专辑Coming from Reality
- 词译-Sandrevan Lullaby-Lifestyles
- 词译-I Think Of You
- 词译-A Most Disgusting Song
- 词译-Silver Words
- 词译-Cause
- 词译-Street Boy
Cause
Cause I lost my job two weeks before Christmas
And I talked to Jesus at the sewer
And the Pope said it was none of his God-damned business
While the rain drank champagne
My Estonian Archangel came and got me wasted
~~~
Cause the sweetest kiss I ever got is the one I’ve never tasted
Oh but they’ll take their bonus pay to Molly McDonald,
Neon ladies, beauty is that which obeys, is bought or borrowed
~~~
Cause my heart’s become a crooked hotel full of rumours
But it’s I who pays the rent for these fingered-face out-of-tuners
and I make 16 solid half hour friendships every evening
~~~
Cause your queen of hearts who is half a stone
And likes to laugh alone is always threatening you with leaving
Oh but they play those token games on Willy Thompson
And give a medal to replace the son of Mrs. Annie Johnson
~~~
Cause they told me everybody’s got to pay their dues
And I explained that I had overpaid them
So overdued I went to the company store
and the clerk there said that they had just been invaded
So I set sail in a teardrop and escaped beneath the doorsill
~~~
Cause the smell of her perfume echoes in my head still
~~~
Cause I see my people trying to drown the sun
In weekends of whiskey sours
~~~
Cause how many times can you wake up in this comic book and plant flowers?
因为
因为在圣诞节前两周，丢了我的工作
在下水道，我与耶稣交谈
教皇说这该死的事情根本与他无关
当时，下起了大雨，仿佛喝醉了一样
爱沙尼亚大天使向我走来，而我已落魄潦倒
~~~
因为这个最美的吻，是我一生中从未奢求的
但是他们将寻找麦克唐纳，带上所有的奖金
霓虹灯下的女人，听话又美丽，是需要购买或者租借
~~~
因为我的心，变成一间充满谎言的黑店
然而是我，为那些驴脸，跑调的人付房租
从而每夜便有十六份长达半个小时的坚定友谊
~~~
因为你的红桃皇后铁石心肠
她那独自狂笑，常常迫使你匆匆离去
但是她们在威利·汤普森身上玩着那些金钱游戏
然后颁发一枚勋章，来代替安妮·约翰逊夫人的儿子
~~~
因为他们告诉我，每个人都要付清欠款
而我解释，我已经付他们很多
逾期后，我只能去公司的商店
而那里的店员说道，他们刚刚被入侵了
于是我边流泪边从门缝下逃走
~~~
因为她的香水味仍在我脑子飘荡
~~~
因为我看到我的人民尝试去淹没太阳
在威士忌发酵的周末
~~~
又有多少次你能从这滑稽的书中清醒，去种种花呢？
Rodriguez-The Myths and The Mystery
“I began playing at 16 on a family guitar and it altered my life.” - Rodriguez, 1997
“我16岁时开始玩家里的一把吉他，于是它便改变了我的一生。” - 罗德里格兹，1997年
~~~
Craig Bartholomew tracked down Rodriguez, who is alive, well, living in Detroit and planning to tour South Africa next month.
Craig Bartholomew已经追踪到了Rodriguez，他目前还活着，生活在底特律，计划在下个月来南美洲巡演。
~~~
“Thanks for your time, and you can thank me for mine, and after that’s said, forget it!” were the poignant last words spoken, live on stage, before blowing his head off. That, at least, was one of the rumours. Others claimed he murdered his wife and was now in jail. Some said he was blind (“open the window and listen to the news”). Most of those asked were quite sure he was dead, perhaps because of the numerous references to drugs on both albums. A cold fact!
“谢谢你的时间，你也可以感谢我的时间，然后咱们再说，忘掉它吧！”，这是他站在舞台上，说出的最后一句令人心酸的话，然后朝自己的头开了一枪。当然，至少来说这曾经是传闻之一。其他谣传声称他谋杀了他的妻子，而如今正身陷囫囵。有人说他已失明（根据歌词“打开窗户区倾听消息”）。谣言中大部分都根据他两张专辑中大量涉及毒品，而确定他已经死了。这真是冷冷的现实！
~~~
It was this anomaly – one that just kept on selling albums – that spurred me to find the truth, and as a bonus, the man behind the truth, Sixto Rodriguez. In 1972 the album Cold Fact was released in the United States by a folk singer known only as Rodriguez. It sold so badly that it was deleted. When released in South Africa though, it did so well that the record company released his earlier “no-hit” album Coming From Reality, disguised and renamed After The Fact. And then came 24 long years of nothing. No new albums, no music videos, no tours, no publicity – only rumours.
