Shuidiao Getou is the name of a traditional Chinese melody to which a poem in the cí style can be sung. Different poets have written different lyrics to the melody which are usually prefixed by this melody's title, the Song dynasty poet Su Shi's work "Shuǐdiào Gētóu – Míngyuè Jǐshíyǒu " (水調歌頭·明月幾時有) being one of the most famous.

Cí, also known as chángduǎnjù and shīyú, is a type of lyric poetry in the tradition of Classical Chinese poetry that also draws upon folk traditions. Cí, also known as "song lyrics," use various poetic meters derived from a base set of fixed pattern forms, using fixed-rhythm, fixed-tone, and line-lengths varying according that of the model examples. The rhythmic and tonal pattern of the cí are based upon certain, definitive musical song tunes (cípái), and in many cases the name of the musical tune is given in the title of a cí piece, in a form such as "after ...."