Salak Jit (สลักจิต): meaning and key lines
Pop Pongkool ft. Da Endorphine
What the song is about
สลักจิตsà-làk jìt, “Salak Jit (Engraved in My Heart)”, is a T-pop song by Pop Pongkool ft. Da Endorphine (2022). A ballad about the one you never quite got over: you have both moved on to new partners, yet that person stays engraved in your heart and visits your dreams. Pop Pongkool sings it with Da Endorphine, and its video has passed 250 million views. The lines teach however (tight), can't help (thinking of you), secretly, some nights, it's not that I…, and without meaning to, in the gentle, slightly literary Thai of love songs.
Free, no sign-up: learn the key lines and words with audio, then sing along.
Song facts
- Artist
- Pop Pongkool ft. Da Endorphine
- Released
- 2022
- Style
- T-pop
- Level
- B1 (intermediate)
- Mood
- tender, haunted, wistful
- Views
- about 258M (Oct 2026)
- Video
- OfficialWhiteMusic (White Music, the GMM Grammy label that released the song)
- 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.
- เรื่องราว rûeang-raaoของ kǎwngเรา raoมัน manควร kuanจบลง jòp longอย่าง yàangสวยงาม sǔay-ngaam
Our story should have ended beautifully.
เรื่องราวrûeang-raao = a story, what happened between people. มันman (it) repeats the subject, as speech often does: our story, it… ควรkuan + verb = should; Thai verbs have no past form, so it's also 'should have'. จบลงjòp long = to come to an end (จบjòp = to end, ลงlong = down). อย่างyàang + adjective makes an adverb: อย่างสวยงามyàang sǔay-ngaam = beautifully, อย่างปลอดภัยyàang bplàwt-pai = safely. สวยงามsǔay-ngaam is the written, song form of สวยsǔay (beautiful). - อ้อมกอด âwm-gàwtเขา kǎoจะ jàแน่น nâenเท่าไร tâo-raiยัง yangอด òtนึกถึง núek tǔengเธอ toeไม่ mâiได้ dâi
However tight their embrace, I still can't help thinking of you.
อ้อมกอดâwm-gàwt = an embrace, someone's arms around you (กอดgàwt = to hug); เขาkǎo is the new partner. จะjà + adjective + เท่าไรtâo-rai = however…: จะแพงเท่าไรjà paeng tâo-rai = however expensive. แน่นnâen = tight. อดòt + verb + ไม่ได้mâi dâi = can't help doing it: อดยิ้มไม่ได้òt yím mâi dâi = I couldn't help smiling. นึกถึงnúek tǔeng = to think of. เท่าไรtâo-rai is also spelled เท่าไหร่tâo-rài, the way it's usually said. - ยัง yangแอบ àepนัด nátพบ pópเจอ joeกับ gàpเธอ toeบาง baangคืน kuuenใน naiฝัน fǎn
Some nights I still secretly meet you in my dreams.
The chorus. ยังyang = still. แอบàep + verb = to do something in secret: แอบรักàep rák = to love someone secretly. นัดnát = to arrange to meet, a date; พบpóp and เจอjoe both mean to meet, and songs like to double them. บางคืนbaang kuuen = some nights; บางวันbaang wan = some days. ในฝันnai fǎn = in a dream. - แม้ máeนาน naanเท่าไหร่ tâo-ràiไม่ mâiเคย koeiได้ dâiพบ pópเจอ joe
No matter how long we've gone without seeing each other…
แม้máe + adjective + เท่าไหร่tâo-rài = however…, no matter how…: แม้นานเท่าไหร่máe naan tâo-rài = however long. Line 2 said it with จะjà … เท่าไรtâo-rai: it's one word, spelled two ways. ไม่เคยได้mâi koei dâi + verb = never got to: ไม่เคยได้ไปmâi koei dâi bpai = I never got to go. พบเจอpóp joe = to meet, the two words of line 3 again. The next line ends the thought: you've never faded from my memory. - ไม่ mâiได้ dâiร่ำร้อง râm-ráwngให้ hâiเธอ toeกลับ glàpมา maa
I'm not crying out for you to come back.
Da Endorphine sings the second verse; Pop sings most of the rest. ไม่ได้mâi dâi + verb = I'm not (doing that), it's not that I…: ไม่ได้ว่าอะไรmâi dâi wâa à-rai = I'm not blaming you. ร่ำร้องrâm-ráwng is a literary word: to cry out, to plead again and again. ให้hâi + person + verb = for someone to…: ให้เธอกลับมาhâi toe glàp maa = for you to come back. กลับมาglàp maa = to come back. - เข้าใจ kâo-jaiดี diiที่ tîiต้อง dtâwngเลิกรา lôek-raa
I understand very well that we had to part.