世间居然还有如此反常之事！那个人，他只是售卖专辑，他激励我去寻找真相，就像为了奖金，他藏在真相的背后，他就是Sixto Rodriguez。在1972年，专辑《Cold Fact》在美国有一名只知道叫Rodriguez的民谣歌手发行。由于售卖太差，导致直接退出市场。然而当它在南美洲发行的时候，却受到异常好评，致使唱片公司发行他的早期的无人问津的专辑《Coming From Reality》，并伪装重名为《After The Fact》。随后便是长达24年的无言，没有新专辑，没有音乐摄像，没有巡演，没有媒体关注，只有传言。
~~~
In 1996 I determined to find the man, dead or alive. After nine months, 72 telephone calls, 45 faxes, 142 e-mails, long nights reading through encyclopedias, music books, dead ends, loose ends and fag ends I reached him. “Yes … it is I, Sixto [Seez-to] Rodriguez,” said the voice on the other end of the telephone.
在1996年我觉得去寻找这个“是死还是活着”的男人。在经历9个月，72个电话，45封传真，142封邮件，数夜通读百科全书，音乐书籍，遇到过死胡同，毫无音讯的，毫无帮助的问题。直到我接到那个电话，那个在电话另一端的声音，“是的。是我，我就是Sixto Rodriguez”。
~~~
Finding out just where he’d been in all this time was not an easy task. He is a private man and has his “own concept of the universe”. For someone who once sang, “The mayor hides the crime rate … the public forgets the vote date,” it was surprising he had actually run for mayor of Detroit seven times. And although he hasn’t released any albums since 1974 he still plays and sings, has toured Australia twice, has fathered two daughters. He still has long hair, is fit and is bringing out a new album. What’s more, he’ll be in South Africa next month.
寻找他的过往并非易事。他是一个隐居于世的人，活在他自己的宇宙中。令人吃惊的是，对于一个曾唱到，“市长藏起犯罪率，群众忘记投票日期”，的人竟7次投入底特律市长的竞选活动中。虽然自从1974年起，他再也没有发行任何专辑，但仍然在演奏与歌唱，并且去澳大利亚巡演过两次，是两个女儿的父亲。他仍然留着长发，它很适合他所带来的新专辑。更重要的是，下个月他将亲临南美。
~~~
I spoke to him recently by phone.
我最近都在与他电话联系着。
~~~
Rodriguez: So, tell me about yourself!
R：所以，给我来讲讲你自己吧！
CB: I was born in Kimberley, a very dry and dusty mining town with a mentality to match, and literally hours after my last school exam, I got the hell out.
CB：我出生于南非金伯利，一座干燥，充满灰尘的，以煤矿为主业的小镇。估计你很难能想到，通俗来讲，在我最后的校园考试后的几个小时后，我便离开了那里。
R: Next question … How do they celebrate a diamond festival?
R：另一个问题，他们如何庆祝钻石盛会？
CB: Hey! Who’s doing this interview?
CB：嗨，哥们，到底是谁采访谁？
R: Okay, I like to tell people that I was born on Michigan Avenue, five blocks from the centre of Detroit.
R：好吧，我习惯于告诉人们，我出生在底特律市中心的密歇根大街的第五街区。
CB: I’ve had a hard time in South Africa convincing people that you are alive and kicking. Why do you think this impression exists?
CB：在南非，说服人们你还活着，还能蹦跶，对我来说是一件非常困难的事。为什么你认为这个印象是存在的？
R: Imaginations working overtime. Your personal intervention, though, has energised my tour to South Africa.
R：过多的使用想象力吧。你个人的采访，真正的来讲，对我在南非的巡演帮助很大。
CB: In A Most Disgusting Song you say you’ve “played faggot bars, hooker bars, motorcycle funerals, opera houses, concert halls”. Are you still playing?
