Dreaming of Home and Mother

Dreaming of Home and Mother is an 1868 song by American medical doctor and composer John P. Ordway. It is most popular in Japan and China, as its words were translated into Japanese as Ryoshū and into Chinese as Songbie, respectively.

History

Dreaming of Home and Mother was composed in 1868 by John P. Ordway. On March 11, 1916, tenor Evan Williams recorded the English version for Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, New Jersey. The English lyrics of Dreaming of Home and Mother had only one stanza, and so it was in early recordings. The 1935 recording published by EMI, with singer Evan Williams included the second stanza, which may have been added by an unknown person. There is also a version that includes the third stanza.

Lyrics

The lyrics of all three stanzas are shown below:

Ryoshū in Japanese

The Japanese lyrics of Dreaming of Home and Mother were written as Ryoshū (, meaning "Yearning (for home) in travelling") by school music teacher and lyricist Kyūkei Indō (), who also wrote the Japanese lyrics of William Shakespeare Hays's "My Dear Old Sunny Home" as Kokyō no Haika (故郷の廃家).

Included in the Shōka in 1907 for the first time, Ryoshū has since been very popular in Japan. It was selected as one of the 100 Best Known Japanese Songs in 2007.

Songbie in Chinese

In 1915, Chinese artist Li Shutong (Hong Yi) wrote a set of Chinese-language lyrics for Dreaming of Home and Mother, titling it Songbie (). Li had been introduced to the Ryoshū version of this song while studying in Japan from 1905 to 1910.

Chinese lyrics

The lyrics in Chinese of Songbie are as follows:

長亭外，古道邊，芳草碧連天， <br> Chángtíng wài, gǔdào biān, fāngcǎo bì lián tiān.<br> Outside the long pavilion, along the ancient route, fragrant green grass joins the sky,

晚風拂柳笛聲殘，夕陽山外山。<br> Wǎnfēng fú liǔ díshēng cán, xìyáng shān wài shān. <br> The evening wind caressing willow trees, the sound of the flute piercing the heart, sunset over mountains beyond mountains.

天之涯，地之角，知交半零落， <br> Tiān zhī yá, dì zhī jiǎo, zhījiāo bàn língluò.<br> At the brink of the sky, at the corners of the earth, my familiar friends wander in loneliness and far from home,

一瓢濁酒盡餘歡，今宵别夢寒。 <br> Yī piáo zhuójiǔ jìn yú huān, jīn xiāo bié mèng hán.<br> One more ladle of wine to conclude the little happiness that remains; tonight my dreams of parting leave me cold.

長亭外，古道邊，芳草碧連天， <br> Outside the long pavilion, along the ancient route, fragrant green grass joins the sky,

問君此去幾時來？來時莫徘徊。 <br> Wèn jūn cǐ qù jǐ shí lái? Lái shí mò páihuái.<br> I ask of you, as you go this time, when are you to return? When it's time to come please don't hesitate.

天之涯，地之角，知交半零落， <br> At the brink of the sky, at the corners of the earth, friends wander in loneliness and far from home,

人生難得是歡聚，唯有别離多。 <br> Rénshēng nán dé shì huānjù, wéi yǒu biélí duō.<br> In life it is happy reunions that are rare; most often we bid farewell.

天之涯，地之角，知交半零落， <br> At the brink of the sky, at the corners of the earth, familiar friends wander in loneliness and far from home,

人生難得是歡聚，唯有别離多。 <br> In life it is happy reunions that are rare; most often we bid farewell.

In popular culture

Songbie was featured as a graduation song in the 1983 Chinese film My Memories of Old Beijing, itself based on the by Lin Haiyin, though the lyrics differ slightly in the book.

In July 2018, SNH48 Group issued a cover version of Songbie, which was entitled "Di Li Qian Xing" (《砥砺前行》). The lyrics were re-written by SNH48 ex-member Wu Yanwen, despite her announcement of departure in January 2018.

The melody of Songbie was played at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics' closing ceremony as a farewell song.

References

External links