經六高翔的英文回憶文章：Unchained Melody

高翔

經71（1987年入學的管理信息系統本科生）校友張元傑（注1）來信說“适逢院慶二十年臨近，在學院的網頁上讀了一些回憶文章之後，忽又想起兩篇給我留下很深的印象且和清華有關的老文章，于是從網上找到，重溫了一遍，覺得依然那麼親切，很有‘那時花開’的意境。”元傑校友并特别推薦其中的第二篇，經六（1986年入學的管理信息系統專業本科生）的高翔（注2）用英文寫的：“Unchained Melody”給大家，并說它“多少是一個很有特色的小補充。”

元傑校友所言極是。大學生活是豐富多采的，是甜酸苦辣鹹五味俱全的，有快樂也有些許悲傷，有張揚也有點滴苦悶，各種色調中，灰也是一種别樣的抒發。

——編者

注1：張元傑是經71人稱的“老大”或者“老張”，嚴格地算，他是1986年就考上清華經管學院的，不過他參加了當時的一個特殊培養項目，就是先去燕山石化工作實踐了一年，回來後一直就學習、生活在經71這個集體中。本科畢業後赴美，在芝加哥大學商學院拿的博士，現在在美國加州AXA Rosenberg集團的Barr Rosenberg研究中心工作。

注2：高翔從美國留學、工作後回京，現在當當網做副總裁。

Unchained Melody

Gao, Xiang (Jing86)

That was a Saturday in December, 1990. Jiang Tao, a girl, and I went to the auditorium to prepare for the big show of Tsinghua Art Group. It was just some routines on the stage, and we finished them ahead of time. There were only three of us in that big theater.

"Will you be nervous when you play around with that toy?" Jiang Tao pointed to the xylophone I was going to play that Saturday night.

"Well, this is my first time playing xylophone here." I had only played dulcimer before on that stage.

"Let's practice how to keep our cool when we are nervous.", Jiang Tao pushed the piano to the middle of the stage.

The girl, only a sophomore(class 89) from my department, was usually very quiet. All of a sudden, she sat down and started rendering her hands on the keyboard swiftly. A string of beautiful notes ran through her fingers. That was "Unchained Melody", an old American folk song, so tenderly and melancholy played by her, that Jiang Tao and I were deeply struck. We didn't say a word when the melody was rolling through every corner of the theater.

And we had never known she could play piano.

"Music is about feelings, not notes. If you play for the audience, you will never keep your composure. Play for yourself, express your feelings through your instruments, then your nervousness, hesitation, uncertainty, and any other bad moods will go away eventually". She followed her performance with those philosophical words firmly.

At that particular moment, I loved her. I almost jumped forward to hug her. Had I done that, perhaps it wouldn't have been an exceptional behavior, considering how romantic and impressive her performance was.

It was the most beautiful moment in my life.

I played extremely well that Saturday night. When my solo came on, my whole heart was soaked with that piece of music. I almost forgot where I was, whom I played for, just pure music. After that, Jiang Tao gave me a big hi-fi, while that girl was standing steps away with a nice smile.

Jiang Tao, one of the best guitarists in Tsinghua, won the top prize in guitar competition the week after the show.

A year and a half later, when I got the news that the girl jumped off from a building near Beijing University, the first thing that hit upon me was "Unchained Melody". I hardly knew the girl, yet this piece accompanied me for a long time. Nobody knew why the only child of her parents left them only with her diary, which kept all her secrets.

Then came the movie "Ghost", from which the old song "Unchained Melody" became popular again in the States. I watched the movie several times, each time just to savor the melody, pray for the ghost of the girl to live peacefully in the heaven.

Jiang Tao never gave up hopes when cancer tortured him. He showed incredible courage when such a devastating misfortune fell upon him. He listened to a lot of music, even got a computer before his death.

I wonder if "Unchained Melody" was among the music.

Jiang Tao also left the world, with so many unfinished wishes. The girl and Jiang Tao would never know that "Unchained Melody" served as a bridge through which the ghost of the boy could still love the girl in that movie.

Someday, in my dream, like the movie, I would watch them play "Unchained Melody" , with their piano and guitar, to tell me again why nervousness, hesitation, uncertainty, and other bad moods can be conquered. Just love the music and play it.

Suddenly, I realized it is not only music.

Just love the life and play it.

-----To the memories of the girl and Jiang Tao