With the development of modern society and digital media, popular music has become the most widely circulated music genre in modern society, which has a certain impact on traditional music, and how traditional folk songs can be inherited and innovated in modern society has become a matter of concern. This study takes the adapted version of the representative “ Mountain folksong is better than spring river water” from Liu Sanjie folksong as an example, and analyzes the expressive content, melody, rhythm, composition, structure and other aspects of the song, especially the elements of pop music incorporated, to reflect the rich expressive forms, innovativeness and diversities of traditional music, and to better understand the dissemination and innovation of traditional music in the modern society. This study explores the innovation and development of traditional music from the perspective of popular music. By analyzing and studying the practice of integrating traditional music with popular music, this study provides new knowledge and theories for the academic community, and new ideas for promoting China's excellent traditional music culture.