A microphone, a wooden chair, a guitar, a beam of lights.

The whole world is condensed into a stage, only one person and a voice, that's all, standing here, but you can break the shackles of space and travel all over the world, you can also break the shackles of time, and experience a long life. His gaze involuntarily fell on this stage, quietly, just like that, looking at the man in the center of the stage.

He was concentrating on adjusting the strings, depressed and vicissitudes, it seemed that he would not attract any attention if he was lost in the vast sea of people, maybe it was the drunken homeless man lying under the chair just now, but at this moment he became different, he couldn't even see his face and eyes, he could only vaguely feel the lonely and alienated, bitter and painful, high and proud temperament, and then he couldn't take his eyes off it.

In the hazy light, without warning, the fingertips of the tuning began to outline the strings, and the simple chords seemed to have nothing special, but the notes jumping between the slender fingertips flew through the light and shadow, and time stopped in this way, and then, the noisy chatter gradually disappeared, leaving only the trivial sound of the wine glass and the table top, the spoon and the coffee cup gently colliding left a lingering sound in the air.

In a trance, there was an illusion that the music began to get louder, little by little, and finally it sounded clearly in my ears.

"Hang me, oh, hang me, I'll die soon. ”

Just the first line of singing, the mellow and hoarse voice rippled in the melody, like a bamboo-like palm in the red velvet a few strokes, soft and warm light temperature through the fingertips, delicate emotions fell on the tip of the heart unhindered, firmly grasping every clue of the heart.

"Hang me, oh, hang me, I'll die soon. I don't care about hanging, but alas, I don't want to be trapped in a grave forever, I've traveled all over the world. ”

In the murmuring singing, chic and uninhibited, unbridled and casual, but in the end of the smoke and fog, there is a touch of sadness and vicissitudes, a faint bitterness lingers under the nose like the breath of cigarettes, and a trace of hoarse voice is like plucking the strings, gently plucking the heartstrings, before realizing it, it is deep, deeply intoxicated in a hazy halo.

He had traveled to every corner of the world, but now he had to be trapped in the cold and darkness of a tomb, and the loss of freedom was more terrible than death. He doesn't mind the trial by hanging and the erosion of death, but he misses the soaring of freedom and the wanton of dreams.

The soft call fell softly on the heart, and the eyes were so deeply focused on the face under the halo, the drooping eyelids obscured all the eyes, and the thick and slender eyelashes cast shadows on the ground to hide the fragility and pride in the depths of the soul, and the handsome and straight eyebrows were slightly invisibly closer to the middle, and they seemed to have left deep traces after vicissitudes and suffering.

Involuntarily, my thoughts followed the indifferent strings and moving singing voice to every corner of the world, and my heart was stirred. Time and space began to spread outward little by little.

"Wandering all over Cape Girardo and the corners of Arkansas, wandering around Cape Girardo and corners of Arkansas. I'm so hungry, poor thing, a straw can hide my shape, I've walked through thousands of mountains and rivers. ”

I don't know if it's an illusion, but the light and upturned corners of the mouth can be captured in the hazy halo, hidden between the beards, which doesn't seem to be obvious, but the sparse eyebrows gently hum a happy and comfortable look, as if recalling the wanderings of the past.

The scenery of Cape Girardo and Akens is not beautiful, nor magnificent, nor beautiful, but it still leaves an indelible imprint on the depths of my mind, those winds, those trees, those sunshines, those skies...... Just a call in his mind, happiness surged up, even if he was almost starving to death, a straw was enough to cover his figure, but it was still a happy journey.

That pure happiness, crystal clear and translucent, without any impurities, sincere and simple.

Even if you are poor, even if you don't have enough to eat, even if you don't have enough clothes, happiness is real. Caught off guard, he couldn't help but close his eyes, gently swayed his body to the melody, let go of his footsteps, and began to wander the world.

"Climbing the peak, where I stood firm, climbing the peak, where I stood firm. Carrying a handful back and forth on my shoulder, and a dagger in my hand, I have reached the ends of the earth. ”

The collision of reality and ideals, life became bloody and cruel again, the Vietnam War, the United States mobilized all the young people of the whole country, threw themselves into this war, and then, in the wandering travel, he climbed to the top and strengthened his position - he chose to join the war, and came to fight for his country with guns and daggers.

