鲁达 余波，北京出租车司机。
Yu Bo is a taxi driver in Beijing.
Yu Bo, a taxi driver working in Beijing.
出租车司机能侃是出了名的。但余波不一样。他不和你侃，直接给你放歌，而且是他自己的原创歌曲：
Taxi drivers are commonly considered as good talkers. Apparently, Yu is not. Instead of bringing up topics, he plays his original songs:
“早高峰时候走在堵车时段
"I'm stuck in the morning traffic jam,
东厢西厢是一动不动
where everything seems to stand still.
东西三环南段走的比蜗牛还慢”
Even a snail could overtake you on the southern sections of the East and West 3rd Ring Roads."
Heavy traffic in Beijing.
余波出生在一个“中西音乐合璧”的家庭，父亲会几样乐器，母亲是京剧票友。所以，余波从小耳濡目染，在音乐上也有些天分。无论什么类型的歌曲，只要旋律好听，他都能跟着唱下来。
Yu was born into a family of "world music." His father plays several musical instruments, while his mother is a Peking Opera lover. Growing up in such an atmosphere, Yu has gained some talent in music. No matter the music genre, he can always sing along with the lingering melodies.
“有的歌我很喜欢，听着听着会哭。那是真的打动我了。”
"Some of my favorite songs can make me burst into tears because they are so touching."
Yu Bo (right) and the passenger (left).
从1995年起，余波开始开出租车，现在工龄已有24年。“早晨大概六点左右出车吧，中午随便找个小饭馆吃个饭，这几年年纪大了，下午干到两三点钟最晚三四点钟我就回家了。”
Yu began to drive a taxi 24 years ago in 1995. "I start working at about 6 a.m., grab my lunch at a diner and hit the road again. I call it a day no later than 4 o'clock in the afternoon because I begin to feel my age these years."
Yu Bo during his lunch break.
在路途上，他会一直开着音乐，有别人的歌，也有自己原创的歌。
He always leaves the music on while driving. Some of the songs are his original works.
“之前我唱的总是别人的歌，后来我想，老唱别人的歌也没意思，不如唱点自己的。如果万一有一天我不在人间了，我的歌留下也挺幸福的。”
"I used to cover other people's songs, which turned out pretty boring. Why not singing my own songs? It'll be nice to leave some legacies behind," Yu said.
一开始，余波在自己家用磁带录音。但换车之后，车上只能放CD了，他只好寻思去外面录歌。但他打听到的录音棚是录电影对白的，价格昂贵，把他给吓回来了。
At first, Yu recorded songs onto cassette tapes at home. After the company exchanged his car's cassette for a CD player, he could only turn to the professional studios. However, the high prices made him back down.
恰好，2005年，载客的时候，余波路过了一个街道，街道上挂着一个音乐工作室的广告横幅，几十块钱就能录歌。激动的余波把乘客送到地方，马上直奔这家工作室，第一次戴着耳麦走进封闭的小房间，唱了一首歌。从此一发不可收拾。“那之后一个月，我只要不开车就直奔录音棚，录出了我的第一张翻唱专辑。”
In 2005, Yu caught sight of an advertisement banner of a music studio, which recorded a song for under 100 yuan. Excited, Yu went straight to the studio after dropping off the passenger. For the first time in his life, he sang a song in a booth wearing headphones. The experience opened a whole new world for him. "In the following month, I spent all my spare time in the studio. Finally, I got my first cover album."
Yu Bo is recording his song in the studio.
后来，在录音师的鼓励下，余波开始着手创作原创歌曲。“他跟我说，你每天收车时候，你可以先别上楼，把你今天的经历用一句话给写下来，比如说今天活不好拉，今天被警察罚了，今天刮风下雨了……”余波说，“就这样，我用了整整三个月，写出了那首《我们是的哥》。”
Encouraged by the mixer, Yu began to write original songs. He said, "you could write down whatever happened briefly after a day's work. For example, there were very few passengers, I got fined by the police, or it rained heavily… After three months, I finished the lyrics of 'We Are Taxi Drivers.'"
