说书人2

[Intro] [(pipa roll, guzheng, teacup clink, wooden clapper)] (惊堂木一拍) [Verse 1] [(male vocal, conversational storyteller delivery, rhythmic articulation, stays low, clean)] 长街尽头　茶馆第三张桌 [(the storyteller's table)] 惊堂木一拍　故事开了头 [(the story begins)] 说的是前朝　一个将军和渡口 [(a general and a ferry)] 台下人落泪　他心里有数 [(he knows why they cry)] [Verse 2] [(male vocal, storytelling intensity building, stays low)] 他讲过　将军白发　美人回眸 [(stories he told)] 讲过　破镜重圆　覆水难收 [(all the old tropes)] 就是没讲过　自家门口 [(never his own story)] 那年的雪　埋了他什么人 [(the buried past)] [Pre-Chorus] [(male, building tension, half-singing)] 茶凉了三巡　故事讲了三秋 [(three autumns of stories)] 自己的故事　还压在喉咙口 [(pressed in the throat)] [Chorus] [(male, Chinese opera-style vocals, powerful, dramatic)] 这一段　唱的是谁的心事 [(whose heart is this verse about)] 台下人问　他说别管闲事 [(deflection)] 惊堂木再拍　泪往肚里咽 [(swallowing tears with a gavel bang)] 说书人的规矩　故事里不流泪 [(storyteller's rule: no tears in the story)] [Verse 3] [(male, voice steady but cracking inside, a child's voice asks)] 忽然有个小孩　问他 [(a child asks)] 爷爷 你讲的将军　是不是你 [(the child sees through)] 全场安静　他愣了半天 [(silence)] 惊堂木　第一次没拍响 [(the gavel failed for the first time)] [Chorus] [(variation, more broken, opera-style)] 原来他唱了一辈子别人的戏 [(a life of others' stories)] 把自己　活成了背景 [(himself as backdrop)] 惊堂木还在　人快散场 [(the gavel remains, the crowd thins)] 说书人的规矩　今天　破了例 [(the rule broken today)] 最后一段　他想留给自己 [(the last verse, for himself)] [Bridge] [(half-sung half-spoken, the most painful line in the softest voice)] （半念白） 其实那个将军　就是他 [(it was him all along)] 那年的渡口　他真的　没能回家 [(the ferry crossing he never returned from)] [Final Chorus] ([Key Change Up]) [(full emotional climax, opera-style + folk)] 这一段　讲完了　惊堂木收 [(the story ends, gavel put away)] 台下泪成行　他鞠了一躬 [(he bows)] 明天太阳照常　长街照常 [(tomorrow as usual)] 只有他知道　将军是谁 [(only he knows who the general was)] [Outro] [(male, soft, gentle)] ([pipa fading]) (轻轻) 明天　老时间　老地方 [(same time, same place tomorrow)] 新故事　想好了　却不敢讲 [(the new story is ready — but he dare not tell it)]