɡ chuī ɡuòlái nǐde xiāoxi 风 吹 过来 你的 消息 The gentle breeze brings the stoy of you,

zhè jiùshì wǒ xīnlǐ de ɡē 这 就是 我 心里 的 歌 which is just the song of my heart.

dānɡ wǒ lǎo le wǒ zhēn xī wànɡ 当 我老了 我 真 希望 When I am old, how I wish

zhè shǒu ɡē shì chànɡ ɡěi nǐ de 这首歌 是 唱给 你的 This song is for you.

We hope you like this song and enjoy learning Chinese with us. If you have any specific Chinese song that you want to learn, just leave us a comment below!