• 最近看了Will Smith的片子"I Am Legend",情节么还算挺吸引人的,不过印象更深的还是剧中多次出现雷鬼传奇人物Bob Marley的歌曲,特别是片尾那首"Redemption Song",这是他36岁死于癌症之前的最后一首单曲,也是那个他一生为之奋斗的理想的最好总结。"Old pirates, yes they robbed I/Sold I to the merchant ships/Minutes after they took I/From the bottomless pit/But my hand was made strong/By the hand of the almighty/We forward in this generation trimphantly//Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery/None but ourselves can free our minds/Have no fear for atomic energy/'Cause none of them can stop the time/How long shall they kill our prophets/While we stand aside and look? Oh/Some say it's just a part of it/We've got to fulfill the book//Won't you help to sing/These songs of freedom?/'Cause all I ever have/Redemption songs"

    最早听到Marley的歌并不是他的原唱,而是某张Joan Baez的现场专辑中的"No Woman, No Cry",曲末重复又重复的"Everything's gonna be alright"从Baez的口中唱出确是有疗伤功效~~正如影片中Will Smith所讲,自由与救赎是Bob Marley歌曲的主题,也是他以音乐武器为黑人而战所谋求的未来,用在这部"I Am Legend"里很是贴切,不过和影片的未来末世狂想比较,Marley自己才是real legend吧~~

  • 关于民谣皇帝和皇后的八卦故事听了不少,也写了不少,这回还是老老实实聊聊音乐吧。作为Dylan一方,他的歌词晦涩难懂,而且凭良心说嗓音也颇为粗糙,虽然是个文思如泉涌的鬼才,词曲俱佳,可惜欠缺一副好嗓;而Baez则正好相反,那首现场清唱版的"Swing Low Sweet Chariot"号称在西班牙某体育场大雨中录下,年近五十的歌声依然高亢,可以想见60年代其极盛期的嗓子惊艳到何等程度。当Dylan在60年代中期改走摇滚路线之后,Baez以传统民谣的方式重新诠释了他的一些歌曲,再加上历年Dylan专为她所作的曲目,便诞生了这张"Baez Sings Dylan"的雏形。这张唱片个人认为是引人进入60年代民谣世界的最佳入门碟,几年前大学时候每在宿舍楼下的小花园里看书,便会拎着CD机放这张唱片里那20首歌,保洁的大叔虽然洋文一句听不懂,但随着Baez的歌声穿透空气,也会在周围流连作沉醉状,可见民谣的强大杀伤力~~

    1963 “The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan”(Dylan)
    Don't Think Twice, It's All Right :新港民谣音乐节上两人保留合唱曲目,经典中的经典

    1964 “The Times They Are A-Changin'”(Dylan)
    One Too Many Mornings :清淡小品,离愁别绪
    North Country Blues :叙事民歌,凄凄惨惨的调子很是伤怀
    Boots of Spanish Leather :少见的弗拉门戈吉他风格
    Restless Farewell :女声的表现力似有过度,歌词反而被淡化了

    1964 "Another Side of Bob Dylan"(Dylan)
    It Ain't Me Babe :这首还是Dylan自己的沙哑风格演绎更有味道

    1965 "Bringing It All Back Home"(Dylan)
    Love Minus Zero/No Limit :也是调子很平淡的歌,但词非常有力~貌似用到很多圣经里的典故~暗喻多多,看似情歌,却又在讲生活百态和社会思潮
    It's All Over Now, Baby Blue :听出一些反战的味道,有点凄厉

    1965 "Farewell, Angelina"(Baez)
    Farewell, Angelina :我背下的第一首Dylan的歌词,实在是~说不清楚讲啥意思,但又好像明白几分个中涵义,这种vagueness正是他的拿手好戏,"海盗们白日里射瓶取乐,邻人鼓掌为击中欢呼,我将离去,因为天空已变了颜色~"
    Daddy You've Been on My Mind :听着像Jazz其实~~

    1967 “John Wesley Harding”(Dylan)
    I Dreamed I Saw St.Augustine :也是有点基督教背景的才容易理解
    Drifter's Escape :传统的蓝调民歌风格,有点类似Johnny Cash那种,不过配乐柔和不少
    Dear Landlord :带点funk味道的编曲,算是玩玩新花样
    I Pity the Poor Immagrant :这首曲子Baez的歌声就比Dylan温暖许多了

