"Now it's almost 60, and I'm still thinking about forming a band, you're not ashamed!" The old mother said a harsh word and turned to leave. Dad silently took off his leather jacket and stuffed it into the closet, but whispered in his mouth: "Reality is like a stone, spirit is like an egg, although the stone is hard, but the egg is life... If you ask us what we are, the eggs under the red flag..."
Pictured | stills from Rock 'n' Roll 'n' Roll Seventies
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right"></h1>
"Son, can you buy me a guitar online?" Hearing Dad say this, I seriously suspected something was wrong with my ears. "No electric guitar, it's too expensive, just a normal acoustic guitar."
Dad was so surprised that he couldn't speak, and added, "I want to form a rock band." ”
I hadn't looked back from my surprise, but I saw that My father's eyes were shining. The Dad I know, this life in this life has nothing to do with music.
When he was young, he was fierce, brave and fierce, and he liked to drink heavily, and there was not a single artistic cell in his body. After getting old, he suffered from cerebral hemorrhage due to alcoholism, and unfortunately contracted pneumonia a few years ago, so he had no choice but to take early retirement and officially became an idle old man who liked to walk around.
I really can't think of anything to do with the restless rockers in leather clothes on the stage, the old dad who is nestled on the couch in a cotton vest.
"I never saw you fiddling with an instrument since I was a child, and I don't have the sequelae of cerebral hemorrhage, so I am not suitable for learning strings." Dad listened, raised his somewhat shrunken right hand to look at it, and sighed: "When I was young, I also played rock and roll and formed a band..." This is the first time I have heard about this.
Growing up, music was my knowledge blind spot, and there was no such "edification" at home. In my limited cognition, the rock singer only Cui Jian, who wants to play rock and roll, should be a person from the class, with rich artistic cells and a genius voice, and the old father - high school graduate later to this northwest town as a soldier, and later admitted to the middle authoritarian military school, in the 90s after transferring from the army to work in the state-run arsenal, at the beginning of the millennium enterprise restructuring and layoff, and with his comrades-in-arms to do long-distance passenger business - in his life experience, there is no trace of music-related things.
"When you go to a KTV at a family party, you don't sing on the tune, that's a bad thing," I half-jokingly said, "I don't believe you've ever been in a rock band." "Not to participate, but to form!"
Dad corrected me: "You know punks? I was a rock punk, I was a bass player, and although I couldn't sing well, I didn't have to sing bass. ”
Daddy's voice is thick, with a childlike tone, but also some cynical style. Mom heard our conversation and wandered out of the bedroom: "Son, don't be poor, go online and buy your dad a guitar."
Your dad actually formed a band and played guitar. If it weren't for this, your father would be so ugly, how could I have looked up to him? "I was completely shocked.
| The photos of dad and mom when they got married, compared to dad, mom is really beautiful. (Courtesy of the author)
My ancestral home is on the outskirts of Beijing, my grandfather responded to the call of the state shortly after marriage, as an engineering and technical personnel to the border of the motherland to support construction, in 1965 after the establishment of the Inner Mongolia Production and Construction Corps, transferred to the Construction Corps, completely rooted in this small northwestern city.
However, because Grandpa was a branch that he joined after marriage, and Grandma's work organization relationship was still in Beijing and could not be transferred, Grandma had been living in Beijing with her young father and aunt.
In the early 1960s, when the rock band The Beatles were all the rage around the world, the Beijing-based "Underground Salon" group was quietly formed to discuss the appreciation of rock art and John Lennon imported from the West in that special era — but these had nothing to do with my father, who wondered every day about "when will his father come home" every day.
Due to the social environment at that time, Grandpa always had several years to get a chance to visit his family, so Dad's thoughts about Grandpa gradually evolved into rebellion.
Because of his grandmother's busy work, as the eldest son in the family, the old father took on the responsibility of taking care of his aunt, but because of his "stubborn personality", he was not yet in junior high school, and he mixed with the "hooligans" in society, taking his aunt and the "little hooligans" of similar age to hike more than ten kilometers every day to downtown Beijing, finding the "big hooligans" who were lurking, hiding in the corner together to participate in the "underground salon" of the big poisonous weed, listening to the "yellow film" that he did not know where to get it.