CB：在歌曲《A Most Disgusting Song》中，你曾经写道，“同性恋酒吧，情色酒吧，送葬车队，都曾有我的身影”。如今的你，是否还在演唱呢？
R: I am working on a project with Mike Theodore at the moment (producer on the 1972 Cold Fact album).
R：目前，我在正在与Mike Theodore（1972年专辑《Cold Fact》的供应商）共事一个项目。
CB: Do you think everyone is in some way an artist?
CB：你认为每个人在某些方面都是一个艺术家么？
R: Yes, art is in all of us. We all have a talent. It is up to us to listen and draw within ourselves and pull out the words, the form or some creative action.
R：是的，艺术存在于我们每一个人，并且我们有这样的才华。关键是我们每个人都去聆听，去描绘内在的自己，将它们转换为文字，或者我们自己创作的动作模式。
CB: Your family’s from Mexico, are they not?
CB：你的家庭来自于墨西哥，是么？
R: Yeah, immigrated to the US in the 1920s.
R：是的，在20世纪20年代移民到美国。
CB: This reminds me of one of my favourite pieces, a song by Pat Metheny called Sueño con Mexico.
CB：这让我想起我喜爱片段之一，一首来自于Pat Metheny的歌，叫《Sueño con Mexico》。
R: Yes, “I dream with Mexico”. I’ve heard the piece. Overlapping guitars. In my opinion, the guitar is central in popular music. Guitars have evolved, changed shape, become electrified. It is one of the most unifying language tools in the world. I’d be lost without one.
R：是的，《我梦墨西哥》。我听过那个片段。相互重叠的吉他声。就我看来，吉他位于流行音乐的中心位置。吉他也进化过，改变过形状，插上了电。它是世上最统一语言工具之一。没有它我将会迷失自己。
CB: Your daughter Eva says she has fond memories of you and your brothers sitting on your father’s porch jamming and singing Mexican music, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Hank Williams and others. What’s your earliest musical memory?
CB：你的女儿Eva讲起她的某些关于你的回忆，你和你的兄弟们坐在你父亲的门槛上，唱着墨西哥歌曲，James Taylor, Billy Joel, Hank Williams或者别的。那你最早的音乐记忆是什么呢？
R: I began playing at 16 on a family guitar and it altered my life.
R：我16岁时开始玩家里的一把吉他，于是它便改变了我的一生。
CB: There’s something wonderful about trying to understand a new culture. Tell me about your summer with American Indians.
CB：尝试去理解一种新文化，是一件美好的事。给我讲讲你与美洲印第安的那个夏天吧。
R: It was a great summer. We went swimming in Grand Bend and to pow-wows (a magical Indian ceremony) throughout Michigan. As far back as 1974 I was involved in organising an American-Indian pow-wow at Wayne State University Campus.
R：那是一个完美的夏日。我们一起在Grand Bend中游泳，一起穿过密歇根州去参加一种神奇的印第安节日pow-wows。回想在1974年，我曾被邀请到韦恩州立大学夏令营中去主持一个美洲印第安的pow-wows。
CB:… where you studied philosophy?
CB：你在哪里学习的哲学？
R: Yes, but to get back to American Indians … theirs is a vibrant and natural culture.
R：对了，回到美洲印第安人那段，那是一种生动活泼的又亲近自然的文化。
CB: What is the significance of the little grey shoe on the Coming From Reality album cover [released in South Africa as After The Fact].
CB：那双在专辑《Coming From Reality》封面（在南美为发行的《After The Fact》）上的小灰色鞋有什么寓意？
R: The shoe had no real meaning. The photographer, Hal Wilson, came in from New York. We walked around Detroit and saw the house. Debris was laying around and the shoe was nearby. I took it and placed it beside mine. We only took seven shots for the album cover. Milton Sincoff designed the cover with Buddha Records and we said at the time: if the album doesn’t make it, the cover will!
R：那双鞋没有什么真正的寓意。摄像师Hal Wilson来自于纽约。我们在底特律中闲逛，然后看到了一栋房子。底特律是那种随处可以躺着，有双鞋正好在附近。我拿起它直接穿到脚下。我们为专辑封面就拍了7张而已。Milton Sincoff设计的封面曾获得过Buddha奖，我们曾开玩笑道：如何专辑没法成功，那就让封面做到吧！
CB: In your music you mention names like Jane S Piddy, Molly MacDonald and Willlie Thompson. Who are they?
