Sometimes (ที่คั่นหนังสือ): meaning and key lines
BOWKYLION ft. NONT TANONT
What the song is about
ที่คั่นหนังสือtîi-kân-nǎng-sǔue, “Sometimes (The Bookmark)”, is a T-pop song by BOWKYLION ft. NONT TANONT (2025). Spotify's second most-streamed Thai song of 2025 in Thailand and YouTube Thailand's second most-watched music video of the year, by the singer the Bangkok Post calls the queen of sad songs. The singer is a bookmark, there for the book only on the days its reader puts it down. The lines are gentle, literary Thai, perfect for readers at B2: worth reading, no matter how much, only a few pages, the day you can't put a book down.
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Song facts
- Artist
- BOWKYLION ft. NONT TANONT
- Released
- 2025
- Style
- T-pop
- Level
- B2 (upper intermediate)
- Mood
- tender, wistful, patient
- Views
- about 213M (Oct 2026)
- Video
- Whattheduck (What The Duck, BOWKYLION's record label)
- Lyrics
- Key lines quoted; the full song is in the video
Key lines, explained
Tap a line to hear it. Once the video is playing, lines jump to their moment in the song.
- ใจ jaiฉัน chǎnอยาก yàakเรียนรู้ rian-rúuเล่ม lêmที่ tîiดู duuว่า wâaน่า nâaอ่าน àan
My heart wants to get to know the book that looks worth reading.
The singer is a bookmark, and 'you' are the book someone else is reading. เรียนรู้rian-rúu = to learn about, to get to know. เล่มlêm is the counting word for books, and here stands for the book itself: เล่มที่lêm tîi… = the one (book) that… น่าnâa + verb = worth doing, -able: น่าอ่านnâa àan = worth reading, น่ากินnâa gin = tasty-looking, น่ารักnâa rák = lovable, cute. ดูว่าduu wâa = to look as if, to seem. - อ่าน àanเธอ toeเพียง piangครา kraaเข้าใจ kâo-jaiเธอ toeแค่ kâeบางหน้า baang nâa
He read you only once and understood just a few of your pages.
Thai leaves out who is reading, as it often does when it's clear: the next lines make it the reader, who shut the book away and never looked after it. เพียงpiang and แค่kâe both mean 'only, just'; เพียงpiang is the written, poetic one. คราkraa is a poetic word for 'time, occasion', like ครั้งkráng: เพียงคราpiang kraa = just once, only briefly. บางbaang + noun = some: บางหน้าbaang nâa = some pages, บางคนbaang kon = some people. หน้าnâa is 'face', but also 'page': หน้าห้าnâa hâa = page five. - ถ้า tâaเขา kǎoอ่าน àanเธอ toeไม่ mâiจบ jòpคง kongจะ jàพบ pópฉัน chǎnคั่น kânระหว่างหน้า rá-wàang nâa
If he doesn't finish reading you, he'll find me tucked between your pages.
The title in a line: a bookmark, ที่คั่นหนังสือtîi-kân-nǎng-sǔue, is 'the thing that marks a book', from คั่นkân, to put something between, to mark a place. Verb + ไม่จบmâi jòp = not finish doing it: อ่านไม่จบàan mâi jòp = not finish reading, ดูไม่จบduu mâi jòp = not finish watching. คงจะkong jà = will probably. พบpóp is a more formal เจอjoe (to meet, to find). ระหว่างหน้าrá-wàang nâa = between the pages. - วัน wanที่ tîiเขา kǎoอ่าน àanเธอ toeไม่ mâiละสายตา lá sǎai-dtaaวัน wanนั้น nánคง kongต้อง dtâwngลาก่อน laa-gàwn
The day he reads you without taking his eyes off you, that day I'll have to say goodbye.
A book you can't put down needs no bookmark. วันที่wan tîi… = the day when…; วันนั้นwan nán = that day. ละสายตาlá sǎai-dtaa = to take your eyes off: ละlá is a literary 'to leave, to give up' and สายตาsǎai-dtaa is your gaze. คงต้องkong dtâwng = will probably have to. ลาก่อนlaa-gàwn is goodbye for a long time or for good; day to day, Thais just say ไปก่อนนะbpai gàwn ná. - ต่อให้ dtàw-hâiรัก rákแค่ไหน kâe-nǎiแม้ máeจะ jàดี diiเท่าไร tâo-rai
No matter how much I love you, however good I am…
Two ways to say 'no matter how': ต่อให้dtàw-hâi + verb + แค่ไหนkâe-nǎi, and แม้จะmáe jà + verb + เท่าไรtâo-rai. The result follows, usually with ก็gâw: ต่อให้แพงแค่ไหนก็ซื้อdtàw-hâi paeng kâe-nǎi gâw súue = however expensive it is, I'll buy it. Here the answer comes in the next line: a bookmark still has no right to keep the book. เท่าไรtâo-rai is the written spelling of เท่าไหร่tâo-rài, how much. - วัน wanที่ tîiเธอ toeเหงา ngǎoจะ jàเห็น hěnฉัน chǎnยืน yuuenอยู่ yùuตรง dtrongที่เก่า tîi gào
On the days you're lonely, you'll see me standing in the same old place.