Now that I think about it, it may be that these so-called "hooligans" are just literary and artistic youths who like foreign and trendy things. "In fact, I was also taken to the 'underground salon'."
Dad recalled: "When I was only a teenager, the neighbor had a young man who was more than 10 years older than me, surnamed Yang, who dropped out of school early, did not have a unit, wandered the streets all day, fought and fought for people, and no one dared to provoke.
And he mixes with these people who play music every day. He took good care of me, I called him Uncle Yang, and he took me downtown to listen to beatles music. ”
In the blink of an eye, my father went to junior high school, and my grandmother was busy with work, so she really had no time to take care of her family, but she was very afraid that her son would "go astray" because of this, so she repeatedly wrote to my grandfather in a small northwestern city to complain.
But Grandpa couldn't immediately go home to teach Dad a lesson, so he could only write him a letter of repeated exhortation. At first, Dad returned a few letters, but later he simply ignored them. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, Grandpa was finally able to return to his hometown freely to visit his relatives.
Although rock music has been accepted by society at this time, Grandpa still thinks that it is just "naughty and unpopular", but Dad is still mixing with these strangely dressed young people, and even instigating his aunt who is already in junior high school to steal the family's money to buy a guitar.
Grandpa was furious when he heard of this. "That was the first guitar in my life, domestic, Golden Sparrow, which cost more than 80 yuan, equivalent to your grandmother's monthly salary."
In order to buy it, I took your aunt on a full walk of more than 40 kilometers. Dad's eyes were full of memories, holding the family broom as a guitar, while saying and comparing: "When I took the guitar, I ran to the middle school gate to cover the Beatles' songs... At that time, the little girls on the whole street were watching me, and in today's terms, it was simply 'the most beautiful cub on this street', and the limelight even overwhelmed Uncle Yang, who first played rock and roll. ”
"So, where is Uncle Yang?" Daddy returned the broom to Mom and sighed, "Alas... Around 1979 or 1980, Uncle Yang's father was rehabilitated and assigned to work in a shoe factory. Probably because of the long-term lack of discipline and contact with the 'rock spirit', he felt that going to work was 'unfree', or even 'repressive', refusing to go to work, still messing around with those so-called rock and roll youth. Later, I heard that he was arrested by the police with a knife and injuries and flirting with women at the university Chinese outside Beijing, and I have not seen him since. ”
"The spirit of rock 'n' roll is not about fighting or flirting with women, but about chivalry that rebels against dogma, against oppression, and pursues freedom and dreams." This is the golden sentence that Dad summed up.
At that time, Grandpa desperately wanted His Father to give up rock and roll and, go to college after graduating from high school, and become a scientist or pilot in the future. The father who is in adolescence naturally does not listen.
He even had the idea of wandering the world with a guitar on his back.
Dad said that Grandpa had never cared about him since he was a child, so why did he suddenly appear to interfere in his life? To this end, every time Grandpa returned to Beijing from Inner Mongolia, the two would always quarrel, and later, the father, who was extremely rejected in his heart, even touched hands with Grandpa.
But in the end, the father still could not resist the grandfather's majestic tutor, and the grandfather entrusted the comrades in the hometown to semi-compulsorily pull the father to sign up for the army, because the age exceeded the standard, and the grandfather even entrusted someone to change the age on the father's household registration book to 4 years younger.
After successful enlistment, Grandpa entrusted his father to serve in the armed police fire brigade of this small city on the northwest frontier.
"This is the desert of rock and roll," dad said, "when I was a soldier, there were already a lot of rock bands in Beijing, and there were even rock and roll specials in the workers' stadium." At that time, the whole society had accepted rock and roll, but your grandfather just couldn't accept it. ”
Before officially enlisting in the army, Dad made a special trip to the city and went to listen to a rock performance. On the day of enlistment, Dad did not bring any luggage, only carried his domestic guitar that he bought after walking more than 40 kilometers.
After enlisting in the army, Dad had a good life in the army, because of the relative culture (high school leftar), was arranged to work as a clerk in the squadron headquarters, and was also sent to learn car driving and motorcycle driving, which inspired him to play rock again——— punk rock and motorcycle are the product of companionship, riding a motorcycle, carrying a guitar, you can pursue wind and freedom.
