这首歌是南宋以来流行于江南吴地一带的民歌。出自南宋建炎年间（1127—1130年），述民间离乱之苦。这首歌以问话的形式，揭露南宋统治阶级在外族入侵时，对外实行不抵抗主义，对内残酷压迫人民，偏安江南，过着骄奢淫逸的生活，使老百姓饱受离乱之苦。
无名氏·《吴歌》
月子弯弯照几州？几家欢乐几家愁？
几家夫妇同罗帐？几家飘散在他州？
Folk Song of the Lower Yangtze Valley
(Southern Song Dynasty)
Anonymous
The crescent moon shines pale
On how many countries?
How many families are happy,
How many families are sad?
How many men and women
Are happily reunited,
And how many, how many,
Stay lost in strange, strange lands?