最开始的三首歌，是余波的朋友帮忙谱的曲。后来，他学会了对着手机的语音记事本或者录音软件，直接把自己想要的旋律唱出来，然后拿给录音室编曲。
Yu's friend helped compose his first three songs. Later, he learned to record the improvised melodies with his cell phone, so that they could be edited by the studio.
而且，余波所有的歌，都是用自己出车时的空闲时间写。比如《堵车别堵心》，就是在北京东三环国贸桥上花一个小时写完的。
Yu wrote all of his songs during his off time – except for "Don't Get Upset in Traffic Jam," which he wrote in just an hour while stuck on Guomao Bridge on the East 3rd Ring Road.
但这并不代表余波不喜欢开出租车：“每天我可以拉着不同的乘客，去北京的各个地方，包括一些景点，他们是花钱打车去，但是我说白了我是免费去的，所以说这工作多棒啊。”
Yu enjoys his job. "Every day, I drive different passengers to all the places in Beijing, including many sightseeing spots. They have to pay for the trip, while I have fun and get the money. There's no better job than this."
Yu Bo is recording his song in the studio.
录好了歌，车上的乘客往往是他最好的听众。
He said the passengers are his best fans.
“有一次一个漂亮姑娘打我车，说我去XX地方，说完就开始哭。我一问，怎么哭啊？她说今天是我生日，但是我今天我的男朋友送了我一个特别大的生日礼物，然后跟我提出了分手。”余波说，“特别巧，当时我的车上还没放歌，但是听完她这番话以后，我说这样吧姑娘，给你听首歌，你要是听出来时谁唱的，这趟给你免费。”
"Once a pretty girl began to cry right after telling me where to go," says Yu. "I asked her why, and she said that it was her birthday. Her boyfriend gave her a huge present and broke up with her. I was about to put on some music at that moment. On hearing the story, I said, 'Listen, I'll play a song for you. You'll get a free ride if you can figure out the singer.'"
然后，余波给这个姑娘放了一首自己的原创歌曲。
Then he played one of his original songs.
“听了一半，她猜不出来谁唱的，我说这是我唱的，当她听完这三个字以后她从后排直接就想往前窜，说这歌真的是你唱的吗？我说对啊。那趟路程不是太远，就10分钟，但是我相信那首歌算是给她解除了一点点烦恼吧，反正哭着上来的，开开心心下去的。”
"She couldn't name the singer as we were halfway through the song. When I told her that it was me singing, she nearly jumped to the front seat saying, 'It's really you?' 'Of course!' I answered. It was a short trip of about 10 minutes. I believed the song gave her a little comfort, because she got in, cried, then she got off and smiled."
余波觉得，茫茫人海，有人偏偏打了他的车，就是一种缘分。这种缘分值得珍惜。“我不管您是用什么心情上的我车，我想通过我自己歌声让您高高兴兴下去，把这份快乐传递给别人。”
According to Yu, for anyone among the thousands of passengers to get in his car, it's the fate that is worth treasuring. "No matter what's on your mind when you get in, I hope my songs can make you happy, and that you can pass such happiness on to other people."
现在，作为最会唱歌的出租车司机和最会开车的歌手，余波上过电视，还成为了唱片公司的签约歌手，他觉得自己的梦想已经实现了。“这么多年我喜欢开出租车，我喜欢唱歌，这两件事对于我来说缺一不可，所以我觉得能够在人生中开着车，唱唱歌，走过我这么多年的人生经历吧，我觉得是最幸福的。”
As a taxi driver and singer, he has been on TV shows and signed a contract with a record company. He feels that his dream has come true. "Driving taxi and singing are always my favorite things. Neither is dispensable to me. Now that I can drive and sing as a career, it's the best thing that ever happened in my life."
Yu Bo is recording his song in the studio.