我在听|Woody Guthrie - Dust Bowl Ballads (1940) 沙尘暴歌谣集
▲ 1935年的德克萨斯
1940年,除了写出号称美国第二国歌的《这片土地是你的土地》(This Land Is Your Land),伍迪·格斯里(Woody Guthrie)出版了他商业上最成功的一张专辑《沙尘暴歌谣集》(Dust Bowl Ballads)。
沙尘今天也“如约”光临北京,来听这张应景的专辑~
▲《沙尘暴歌谣集》的各种版本——上图:Victor 首版 (1940);下图从左到右:RCA Victor Vintage Series (1950)、Folkways LP版 (1964)、Rounder CD版 (1988)、Buddha CD版 (2000)
Victor Records 唱片公司为了发行这张专辑,用 Vol. 1 和 Vol. 2 上下2套6张双面78转黑胶,才勉强装下了其中的12首(Tom Joad 因为太长,被分成 Part 1 和 Part 2 放在一张黑胶的AB两面;Pretty Boy Floyd 和 Dust Bowl Blues 两首,还是因为时间太长未能收录)。
1964年,Folkways Records 重发了LP,才收录了全部14首歌。后来 Rounder Records 和 Buddah Records 也都发过完整曲目的CD版:
“大萧条”时期,美国中部农民因旱灾、沙尘暴和土地兼并背井离乡,沿66号公路去加州寻找“应许之地”(到头来只是从破产的乡下人变成了城里打工的“低端人口”,和这些年我们国家经历的差不多)。年轻的 Woody Guthrie 跟着这些农民一路从俄克拉荷马流浪到加州,写出了这些歌。
Lots of folks back East, they say, is leavin' home every day
许多人从东边来,出了家门脸朝西
Beatin' the hot old dusty way to the California line
穿越乡间小土路,来到加州碰运气
'Cross the desert sands they roll, gettin' out of that old dust bowl
离开古老大沙碗,穿过沙漠大戈壁
They think they're goin' to a sugar bowl but here's what they find
盼望手捧大糖碗,可到加州却碰壁
Now the police at the port of entry say, "You're number fourteen thousand for today"
路边警察对你说,你的号是一万七
Oh, if you ain't got the do re mi folks you ain't got the do re mi
如你没有哆来咪,伙计,如你不会哆来咪
While you better go back to beautiful Texas
那你最好回到美丽的德克萨斯
Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee
堪萨斯、佐治亚或田纳西
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see
加州是那伊甸园,就如天堂般美丽
But believe it or not you won't find it so hot, if you ain't got the do re mi
但你永远不幸福,如你没有哆来咪
You want to buy you a home or a farm that can't deal nobody harm
你想挣上一笔钱,能到海边度假去
Or take your vacation by the mountains or sea
或是买幢大房子,这也没有太稀奇
Don't swap your old cow for a car,
老牛千万别卖掉,换来汽车没处去
You better stay right where you are, you better take this little tip from me
最好听从我建议,快点回到家乡去
'Cause I look through the want ads every day
招工广告我见过
But the headlines on the papers always say
白纸黑字这样说:
Oh, if you ain't got the do re mi folks you ain't got the do re mi
如你没有哆来咪,伙计,如你不会哆来咪
……
整张《沙尘暴歌谣集》可以看做作者的半自传,它结合了 Woody Guthrie 的流浪经历和小说《愤怒的葡萄》中主人公汤姆·乔德(Tom Joad)的故事。
▲ 约翰·斯坦贝克(John Steinbeck)《愤怒的葡萄》(The Grapes of Wrath, 1939),小说(左图)1940年获得“普利策文学奖”并拍成电影,讲的也是30年代农民破产逃荒的故事
接下来还是一首叙事歌曲,唱的是20世纪初美国家喻户晓的悍匪“漂亮男孩”弗洛伊德(Pretty Boy Floyd)。我觉得专辑里的这首歌最能体现 Woody 的风格,简单的配器、欢快的曲风、幽默的歌词……最佩服的是他讲故事的能力,叙事人随心转换又出奇的流畅:
If you'll gather 'round me, children
孩子们,聚过来,围着我
A story I will tell
有个故事要讲给你们听
'Bout Pretty Boy Floyd, an outlaw
说的是亡命徒“漂亮男孩”洛伊德
Oklahoma knew him well
俄克拉荷马都熟知他的威名
It was in the town of Shawnee
我想那是在肖尼镇上
A Saturday afternoon
一个周六的午后
His wife beside him in his wagon
他和妻子并排驾着马车
As into town they rode
一起往闹市区去
There a deputy sheriff approached him
一个副警长向他走近
In a manner rather rude
态度蛮横无理
Vulgar words of anger
言语愤怒粗鄙
An' his wife she overheard
传到他妻子耳朵里
Pretty Boy grabbed a log chain
“漂亮男孩”弗洛伊德抓起铁链
And the deputy grabbed his gun
副警长拔出枪
In the fight that followed
一场战斗过后
He laid that deputy down
他撂倒了副警长
Then he took to the trees and timber
于是他跑向河岸
Along the river shore
躲进森林
Hiding on the river bottom
藏在河底
And he never come back no more
