Chapter 6 "Things of the past" Why should we have known each other before?

Why have we met before? Love Songs of the Yellow Earth (1) I always feel that I am still young, and I don’t think there is any obstacle in playing with people in their twenties. Occasionally, when I think that I am already forty, I can’t help but feel a little bit puzzled. One weekend, several guests came to the house, all young men in their early twenties.The boys lived up to their good years, they all graduated from college, and they were all in love; when it came to the beauty of love, they didn't shy away from it, shouting and laughing.That's how it should be.Somehow the subject changed and we talked about jumping in the queue.It may be that they asked me how my legs were disabled, and I said that I fell ill while jumping in line.They were silent for a while, and one of them said that my parents often told me about their jumping in line.I said, what, what, you say it again?He said it again, my parents, as soon as they talked about what happened when they jumped in line, they couldn't finish.

"Your father and your mother, have you been in the queue?" "Is there something else wrong?" "Where?" "Shanxi. North Shanxi." "how old are you?" "Twenty-one. The second generation of educated youth, I am the boss." "Which class are your parents and your mother?" "Sixty-six, old senior year. This year is forty-five." Yes, that's a pretty good answer.I thought to myself: So, the second generation of our group of old educated youths have reached the age of falling in love?So, in another three to five years, we can all be grandparents?

"When were you born?" I stared at him blankly, still a little bit in disbelief. "Seventy years." He said, "My father and mother left in 1968, got married a year later, and gave birth to me a year later." I was still in a daze, and looked at him from head to toe several times. "Do you think I shouldn't have been born?" he teased. "No no no." I said.Everyone laughed. But I thought to myself that his birth must have put his parents in a very difficult position. "How did your parents tell you about jumping the queue?" Without thinking about it, he said that there was one thing that impressed him the most: his parents went back to Beijing to visit relatives in the first year, and they worked in the countryside for a year without even earning enough travel expenses, so they had to pick up cars all the way. (Picking up the train means taking the train without buying a ticket or just buying a platform ticket, and letting the conductor catch you and see that you really have no money. At most, you will be kicked off.) No money, but I was young at that time, and I had a pair of shoes that could withstand beatings. If you are in good health, if you can’t afford a hotel, you’ll squat at the bus station. If there’s no seat for you in the bus, you’ll just stand there. When the ticket checker comes, you’ll hide in the toilet. If you can’t hide, you’ll be thrown down again. When the car gets on again, it is still a platform ticket.Returning to the heart is like an arrow, just like this, one journey after another, advancing towards the capital like a pilgrimage.Such a long journey day and night, but his parents are tired.Once I got on a train, thank God the car was quite empty, and his parents found a big chair and fell asleep.After several small stops in succession, there were too many people on the bus. Someone called his father up and said that the seat is for everyone and you cannot sleep alone. His father nodded and told him to sit down.After a while, someone went to wake his mother up again.His father looked distressed.Love gives people wisdom, his father had an idea, pointed to his mother and said to everyone: "Don't pay attention to her, madman." Then everyone backed away and let his mother sleep soundly.

I said that his birth must have put his parents in trouble, not just financially, but mainly public opinion.Twenty years ago in China, shyness in love was often considered a mistake that had to be made; especially for a pair of educated young people who came to the vast world of the countryside and had not yet achieved much. If they talk about love first, they will at least be considered as demoralized. .The concepts of revolution, progress, great achievements, and even hard struggle are almost incompatible with love; almost all the heroes in revolutionary model plays are celibate.At that time, love was like a fugitive, who had no place to stay in a fair place; it was not allowed in the play, not in the book, and not in the song.If you don’t believe me, go find it, the word love was never found in Chinese songs at that time.In the past, except for "National Anthem", all foreign songs except "Internationale" were accused of being pornographic.So, looking at my young friend, I couldn't help admiring his parents' bravery back then, and thinking of their hardships.

But people in their twenties can still do it without falling in love, but it is impossible not to yearn for love, unless there is something wrong with their psychology. Of the 20 of us who jumped in line together, the oldest had just turned eighteen, and the youngest was less than seventeen.We took the train from Beijing to Xi'an, to Tongchuan, and then changed cars to Yan'an, laughing and laughing all the way, it felt like traveling.Think about the future when you are calm, and the romantic poetry also reveals a bit of danger, but "the more difficult and dangerous, the more forward", everyone feels more at ease in their hearts, and silently feels the nobility and heroism.Then encourage each other: "We can't be depressed." "Yes." "We can't learn to be bad." "Of course." "We can't do nothing." "Whoever smokes, we all smoke!" "Let's not fall in love or get married." "Hey—!" Everyone made a look of contempt or disgust. deeds.But in the second year of jumping in the queue, we first canceled the "no smoking" commandment.After a day of suffering in the mountains, I often only have a few bowls of "money rice" when I come back at night. I am hungry and greedy. I can buy a pack of cigarettes for 20 cents, which is enough for several people to enjoy two nights. The most economical way.But smoking should not be seen by those girls, otherwise they will look down on them.This is a little tricky, since you are determined to be celibate, why bother to care so much about the evaluation of the opposite sex?I didn't have time to delve into this section, and then they sang "Yellow Songs" one after another.The so-called yellow songs are nothing more than "Evening in the Suburbs of Moscow", "Katyusha", "Light", "The Path", "Red River Valley" and so on.Someone got a copy of "200 Famous Foreign Songs", and everyone was first attracted by the lyrics.For example: "There is a long and winding path leading to the misty distance. I want to follow my lover to the battlefield along this narrow path..." For example: "There was a young girl who sent soldiers to fight. They bid farewell in the dark, in front of the steps. Through the faint mist, the young man saw that there was still a light shining in front of the girl's window." What a beautiful lyrics.Everyone said yes, said it was not pornographic at all, said it was not only not pornographic but also very revolutionary.So learn to sing.In the evening, I learned to sing seriously under the dim oil lamp, which was no less serious than learning "Selected Works of Mao".Push open the kiln door, sit on the edge of the cliff, facing the mountains in the moonlight, and the Qingping River at the foot, rushing day and night. "Just as the pear blossoms were blooming all over the sky, and the gentle veil was floating on the river, Katyusha stood on the steep bank, singing like the bright spring."

