我在中学时期，有一年的班里要组织元旦联欢。为了凑节目，我劝说一女童鞋和我一起来一个二重唱节目。那时候学歌记歌词主要靠听。听着《在雨中》觉着不错，就选它了。

元旦联欢时，轮到我们演唱。只唱了两句：“在雨中，我遇见你；在夜里，我问过你…”就发现一些童鞋表情异样。难道我唱得那么难听吗？一紧张，下面的歌词就忘了。从此我对我的唱功极不自信。

N年以后，开始流行卡拉OK。有了电视屏幕的歌词提示，终于不用记歌词了。有一回，又点了《在雨中》这首歌，只唱了两句，就发现问题了。歌词不对吧？那个“问”写错了！

于是才明白，当年童鞋们的异样表情其实跟我的唱功一点没有关系。



想起这个故事，不仅为自己当时的纯真（愚昧）感慨，同时也想用这个事实说明，我们成人学习语言也好，学习唱歌也好，和儿童是不一样的。我们在孩童时代学习唱歌，一定是以倾听为主。即便想知道歌词，也会主要通过倾听把歌词记下来，所以才会犯我小时候的错误，所以才会听到“你是我的猪大哥”，“树上说有情人终究能成婵娟”这样的歌曲。而我们长大了，虽说听力不如儿童那样强大，可是我们识字啊！看着歌词，我们一样可以很快学会歌曲。

学习歌曲如是， 学习语言亦如是。

所以，让我们停止学习英语，让我们开始用英语探索另一个世界。

今日给大家带来的是一首经典老歌：《The Famous Blue Raincoat》



歌词是以一封信的方式，是一个男人写给另外一个男人的，其中讲述的故事让无数的歌迷猜测，谁是Jane, 谁是Lili Marlene，但是唯一一点可以确定的是，这是一首关于很久以前失去的爱和很久以后的不再恨的故事。这首曲子来自专辑《Songs of Love and Hate》。

作者是加拿大歌手，作曲家，诗人 Leonard Cohen。大家也许对他的歌曲更熟悉的是另外一首“ "Hallelujah"。

然而，对于他的这首歌曲，我更喜欢的是Jennifer Warnes，她的声音加上前奏的Saxophone 使得这首歌曲成为了众多音响设备厂商的试音大碟曲目。

在你不知道歌词的时候，你一定会觉得这是一首好听的歌曲。

当你看到歌词以后，你会知道这是一首在你一生中某个时候可以陪伴你的歌曲。

让我们看着歌词，听着歌手的演绎，一起唱吧。



"Famous Blue Raincoat"

It's four in the morning, the end of December
I'm writing you now just to see if you're better


New York is cold, but I like where I'm living
There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening.


I hear that you're building your little house deep in the desert
You’re living for nothing now, I hope you're keeping some kind of record.

Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder


You'd been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without Lili Marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody's wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane's awake --

She sends her regards.

And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear --

Sincerely, L.