Melody, voice, lyrics, story--the four levels to understand a song, at least for me.

Many years ago, I had a strong feeling on a song’s melody and the singer’s voice, but nothing more details of it. Thanks to the lucky and also destiny, now I know the lyrics and the story behind it, and then I find more beauty and feel more emotions from the song.

Meanwhile, I recall two related stories.

1.       Once upon a time in my junior high school, I have fiddled with a shortwave radio to look for something interesting, and accidentally, from the sizzle of electric current, I tuned out a piece of music with an attractive sense of rhythm and melody. At that time, I didn’t know the lyrics or the title of the song, and have never heard it again. That frequency emerged unexpectedly and disappeared quickly, being silent since then. But I can't forget it in my memory, and I think of it from time to time in my life.

2.       I vaguely remember that I have read a book whose writer may be a Soviet or European. At the beginning of the book, the writer wrote that he was travelling by train in the autumn of one year, passing through the vast plains at the time of harvest. Accidentally, he looked at outside of the car window, and caught a glimpse of a slow and lonely carriage full of straw and haystack on top of which sat a little girl with a peaceful and slightly sad face. They hurriedly glanced at each other and separated more and more distant as the train speeded along. They have never met each other again. After departing from the only single intersection, two curves in the four-dimensional space-time pursue their onward journeys, with a distance gradually becoming infinite. The picture and face in that quick glimpse are unforgettable in the writer’s subsequent life, and constantly make him imagine the life experience and story of that little girl.

   旋律、音色、歌词、故事，认识歌曲的四个层次。

多年前曾很有感觉的旋律和声音，并不知道更多它的信息，有缘了解歌词及其背后的故事后，愈觉其美。

   又想起两个相关的故事。

        1，记得初中时，摆弄短波收音机，从滋滋啦啦的电流声中，偶然调出一段很有节奏和旋律感的音乐，当时也听不懂歌词，也不知道歌名，以后再也没有听到过，那个频率早也寂然无声了，但记忆里总忘不了，不时想起。

        2，又依稀记得大意，某（sl？欧洲？）作家某本书开篇写到，他某年秋天乘火车旅行，经过正值丰收的广袤大平原，向车窗外偶然瞥见一辆马车载满秸秆草垛踽踽而行，草垛顶上高高坐着一位神情安详又略带愁容的小女孩，匆匆对视一眼，就远远错过了，以后再也没见过。四维时空中两条曲线只有一个交点，渐远渐无穷。这匆匆一瞥的画面和神情，让作家终身难忘，不断想象对方的身世和故事。