    1968 “Any Day Now”(Baez)
    You Ain't Going Nowhere :又是一首引起背诵冲动的歌曲,"思绪常驻冬日,你将无处可去~缚于有根之树,你将无处可去~"
    Tears of Rage :清唱版,展现Baez深厚内功的时刻
    Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word :总算是比较单纯的情歌了
    Walls of Red Wing :监狱之歌,狱中抒怀
    I Shall Be Released :一首让Baez放开唱的歌,罗伯茨的大嘴飘过~~
    Walkin' Down the Line :可以轻松听听的歌,不用去琢磨歌词~

  • 不久之前曾经盗用过capa写的关于“钻石与陈锈”的回忆,其实Dylan和Baez的故事要深挖起来那就真成历史研究了,当事人自己对于这段往事并不讳言,Baez在这张75年的同名专辑中另有一首,虽然也用了不少暗喻,但是比起前一首来总是给我一种不那么"Dylan"的感觉(更"Baez"一点??),总之不需要那么一大堆注解。。。

    The lady's adrift in a foreign land
    Singing on issues both humble and grand
    A decade flew past her and there on the page
    She read that the prince had returned to the stage
    Hovering near treacherous waters
    A friend saw her drifting and caught her
    Unguarded fantasies flying too far
    Memories tumbling like sweets from a jar

    And take me down to the harbor now
    Grapes of the summer are low on the bough
    Ghosts of my history will follow me there
    And the winds of the old days will blow through my hair

    叙事虽是第三人称,故事却是Baez自己。Dylan在66年5月27日那场著名的"Royal Albert Hall"后不久,便在同年7月29日发生摩托车意外而重伤,直到73-74之际才重返舞台,所以这里唱道“A decade flew past her and there on the page,She read that the prince had returned to the stage”,此时的Baez已与David Harris结束了三年的婚姻,Dylan复出的消息对她而言自然是五味杂陈,“Memories tumbling like sweets from a jar”

    Breath on an undying ember
    It doesn't take much to remember
    Those eloquent songs from the good old days
    That set us to marching with banners ablaze
    But reporters, there's no sense in prying
    Our blue-eyed son's been denying
    The truths that are wrapped in a mystery
    The sixties are over so set him free

    And take me down to the harbor now
    Grapes of the summer are low on the bough
    Ghosts of my history will follow me there
    And the winds of the old days will blow through my hair

    这段还是回忆60年代的岁月,当年反战、抗议的日子已经远去,但是那火焚的标语牌依然历历在目,“Those eloquent songs from the good old days,that set us to marching with banners ablaze”,陪伴着抗议者们的正是Baez的歌声——<We Shall Overcome>、<Joe Hill>、<With God On Our Side>......如今,民谣女皇在歌中还不忘替Dylan教育记者们:60年代结束啦,你们就别再烦他了吧~~

    Why do I sit the autumnal judge
    Years of self-righteousness will not budge
    Singer or savior, it was his to choose
    Which of us knows what was his to lose
    Because idols are best when they're made of stone
    A savior's a nuisance to live with at home
    Stars often fall, heroes go unsung
    And martyrs most certainly die too young

    So thank you for writing the best songs
    Thank you for righting a few wrongs
    You're a savage gift on a wayward bus
    But you stepped down and you sang to us

    And get you down to the harbor now
    Most of the sour grapes are gone from the bough
    Ghosts of Johanna will visit you there
    And the winds of the old days will blow through your hair

    “完美的偶像必是顽石,救世主在家有何用,明星陨落,英雄迟暮,若不早逝何来烈士”,这几句是整首歌的点睛之笔,当年Baez和Dylan离烈士也就是一步之遥,十年匆匆而过,民谣皇帝和皇后都已各有家室,回想当年,但觉往事随风。。。

