Jay Chou: Dao Xiang 稻香 vs. In the Quiet Night

In the Quiet Night

The floor before my bed is bright:

Moonlight– like hoarfrost– in my room.

I lift my head and watch the moon.

I drop my head and think of home.

The poem to me depicts a man who is lonely at night and misses home. I also know this from prior knowledge as I have studied the Chinese version of this poem in the past. The back story to this poem resides in a poet who has traveled very far in search of happiness and knowledge. This poem expresses the poets feeling as he looks at the moon. The moon being something that is a constant at night and this reminds him of the same moon he saw at home. The message that I got from the poem is that no matter how much you see or where you are in your life you will always remember home and the feeling it brings.

Jay Chou: Dao Xiang 稻香

If you have too many complaints towards this world
When you fall down you don’t dare to continue walking forward
Why must people be so weak, depraved
I ask you to turn on the TV and see
How many people bravely do their best to continue walking for life
Shouldn’t we be content with what we have?
You should cherish everything even if you don’t possess it

I still remember you said your home was the only castle, you continue to run along with the fragrance of rice and the flowing river
Smiling, the dreams when you were young, I know
Don’t cry, let the fireflies lead you to escape, folk songs in the country, you can always rely on them
Just go home
Go back to the happiness at the very start

Don’t be so easy to give up, it’s just like I say
For dreams you can’t achieve, switch it for another and it’ll be fine
Put some colour into your life, firstly paint the colour you like on love
Come on and smile, merit and fame aren’t the goals
Let yourself be happy, this is what you call meaning
The paper airplane from my childhood, it’s finally flown back to my hand now
That so called happiness, running barefoot in the fields chasing dragonflies and getting tired
Picking fruits without permission and getting scared from being stung by bees, who’s sniggering?

I lean on the scarecrow while being blown by the wind while singing while sleeping
Oh oh, in the afternoon the sound of the guitar is clearer among the buzzing of bugs
Oh oh, if the sunshine sprinkles on the road then I won’t be afraid of being broken-hearted
You should cherish everything even if you don’t possess it

I still remember you said your home was the only castle, you continue to run along with the fragrance of rice and the flowing river
Smiling, dreams when you were young, I know
Don’t cry, let the fireflies lead you to escape, folk songs in the country, you can always rely on them
Just go home
Go back to the happiness at the very start

I chose this song because it gives a similar message to my interpretation of the poem.This song for me clicked really well with the poem. The setting of the poem has like almost an ominous feel to it, almost upsetting. This is very well reflected about the hardships written in the songs. Moving from the eerie aspect we reference the moon from the poem. To me the moon references this thing that reminds the author of their childhood which is reflected by the fragrance of rice in the song. Lastly, I think is the main point that connects them both which is the sense of home. I think that both the song and the poem reflects the strong Chinese value of home. Home is where the heart is at and when you are down that is where your thoughts go.