Why should we have known each other once? Love Song of the Yellow Earth (2) The singing echoed on the mountain and spread far along the Qingping River.After singing for a while, and then resting, everyone was moved and fell silent.What are you moved by?At least when everyone sang "girl" and "lover" they were not so natural.Unfinished, I sang again: "Come and sit beside me, don't leave in such a hurry, remember your hometown in the Red River Valley, and the girl who loves you." Is this song also very revolutionary?whatever!This song is even more heartwarming.At that moment, if a girl had meant something similar to that lyric to anyone among us, everyone would have walked over and sat by her side.Just as it is said in "Selected Works of Mao": "Democracy is the mainstream, and the anti-democratic reaction is just a countercurrent." For people in their twenties, love is the mainstream, and the anti-love reaction is just a countercurrent.However, this countercurrent is still very strong for a while, and I still dare not sing these songs in front of girls, for fear of being scolded as a hooligan, the mainstream of love only surges in my heart.Since it is the mainstream, it is unstoppable.A few times when I came back from work, I sang while walking on the mountain road.Walking through a ditch, turning over a beam, while singing uncontrollably, suddenly bumped into one or several girls head-on, although she hurriedly stopped, but it was too late, the singing must have entered the girls' ears (hopefully not only the ears, and the heart).What can I do?Everyone panicked for a while and said, "It's okay." Strengthen your courage.Said: "Take care of them!" Support the face of a man. "Did they hear it?" "Can they still hear it?" "They all blushed." "Really?" "Of course." "Listen to his nonsense." "Hey, whoever talks nonsense is not human!" "Did you see that?" "Nonsense." This is not bad news, it is something worth remembering, and it makes people slightly excited.In any case, the singing had a response from the girl, and no matter what the response was, it was worth considering more than just echoing on the mountains.After all, the mainstream is the mainstream. Soon, we heard the girls singing the "yellow song": "Young man, why are you sad? Why are you lowering your head? Who made you so sad? It was the driver who asked him... ..."

Thinking about it, all human singing probably originated in this way.In other words, all art originates in this way.Hard life needs hope, fresh life needs love, countless days and countless thoughts must be told.This is especially true of folk songs.This is especially true for folk songs in northern Shaanxi. "Bailingzi can't sink to the bottom when crossing the river, and I won't forget you for three or two years. When we meet again one day, we will talk about each other." "The fire in Hamokou Stove burns dry wood, and it gets hotter and hotter." "Egg shells The lamp is half lit and the kang is lit, and the cooking wine cup measures the rice, so I don’t think my brother is poor.” “The duck with a white neck flies south, you are the ghost of my brother’s life. I think of my godmother in the middle of the night, and the wolf will not regret it after eating my brother.” Love song It occupies a large proportion in all folk songs. In the final analysis, love is the fundamental hope, and love needs to be told.After suffering and tormenting in the mountains, the villagers sang at the top of their voices, not as sneaky as we are.Love is not stealing. "It's too low to run a horse on the wall, and I still miss you when I sleep face to face. I kissed my brother, and the pimple in my belly turned into water." But there is always a countercurrent of anti-love: "The red fruit is peeled, and people say I am It has nothing to do with you, we have nothing to do with each other, because a good person deserves his reputation." "I don't blame my father or my mother for coming here, but only blame the matchmaker for his long mouth." "I'll give you this purse, and I'll tell you something from my heart." Oh brother, please don’t say that I embroidered it. You just say that you bought it on the cross street and paid (what) three taels of silver, brother, please don’t say that I embroidered it.” But as we have already said, the mainstream is the mainstream after all, and if you push the mainstream, you will rebel. My man was called a wolf. Eat the body first and then the brain, and killed the old lady.” “I hid my brother in my house and poisoned my man. Don’t be afraid. It’s your man who comes and goes sooner or later. Fall together Marry again." Truly lawless.But God must have created life not according to the law, but probably out of love; all countercurrents, even decorations with laws, should be overthrown.The fellow villagers sang sincerely and frankly. We were disturbed, shocked, and intoxicated when we heard it. That is the scene where the three words "re-education" can be used.As I said in that novel, folk songs in northern Shaanxi often have mournful and low-pitched drawls, or cheerful and loud shouts. If they are not on the stage but in the mountains, the drawls or shouts can be short or long at will.For example, "Thirty Mile Shop": "Remember—this family is famous..." For example, "The Spirit of Animals": "The mule who walked away—the lamp with three lamps..." "Refer" You can freely extend after the "Mule son" until you are satisfied.Based on what?I think it is because of the terrain, it should be shorter in narrow gullies, but it must be longer in open rivers or on top of mountains, in order to take care of the position of the listener?Perhaps, more likely, it is to satisfy the singer's feeling that man and nature are one, and the singing and the soul must form a harmonious form with the heaven and the earth.

