this song has been on repeat for me lately so i tried translating the opening verse from vietnamese, which wasn’t easy since the original lyrics are more suggestive than literal. i ended up reading about the story behind the song and tried to translate it as faithfully as I could while staying true to what I felt.

here’s the original:

Ngày em thắp sao trời
Chờ trăng gió lên khơi
Mà mưa bão tơi bời
Một ngày mưa bão không rời

Trên đôi vai thanh xuân
Ướp hôn nồng bên gối đắm say
Ánh sao trời theo gió rụng rơi đầy

Cùng rót bao nhiêu ngày hoang
Cùng đếm bao nhiêu mộng tàn 
Ru người yêu dấu trong vùng trời đêm

and my translation, likely imperfect:

the day you kindled the stars
waiting for the moon and wind to set sail 
yet the storms tore through 
a day the storm wouldn't cease

on the shoulders of youth 
steeping ardent kisses beside the love-drunk pillow 
starlight following the wind, strewn everywhere

together pouring so many wild days 
together counting so many spent dreams 
lulling the beloved within the realm of the night sky