Dulan 都蘭 "Oh Yi Yan"

~Composed by Dulan La Jen Hsi, and produced by Matthew Lien
~Performed by Lai-hsin and La Jen Hsi (vocals), and Matthew Lien (all other instrumentation).
~ (c) Dulan La Jen Hsi 2009. All rights reserved.


A few years ago, while doing some recording in the aboriginal Amis village of Dulan, located in Taiwan's southern Taitung province, I joined some friends for singing in the old abandoned Sugar Factory.
幾年前，在南台灣台東都蘭阿美族部落錄音的時候，我加入了一群朋友，在老舊的廢棄糖廠唱歌。

This had become a place for gathering, and where local art could be shown. It had a very open feeling, and being made of concrete, had great acoustics for recording.
這個廢棄糖廠已成為聚會場所，以及當地藝術展示的地方。此地讓人有相當開闊的感覺，加上由水泥所建造，對錄音來說有極佳的音效。

And so we gathered in the evening, and with Taiwan Beer, rice wine and beetle nuts, we sang songs as the rains outside came and went and came again.
晚上我們聚集於此，啜飲著台灣啤酒，小米酒加上檳榔。我們唱著，外頭大雨斷斷續續的應和著我們的歌聲。

One of the songs was a variation on a traditional Amis song, with some added lyrics sung in Mandarin. The added words describe what it is like for a young man growing up in Dulan and within his traditional age-class, "La Jen Hsi".
其中有一首歌是傳統阿美族歌曲的變奏曲，加上一些中文歌詞來唱。添加的中文歌詞述說著在都蘭阿美族中，一個年輕人在他的傳統年齡階層成長的故事。

A young man named Lai-hsin and his friends sang the song for me, as I recorded it. One of the most touching phrases in the song comes after describing local cultural activities, such as swimming and skin diving for fish in the ocean, when the words explain, "we grow up slowly this way."
有位叫來幸的年輕人和他的朋友當我錄音時候一起唱這首歌。其中最扣人心弦的段落是在描述當地文化活動 (如游泳，或是在海中輕裝潛水) 之後，歌詞說， “我們就是這樣慢慢長大的。”

Indeed in a world of television and Internet, high pressure marketing and commercial culture, perhaps our children grow up too fast, without being well-rooted in a strong sense of cultural identity and esteem.
確實，在一個充斥著電視、網路、高壓市場行銷以及商業文化的世界中，或許我們的孩子們都成長得太快了，還未能在文化認同及自我中好好紮根就已經長大了。

I recently rejoined my Amis brothers in Dulan for their annual Harvest Festival, the Kiloma'an. Inspired by the traditional culture, rituals, and music, I returned to this song I had recorded in the Sugar Factory so long ago, and completed it with some studio production.
我最近又再次參加了阿美族一年一度的豐年祭。受到傳統文化、儀式以及音樂的啟發，我把當年在糖廠錄的音樂再加上後製完成了這首音樂。

The song remains the properly of those young men to do with as they please. And it is presented here, for your interest.
這首歌仍適度保留那群年輕人隨性歌唱的部份；在這裡將它呈現給各位。

Yi lao ("thank you" in Amis).
Yi lao。(阿美族語的 “謝謝”)。

Listen to "Oh Yi Yan"