On Sunday night, the British singer-songwriter Adele is expected to sweep the Grammys. Three of her six nominations are for her rollicking hit 'Rolling in the Deep.' But it's her ballad 'Someone Like You' that has risen to near-iconic status recently, due in large part to its uncanny power to elicit tears and chills from listeners. The song is so famously sob-inducing that 'Saturday Night Live' recently ran a skit in which a group of co-workers play the tune so they can all have a good cry together.
周日晚，英国创作歌手阿黛尔(Adele)成了格莱美奖(Grammy Awards)最大赢家。她总共获得了六项大奖，其中三项是凭借轻松欢快的热门单曲《爱恨交织》(Rolling in the Deep)获得的。不过，最近上升至近标志性地位的却是她的情歌《像你一样的人》(Someone Like You)，这从很大程度上是因为这首歌曲拥有催人泪下、令人战栗的神奇力量。这首歌的催泪效果几乎家喻户晓，《周六夜现场》(Saturday Night Live)最近甚至在节目中上演了一出滑稽短剧，一群工作人员一起弹唱这首歌，藉此畅快淋漓地抱头痛哭了一场。
Adele, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter performed 'Someone Like You' from her latest album '21' at WSJ Cafe
阿黛尔的歌曲魔力何在？尽管个人经历和文化背景不同的人会产生不同的反应，但研究人员发现，音乐的某些特点与引发听者的强烈情感密切相关。加以感人至深的歌词和激昂嘹亮的嗓音，这些音乐上的结构可以向人的大脑发送比任何其他愉悦感都更强烈的奖励信号。
What explains the magic of Adele's song? Though personal experience and culture play into individual reactions, researchers have found that certain features of music are consistently associated with producing strong emotions in listeners. Combined with heartfelt lyrics and a powerhouse voice, these structures can send reward signals to our brains that rival any other pleasure.
20年前，英国心理学家斯洛博达(John Sloboda)做过一个简单的试验。他请乐迷们指出肯定会令他们产生身体反应（比如流泪或起鸡皮疙瘩）的歌曲段落。受试者指出了20段催泪片段，当斯洛博达分析这些片段的特点时，他发现了一个规律：有18段包括一种名为"倚音"的音乐手法。
Twenty years ago, the British psychologist John Sloboda conducted a simple experiment. He asked music lovers to identify passages of songs that reliably set off a physical reaction, such as tears or goose bumps. Participants identified 20 tear-triggering passages, and when Dr. Sloboda analyzed their properties, a trend emerged: 18 contained a musicaldevice called an 'appoggiatura.'
倚音是一种装饰音，可以与歌曲的旋律产生足够的冲突进而产生一种不和谐的声音。加拿大英属哥伦比亚大学(University of British Columbia)心理学家、2007年相关研究报告的作者之一甘恩(Martin Guhn)说，倚音会令听者产生紧张情绪，当歌曲的曲调回到人们预期的旋律时，紧张情绪会消退，人们会感觉良好。
An appoggiatura is a type of ornamental note that clashes with the melody just enough to create a dissonant sound. 'This generates tension in the listener,' said Martin Guhn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia who co-wrote a 2007 study on the subject. 'When the notes return to the anticipated melody, the tension resolves, and it feels good.'
在紧张情绪消退时，听者常常会战栗。当一段旋律中连续出现几个倚音时，就会形成紧张──释放周期，这会引发一种更为强烈的反应，也就是在这个时候，泪水开始流下来。
Chills often descend on listeners at these moments of resolution. When several appoggiaturas occur next to each other in a melody, it generates a cycle of tension and release. This provokes an even stronger reaction, and that is when the tears start to flow.
《像你一样的人》是阿黛尔与威尔逊(Dan Wilson)合写的一首歌。歌中时不时地出现类似倚音的装饰音。甘恩说，此外，在副歌部分，恰在伴唱开始一段新的和声之前，阿黛尔在一段长长的旋律结尾处变换了音高，进而产生了一种类似过山车式的紧张──释放循环。
'Someone Like You,' which Adele wrote with Dan Wilson, is sprinkled with ornamental notes similar to appoggiaturas. In addition, during the chorus, Adele slightly modulates her pitch at the end of long notes right before the accompaniment goes to a new harmony, creating mini-roller coasters of tension and resolution, said Dr. Guhn.
为更多地了解有关催泪歌曲的构成，几年前甘恩和他的同事曾特纳(Marcel Zentner)从门德尔松(Mendelssohn)的《钢琴三重奏》(Trio for Piano)和巴伯(Barber)的《弦乐柔板》(Adagio for Strings)中找出一些肯定能让人战栗的乐段，然后测量听者的生理反应（心率、出汗情况、鸡皮疙瘩等）。
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