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Red, Cold & Green: Bob Marley, Reggae Messiah 雷鬼音乐教父：巴布马利

详细资料: 创建于 2004年5月11日; 最后更新于 2024年5月25日; 发布于 2011年6月28日; 作者：Mike Lee; 点击数：416

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

On this day twenty-three years ago, Jamaican singer/songwriter Robert Nesta Marley passed from this world into the hands of “Jah”. Bob Marley popularized reggae music, along with the Rastafarian religion, to the world outside Jamaica. He did so, moreover, with a nearly messianic fervor and aplomb. Along the way, Marley wrote the greatest popular spiritual music of the twentieth century.

23年前的今日【注】，牙买加歌手兼作曲家罗伯特尼斯塔马利（巴布马利）离开人世，进入他所说的「上帝」【注】手中。巴布马利将雷鬼乐和原属于牙买加的拉斯特法里教派通俗化，让牙买加以外的世界得以接受它们，而且，他以近乎救世主般的热忱与沉着来推动。一路走来，巴布马利写出了二十世纪最受欢迎的灵魂乐歌曲。

Jamaica is an island rich in cultural influences – native Caribbean, African, European, North American – but is also marked by the legacy of slavery and colonialism. Born in the rural town of St. Ann on February 6, 1945, Bob Marley, like so many Jamaicans, was lured to the capital of Kingston in the late fifties seeking a better life. Yet the reality of life for the urban poor in the shanties of Kingston’s Trenchtown was dismal and violent.

牙买加是富有多元文化影响力的岛屿──具加勒比海本土、非洲、欧洲、和北美本土的色彩──但也充满奴隶制度和殖民主义的传承。巴布马利于1945年2月6日出生于圣安城乡村地区，就像很多其他牙买加人一样，他在五０年代后期前往首都金斯敦，希望寻求更美好的生活。但在金斯敦都会区壕沟城贫民窟的简陋小木屋生活，现实却是凄凉且充满暴力的。

Despite its squalor, Trenchtown proved a fertile breeding ground for music. After forming his band The Wailers, Marley recorded his first single, “Judge Not”, in 1962. Even this first single displayed Marley’s hallmark pop sensibility and biblical message; however, the sensuous syncopation and Rastafarian proselytizing so typical of reggae music didn’t fully emerge until Marley collaborated with the eccentric yet brilliant music producer Lee “Scratch” Perry in 1970.

不过壕沟城贫民窟的脏乱穷困却成了他创作音乐的丰富泉源。巴布马利组成悲鸣者合唱团后，在1962年开始录制他第一首单曲「不要论断人，免得被论断」。即使这单曲只是巴布马利的第一支，它已经展现出其作品中惯有对流行音乐的高敏感度及宗教信息；不过在此时，属于雷鬼乐特色的迷人切分音，和让人在潜移默化中接受拉斯特法里教义的曲风，还未完全展现出来，这些一直到1970年巴布马利与卓绝出众，但却怪诞的音乐制作人李培利合作后，才真正完全展现。

