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我在听|Woody Guthrie - Dust Bowl Ballads (1940) 沙尘暴歌谣集

美国民谣 美国民谣 2021-03-16

▲ 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 FloydDust 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?

伍迪·格斯里 This Land Is Your Land

V058 Gaga 在“超级碗”上唱的两首民谣

V111 桑妮,昨天我的生活阴雨绵绵



-END-



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