  • 转贴自capa的blog - 有弦相聚:http://www.newsmth.net/pc/index.php?id=capa
    由经典歌曲展开的8g-7
    这次说的歌曲是diamonds and rust,我8g-3里提到了bob dylan以及joan baez的故事,这次就把8g展开一些,说是8g,但是我要以一种虔诚的心态来写,因为这首歌带给我太多的感动,如果选择我最喜欢的20首英文歌曲,我想肯定有这首的。diamond and rust不如前几次8g的歌曲出名,但是在很多人的心中却是一首很不一般的歌曲,因为这首歌描写了民谣天皇和天后的那种特殊的感情,尤其在baez的笔下更显得细腻、感人。很多地方说他们之间的爱恋如何的轰轰烈烈,但是起码在他们相识的开端,事情并没有这么明显。首先,bob dylan这个时候是有女朋友的,漂亮的女孩Sunsan,dylan的第二张专辑封面就是dylan和sunsan在一起的照片。不过日后他们不太体面的分手,这种分手一半是因为dylan名气越来越大而带来的副作用,一半是因为sunsan的姐姐carla的阻挠,至于carla为啥阻挠他们在一起,理论上说是因为carla作为一个资深的民谣迷,不喜欢dylan的风格,其实呢..carla的丈夫是一个民歌手叫paul clayton,而这个人有些同性恋的倾向,而且爱上了dylan...当然,这都是后话,按下不表。其次,这个时候baez也和一个小女孩分手不久(@_@....),两个境遇如此的人开始的交往自然不会让别人猜测些什么的。他们的故事,我们从这首歌歌词中解释吧,很多地方都提到这首歌如何的隐喻联翩,如何的细腻,但是我没有看到一段认真解释歌词的文字,我就壮壮胆子,尝试解释吧。
    歌词如下:
    Well,I'll be damned,
    here comes your ghost again,
    这是说joan baez想念bob dylan了,“comes your ghost again”不是说bob dylan还魂(-_-b),ghost在英语歌曲中有着比较特殊的位置,一般用来代表心中挥之不去的那个人,每次想起他,便是想起“ghost”了..比较出名的歌曲中,MLTR的ghost of you唱道“Why do I still fear to face the ghost of you”,duran duran的ordinary world中也有“still I can't escape the ghost of you”def leppard的unbelivevable中唱道“Girl I picture how the ghost of you That follows me everywhere”等等,不一而足,我觉得这个词用的其实很不错,想念一个女孩的滋味的确是真实而虚幻的,在不期然的时候出现,又忽然消失,就像ghost
    but that's not unusual,
    it's just that the moon is full,
    and you decided to come.
    And here I sit,
    hand on the telephone,
    hearing the voice I'd known ,
    a couple of light years ago,
    headed straight for a fall.
    这首歌发行在75年,而事实上,他们在65~75年这10年似乎都没太交往,从61的偶遇,到63年的相识,64年的默契,baez一直非常真诚的对待bob dylan,而这一点上,bob dylan做的不是那么厚道,65年他们一起来到英国,dylan如日中天,但是居然没有让baez登台,baez一气之下,就不辞而别,而这一气,就是十年。比较可能的一个原因是,当时处在民谣和摇滚转型期的dylan和一直唱传统民谣的Baez一起登台的话,会不是那么协调。这十年中,尽管很少来往,但是我们可以看出baez对dylan的那种复杂而真挚的感情,以及现在Baez企盼和失落的心理——headed straight for a fall
    As I remember your eyes
    Were bluer than robin's eggs
    这时,Baez开始通过电话回忆那个人,以及那段岁月。这两句话唯一需要提出的就是..robin知更鸟的蛋很蓝..
    My poetry was lousy you said
    65年他们还在一起的时候,dylan已经转型,Baez还停留在50年代末的那种纯民谣,因此dylan嘲笑Baez的歌词幼稚,跟不上时代了。因此有人说dylan的like a rollingstone是嘲笑Baez的,从歌词字面来看,不算太离谱。
    Where are you calling from?
    A booth in the midwest
    在73年左右,dylan离开了给他才华和荣耀的纽约,搬家到了洛山矶,而这是,也许他离家不是很远,这是我唯一能给midwest的解释了。当然,其实洛山矶不在中西部,大家想想,如果nba洛山矶湖人而不是夏洛特黄蜂分到了中西部赛区,那么这里将是多么死亡的死亡之组。
    Ten years ago
    I bought you some cufflinks
    You brought me something
    10年前,恰好就是63~65年他们交往的黄金年代,所以不难解释了。
    We both know what memories can bring
    They bring diamonds and rust
    终于点到“歌眼”了,何谓diamonds,何谓dust?齐豫在翻唱这首歌的时候曾经注解“钻石象征坚定和闪光的过往,铁锈代表着质变和时间的印痕”,我想,是挺有道理的,歌名带有rust的歌我没听过别的,带有diamonds的歌曲有两首比较出名,一首是beatles的Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,不过这首歌diamond没啥特殊意思,要是你愿意,换成crystal,carbuncle啥的也成。另外一首就是john denver的some day are diamonds,这首歌中,我们就了解差不多的意思了,就是那种“闪亮的日子吧”。他和dylan的故事,用这段歌词来诠释也比较贴切“你我为了理想,历经了艰苦,我们曾经哭泣,也曾共同欢笑,但愿你会记得,永远地记得,我们曾经拥有闪亮的日子”。