เข้าใจดีkâo-jai dii = to understand well. ที่tîi + a clause = that…, the fact that…: ดีใจที่ได้เจอdii-jai tîi dâi joe = glad to meet you. ต้องdtâwng = must, have to. เลิกราlôek-raa = to part, a poetic way to say เลิกกันlôek gan (to break up). - สบตา sòp-dtaaเขา kǎoบางที baang-tiiยัง yangเผลอ plǒeคิด kítว่า wâaเธอ toeมอง mawngฉัน chǎn
Sometimes when I look into their eyes, I still catch myself thinking it's you looking at me.
สบตาsòp-dtaa = to meet someone's eyes; เขาkǎo is the new partner again. บางทีbaang-tii = sometimes (and also maybe). เผลอplǒe + verb = to do something without meaning to, to slip: เผลอหลับplǒe làp = to doze off, ขอโทษเผลอไปkǎw-tôot plǒe bpai = sorry, I didn't mean to. คิดว่าkít wâa = to think that. มองmawng = to look at.
Words you'll learn
- จบลง jòp long
to come to an end
- ควร kuan
should, ought to
Softer than ต้องdtâwng: it's advice, not a rule, and 'shouldn't' is ไม่ควรmâi kuan.
- เรื่องราว rûeang-raao
story, events (of a life)
- อ้อมกอด âwm-gàwt
embrace, arms around you
- นึกถึง núek tǔeng
to think of, to be reminded of
- แอบ àep
secretly
- ฝัน fǎn
to dream; a dream
ฝันร้ายfǎn ráai = a nightmare; ฝันดีfǎn dii = sweet dreams.
- นาน naan
(for) a long time
Only for time. A long way is ไกลglai (far).
- แม้ máe
even if, although
- ร่ำร้อง râm-ráwng
to cry out (for), to plead (literary)
- กลับ glàp
to go back, to return
กลับบ้านglàp bâan (go home) is กลับglàp + home; กลับมาglàp maa is 'come back'.
- เลิกรา lôek-raa
to split up, to part (poetic)
Everyday Thai: เลิกกันlôek gan, to break up.
- เข้าใจ kâo-jai
to understand
- เผลอ plǒe
to do without meaning to; to slip up
- สบตา sòp-dtaa
to meet someone's eyes
Grammar in this song
จะjà or แม้máe + adjective + เท่าไรtâo-rai = however…: อ้อมกอดเขาจะแน่นเท่าไรâwm-gàwt kǎo jà nâen tâo-rai (however tight their embrace), แม้นานเท่าไหร่máe naan tâo-rài (however long), จะไกลเท่าไรjà glai tâo-rai (however far). The second half often starts with ก็gâw or ยังyang: จะยากเท่าไรก็จะลองjà yâak tâo-rai gâw jà lawng (however hard it is, I'll try).
อดòt + verb + ไม่ได้mâi dâi = can't help (doing): อดนึกถึงเธอไม่ได้òt núek tǔeng toe mâi dâi (I can't help thinking of you), อดหัวเราะไม่ได้òt hǔa-ráw mâi dâi (I couldn't help laughing). แอบàep + verb = to do it in secret, เผลอplǒe + verb = to do it without meaning to, and ไม่ได้mâi dâi + verb = it's not that…: ไม่ได้ร่ำร้องmâi dâi râm-ráwng (it's not that I'm pleading).
The culture behind it
Pop Pongkool (ป๊อบปองกูลbpáwp bpawng-guun), Pongkool Suebsung, first sang on the TV show First Stage in 2004 and was the lead singer of the duo Calories Blah Blah before going solo on White Music, a GMM Grammy label. "สลักจิตsà-làk jìt" (July 2022) was the first single from his album Human Error, sung with Da Endorphine, who began as the lead singer of the band Endorphine; the two hadn't sung together for fifteen years, since "ไม่รู้จักฉันไม่รู้จักเธอmâi rúu-jàk chǎn mâi rúu-jàk toe". The words and melody are by Achariya Dulyapaiboon, who also wrote NuNew's True Love, Bright's Kan Goo and Billkin's I Like Us. It went to number one on YouTube's trending list in Thailand, GMM Grammy reported, and the video has since passed 250 million views.
The title means 'carved into the mind': สลักsà-làk = to carve, to engrave, จิตjìt = the mind, and every chorus ends with the singer burying the ex deep in the heart. Pop explained the song with a computer: a person isn't like a computer, he said; delete something and a bug stays behind, popping up however many updates you install, and the woman in the song comes from that bug. In the video, Toey Jarinporn and Ananda Everingham play former lovers who have both found someone new and still secretly miss each other.
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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
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