Sing “When the Sun Says Goodnight to the Mountain” in Chinese

Sunset

It always amazes me how certain songs can be so simple and yet capable of stirring one’s heart and stay in one’s memory forever. Just listen to this country song, “When the Sun Says Goodnight to the Mountain“, with music written by Larry Vincent, and lyrics by Harry Pease.

The original lyrics are as follows.

When the sun says goodnight to the mountain,
And the gold of the day meets the blue,
In my dream I’m alone on the mountain,
With a heart that keeps calling for you.
The voice in the trees,
The song in the breeze,
They bring the memory of love we knew.
When the sun says goodnight to the mountain,
I am dreaming, my sweetheart, of you.

I’m providing two versions of the Chinese translation for the sake of including additional words and phrases that might come handy when the occasion arises for you to write sweet nothings to someone dear but who is far away.

每当太阳向青山道晚安,
Měi dāng tàiyáng xiàng qīngshāndào wǎn ān,
Whenever the sun says goodnight to the mountain,
The voice in the trees,

蓝天披上晚霞多绚烂,
lántiān pīshàng wǎnxiá duō xuàn làn,
and the blue sky dons the gorgeous evening glow,

我在梦乡山间徘徊蹒跚,
Wǒ zài mèngxiāng shān jiān páihuái pánshān,
I wander among the hills in the dreamland,

一颗心频频向你呼唤.
yī kē xīn pínpín xiàng nǐ hūhuàn.
with a heart that keeps calling to you.

那梦中的情,
Nà mèng zhōng de qíng,
The feelings in the dream,

那风中的音,
nà fēng zhōng de yīn,
the sound in the breeze,

总使我想起往日心连心.
zǒng shǐ wǒ xiǎngqǐ wǎngrì xīn lián xīn.
always reminds me of our heart-to-heart days.

每当太阳向青山道晚安,
Měi dāng tàiyáng xiàng qīngshāndào wǎn ān,
Whenever the sun says goodnight to the mountain,

我在甜梦里与你为伴.
wǒ zài tián mèng lǐ yǔ nǐ wéi bàn.
I’m with you in my sweet dream.

每当太阳向青山道晚安,
Měi dāng tàiyáng xiàng qīngshāndào wǎn ān,
Whenever the sun says goodnight to the mountain,

蓝天披上晚霞多悦目.
lántiān pīshàng pīshàng duō yuèmù,
and the blue sky dons the charming evening glow,

我在梦乡山间徘徊蹒跚,
Wǒ zài mèngxiāng shān jiān páihuái pánshān,
I wander among the hills in the dreamland,

一颗心娓娓向你倾诉.
yī kē xīn wěiwěi xiàng nǐ qīngsù.
and keep pouring out my heart to you.

那梦中的情,
Nà mèng zhōng de qíng,
The feelings in the dream,

那风中的音,
nà fēng zhōng de yīn,
the sound in the breeze,

总使我追忆往日的幸福.
zǒng shǐ wǒ zhuīyì wǎngrì de xìngfú.
always makes me reminisce about old times.

每当太阳向青山道晚安,
Měi dāng tàiyáng xiàng qīngshāndào wǎn ān,
Whenever the sun says goodnight to the mountain,

你可知, 我心非你莫属.
nǐ kě zhī, wǒ xīn fēi nǐ mò shǔ.
You know my heart belongs to you and no other.

当 means while, or at the time when, and 每当 means whenever.

道, as a verb, has the same meaning as 说 (shuō to speak, to say). Sometimes the two words are combined together as 说道.

悦目 means pleasing to the eye.

徘徊 means walking back and forth, or loitering; 蹒跚 is to walk haltingly.

娓娓 describes how one gives an account calmly and at length.

往日 means bygone days.

We’ve encountered 非你莫属 in a previous blog post (2/12/21 Sing Indian Love Call in Chinese). This is a popular romantic vow among lovers.

Are you or someone you know looking for reading material in Chinese? “Inspiring Stories in Chinese” is now available as paperback at amazon,com. This book contains a number of Chinese legends, tales from other countries, as well as stories about a few respectable personages in history. The Chinese text of the stories are annotated with pinyin and English, line by line. Each story is followed by a vocabulary study section and an exercise section for practicing making sentences in Chinese. An eBook version will be available soon.