What surprised Dad even more was that this small northwestern town that he thought was backward actually had a rock band and could buy a guitar, which gave him the idea of forming a rock band and wanted to continue his rock dream in this small northwestern town.
Since the formation of a band can boost morale, the unit leader is very supportive of Dad's idea, so he asked him to find band members within the range of active soldiers in the entire detachment, and form a rock band without delaying training and attendance - of course, the band's repertoire cannot be "mesmerizing", it must be a song that can boost the morale of the fire brigade. The licensed dad was excited for a long time, and then he fell into a loss: there were not enough members, there were not enough instruments, and the formation of a rock band required at least electric bass, drum kits, and electronic keyboards.
And he only has a normal wooden guitar in his hand... Just as thirty years later, today's dad still has only one acoustic guitar in his hand. To save money, I bought a used guitar for dad for $75.
In the afternoon, he took the guitar back from the seller in the same city, and the father was extremely excited after getting it, constantly tuning the strings to audition, and also showing off the video with the old comrades - of course, buying a cheap second-hand guitar, in large part, because I think the idea of the father wanting to reorganize the band is unrealistic, and the right hand of the father who has some atrophy due to the sequelae of cerebral hemorrhage cannot smoothly pop the chord.
I spent $75 on a used guitar for my dad (courtesy of the author)
About a week later, I was taking a lunch break at home, when I suddenly received a call from my mother, without greeting, and directly scolded: "Son! Get home! Do you look at the good things you've done? Your dad is now out of the door, and as soon as he wakes up in the morning, he fiddles with the guitar you bought for him, making all kinds of noises, and I'm almost depressed! "I was so frightened that I rushed home, my mother was sitting on the couch angry, and my father was hiding in the restaurant with a loving expression. Of course, the movement that pops up is difficult to call a "tune".
"This family has a piano without me, there is no piano I have, you look at it!" My mother gave me an ultimatum. I hurried to the living room and mud: "Dad, do you want to hang out and practice in the park?" Just don't mess around at home, be careful not to cook for you if my mother is. ”
"If you don't eat, don't eat!" Old Father was quite ambitious: "There is no grandfather here, there is a place to stay grandpa, I made an appointment with Old Xia to eat together at night, you go with me, accompany your Uncle Xia to drink." "Helplessly, I can only accompany my father to drink at night." Before leaving, my mother told me that in fact, my father would use his mobile phone to shop online. The financially unfree father once applied to buy a guitar, and my mother knew that after the guitar was bought, the family would not be clean for a short time, and there was no appropriation, so the father went to fool me. Upon learning of this, on the way to the tavern, I lost my father again.
But as a son, he still had to support his father's dream, so he secretly transferred 300 yuan to him, telling him to go to the park to practice the piano in the future, and not to eat lunch at home.
When our grandfather arrived at the tavern, Old Uncle Xia had been waiting for a long time. Lao Xia is a northeasterner, a few years younger than his father, and works as a driver in a bus company.
Seeing me and my father, Old Uncle Xia was very happy: "I still wondered how you suddenly remembered to drink with me, it turned out that you were planning to reorganize the band?" "I just learned that Uncle Xia was also a member of the band, but in my impression, this thick and simple middle-aged bus driver also has nothing to do with rock and roll."
Around 2000, a group photo of Dad and Uncle Xia (first from the left) (courtesy of the author)
| Lao Xia saw that I didn't believe it, so he deliberately showed it: "Well, when I first joined the army, I used to blow in the cultural and labor corps of the autonomous region headquarters for 1 year, and then I was assigned to the combat unit because of the fight, and I happened to be in a squadron with your father, and your father wanted to form a rock band, so I participated." ”
I remembered that in the winter of 2016, my grandfather died, and Old Uncle Xia had brought the white band to help play, and at the funeral, he had played the famous song "Big Funeral".
I poured the wine for Uncle Xia with a smile: "When you performed with my father, did you scream and the audience had the feeling of eating a table?" "What nonsense!" The old father hurriedly gave me a slap: "Old Xia, listen to this boy's nonsense, since he was a child, he has not been big or small, and his mouth is too damaged." ”
Old Uncle Xia laughed; "I don't want your son to believe it, what's in that rock band?" Guitars, cheers, accordions and 'Mandarin duck boards', who can believe that this is a rock band? "What is a Mandarin Duck Board?" I asked.