从此无踪无迹
Yes, he took to the trees and timber
是的,他躲进森林
To live a life of shame
过着耻辱的生活
Every crime in Oklahoma
每桩俄克拉荷马的罪案
Was added to his name
都被说成是他所为
▲ 就像侠盗罗宾汉一样,据说 Pretty Boy Floyd 从富人身上窃取钱财帮助穷人,在抢劫银行的时候还会销毁抵押贷款的凭据,让很多无力偿还债务的农民摆脱破产的结局,因此在他躲避追捕的过程中经常受到俄克拉荷马当地人的帮助
But a many a starvin' farmer
但是无数饥饿的农民
The same old story told
都讲述着同样的故事
How the outlaw paid their mortgage
多亏这个亡命徒偿还了他们的贷款
And saved their little homes
才保住了他们小小的家
Others tell you 'bout a stranger
还有人总谈起一个陌生人
That come to beg a meal
他向你讨顿饱饭
Underneath his napkin
他会在餐巾下面
Left a thousand-dollar bill
留下足足一千美元
It was in Oklahoma City
这是俄克拉荷马城
It was on a Christmas Day
就在一个圣诞节
There was a whole car load of groceries
一辆车子满载杂货
Come with a note to say:
附着一张便条:
"Well, you say that I'm an outlaw
“是呀,你们说我是个亡命徒
You say that I'm a thief
你们说我是个贼
Here's a Christmas dinner
这里有一车圣诞晚餐
For the families on relief"
送给要领救济的家庭”
Yes, as through this world I've wandered
是啊,我踏遍了这个世界
I've seen lots of funny men
见过许多有趣的伙计
Some will rob you with a six-gun
他们有些掏枪打劫你
And some with a fountain pen
有些却只带着一支钢笔
And as through your life you travel
是啊,你游历一生
Yes, as through your life you roam
你晃荡一世
You won't never see an outlaw
也不会看见有哪个亡命徒
Drive a family from their home
会将一家人赶出他们的房子
这种风格(加上他的“社会行动主义”价值观),影响了后来诸如 Pete Seeger、Bob Dylan、Bruce Springsteen、Phil Ochs、Joe Strummer 等等民谣音乐人,所以 Woody Guthrie 才被称为“美国现代民歌/民谣之父”。
又忍不住多提一句鲍大叔,70年代他也写过关于侠盗的歌,Billy the Kid,一次还写了3首《Billy 1》《Billy 4》《Billy 7》(曲调和歌词稍有区别),用在了西部片《比利小子》中。不同的是,Bob Dylan 不会把歌词写得那么“实”,讲故事的同时会给你联想和带入的空间:
▲ 西部片《比利小子》(Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, 1973),Bob Dylan 不但写了原声,还也饰演了一个小角色。P.S. 那首著名的《敲开天堂的门》(Knockin' on Heaven's Door)也是鲍大叔为这个电影写的插曲
最后一首是对整个“沙尘碗事件”的描述,歌词的创作手法和《这片土地是你的土地》有点像,里面也提到了许多美国地名:
On the 14th day of April of 1935
在1935年4月14日
There struck the worst of dust storms that ever filled the sky
刮起了有史以来最严重的沙尘暴
You could see that dust storm comin', the cloud looked deathlike black
你能看到沙尘暴在逼近,云是死黑的颜色
And through our mighty nation, it left a dreadful track
穿过我们强大的国家,留下可怕的痕迹
From Oklahoma City
从俄克拉荷马城
To the Arizona line
到亚利桑那线
Dakota and Nebraska to the lazy Rio Grande
从达科他、内布拉斯加到无精打采的格兰德河
It fell across our city like a curtain of black rolled down
它落在我们的城市时就像一个滚动的黑色帷幕
We thought it was our judgement, we thought it was our doom
我们认为这是审判,这是末日
▲ 1936年的俄克拉荷马
The radio reported, we listened with alarm
电台在报道,我们听着警报
The wild and windy actions of this great mysterious storm
这个神秘风暴的狂野行动
From Albuquerque and Clovis
从阿尔布开克和克洛维斯
And all New Mexico
还有整个新墨西哥州
They said it was the blackest that ever they had saw
他们说这是他们见过最黑暗的东西
From old Dodge city, Kansas
在堪萨斯的道奇城
the dust had rung their knell
沙尘已经敲响他们的丧钟
……
听完这14首歌,可以再翻翻这本书(其实是本“图像小说”Graphic Novel)。里面把大萧条和大沙尘的背景、Woody 的个人经历、歌曲的歌词都串到一起、用图画表现:
▲ 尼克·海耶斯(Nick Hayes)《伍迪·格斯里和沙尘暴歌谣集》(Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl Ballads)
本期歌单:
01 Woody Guthrie - Do Re Mi
02 Woody Guthrie - Tom Joad
03 Woody Guthrie - Pretty Boy Floyd
04 Bob Dylan - Billy 1 & 4 & 7
05 Woody Guthrie - The Great Dust Storm
试试这些?
-END-
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