【注】：本文指1981年5月11日。

【注】：牙买加式英文词汇，指拉斯特法里教派的「上帝」。

Vocabulary

单词发音

reggae [ˋrɛge] n. 雷鬼摇摆乐（一种牙买加流行音乐）

messiah [məˋsaɪə] n. 救世主耶稣

Jamaican [dʒəˋmekən] adj. 牙买加的；牙买加人的

Jah [dʒɑ] n. 耶和华，上帝

popularize [ˋpɑpjələ͵raɪz] v. 使通俗化；普及；宣传

Rastafarian [͵ræstəˋfærɪən] n. 拉斯特法里（派）（牙买加黑人教派，信奉黑人是上帝将拯救的人）

messianic [͵mɛsɪˋænɪk] adj. 救世主的；以救世主自居的

fervor [͵fɝvɚ] n. 热烈，热情

aplomb [əˋplɑm] n.【法】沉着；泰然自若

colonialism [kəˋlonɪəl͵ɪzəm] n. 殖民主义；殖民政策

lure [lʊr] v. 引诱，诱惑

shanty [ˋʃæntɪ] n. 简陋小（木）屋

dismal [ˋdɪzm!] adj. 忧郁的；沉闷的；凄凉的

squalor [ˋskwɑlɚ] n. 污秽﹐肮脏

hallmark [ˋhɔl͵mɑrk] n. 特点﹐特征; 标志

sensuous [ˋsɛnʃʊəs] adj. 给感官以快乐的﹐给人以快感的

syncopation [͵sɪŋkəˋpeʃən] n.【音】切分法；切分音

proselytize [ˋprɑs!ɪ͵taɪz] v.【正式】极力劝诱〔某人〕入教[加入政党等]〔常含贬义〕

eccentric [ɪkˋsɛntrɪk] adj.（人、行为等）古怪的，反常的

Sentence of the Day

His life was a rags-to-riches tale.

他的人生故事是一出由贫而富、麻雀变凤凰的故事。

rags-to-riches 由穷致富的

课文讲解

Through a sensation around the Caribbean by 1971, Bob Marley and The Wailers remained virtually unknown elsewhere. By 1972, a series of misadventures landed the band in London without ticket home. In desperation, Bob approached Chris Blackwell, head of Island Records, for a record deal. Blackwell advanced the band ₤4,000, put them in a state-of-the-art studio, and heavily promoted their completed album. Though Catch A Fire was a moderate commercial success, tracks like “Stir It Up” and “Kinky Reggae” – with their Jamaican roots, militant politics, and guitar rock patina – set Marley completely apart from the excesses of seventies rock.

虽然时至1971年止，巴布马利和悲鸣者合唱团已经在加勒比海一带小有名气，但是在其他地方仍然没没无闻。至1972年，一连串不顺利遭遇使得这支合唱团来到伦敦，却陷入回不得家的窘境。走头无路之下，巴布马利向岛屿唱片公司的老板──克利斯布拉克威尔──商讨唱片合约。布拉克威尔预付给这支合唱团四千英磅的费用，把他们带入设备新颖的录音间去工作，而且将他们的专辑极力地宣传促销。虽然「引火烧身」这张唱片的商业票房成就不很惊人，但是像「搅动它」和「头发卷曲的雷鬼」──两者充满了牙买加当地的本土性，军事政治色彩，和吉他摇滚的神态──让巴布马利在七０年代一般摇滚歌手过于矫饰的曲风中独树一格。

Following Catch A Fire, Marley rose to international fame quickly. In December 1976, two nights before Bob was to give a free peace concert, a gunman attempted to assassinate him in his Kingston home. He escaped and hid. Despite the threat of death, Bob bravely played the concert, but left immediately afterwards for London.

「引火烧身」之后，巴布马利很快地在国际间窜红。1976年12月，就在巴布马利的一场免费和平音乐会之前两个晚上，他在金斯敦的寓所，有枪手企图行刺他。他逃走了，并藏身起来。虽然面临死亡的威胁，巴布马利还是勇敢地举行了音乐会，不过后来随即离开了该地，前往伦敦。

Marley’s subsequent album, Exodus (1977) was an epochal musical exhortation of his religious convictions. The title track, especially, churns along like a locomotive of redemption.

巴布马利下一张专辑，1977年的「出埃及记」是一张划时代的音乐训诫之作，阐释了他的个人宗教信仰。尤其是主打歌，几乎像火车头般翻腾谱出了他宗教救赎的心念。

Bob Marley died in 1981, aged thirty-six, at the height of his popularity. His untimely death may well vindicate the old adage, “Only the good die young.”