Old Uncle Xia immediately beat the rhythm with chopsticks, and while knocking, he imitated the Shandong accent and explained to me: "Have you heard of the fast book?" Just that 'Dang Li Dang, Dang Li Dang, Table One Table, Fighting Tiger Hero Wu Erlang'..." Lao Xia continued to explain: "I was the last member to join the band, responsible for blowing the mandarin, playing the Mandarin Duck Board, shandong bing surnamed Liu, is the lead singer of the band, and later retired, I became the lead singer and the screamer.
It took less than 2 years from the time our band was formed to the time it was disbanded, but we were very popular with the grassroots fighters. Dad finally interjected: "I'm shopping for treasure hunting these days, musical instruments are not expensive, a pair of electric bass is only a few hundred yuan, we want to stop the 'water belt band' reorganization?" "Old Zhang, you can pull it down."
Lao Xia said: "I now drive a bus every day, I have to go out before 6 o'clock in the morning, and I go home at night at more than 10 o'clock, and I have to go out with others to make some extra money when I am idle." My daughter is about to go to college, I have to pay her tuition, where is the time to form a band with you retired old man? Besides, can your hand with cerebral hemorrhage sequelae play bass? ”
Although this is a bit hurtful, but the truth is that Dad's hand playing guitar is difficult, not to mention the plug-in bass. If you want to form a rock band again, I'm afraid you have to put on a prosthesis and start learning again. Old Father was a little disappointed, but he still wanted to try: "Old Xia, you really don't think about it?"
Probably because of the embarrassment, Lao Xia did not directly refuse: "Well, you go and ask Xiao Zheng and Lao Liu to join the band, if he participates, I will participate." But at this point, my focus is all on the band's name—"Playing with water? The name you gave the band was very trendy! ”
Back in the mid-1980s, Dad began to look for suitable candidates in the whole detachment, but the firefighters were scattered throughout the town in the form of squadrons, and even if there were suitable people, it was impossible to get together to rehearse, and in desperation, Dad could only narrow the scope to his squadron.
Squadron hygienist Zheng Hua took the initiative to find his father, saying that he had participated in theatrical performances when he was in middle school and had learned the accordion for a period of time, so he could try it. Dad deliberately asked the squadron for half a day off, took Zheng Hua to the largest and most well-known "national shopping mall" in the small town at that time, and the brothers spent nearly 1 year of allowance to buy a black parrot accordion for Zheng Hua.
Zheng Hua also lived up to the "expectations" and immediately entered the state after getting the accordion, but unfortunately, the songs he could play were All Soviet folk songs, and he could not rock. He told his father that as long as he could get Cui Jian's score, he could try it according to the score. But although Dad can play guitar and knows jane music, it is too difficult for him to listen to Cui Jian's songs to do reverse engineering and write out the score.
No way, Dad and Zheng Hua bought a rock tape, listened to it on the squadron leader's tape recorder, and practiced while listening, striving for practice. For a rock band, there is no plug-in bass, you can use an acoustic guitar instead, the accordion can play the role of an electronic keyboard, but the father sings out of tune, Zheng Huawen is polite and how can he not get up, where to find the drummer and the lead singer? Old Father and Zheng Hua looked for a large circle, but also did not find a warrior who can play drums, in desperation, Shandong recruit Xiao Liu entered the sight of the old father——— after all, Xiao Liu can sing Shandong Fast Book, his mouth is slippery, he can be the lead singer; playing rhythm with a Mandarin duck board is also similar to that of a drummer.
"Zheng Hua and I persuaded for a long time, and Xiao Liu agreed to join the band." Dad recalled: "In my opinion, rock does not need to stick to the form, Shandong fast book can also rock ah! Later, Xiao Liu learned that there was no training to rehearse with the band, so he agreed to join the band. ”
Old Xia Yang drank the wine with a disdainful face: "Pull the calf, I heard Xiao Zheng say, the reason why you are looking for Xiao Liu is because the Mandarin Duck Board is two copper pieces, the cost of the instrument is low, you just fooled Xiao Liu Jin's band." ”
Old Father was a little embarrassed, and poured wine for Lao Xia: "But it turns out that I am not wrong, Xiao Liu can not only accompany and be the lead singer, but also write songs!" Affordable multi-purpose lead singer. "This is true, you and Zheng Hua used foreign rock tunes, replaced by the lyrics written by Xiao Liu that depicted the fire brigade, which made people shine, that is, although the lead singer Xiao Liu tried his best to lean on rock and roll when he sang, it was also a Shandong fast book flavor..." Finally, under the unremitting efforts of Dad, the first rock band under the small town fire brigade was barely officially established.
