歌曲背景：

曲名：Nine million bicycles     歌手：Katie melua (来源：EnglishCN.com)

该作品是歌手和制作人在北京游历时得到的灵感，当时她们的导游女孩说“北京有900万辆自行车”...

注意歌曲中中国乐器的元素。

Katie says:

"We were being shown around Beijing by our interpreter, who also has a qualification as a tourist guide, and was a very sweet girl. She was holding a microphone on the bus and telling us how old the dynasties were, how many people lived in Beijing now, and various other facts, such as "there are nine million bicycles in Beijing". Mike immediately wrote this down as a potential song title and he wrote this song a couple of weeks later, back in England, not long before we finished the album. On the track is the masterful Adrian Brett, who plays all the ethnic flutes. On this track he used an ocarina for the low (first) sound you hear, and a chinese bamboo flute for the very piercing, high flute sound. Mike first met Adrian in 1978 when Adrian played ethnic flutes on Mike's "Caravans" album. He plays most nights in the London production of "Lion King".

I like this song because it is a simple juxtaposition of a trivial idea ("Nine Million Bicycles") against an important idea ("I will love you til I die").

Lyrics:

There are nine million bicycles in Beijing
北京城里有900万辆自行车
That s a fact
这是个事实
It s a thing we can t deny
是我们无法否认的事
Like the fact that I will love you till I die
就像我爱你至死

We are twelve billion light years from the edge
我们离时间尽头有120亿光年
That s a guess
那只是个猜测
No-one can ever say it s true
没人能说那是真的
But I know that I will always be with you
但我知道我会一直跟你在一起

I m warmed by the fire of your love everday
你的爱天天都温暖着我
So don t call me a liar
别说我是说谎者
Just believe everything that I say
要相信我所说的一切

There are six billion people in the world
在这世上有60亿人
More or less
差不多
And it makes me feel quite small
这让我感觉挺渺小
But you re the one I love the most of all
但你是我最爱的人

We re high on the wire
我们站得很高
With the world in our sight
眼里能看见全世界
And I ll never tire
而且我从不厌倦
Of the love that you give me every night
你所给我的爱

There are nine million bicycles in Beijing
北京城里有900万辆自行车
That s a fact
这是个事实
It s a thing we can t deny
是我们无法否认的事
Like the fact that I will love you till I die
就像我会爱你至死

And there are nine million bicycles in Beijing
北京城有900万辆自行车
And you know that I ll love you till I die
你知道我会爱你至死