    Well you burst on the scene
    Already a legend
    The unwashed phenomenon
    The original vagabond
    vagabond,汉语意思:流浪者, 游民, 浪子, 流氓, 懒汉,不过我想也许这个词是偏褒义的,不然can you feel the love tonight怎么会唱“it's enough to make kings and vagabonds”,而这里,可以理解为流浪诗人。我们需要了解一下这个时候的dylan。尽管他比baez没小多少(都是41年生人),但是在他刚刚来到纽约闯荡的时候,baez已经是个大明星,他已经出了第一张专辑,并且创造了女民谣歌手处女作的销量记录。他们的相遇是在61年四月,dylan第一次登台,在纽约格林尼治村,为传奇巨星John Lee Hooker(01年逝世,缅怀)暖场,而baez是冲着hooker去的,并没有注意到dylan,但是很多人已经开始注意这个冉冉升起的新星了,有牛人认为他将会大有作为,所以说“you burst on the scene already a legend”
    You strayed into my arms
    And there you stayed
    Temporarily lost at sea
    The Madonna was yours for free
    Yes the girl on the half-shell
    Would keep you unharmed
    63年,dylan在一个南方民歌节演出,台下观众不太买帐,除了一个人。就是刚刚被《blowing in the wind》(具体见8g-3)感动过的baez,当时的baez如日中天,是民谣歌手中的代言人,甚至上了时代的封面。她盛情邀请dylan和她一起度过一段时间,认真写歌,这段日子里,baez给了dylan无私的关心爱护,因此说“You strayed into my arms And there you stayed”。注意后边的那个madonna..不是麦姐,而是圣母(某朋友(网名和菜头)提醒我,说这是Baez的小名,这似乎很可以解释的通,这句歌词,好像感觉到Baez已经把自己奉献给dylan了)。歌词中可以看到,dylan开始获得baez的心,这段共度的日子,也成了他们感情的开端。至于为啥说“The Madonna was yours for free”可以从baez的话中得到原因“bob是个具有公众魅力的人,这是这一点使他无法成为一个活生生的个人,尽管我希望自己不要陷入到bob的感情中以至无法自拔,但是我的占有欲又如此之强”。
    Now I see you standing
    With brown leaves falling around
    And snow in your hair
    这是那个时候dylan给baez的印象,同时也是他给我的印象,凉风,落叶中站立的瘦削的诗人。baez这个非常细腻的女歌手对于这种形象的把握恰到好处,若干年后,她在自传中又描写了一段叶子。“My suite had a picture window looking out on a huge maple tree. I lined up the couch pillows on the floor so that I could lie down and look directly into the leaves which were flipping gently like the pages of an abandoned book, their two sides of slightly different hues”,这是84年她又和dylan一起,而dylan又冷淡的对她,她在房间的描写,个中滋味,自己体会去吧。
    Now you're smiling out the window
    Of that crummy hotel
    Over Washington Square
    Our breath comes out white clouds
    Mingles and hangs in the air
    Speaking strictly for me
    We both could have died then and there
    非常幸福的描写是吧,寒风中相依的人们是非常幸福的,至少我是这样认为。这段需要注意的是washington square,华盛顿广场不在华盛顿,就在格林尼治村(前边提到),由于历史的原因(包括dylan等歌手在这里的日子,这里,是dylan起飞的地方),这里成了美国艺术氛围最浓的地方,也是一度波希米亚氛围最浓的地方,而现在呢..大概成了最小资房价最贵的地方了..-_-。华盛顿广场就是号称“格林尼治村灵魂”。
    now you're telling me
    You're not nostalgic
    这句话让我越发觉得dylan不厚道....
    Then give me another word for it
    You who are so good with words
    And at keeping things vague
    vague:含糊不清的。这里我们可以理解为双关语,dylan的确非常擅长这个,否则他就不会被盛赞为民谣诗人天皇什么的。说点题外话,其实dylan有些时候的歌词没有想那么多,但是那么大一陀歌词总是让人联想的是吧,于是就有人千方百计的解释这些歌词,弄得dylan很烦,有的时候就会写歌嘲笑或者干脆骂这些人一顿,更可笑的是这种人还有一个名字,大概叫dylanist..迪伦学家是也。
    Because I need some of that vagueness now
    It's all come back too clearly
    Yes I loved you dearly
    And if you're offering me diamonds and rust
    I've already paid
    这几句话我也不知道该怎么解释才好,但是我们可以总字里行间感受到Baez那种非常具有女性魅力的心路历程,那种对dylan割舍不下的爱。
        