But now, the sighs and loneliness between words are surging.

Whose war was that war for? And for what is the war that we insisted on? Who will remember those innocent lives that have been lost? They all think that they are serving their country, but they are just a fig leaf, and they use their fresh and young lives to cover up the politicians in the White House, and after they die in a foreign land, no one remembers their names, and in the end they just turn into a series of numbers.

God, oh God, he has reached the ends of the earth, wandering carefree, he has no food, he has no shelter, he has no fetters, he has nothing but music, but he once had the whole world.

So, he'd rather die, or at least, what he had was still real.

The whole gaslight bar was silent, and in that quiet air, the light and shadow really stopped, full of bitterness and sourness, but it was indescribable, just staring at the figure on the stage quietly, sighing and lonely, sad and dazed, it seemed that even the heart in the chest had stopped beating.

On that face that has been through vicissitudes, there is still a touch of loneliness.

The light was so bright that it hung over his figure, and the world beyond the light was completely gone, leaving him alone, alone and helpless, but he still straightened his back, opened his chest, and hummed softly and intently and devotedly, and that resolute faith never wavered.

Proud and high, gentle and dazzling, low-key and gorgeous.

No eyes, no movements, not even expressions, just sitting there quietly, the voice completes the narrative, those vivid and deep emotional fragments slowly flow in the melody, forgetting the existence of everyone, but easily dragging everyone into his world.

Listen, his song has wings and is soaring wildly.

"The noose was around my neck, and they hung me in the air. ”

Suddenly, his nose was slightly sore, his vision was blurred, a faint sadness and loneliness echoed in his heart, his singing voice was so light and gentle, and even with a smile on the corner of his mouth, he gently raised it and whispered, "The noose is around my neck, and they hang me high." When he was dying, the last words came to his ears: It won't be too long before it will be completely over. Poor see, I have traveled the whole world. ”

Caught off guard, warm tears wet the corners of his eyes, embarrassed, but after all, it was only a few.

Only the people who really experienced the Vietnam War, only the people who really experienced the sixties, only the people who were really scarred and weathered, only the people who really touched the core of the ballad, and only the people who really calmed down and listened attentively, can hear the deep emotions in this shallow chanting tune.

When freedom is gone, when dreams are gone, when persistence and faith are gone, they cease to exist, and even if they are alive, they are dead, wandering like walking corpses, and the memories of the past have become a thing of the past, buried deep in the rotten soil. When spring arrives, the moment of full bloom awaits us.

"So, hang me, oh, hang me, and I'll die soon. ”

There seemed to be a lump of cotton clogged in his chest, he couldn't speak, he couldn't shout, and even the tears in the corners of his eyes had disappeared, only blurring his vision, and there was a halo left in front of his eyes.

On the stage, the figure sat peacefully, holding a guitar in his arms, humming softly, raising his eyes slightly, his eyes full of halos swept lightly, and he could see the guests in the bar who were concentrating on dining, no one cared about his performance at all, and he could faintly hear the noise of dishes colliding, but he didn't care, the smile on the corner of his mouth was slightly pursed, and the hoarse voice of vicissitudes of life guided the memories back to the past.

The audience who could really understand was completely stunned, staring deeply, deeply at the figure, the beer in his hand had gradually become warm, the cigarette on his fingertips was almost burning to his fingers, and the coffee on the table had slowly lost its temperature...... But the sight is still reluctant to leave.

Pop, the soot fell like this, but no one noticed.

In the swirling smoke, time has completely lost its meaning in light and shadow, simple chords, simple composition, so simple that there is no new meaning, but the grandeur and magnificence of the story make the language completely disappear, just look at him, so slowly intoxicated, intoxicated, tomorrow's things will be left to tomorrow.

As for tonight, even if you go to the gallows, it doesn't seem to matter anymore. The important thing is, have you ever traveled to every corner of the world, and have you really had freedom and dreams?

The narration, soft and light, like elegant poetry and moving legends, beats between his lips and teeth, and then he is heard humming:

"Hang me, oh, hang me, and I'll die. ”