无尽的前沿

加拿大的Vancouver是个好地方，面对着无垠的太平洋，家门口还有个以温带雨林闻名的温哥华岛，当然啦，这里也是Sarah McLachlan的家乡。这位歌手称不上多产，但屈指可数的几张专辑确是精雕细琢，单从专辑名称里也能体会几分：从1989年<Touch>的初涉乐坛，1991年<Solace>的进军美利坚，到1993年<Fumbling Towards Ecstasy>大获成功，而1997年<Surfacing>发行的终于为她赢来了Grammy的肯定，感动－慰藉－沉迷－反思，这也正是她十年事业的写照。

起步时的她，曲风中还带着些许青涩的民谣味道，但骨子里的阴郁风格已然有所体现，所以<Touch>并不是张风格划一的唱片，有的朋友单喜欢那份空灵，也许却错过了更精彩的部分。"Mother teached me to walk again/milk and honey so toxicated/i'm reunited"，经过<Solace>的过渡与尝试，这种风格渐渐成形，也为自己营建了一个固定的歌迷群体。到了93年，<Fumbling Towards Ecstasy>一经面世便有惊艳之感，"The ice is thin/come on diving/underneath my lucen skin"，这首"Ice"在演唱会时常被Sarah称为自己最最阴郁的曲目，但台下就是爱听啊，前奏响起便是尖叫一片，而台上也愈发的投入，把数万人的体育场愣是变成了枯藤老树昏鸦的意境，而"Hold On"则是撕心裂肺的独白，"Oh god/the man i love is leaving/would you take him/when he comes to your door"，后来此曲被用作一部描写艾滋病人生活的纪录片主题曲，确是催人泪下。<Surfacing>，歌手本人的解释是"Surfacing is about me finally growing up and facing ugly things about myself. We all have a dark side; it's bullshit to say that we don't. At some point we're going to have to face that"，这张专辑里最为国人熟悉的便是电影"天使之城"的插曲"Angel"，"so tired of the straight line/and everywhere you turn/there's vultures and thieves at your back/and the storm keeps on twisting/you keep on building the lie/that you make up for all that you lack/it don't make no difference/escaping one last time/it's easier to believe/in this sweet madness/oh this glorious sadness/that brings me to my knees"，但"Building A Mystery"也许更为本土歌迷推崇（国内引进版把这首歌抹去了，难道就是因为歌词里有个f***??难道文化部那些蠢货不知道f***ed-up和f***是两回事??）

这四张专辑呈现给我们一个完整的作为歌手的Sarah Mclachlan，但作为一个完整的女性却是不够的，97年之后她全力投身于"Lilith Fair"的全女班摇滚演出事业，直到2003年，做了母亲的她才为翘首多时的歌迷们带来新专辑<Afterglow>，但这张唱片里已经不再有那浓的化不开的阴郁气息，更多的是喜悦和关怀，唯一不变的是唱片标题传递讯息的功能，"落日余晖"，她自己也感觉到那往日的愁云惨雾和随之而来的创作灵感渐行渐远了吧。写到这里，想起当年咆哮"Zombie"的Dolores O'Riordan，她在怀孕生子之后竟然能写出"Animal Instinct"这样饱含温情的歌曲，不由不让人感慨母性之摧枯拉朽雷霆万钧之力～～

Sarah McLachlan - World On Fire

(选自2003年专辑《Afterglow - 晚霞余晖》)

官方主页 http://www.sarahmclachlan.com/

Hearts are worn in these dark ages

You're not alone in these stories pages

The light has fallen amongst the living and the dying

And I'll try to hold it in Yeah I'll try to hold it in

(Chorus)

The world's on fire it's more then I can handle

I'll tap into the water try and bring my share

Try to bring more, more then I can handle

Bring it to the table

Bring what I am able

I watch the heavens but I find no calling

Something I can do to change what's coming

Stay close to me while the sky's falling

I don't wanna be left alone don't wanna be alone

(Chorus)

Heart's break heart's mend love still hurts

Visions clash planes crash still there's talk of

saving souls still cold's closing in on us

We part the veil on our killer sun

Stray from the straight line on this short run

The more we take the less we become

The fortune of one man means less for some

(Chorus)