雨天的回忆 [yu tian de huiyi] [English translation]

I cannot forget the town's limestone streets of my youth,

nor the ancient melodies my grandmother sang.

I cannot forget my hometown's wheat in late fall,

nor the beautiful image of a woman swaying with the willows.

But the thing I cannot forget the most,

is that memory on a rainy day--

[when] you quietly and sorrowfully left

in the purple rain.

I cannot forget the cheap guitar,

nor the shabby blue soldier's uniform.

I cannot forget the red banner,

nor that howling on the desolate streets.

But the thing I cannot forget the most,

is that memory on a rainy day--

[when] you quietly and sorrowfully left

in the purple rain.

I cannot forget that summer night in 1989,

nor the crowd partying hard in 1999

I cannot forget the disaster in 2008,

nor the ridiculous tragedy in 2011.

I cannot forget the sobs of a child abandoned on a mountain,

nor the groans of a lonely cavalier in an alleyway.

I cannot forget the traveler's cries on a faraway mountain,

nor the laments of a prisoner in a back alley.

But the thing I cannot forget the most,

is that memory on a rainy day--

[when] you quietly and sorrowfully left

in the purple rain.

Another thing I cannot forget the most,

is still that memory on a rainy day,

when I quietly yet deeply cried

in the purple rain.