The charm of folk songs lasts for a long time, because it is the result of several generations of tempering and elimination.The reason why folk songs are widely spread is that they sing about ordinary people's ordinary hearts.It never tries to scold you by pulling your ears, let alone how flawless or even glamorous it is; it has no intention of intimidating or flattering; It wanted to be among everyone, so it gave up its tone and pretentiousness from the beginning; it didn't want to win the applause of the momentary madness, and it didn't want to kneel at its feet a group of "believers" begging for grace; its meaning was the essence of life. Holographic, to appreciate in the everlasting.Taoism follows nature, and folk songs are beautiful in sincerity and simplicity.Sincere and simple sorrow, sincere and simple love, sincere and simple hope and longing, become a melody, walk close to the mountain, follow the water, follow the sky and believe in the sky; become a libretto, walk close to the heart Follow the heart flow, follow the heart, and believe in the heart.

In fact, the origin of popular songs should also be like this - singing about ordinary people's ordinary hearts, singing about ordinary people's ordinary thoughts, emotions, anger, sorrow, and joy are all true, unforgettable, and haunting, whether they are treasured or candid It's all the work of the heart, not the bazaar of the throat.Maybe it's because I'm old, how can the current pop songs move me so little?If it is me who is getting old, then everyone will just treat it as some kind of wind and pull it down.I think that there may have been popular songs tens or hundreds of years ago, and many of them blew across the east, west, and north like a whirlwind (such as those during the Great Leap Forward period and the "Cultural Revolution" period), because they did not originate from the heart, so they also Can not stay in the heart, has long been forgotten.I think that folk songs are actually a part of popular songs in the past, which have been circulated among the people for many years, so later generations call them folk songs.I think that all the songs that have been handed down for decades or even hundreds of years may have been considered popular songs at the beginning (if they cannot be popular, they will not be handed down), and they have not been blown away by the wind because generations have passed. They all hear their own hearts, and even their own lives. "There is a linden tree in front of the door, standing by the ancient well, I have had countless dreams, in its shade..." "Old Man River, Old Man River, you know everything, but you are always silent..." The time is still foreign, as long as it flows from the heart, it will definitely flow into the heart.It's a pity that I can only list some lyrics here, and I can't let you hear its tune, but you may be able to imagine its tune through these lyrics. The tune must be alienated from the market and closely related to the heart.I heard some people say that our pop songs have never found the proper way to sing. We have learned from Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as from the East and the West, but the effect is not good.So some people did the opposite and made soil specifically, but the soil was not deep, and what was raised on the head was definitely not soil, but floating soil or simply dust. "My family lives on a high slope in the loess, and a strong wind blows in front of the door." Although "high" and "big" are both used, it sounds stingy; It's my song..." This is tantamount to claiming that he has no vision of life, that he has no heart.It's fine if you really want to be heartless and immortal, but at that time, the "wind" just can bring money, and making money is not a crime, but then you can no longer say that you don't have any views on life.False is finally going to show the horse's feet.Singing is originally a sincere and free speech. If even singing is fake, people will really be desperate to live.I heard some people talk about their dissatisfaction with popular songs, mostly because of technical considerations, technology is important, I don't understand, dare not talk nonsense.But a purely technical point of view is extremely detrimental to a song. For a song, you still have to find its source and its destination from the heart.

I have been skeptical and introspected for a long time after writing this: Maybe I am wrong?I'm old?A man can only sing what he thinks is sincere, which is defined by his personality and his history.It is impossible for a man, despite his pious desire to understand all men.The history of one generation is different from another generation, which is the eternal guarantee of the generation gap.Ditches are not bad things, there are ditches where there are mountains and rivers, if the earth is so flat, although I hope that it is all fertile land, in fact it is probably all deserts.Don't be a tyrannical parent, let your children be as tall as you (we have done enough to be such poor children).The 21-year-old friend mentioned at the beginning of this article—the second generation of our educated youths, what songs does he like to sing?I'll ask him when I get a chance.But let him sing whatever he wants to sing. Most of the tense atmosphere in the world is caused by carelessness, which turns into meddling.Since our second generation is also approaching the season of love, we must pay special attention: Any behavior that interferes with other people's love with our own ideas is just a countercurrent.