When naming the band, the three had differences, The father proposed to reflect the rock style, Xiao Liu proposed to reflect the characteristics of the fire brigade, and Zheng Hua remembered a name that was in line with the times, so the three of them discussed for a long time without results. In the end, Dad found that the most representative training subject of the fire brigade is the water belt (the fire hose is unfolded and connected as quickly as possible), so he proposed that the name of the band be called "water belt", which is both cyberbo and punk, and can also reflect the characteristics of them as firefighters. Everyone agreed.
Dad's group photo of his fighting attire when he was in the fire brigade is the only photo that can be found in the army at present.
The band's first performance was a success. It was at the Squadron's National Day Party, written by Xiao Liu, and Zheng Hua "composed" the Shandong Quick Book version of the rock song "Playing with Water Belts", which was a great success and won the recognition of more than 100 commanders and fighters of the squadron.
Speaking of this, Dad's eyes lit up: "According to my research, the 'Water Belt Band' may be the earliest rock band in the city, and later the captain of the detachment knew the name of our band, and the New Year's Day party of the detachment also invited us to perform."
I remember that the political commissar also asked me if I would consider joining the cultural and labor corps of the headquarters. "Then why didn't you participate?" I asked. "Because Xiao Liu retired from the army, he returned to the small county town of his hometown to continue to sing his Shandong fast book... The band has no lead singer, and it has no soul. ”
"Xiao Liu is gone, I'm here!" Lao Xia was very happy, he had already drunk half a bottle of liquor, and his face was flushed: "It just so happened that I was sent to the squadron from the literary troupe at that time, and your father knew that I would blow it, so he invited me into the water belt band and served as the lead singer." ”
The old man teased: "There is no way to find you, how you sing it is like the northeast two people turning." "In this way, the water belt band changed the lead singer, continued to be supported by guitar, oh and accordion, three instruments that have nothing to do with rock and roll, and performed for nearly a year, and finally disbanded." No way! Lao Xia said: "Your father was admitted to the military academy, Zheng Hua was also arranged to go to the medical school to be trained, and later went to work in the headquarters hospital, and I was the only one left in the water belt band."
Later, your father returned to the squadron after graduation, and I was also discharged. During the time when your father was in military school, I once thought about forming a water belt band again, but I did not have the perseverance spirit of your father, and the water belt band eventually failed. ”
"You're back in the squadron after graduation, so why don't you find someone to form a band?" I asked Daddy. "I thought about it too, but after graduation, I mentioned it, every day was very busy, there was no time for amateur activities, and the band was delayed." In the early 90s, after I changed careers, my time was rich, and I wanted to form a band, but there was no rock and roll player in the whole factory, and later, even I forgot about it. ”
After changing careers, Dad spent 6,000 yuan to buy a Japanese Suzuki motorcycle, rode a motorcycle to continue punk in his spare time, and also took me to many places
Now, dad has retired due to illness, and the idea of forming a band has emerged again. Lao Xia said bluntly: "Old Zhang, everyone is a layman, this age, in order to live a mediocre life for most of his life, who still pursues his dreams?" "But then again, most of my life has passed like this, at this age, it is too late to pursue my dreams." Old Xia needs to run an early bus, dare not go to bed late, and the banquet ends early. Dad came home, against his mother's sanitary ball, and turned over the box and cabinet to find out an American leather jacket that had been covered with pulp to show me - "Look, this is the battle robe!" The old man was thin because of his illness, and the leather jacket was loose and crumbling on his body, like someone else's clothes, but the style rose: "When I was young, I wore this leather jacket and rode a motorcycle, carrying a guitar, and went to the street to cover Cui Jian's songs." The mother suddenly entered the house to destroy the atmosphere: "In fact, it is a cool dress, the introducer arranged for the two of us to go on a blind date, your father wore a toad mirror, wore this leather jacket, rode the red shoulder motorcycle of the fire brigade, carried a guitar to meet me, and did not panic in the summer, and pretended to sing a song "Nothing" with me, and the tune ran out of the two miles. This finally annoyed the old man: "You hate me for running out of tune? So you're still happy to play with me? "If it weren't for my admiration for the military and the fact that there were too few people playing music and playing guitar, I would have liked you?" Now almost 60 years old, still thinking about forming a band, you are not ashamed! The old mother said a harsh word and turned away. Dad silently took off his leather jacket and stuffed it into the closet, but whispered in his mouth: "Reality is like a stone, spirit is like an egg, although the stone is hard, but the egg is life... If you ask us what we are, the eggs under the red flag..."
