我們聽英文歌, 常常是喜歡歌的旋律, 卻因為英文不是母語, 往往不深讀歌詞, 或者讀了歌詞卻抓不住其中的感覺, 如果我們把詞不但翻譯也潤飾為中文, 一面聽歌, 一面讀譯文歌詞, 這個時候會得到一個奇特的聆賞感受, 旋律悠雅, 歌聲美妙, 而歌詞又令我們抓到旋律加歌聲要傳達的情感, 真是奇特的經驗.
Yesterday When I was Young 昨日年少
The taste of life was sweet 生命如此甜美
Like rain upon my tongue 雨露輕吻舌尖
I teased at life as if 我戲弄生命
were a foolish game 輕狂遊戲
The way an evening breeze 像搖曳的晚風
May tease a candle flame 戲弄搖曳的燭火
The thousand dreams I dreamed 也曾織夢
The splendid things I planned 無數宏圖
I always built to last 卻是流沙之上
On weak and shifting sand 脆弱的構築
I lived by night and shunned 日伏夜出
The naked light of day 迴避那刺眼的白晝
And only now I see 猛然驚覺
How the years have ran away 歲月已悄悄流逝
Yesterday, when I was young 昨日年少
so many happy songs 快樂的歌
Are waited to be sung 待我歡唱
So many wild pleasures 狂野愉悅
That lay in store for me 享樂
so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see 卻有太多的痛苦辛酸, 迷茫不見
I ran so fast that time 奔跑匆忙
And youth at last ran out 青春枯竭
I never stopped to think 未曾停步去深思
What life was all about 生命的真諦
And every conversation I can now recall 憶起昔日的對話
Concerns itself with me 都是繞著自己
and, nothing else at all 除此之外別無可述
Yesterday, the moon was blue 昨日月亮充滿憂鬱
And every crazy day 瘋狂的日子裡
Brought something new to do 總有新鮮的事
And I used my magic age 揮霍那神奇的青春
As if it were a wand 彷彿握著魔杖
And never saw the waste 卻從未察覺
And emptiness beyond 光鮮背後的虛空
The game of love I played 傲慢與自負
With arrogance and pride 玩弄愛的遊戲
And every flame I lit 點燃的每朵愛火
So quickly, quickly died 卻都匆匆熄滅
The friends I made all seemed 為伴的朋友
Somehow to drift away 漸行漸遠
And only I am left 佇立舞台,
On stage to end the play 只有我, 孤獨地為戲終結
There were so many songs in me 多少快樂的歌
That won’t be sung 我仍未歡唱
I feel the bitter taste of tears Upon my tongue 舌尖嚐到眼涙的苦味
The time has come for me to pay for yesterday when I was young…. 日子到了, 年少輕狂, 付出代價
Yesterday, when I was young 昨日年少
so many happy songs 快樂的歌
Are waited to be sung 待我歡唱
So many wild pleasures 狂野歡愉
That lay in store for me 待我享樂
so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see 卻有太多的痛苦辛酸, 迷茫不見
人到了晚年，最怕的一件事，不是沒錢，也不是生病，而是忽然不知道該怎麼活。德國哲學家叔本華早在兩百年前就看透了這件事, 他說人生是與「無聊」的鬥爭.
叔本華的哲學探討晚年的活法, 不是教你向外追逐，而是教你向內回歸, 他說把以下這 5 件事做好，晚年不再是一場慌慌張張的逃離，而是一場從容自在的歸來：
這個音樂型式到作曲家 Scott Joplin (1868-1917) 才有進一步的發展, Joplin 將古典理論混入 Ragtime 音樂, 寫出所謂 Classic Ragtime, 並開始出版樂譜, Ragtime 音樂才得以保存下來.
Jazz 音樂開始盛行, Ragtime 一度式微, 直到1973 年 The Sting 這部電影採用 Scott Joplin 的音樂, Ragtime 才開始受到重視, 已成美國寶貴的文化資產.