เหงาngǎo = lonely, one of the most sung words in Thai pop. ยืนอยู่yuuen yùu = to be standing: verb + อยู่yùu = an ongoing state. ตรงdtrong = right at (a spot): ตรงนี้dtrong níi = right here. ที่เก่าtîi gào = the same old place; ที่tîi on its own can be a noun, 'place'. The bookmark waits where the reader left off, and it's there only when he isn't.
Words you'll learn
- เรียนรู้ rian-rúu
to learn (from experience; about something)
- เพียง piang
only, just (written)
- จบ jòp
to finish, to end; to graduate
- คั่น kân
to put between, to mark (a page)
ที่คั่นหนังสือtîi-kân-nǎng-sǔue = a bookmark.
- ลาก่อน laa-gàwn
goodbye (for a long time or for good)
- ต่อให้ dtàw-hâi
even if, no matter (how)
ต่อให้ฝนตกก็จะไปdtàw-hâi fǒn dtòk gâw jà bpai = even if it rains, I'll go.
- แค่ไหน kâe-nǎi
how much, to what extent
- เหงา ngǎo
lonely
- ยืน yuuen
to stand
- ที่คั่นหนังสือ tîi-kân-nǎng-sǔue
bookmark
- เล่ม lêm
counting word for knives and books
- ครา kraa
time, occasion (poetic)
Everyday Thai: ครั้งkráng.
- บางหน้า baang nâa
some pages, a few pages
- พบ póp
to meet; to find (formal)
- ระหว่างหน้า rá-wàang nâa
between the pages
- ละสายตา lá sǎai-dtaa
to take your eyes off (someone)
สายตาsǎai-dtaa = your gaze, eyesight.
- แม้ máe
even if, although
- เท่าไร tâo-rai
how much (written form)
In speech: เท่าไหร่tâo-rài.
- ที่เก่า tîi gào
the same old place
Grammar in this song
No matter how: ต่อให้dtàw-hâi + verb or adjective + แค่ไหนkâe-nǎi, or แม้จะmáe jà + verb + เท่าไรtâo-rai, then the result with ก็gâw: ต่อให้เหนื่อยแค่ไหนก็ต้องทำdtàw-hâi nùeay kâe-nǎi gâw dtâwng tam (however tired I am, I have to do it), แม้จะยากเท่าไรก็จะลองmáe jà yâak tâo-rai gâw jà lawng (however hard it is, I'll try). แม้máe is the more written of the two.
Verb + ไม่จบmâi jòp: not finish doing something (อ่านไม่จบàan mâi jòp); verb + จบjòp = to finish it (ดูจบแล้วduu jòp láew, I've finished watching). น่าnâa + verb = worth doing, -able: น่าอ่านnâa àan (worth reading), น่าไปnâa bpai (worth a visit). บางbaang + noun = some: บางวันbaang wan (some days), บางทีbaang tii (sometimes, the song's English title).
The culture behind it
BOWKYLION (Nichada Veerasuthimas, born in 1994 in Nonthaburi) trained in the pre-college programme of Mahidol University's College of Music and became known on The Voice Thailand in 2015; she has been with the label What The Duck since 2017, and the Bangkok Post calls her the queen of sad songs. She wrote, composed and produced "ที่คั่นหนังสือtîi-kân-nǎng-sǔue" herself. She has said it began with a book: closing it one day, she wondered whether it would wait for her at the same page, and the thing that stays beside a book is its bookmark. So she wrote, in symbols, about a book in love with its reader, and asked her friend NONT TANONT (Tanont Chumroen, who won the first season of The Voice Thailand) to sing it with her.
Released in April 2025, it spent seven weeks at number one on the Official Thailand Chart between July and September, and it was the second most-streamed Thai song of the year on Spotify in Thailand and YouTube Thailand's second most-watched music video of 2025, after "กุหลาบgù-làap". Thai pop loves this kind of extended metaphor, sung in literary words such as คราkraa and พบpóp that you would rarely use in conversation, so the song is a good bridge from everyday Thai to written Thai.
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