 These two lines of lyrics open and are reprised throughout the epic film "The Spring River Flows East".While spring usually represents a renewal of energy in a positive way, here it conveys a negative connotation, as the introductory lyrics indicate, that in springtime when the flow is strong, the river carries nothing but sorrow.Also, modernity and westernization are incorporated in the script to show the influx of foreign influences and changes of the time.