巴布马利殁于1981年，正当他的知名度达颠峰之际，只有36岁。他的英年早逝或许正可以证实一句老话──「天嫉英才」。

Vocabulary

单词发音

sensation [sɛnˋseʃən] n. 轰动的事件（或人物）; 轰动，激动

misadventure [ˋmɪsədˋvɛntʃɚ] n.【文】不幸﹐灾难; 事故

desperation [͵dɛspəˋreʃən] n. 绝望

advance [ədˋvæns] v. 预付

moderate [ˋmɑdərɪt] adj. (变化)不大的，有限的

patina [ˋpætɪnə] n.（人因长年经历而形成的）神态

excess [ˈɛkˌsɛs] n. 过分的行为

assassinate [əˋsæsɪn͵et] v. 暗杀，对……行刺

Exodus [ˋɛksədəs] n.（E-）（《圣经•旧约》中的）《出埃及记》

epochal [ˋɛpək!] adj. 划时代的；有重大意义的

exhortation [͵ɛgzɔrˋteʃən] n. 规劝；告诫

conviction [kənˋvɪkʃən] n. 确信，信念

churn [tʃɝn] v. 剧烈搅动；翻腾

locomotive [͵lokəˋmotɪv] n. 火车头

redemption [rɪˋdɛmpʃən] n.【宗】赎罪，救赎

untimely [ʌnˋtaɪmlɪ] adj. 过早的；不适时的

vindicate [ˋvɪndə͵ket] v.【文】证明……正确；证实

adage [ˋædɪdʒ] n. 谚语；格言；古语；箴言

Sentence of the Day

Bob Marley was the sine qua non of reggae music.

巴布马利是雷鬼乐不可少的灵魂人物。

sine qua non【拉】必要的条件；必不可少的事物

课文讲解

Peter greets his roommate Bunny, who’s dancing to reggae music: 彼得向室友斑妮打招呼，而她正配合着雷鬼乐在跳舞：

P: Yeh mom, dis rockas!

是啊，朋友，好棒的音乐！【注】

B: I just can’t get enough of that Bob since I came back from Thailand.

我从泰国回来之后，巴布马利的音乐我真是百听不厌。

P: Yeah, Bob Marley is virtually the soundtrack to beach culture worldwide. Odd that people love his music so much and know so little about his religious beliefs.

是啊，几乎全世界的海滩文化都采用了巴布马利的曲子。奇怪的是人们这么喜欢他的音乐，却对他的宗教信仰知道不多。

B: Rastafarianism, right? I know he refused conventional treatment for the cancer that killed him, but I’m not sure why.

他信奉的是拉斯特法里教派信仰，对不对？我晓得他得了癌症，因为拒绝传统疗法而去世，但是不很了解为了什么。

P: Well, the Rasta religion grew out of the biblical teachings of the preacher Marcus Garvey in the 1930s. Although it’s mostly a Jamaican religion, there are followers around the world.

拉斯特法里教派源自于1930年代牧师马库斯加维的圣经倡导教义。虽然大致上它是牙买加的宗教，但是在全世界各地都有信徒。

B: Most Rastas lead a very strict lifestyle, right?

大多数的拉斯特法里教友过着严苛的生活方式，对吧？

P: Exactly. That’s why Bob Marley decided on a controversial, natural treatment of his cancer.

是的。那也就是为什么巴布马利决定要用那种富争议性的自然疗法，来治疗他的癌症。

B: Those values have sure inspired some amazing, uplifting music, though. Did you know Marley and The Wailers were invited to perform at the independence ceremony when Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 980?

不过那种价值观的确启发很多令人振奋的音乐创作。你可知道在1980年，当罗德西亚独立成为津巴布韦时，巴布马利和悲鸣者合唱团被邀请去典礼中做表演？

P: Sure, he even wrote a song for it. The United Nations was so impressed with his message of peace, especially for the Third World, that it awarded him the Medal of Peace in seventy-eight.

当然，他甚至为那场合写了一首曲子。联合国因为他的歌曲充满了和平讯息大为感动，尤其是对第三世界的情感，还因此将1978年的和平奖颁给了他。

B: More like a prophet than a pop star!

他简直更像一位先知，而不是流行歌手。

P: But he was all musical genius.

不过他可是个不折不扣的音乐天才。

【注】：巴布马利使用的语言，牙买加式英文，意思是「没问题，朋友，好棒的音乐！」

－by Iain Ferguson

Vocabulary

单词发音