萨特的磨坊-Sutter's Mill by Dan Fogelberg
在深夜的高速路上第一次听到这首歌, (惭愧,很老的歌了,出自丹. 弗格伯特顿1985年的专辑High Country Snow) 突然感觉灵魂找到了故乡,心灵深处有一种满足和喜悦。 就好象信仰虔诚的人在安静灵修时,刹那间被天父的爱充满一样, 饥渴的灵魂觉得非常满足。 有一种奇异的感觉, 好象自己在这片异乡住了许久, 似乎自祖辈以来就生活在这里。 这是一种奇怪的感受, 有时在我听中国的传统民谣时,比如<<春江花月夜>>, 我知道, 自己骨子里是一个中国人。 而在我听<<萨特的磨坊>>时, 我突然觉得迷失了种族,时空。 好象自己灵魂的家, 就在这片遍地黄金的加利福尼亚。
丹已经在2007年因癌症离世了。虽然他只活了57岁, 而人的生命值得与否, 并不在乎长短.
以下内容摘录自百度百科:
奥斯卡电影《三步杀人曲》中的插曲《sutter's mill》(中文译为《萨特的磨坊》),是丹弗格伯特顿的一首乡村名谣,略显苍凉的声音唱出了John西部寻宝的一生。到他向他的Maker,即上帝报到的时候,一分钱也不是他的了。(when old john sutter went to meet his maker,he'd not one penny to his name.)正是那句老话,赤条条地来,赤条条地去,生不带来,死不带去,就这样在世上走了一轮
天然的西部乡村音乐风格,口琴、班卓、吉他、Dobro、Fiddle的伴奏,再配上Dan Fogelberg那草原落日般的嗓音,让我在第一次听到这首歌的时候不自觉被它那穿越漫漫时空的沧桑感所击倒,而后,当我看到了歌词,我无语。
百年之前,一队又一队的美国先驱,乘着大蓬车,穿越茫茫大平原和高高洛基山,怀着淘金梦来到西部。百年之后,一队又一队的我们,乘着飞机,飞越烟波浩淼的太平洋来到同一个地方,也许我们各自的想法千差万别,但不可否认,我们都怀着自己的美国梦。百年之前,有人会死在羽箭和枪弹之下,有人会一夜暴富。百年之后,你我中一样有人也会倒在残酷的竞争之下,有人则会功成名就。于是,当听到“Some fell prey to hostile arrows,As they tried to cross the plains. And some were lost in the Rocky Mountains,With their hands froze to the reins.” 我的心中突然涌起一种深深的苍凉之感,你呢?
故事背景
故事的发生要从1847年的春天说起,老约翰.萨特在磨坊外拾到一块金子,于是带着它去了城里,在那里关于金矿的消息如野火蔓延开来,萨特很快就后悔,该把那块石头留在河床上.人们集聚如蝗,男人、女人和孩子们,在大篷车笨重的前行中,将车辙留在原野上
有人无功而返,有人心遂所愿;有人长眠异乡,有人图财害命;有人将感激上帝解脱了他们,有人会诅咒约翰萨特的磨房.他们有的来自纽约城,有的来自阿拉巴马州,带着他们的发财梦,来到这荒蛮的土地上,一些人在穿越平原时命丧箭下,一些人失踪在洛基山脉冻饿而亡.
有人无功而返,有人心遂所愿;有人长眠异乡,有人图财害命;有人将感激上帝解脱了他们,有人会诅咒约翰萨特的磨房.
一些人执著前行去往加州,一些人驻足不往休养生息,1860年时他们开发了西部铁路,随后而至荒原终被开发和征服,当约翰萨特离开人世,自己却一文不名.
有人无功而返,有人心遂所愿;有人长眠异乡,有人图财害命;有人将感激上帝解脱了他们,有人会诅咒约翰萨特的磨房,有人会诅咒约翰萨特的磨房,有人的欲望却永远无法满足
Dan Fogelberg 1951年8月13日出生在美国伊利诺斯州。自幼随祖父修习钢琴及滑音吉他等多种乐器。1971中断了大学的美术专业,投身到加州的民歌界。至此开始了自己的演艺生涯。Dan Fogelberg,是美国歌坛最富浪漫气质的诗人歌手。他的作品具有明朗和谐的旋律及温柔缠绵的歌词,使得Fogelberg的歌具备了一切使人喜爱的条件。 较为严格的讲Dan Fogelderg并不是一位真正意义上的乡村艺人。他的风格横跨了乡村、民谣和摇滚。但这首(Sutter's Mill)无论从体裁(叙事类)、配器(口琴、班卓、吉他、dobro、fiddle等)节奏和旋律上都是一首乡村风格十足的歌曲。
歌词
In the Spring of Forty-seven,So the story, it is told,
Old John Sutter went to the mill site
Found a piece of shining gold.
Well, he took it to the city
Where the word, like wildfire, spread.
And old John Sutter soon came to wish he'd
Left that stone in the river bed.
For they came like herds of locusts
Every woman, child and man
In their lumbering Conestogas
They left their tracks upon the land.
Some would fail and some would prosper
Some would die and some would kill
Some would thank the Lord for their deliverance
And some would curse John Sutter's Mill.
Well, they came from New York City,
And they came from Alabam'
With their dreams of finding fortunes
In this wild unsettled land.
Well, some fell prey to hostile arrows
As they tried to cross the plains.
And some were lost in the Rocky Mountains
With their hands froze to the reins.
Well, some pushed on to California
And others stopped to take their rest.
And by the Spring of Eighteen-sixty
They had opened up the west.
And then the railroad came behind them
And the land was plowed and tamed,
When Old John Sutter went to meet his maker,
He'd not one penny to his name.
And some would curse John Sutter's Mill
Some men's thirsts are never filled.