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Artist: Zheng Zhihua (郑智化)
Song: 老幺的故事 (Lǎo Yāo de gùshì) •Album: 老幺的故事

老幺的故事

黑色的煤渣　白色的雾
阿爸在坑里不断的挖
养活我们这一家
骄纵的老幺　倔强的我
命运是什么我不懂
都市才有我的梦
纠缠的房屋　单纯的心
坑里的宝藏不再有
为何我们不搬走
沉淀的悸动　醉人的酒
阿爸的嘴角喃喃地说
这里才有老朋友

通往坑口的那一条路
不是人生的唯一的方向
晨曦中模糊的脚步声
已忘了最后的一次道别
谁说宠坏的孩子不哭
就在悲剧发生的那一瞬间
泪水吶喊唤不回
阿爸在淹没的矿坑里面

淹没的矿坑它淹没了我的梦
淹没的矿坑淹没多少笑容
焚烧的纸钱在狂风中乱飞
过去的回忆抹不去的伤痕
矿工的儿子逃离家乡的老幺
万能的神啊教我该如何祷告

在物质文明的现代战场
我得到了一切却失去了自己
再多的梦也填不满空虚
真情像煤渣化成了灰烬
家乡的人被矿坑淹没失去了生命
都市的人被欲望淹没却失去了灵魂

淹没的矿坑它淹没了我的梦
淹没的矿坑淹没多少笑容
淳朴的脸孔又再一次想起
心灵的归宿何处挡风遮雨
成长的老幺现在我终于知道
逃离的家乡最后归去的地方

以下内容摘自唱片文案：

海山、煤山两次矿变，在我脑海中留下一生无法抹灭的回忆。创作这首歌的原始动机完全出自一种旁观者不明究里的悲天悯人。凭着一股狂热，我来到的九份，访问了当地的一些在地人，企图发掘更多矿变发生后对他们造成伤害的事实。出乎我意料的，他们对问题的反应不是激动或悲绝，而是沈淀过的冷静，一种近乎认命的淡然。亲人的死去，固然令人伤痛，但是对矿工而言那是一种宿命；而不是都市人用来大肆渲染的社会问题。

第二次造访九份，是个飘着微雨的下午，整座基隆山被白色的迷雾笼罩着……我想起一个阿婆跟我说过的一句话：挖土碳啊！不是死在坑里，就是死在床上，有什么好可怜的？命哦……就像歌词的一段：

家乡的人被矿坑淹没，失去了生命；都市的人被欲望淹没，却失去了灵魂。

矿工不一定可怜，可怜的很可能是我们。

——————————————

台湾煤矿史：
https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E7%85%A4%E7%A4%A6

关于海山煤矿灾变：
https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B5%B7%E5%B1%B1%E7%85%A4%E7%A4%A6

关于煤山煤矿灾变：
https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%85%A4%E5%B1%B1%E7%85%A4%E7%A4%A6%E7%…

Story of Lao Yao

Black cinder, white mist
Father kept mining coal down the pit
To raise our family
I, Lao Yao1, the arrogant and stubborn one
Didn’t understand what destiny means
Believed that my dream would come true in city
Intertwining houses, a heart so naive
For the treasure in pit was no more
I wondered why we didn’t move
With sedimentary palpitation and intoxicating liquor
Father answered me in murmuring
Nowhere are all my old friends but here

The path to the entrance of pit
Was not the only way in life
The faint footsteps in dawn
Were the last goodbye almost forgotten
A spoiled kid might cry too –
In the moment the tragedy occurred
No tears and cries recalled
Father devoured by the mining pit

The devouring pit did devour my dream
The devouring pit did devour lots of laughter
Burning joss paper was floating in roaring wind
The past memory, an unhealable scar
Son of a miner, Lao Yao that escaped from hometown
Oh omnipotent deity, teach me how to pray

In the modern battlefield of material civilization
I’ve gained everything but lost my own self
No dream can fill my emptiness
Real feelings have turned into ashes like cinder
The people devoured by pit in hometown have lost their lives
The persons drowned by desire in city have lost their souls

The devouring pit did devour my dream
The devouring pit did devour lots of laughter
I remind of those unsophisticated faces again
Home of my heart to shelter from rain
I, Lao Yao, finally mature and learn
The hometown from which I escaped is where I have to go back

1.Lao Yao: The youngest brother or sister.

Translation of the song’s introduction:

The two mining accidents in Haishan and Meishan have impressed me so deep that even can’t be erased from my mind in this life. My original purpose to write this song was just from the unknown sympathy of a onlooker. With an enthusiasm, I set my foot on Jiufen and visited some native people in an attempt to excavate more truth that the occurred mining accidents had mentally damaged them. Unexpectedly, they neither reacted with agitation nor sorrow, but in a quite calm mood as if they had almost yielded to fate. To a family, death of its member does make sorrow, but it is the destiny of a miner instead of a social problem greatly hyped by city people.

The second time I came in Jiufen was in a drizzling afternoon, while the whole Mount Keelung was covered by white mist… I reminded of the words an old woman had told me: A miner is destined to die! Either down the pit or on bed, which is not pitiful at all; This is fate… Just like the lyrics say:

The people devoured by pit in hometown have lost their lives; The persons drowned by desire in city have lost their souls

Not all miners are pitiful, but all of us may be.

By Isaiah Siegfried Chen

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