美国国家公共电台 NPR--Barbra Streisand remembers the first time she 'felt the warmth of a spotlight'

Barbra Streisand remembers the first time she 'felt the warmth of a spotlight¹'

Transcript²

Barbra Streisand was just 18 years old in 1960, the year that she started singing at a club in Manhattan called The Bon Soir. Recordings⁴ of her made there just a couple of years later were supposed to comprise her debut⁵ album; in the end, they were shelved in favor of studio recordings, an environment she says she prefers anyways.

Now, 60 years after Streisand's unbridled performance there, we get to hear the exceptional young talent in a remastered collection of those 22 songs (and two interstitial tracks) titled Live at the Bon Soir.

"I remember, it was the first time I felt the warmth of a spotlight," Streisand recalls in a conversation with Morning Edition's Rachel Martin. Singing though, she explains, was secondary to her acting⁶ ambitions. "I did it to pay the rent."

This interview has been edited and condensed. To hear the broadcast version of this conversation, use the audio player at the top of this page.

Rachel Martin, Morning Edition: The rendition of "Cry Me a River" on this album – you brought things I've never felt or heard in that song before.

Barbra Streisand: Well because you heard anger. In other words, there was an exercise I learned in acting class about creating a face of someone that you had certain feelings for. So the exercise, at the beginning of the song, was creating this person's face in my mind, so it was very specific. Like, now this person comes back in my life and says "I made a mistake and we never should have broken up," well, you know, screw you! That's what I decided⁷ to use, and that turned into my rendition of "Cry Me a River."

So... where does the confidence to be that person come from?

I don't know – my mother thought I would never make it, she tried to make me cut my nails and learn how to type. That's when I was 13, 14. I grew my nails longer so I never could learn how to type.

She kept saying to me: "Well you'll get a nice job, you'll work in the school system." My father was a teacher, you get summers off, you get Christmas off. It's a great job!

But here's what I don't understand: You're channeling your theater skills, you have all of this confidence, despite the fact that your mom sort of didn't believe that you could do this. How does that make sense with your lifelong aversion to performing publicly?

That's interesting, isn't it? I don't want to get nervous! I get nervous being judged – I didn't have that when I was young and trying to prove that I could be somebody. And then all of a sudden it becomes now you're being judged, you know, if you get older and your voice is not as pure or this and that. And I thought, maybe I was just proving something to myself. That I could be somebody.

In truth, I just don't like performing. I had to do it to make something of myself, but I would much rather be in a recording³ studio just with my little team. You don't have to worry about what gown you're gonna wear, you don't have to worry about your makeup⁸, you don't have to worry about your hair... you just sing. It's me and the music.

What is your relationship to performing these days? Or just singing, does singing bring you joy still?

Singing brings me joy when I can – well when I sing with my granddaughter ... she knows all the songs from Frozen.

Barbra, you could crush "Let It Go." [Laughs] Are you pleased with how everything turned out? When you think about that version of you singing?

I have much gratitude⁹. It's so astounding¹⁰, how we become a being, alive in this world to do what we can to make it a better place. [There is] a Jewish philosophy, called tikkun olam, it means to "repair the world." In other words, we are indoctrinated with that purpose in life, to make the world a better place. I like repairing the world, if I can. In any small way I can.

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

4 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

5 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

6 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

9 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

10 astounding   

adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)

参考例句：

• There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
• The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊，所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》