    然后我们说说这首歌的后来的故事吧,75年的时候,dylan举办了著名的“rolling thunder revue”全国巡回演出,很突然也很自然的把baez找来,两个人重新到了一起。dylan故意装作漫不经心的问baez这首歌是写给谁的,baez也很随意的说是写给他自己前夫的,还反问“你以为是写给谁的”弄的dylan很尴尬,不过弄得作为读者的我很爽。事实上,baez为了纪念他的前夫david,还真是写过一些专辑的,就叫david's album
    不过这次演出(算是游玩)是非常快乐的,一直到第二次巡回演出开始的时候,dylan越发变的奇怪,baez终于想自己离开一段时间(不想和dylan一起,这对baez来说不是一般的事情),结果dylan大声咆哮不希望baez离开。于是有了下边的对话(我看到的是汉语的..)
    baez:你喝醉了,还是赶紧休息吧
    dylan:那我们结成兄妹吧(吧自己胳膊划开)
    ——等等(baez也拿了刀子把胳膊划开两个人胳膊在一起,血也在一起)
    ——一辈子...(dylan傻笑)
    ——什么一辈子?
    ——你和我..
    这段场景让我联想很多,总是为baez伤感,觉得她像程玲素..
    84年,dylan早已离婚,孤身一人(若干年后,乐坛上出现一个叫做wallflowers的乐队主唱叫Jakob Dylan:dylan之子 )号称dylan/baez reunion 的巡回演出让baez巡回演出让她欣喜若狂,因为她又可以和dylan一起!她的自传中写道“So when, a month after Bob's and my conversation about Latin America, they called me and said, ,He'll do it! He wants to do it!”可惜,这次和她在一起的,让人是古怪,傲慢的dylan,终于她决定不在一起去巴黎,自己离开,直到这个时候,他在终于和dylan有了很近的接触,因为dylan希望“送她”。说是送她,其实还是让她自己去找dylan“Bob was lying on a sofa with his head toward the door, dressed in what looked like a formal suit. His eyes were shut and his feet were up on the arm of the sofa. He had jumped when I walked in, so I knew he was awake.”这次见面中“Bob started running his hand up under my skirt, around the back of my knee and partway up my thigh.”这是他们最后的亲密接触了。
    于是,有了这段伟大感情的终结。
    ,So,' he said, stretching his arms out straight with a cat shiver. ,You leavin' already?'
    ,Yeah, I gotta go.'
    ,How come?'
    ,I have to catch a plane. It's the kind of plane you have to go and get. It doesn't come and pick you up.'
    ,You don't wanna hang around and maybe do sumpin together later?'
    ,You mean sing?'
    ,Yeah, do sumpin together.'
    ,Naw, I don't think so, Bob. Not that way. I wanted to do it right, you know, but it didn't work out. Maybe some other time. I gotta go.'
    ,That's too bad. You bin enjoyin' yourself?'
    ,Yeah, Bob. It's been my favourite tour in the world.' And I kissed him again and left.
    说实话,我从来没有这么8g过,我写这么多,只是因为,这首歌,让我感动,这个女人,让我感动。有一天,她也老了,面对她的不是千万为她喝彩的观众,只是一些漠然的人群,我不知道她是否还会为她当年爱上这个伟大的又是迷一样的男人而心跳——冷暖自知罢,我们所作,唯有祝福。
  • The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
    1969原唱:The Band
    1971翻唱:Joan Baez
    Virgil Caine is the name and I served on the Danville train
    'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again
    In the winter of '65, we were hungry, just barely alive
    By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember oh so well
    (chorus)
    The night they drove Old Dixie down and the bells were ringing
    The night they drove Old Dixie down and the people were singin', they went   
    La-la-la  la-la-la,  la-la-la  la-la-la,  la-la-la-la


    Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she called to me
    "Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!"
    Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good
    Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest
    But they should never have taken the very best
    (chorus)

    Like my father before me, I will work the land
    And like my brother before me, who took a rebel stand
    He was just eighteen, proud and brave  
    But a Yankee laid him in his grave
    I swear by the mud below my feet 
    You can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat

    (chorus)
    (repeat chorus)
    个人只听过Baez的版本,这首内战叙事歌由她唱来不免硝烟弥漫、热血沸腾,不过Baez大妈对歌词的几处修改并不咋地,这边贴出的是原版歌词,寥寥三段已将内战失利后dixie们的凄惨和落寞展现眼前,其实那场战争对美国社会的影响远比我们旁观者想象的大的多,一百年后USA的南北仍然被撕裂着。。。