Another week passed, and I began to think every day about how I could help My Dad realize the unrealistic dream of "regrouping the band".
But Dad was obviously more anxious than I was, and when I was on my turn on the weekend, Dad let me drive and take him to the industrial park on the outskirts of the small town.
The new site of the Fourth Hospital Branch and the Mental Health Center of the City was built in the west of the industrial park, so there were many medical equipment factories in the whole park, and I suddenly understood that my father was going to find Zheng Hua, the former accordionist of the "Water Belt Band". My memory of Zheng Hua is limited to my childhood, when he gave me a drip. The impression was that he was a polite uncle.
I saw him again after nearly 20 years, still with that gentle and elegant look, looking only in his 40s — in fact, he was 3 years older than my father.
Zheng Hua was very happy to see me and my father, making tea in the office, and introduced to us with great interest: "Lao Zhang, this is the tea I brought back from the south, and I am only willing to take it out when there is a distinguished guest." You two will wait for me first, and I have a tender to get. I saw that Dad was a little uncomfortable: "You are so busy, do you want to come back another day?" "Don't, I've already asked my subordinates to set up a hotel, and our old comrades-in-arms haven't seen each other for such a long time.
Zheng Hua saw his father's heart: "Old Zhang, you have something to say directly, you don't have to be polite." Dad still said, "Uh... I want to regroup the Playing Ribbon Band. Zheng Hua was obviously stunned when he heard this, and immediately said, "This is a good thing!" When you set up a band, be sure to tell me that I will sponsor it! "I want you back in the band." Dad said. I guess Zheng Hua has long seen Daddy's true intentions, but is just changing the subject.
Sure enough, Zheng Hua looked at the following table and said, "Old Zhang, you wait for me first, come back immediately, and we will talk while eating." It didn't take long for Zheng Hua to return and ask the driver to take us to a large vegetarian restaurant in the city. My father and I entered the private room and found that there were already a lot of dishes on the table.
"Old Zhang, at our age, health is the most important, so I ordered some of the signature dishes here without permission." Zheng Hua sat down and greeted the waiter to take the menu: "We are this age, the eyes are not good to see the words on the menu are difficult, Xiao Zhang, you help order a few more dishes, see what your father wants to eat." ”
I could only take the menu, and my father said, "Xiao Zheng, we are comrades-in-arms, why are we still so polite?" A mouthful of 'let's be this age', if you don't have time to join the band, you can just say it. Zheng Hua did not expect that the father would directly pick out the words, and could only say clearly: "Lao Zhang, when we were young, we formed a band, and now I think of it, I am surging with blood, when my brothers went to the national mall to buy the accordion I still keep, when there is nothing to do, I will also play a song ...
But we're really old, rock 'n' roll is played by young people, I don't have the energy, I don't have the time. Don't look at me now in charge of a company, donkey dung egg surface light, every day when I open my eyes, there are a hundred and ten people waiting for me to eat, every day busy on all four feet..." Zheng Hua said, while pouring wine for Daddy, immediately reacted, Daddy gave up drinking after cerebral hemorrhage, so he put the wine glass in front of me, and continued: "Lao Zhang, your hand, is not suitable for playing bass... Well, if you insist on restructuring the band, I can fund it. ”
I could hear that Zheng Hua's words were more like apologies, guilt for dad's desire to reorganize the band but not support it. As the best mixed person in the entire squadron after retiring from the army, Zheng Hua can say such a thing, which can also be regarded as the end of benevolence and righteousness. Dad also understood what it meant, so he stopped talking about regrouping the band and shifted the topic to the experience of serving together and forming a band together.