CB： 在你的歌曲中提到过很多名字，像Jane S Piddy，Molly MacDonald和Willlie Thompson。这些都是谁呢？
R: The people are fictional. I tapped on the writer’s poetic licence giving them names and shape. Almost as a caricature works for the visual artist.
R：这些人物都是幻想的。我按照作家诗歌的准则给他们姓名与个性。相当于视觉艺术家中的绘画创作一样。
CB: Coming From Reality was recorded Britain, yet I could not find one single copy there.
CB：《Coming From Reality》曾在英国录制，为何我在那儿没有发现一张单曲记录呢？
R: We spent 30 wonderful days recording the Reality album. We stayed in Belgravia, London. I really don’t know what happened with the distribution, though.
R：我们曾花费30个美好的日子来录制《Coming From Reality》这张专辑。我们住在伦敦贝尔格莱维亚区。但是我真的不知道专辑发售到底出了什么问题。
CB: Why was your masterpiece, Cold Fact, largely ignored in the US?
CB：为何你的著作《Cold Fact》会在美国无人问津呢？
R: “Masterpiece”? You’re too kind. It was the first product released on the Sussex label owned by Clarence Avant [today’s Motown head]. It’s all right that it happened this way.
R：著作？你真会开玩笑。它是第一部贴有Sussex标签的发行作品，Clarence Avant（就像当今汽车城的市长）曾拥有它。它如何变那样，就是历史中的这样了。
CB: What is your view on drugs such as cannabis, as in your song Sugar Man?
CB：在你歌曲《Sugar Man》中，你是如何看待毒品，例如大麻一类？
R: Clearly alcohol is a much more destructive substance. Weed is a natural substance. Less harmful and helpful in some cases. The way I see it is when the law catches up with reality, change will come. There’s a group in Michigan called Normal trying to “decriminalise” dope and a guy on the West Coast running for governor of California who produces the substance for medical purposes.
R：准确来讲，酒精是更具有说服力的例子。草剂是一种自然产物。在某些例子中，它没有危害，并能起到一定作用。我对它们的看法，就跟法律与现实相符合，时刻都是改变。就像密歇根洲的一个团体叫“自然”，尝试合法化毒品。而在西海岸的一个小伙正为加利福尼亚政府生产毒品用于医学研究。
CB: I heard that there’s some link between you and the band Midnight Oil?
CB：我曾听说你和乐队Midnight Oil之间有一定的联系？
R: I feel that Midnight Oil is a top band. I first watched them perform in 1981. I witnessed their powerful stage performance at past two in the morning in the freezing cold of the Australian wind. It was so cold that as Peter Garrett performed steam was rising from his head. It was almost phantom-like. He is musical, political and international. I also love the Stones. For me, Mick Jagger is king, but Peter Garrett is also high on the list of music aristocracy. I’ve been lucky to have been backstage with Midnight Oil on several occasions. We were on the same bill in Australia in 1981 … it was a trip!
R：我认为Midnight Oil是一个顶级乐队。我第一次看他们的表演是在1981年。我见证过在澳大利亚寒冷的风中，他们连续两个早上在舞台上强有力的表演。那是如此的冷，当Peter Garrett在舞台演奏的时候，气流正从他的头顶上吹过。那样子真像幽灵。音乐，政治与国际化集于他的一身。我同样喜欢滚石乐队。对于我来说，Mick Jagger是王，但是Peter Garrett在音乐贵族的名单中同样有着相同的高度。我有幸在Midnight Oil的一些巡演中同台演出。我们曾在1981年一起在澳大利亚旅行过。
CB: Detroit is a city of soul music. Strange that you got your first recording break there?
CB：底特律是一座灵魂音乐的都市。很奇怪你的第一张录制是否能在那儿里突破？
R: There is a wide range of labels that pick up on Detroit talents. From a macro perspective, I feel we live in the age of sound like the Bronze Age or Stone Age. Today, we are all given so many clues about life through sound.
R：对于底特律的艺术家门，有很广泛的定义来区分。从一个大的视角来看，我认为我们正生活在一个声音时代，就像铜器时代或者石器时代。如今，通过声音能传达给我们很多关于生活的想法与思考。
博客音乐列表
参考博文
本作品由陈健采用知识共享署名-非商业性使用-相同方式共享 4.0 国际许可协议进行许可。
