就在刚才,张然老师给我推荐了闪千手最新的演出 —— Yard Act。
我的天啊,这是什么神仙乐队啊。
我先听到的是一代80后文青圣经Almost Famous里的那首Tiny Dancer,Yard Act的cover版本。和Elton John被情绪充盈的原版相比,Yard Act歪歪扭扭,半唱半念,这浓浓的后庞克味道,在网红乐队满天飞的当下,真的太令人怀念了!
然后我开始听他们自己的作品,今年的新专辑,《哪里是我的乌托邦?》(太中二了),那个有点像《Howl》的封面,然后我就这么挨个挨个的听,越听越喜欢。一直听到了《 》,最终让我一杆暴击。
这首歌的一切都在我的审美点上。对,就是这样的“配乐诗朗诵”。这歌词写得太好了,乐队主唱James Smith借着带自己的孩子重访布莱克浦灯光节,然后藉此回忆起自己一路跌跌撞撞的记忆,追寻自己低着头、听着音乐、向前冲的生活,在五月里的一天,突然听到了U2的Beautiful Day,真正开启自己的人生。这首歌毫无爹味,他像是我最爱的蛋堡《史诗》的写法,也像是五月天的《任意门》,太他妈感人了。
我把这首歌的歌词贴出来吧:
Yeah, so, it must've been 1996?
And we, ehm
We did often go to Blackpool
Was about once a year
To see the illuminations
But, ehm, usually we just went for the day
'Cause we didn't live that far away
But for some reason, this, this year we'd
We'd gone for two nights
Ehm, and we were staying in a bed-and-breakfast
On the, on the, on the front
And I was acting reckless
Eh, like most six-year-olds
Bouncing on the bed and - about
And, yeah, I was like most kids, I was curious
Yeah, I was often, eh, exploring things shouldn't be and
You know, putting myself in, eh, danger
Much to the dismay of me mum and dad
And I remember that the plan was
We were gonna go, ehm, to the the other end of the strip for some tea
And we were gonna drive down and take in the illuminations on the way
And my mum was getting ready in the, in the toilet
And my dad had just gone down to the bar
To get some drinks and that, I think, and
Yeah, I was
I was excited to be there
I was excited to not be at school
And I think at that age
You, ehm, you feel most in love
With your parents
I think they're your best friends
And they're your whole world
And they keep you safe and you know them better than anyone else
And when they're happy together with you
The fact that you never want life to, to change
Would I say what's my biggest fear? (Change)
Ehm, no, I'd probably say being, ehm
Drowned and buried at the bottom of a lake is my biggest fear (okay)
Sorry (and do you wanna tell me any more about that?)
Not right now, no, sorry
I, ehm, I wouldn't mind getting to the bottom of this
Blackpool Illuminations story if that's okay (by all means)
Cheers, thanks (sorry)
So, anyway, eh, where was I?
Yeah, ehm, so I wanted to see out of the window, but I wasn't tall enough
And the only way I could gain the leverage to do so
Was by climbing onto the radiator pipe
Which was following the skirting board 'round the edge of the room
(Yeah)
So I did
(And can you, ehm, tell me what happened next?)
Ehm, using the strength of my chin
I could hold on to the windowsill with that
And with my, eh, fingers also sort of gripping
Gripping the rim as well
And I was kinda doomed from the start, I think
Because instantly my foot slipped, bit into the brick
And I split the skin and bust both lips
I screeched
You know the way sand inevitably - your chips up
When you eat them on the beach?
That's the way the rust rubbed into my gums
The blood was gushing and I screamed
It was a gale force ushered from a paltry gust
My ears were ringing, my face was stinging from ear to ear
Like I'd been kissing all the dead jellyfish
That kept washing up on the beaches 'round here
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
So, mum, she had to run to get the Calpol from the chemist
While Dad pacified me with a pack of crisps
And I remember this bit specifically
'Cause for some reason
The ones he gave to me were packaged differently
Typically these don't come in a blue bag
They call 'em, "Ready Salted"
A self-explanatory tag
But I was stopped in my tracks as the new premise was flagged
That colour coding wasn't gospel at all
It was just a bonus gag
And maybe the flavour, "Ready"
Meant, "We're already doomed"
And what if "salted" meant salted like the salt rubbed in the wound of
Every injury I'd accumulated trying to leave the room
'Cause in a future still unwritten
Punishment is waiting for a moment you don't get to choose
The crying soon subsided when the Calpol worked its magic
So we bundled in the car to see the Golden Mile looking absolutely tragic
The fizzy fish I was sucking on fell and flopped under the seat
And got caked in dead skin and crisp crumbs, impossible to eat
So instead I stared out across the pitch-black Irish Sea
And wondered what other pleasures were still left out there waiting for me
The illuminations no longer of appeal
For I'd seen through the illusion when I bit the brick
And now I knew what was really real
And what was just the punchline for this joke-shop magic trick
And I just stopped staring
Six years old, and I stopped caring
Eventually, I stopped staring directly at anything
Head down, just keep moving
Chasing girls, and listening to music
Convinced I'd never amount to anything
Convinced I was of no use to no one
That trajectory was so soothing
Nothing to prove, nothing to lose
Accept days on end, stoned in a daze
Waking up in a haze again
The world started illuminating itself to me in new ways
So here I was again
On a grey mid-May day
In line for the big one
When "A Beautiful Day" suddenly blared out over the PA
So loud I leapt out of my skin all over again
The pill Connor gave me kicked in
And I couldn't believe what I was hearing
"This is the hour of letting pain go"
It was so comforting to know that I still had it within me to feel things
Because for a time I never thought I would again
And that's terrifying
That's terrifying at any age
Perhaps we could reach utopia after all
(Are you making this up?)
Eh, some of it, yeah, why?
(Well, what are you doing that for?)
I just didn't want to burden anyone with the truth
(The truth?)
Because I know now I'm never gonna get my utopia
But if I can show you how to cope
And give you scope to grow beyond the moment of each new low
Then I know I don't need utopia
'Cause t...