In the end, Zheng Hua was slightly drunk and said to his father: "Lao Zhang, you don't know, when my daughter was in high school, she told me that she didn't want to go to medical school and wanted to enter the conservatory of music, how happy I was!" Life goes on, rock and roll goes on, it was you who brought me into contact with rock and roll, and you took me to form a band... What is the difference between a man and a man who has no ambition and no ambition?
People need to have dreams, but we are really old now, I envy you to retire at home, but health is the first element, dreams are your son's age to pursue things, our primary goal now is to raise a good body, the future with grandchildren, say what is virtual. ”
Coming out of the vegetarian restaurant, Dad refused Zheng Hua's suggestion to let the driver take us home, and walked on the road with his hands behind his back, without saying a word. I silently followed my father, and I could feel the thick desolation oozing from my back.
I couldn't help but want to comfort: "Dad, Uncle Zheng can't do it here, let's go find Xiao Liu, let's make a Shandong fast book version of the rock band, with the old Xia's Oh Na, more tide!" The old father did not raise his head: "Since Xiao Liu retired from the army, I have not been able to contact him." Now for nearly 30 years, how could I possibly find him again. I can only continue to comfort: "Our small northwestern city is not a rock desert, and there are also several very famous bands, and the Mongolian Jiubao Band has gone abroad." I have seen the live video of the Nine Treasure Band, how fans do the foreigners have, the scene is called a dry, I turn back to take you to see their concert? "Forget it, the sound wave is so high, I'm afraid my heart can't stand it." Dad never fulfilled his rock 'n' roll dream in this small northwestern city.
About half a month later, Lao Xia invited Lao Xia to drink in the tavern again, and Lao Xia also comforted him: "Old Zhang, don't be discouraged!" I now have a drummer and an electronic player in my orchestra, and I arrange to come and practice with you? ”
"Forget it, what else will your orchestra do besides "The Big Funeral"?" Dad also made an exception and drank some wine: "I still honestly go to the park for a walk, ready to take my grandson in the future." "Don't!" Now it is Lao Xia's turn to take the initiative: "When my daughter is admitted to college, I will apply for a half-day class with the unit, and when the time is rich, I will accompany you to practice, we 'water belt' will not have us two, plus your son, and can rebuild." ”
"Without our old guys' 'water belt band' still worthy of being called 'water belt'?" Dad said, looked at me sideways, and said meaningfully: "This boy has not inherited any of my musical cells, he does not have any musical instruments, and his singing is worse than mine." I changed the subject: "Where is the guitar you first bought for 80 yuan in your hometown?" "It's for your aunt."
Dad finally recounted the final stages of his rock dreams when he was young: "After I was discharged from the army, I used to have the idea of going back to Beijing to find friends who used to play rock and roll to form a band, but at that time I was married, and I couldn't abandon my family and business to pursue this unrealistic rock dream. To express to your grandfather my determination to break rock and roll from now on, I gave your aunt the guitar, but I didn't expect that your aunt didn't like rock and roll at all, and the guitar was lost the year she moved. After the old man finished speaking, he took a small sip of wine and began to sing: "Now the opportunity has arrived, but who knows what to do, the red flag is still flying without a fixed direction, the revolution is still continuing, the old man is more powerful..." The hoarse and slow singing of the two old men came out of the tavern, taking advantage of the snow and wind on the winter night, humble and desolate.
After that, Dad shifted his interest to fish farming. Perhaps he himself realized that it was impossible to regroup the band, so he put the used guitar I gave him behind the small fish tank as a background wall. Suddenly, one day, dad wanted to practice on a whim, but found that the acoustic guitar cracked with the water vapor of the fish tank and was completely scrapped. At this point, Dad didn't say anything about rock and roll, and the rebirth journey of the "Water Belt Band" and Daddy's humble rock dream lasted less than 1 month and ended in such an absurd form. In 2019, "Crazy Aliens" was released, and the opening song rock and roll solo played by the second-hand rose band was very shocking, and I sighed that I was ignorant. I can't help but apologize to My Dad and Uncle Xia, the screamer of the "Water Belt Band".
After dad got the guitar, he immediately held the guitar and took a photo as a WeChat avatar, and he was still reluctant to change it
Friends
To pay off the debt, please tip more thank you
A dime or two cents is good!