Never Been This Sad  / Chưa bao giờ buồn thế

By the train station, bidding you farewell,

I have never been this sad.

It's winter in Paris,

A lifetime of separation.

Bidding you back to your motherland,

I speak with the language of kisses.

Nothing feels longer

Than a hundred days without you. 

Lyon station, yellow lights,

Snow falls, a melancholy scene.

Holding your hand, I want to cry.

But it's too late for words.

We kiss now this very minute,

Then parting instantly follows.

Cry, my love, cry

Oh, my university love, 

Let the dew soak the night, 

And the road I take, filled with your sad tears...

Oh, tonight,

Never been so sad.

It's winter in Paris,

A lifetime of separation.

Your train departs, covered in snow.

My car filled with cold wind. 

How can I not shiver?

To warm the dreams of tonight

And dream sweetly along the snowy roads!

In your dreams, are there stars?

I stay behind in the night.

It's winter in Paris.

Never has there been a star.

It's winter in Paris.

Never been this sad!

by Cung Trầm Tưởng

English translation by Vuong Thanh, 12.2023