美国国家公共电台 NPR Lin-Manuel Miranda Explains How He Made His New Benefit Song For Puerto Rico

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Lin-Manuel Miranda was watching Hurricane Maria devastate¹ Puerto Rico and was moved to help. The genius behind the musical "Hamilton," writing songs is Miranda's specialty². The result, a new song called "Almost Like Praying." And Miranda got some famous friends in on the track. Rita Moreno, Ruben Blades³, J. Lo, "Despacito's" Luis Fonsi and others lent their voices. All the proceeds⁴ from the song go to hurricane relief on the island. As for that title, "Almost Like Praying" - sound familiar? Miranda says he connected Maria the hurricane to the song "Maria" from "West Side Story."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MARIA")

RICHARD BEYMOR: (Singing) Maria. Say it loud, and there's music playing.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So he took that, and he came up with this.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALMOST LIKE PRAYING")

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA: (Singing) Say it loud, and there's music playing. Say it soft, and it's almost like praying. It's almost praying. It's almost like praying. It's almost like praying.

You know, I was very aware, even as it was happening, that this was the worst hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in a hundred years. That eye just sat on the island for a long time. It's a Category 5 hurricane. And I knew that Maria would forever have a different connotation on the island as a result of that. And that's my favorite song from "West Side Story."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALMOST LIKE PRAYING")

RUBEN BLADES, JUAN LUIS GUERRA: (Singing in Spanish).

MIRANDA: (Singing) It's almost like praying.

RUBEN BLADES: (Singing) Puerto Rico.

JENNIFER LOPEZ: (Singing) Puerto Rico. (Singing in Spanish).

MIRANDA: For Puerto Ricans who live all over the world who have a connection and family on the island, there was a terrible silence, several days where we were just waiting for word. And my Twitter feed, my Facebook feed was just filled with family members listing the names of towns where their families were living and from. My grandmother's in Lares. My uncle lives in Hatillo. My uncle is in Vega Alta. Has anyone seen them? Has anyone heard from them? And I thought, well, the only lyric⁵ that really unites us and makes the most sense for a fundraising song is if I can somehow write a lyric that includes all 78 towns in Puerto Rico so that no one feels left out. And no one's town feels forgotten.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALMOST LIKE PRAYING")

GINA RODRIGUEZ: (Rapping) Trujillo Alto, Ceiba, Ciales, La isla de Vieques, el grito de Lares.

JOELL ORTIZ: (Rapping) Yauco.

RODRIGUEZ: (Rapping) Cidra.

ORITZ: (Rapping) Anasco.

RODRIGUEZ: (Rapping) Patillas.

JOELL ORTIZ, GINA RODRIGUEZ: (Rapping) Morovis, Loiza, lo hiciste.

MIRANDA: You know, some of these people are old friends. Rita Moreno has been a friend for many years. And so you make those calls first. And to a person, everybody said yes having not heard the song. I was recording⁶ with Rita Moreno, and she said, is Gloria Estafan on this? And I said, I don't have Gloria Estafan's number. And she whips⁷ out her phone. She goes, here's Gloria Estafan's number. And the next day, we're recording Gloria Estafan.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALMOST LIKE PRAYING")

BLADES: (Singing) Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico.

MIRANDA: I hope it provides catharsis. It certainly provided⁸ catharsis for me to write it. And I also hope the names of these towns will never be forgotten. And I hope that people have a catharsis. To quote the kids, they cry in the club, And then we get back to work because we have a lot of work to do.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALMOST LIKE PRAYING")

MIRANDA: (Singing) It's almost like praying.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That's Lin-Manuel Miranda talking about "Almost Like Praying." All proceeds from the purchase and online streaming of the song, go to the Hispanic Federation's relief efforts in Puerto Rico.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PUERTO RICO")

FRANKIE RUIZ: (Singing in Spanish).

1 devastate   

v.使荒芜，破坏，压倒

参考例句：

• A few days before,a fire had devastated large parts of Windsor Castle.几天前，温莎城堡的大部分被一场大火烧毁。
• Earthquakes can also cause tsunamis,which devastate coastal regions.地震还引发海啸，它直接破坏海岸地区。

2 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

3 blades   

n.刀口( blade的名词复数 )；（机器上旋转的）叶片；桨叶；（船桨的）桨叶

参考例句：

• the blades of a propeller 螺旋桨叶
• Stay well away from the helicopter when its blades start to rotate. 直升机的螺旋桨开始转动时，尽量离远点儿。

4 proceeds   

n.（pl）收益

参考例句：

• She sold her car and bought a piano with the proceeds. 她卖掉了汽车，然后用这笔收入买了一架钢琴。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction. 他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

5 lyric   

n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的

参考例句：

• This is a good example of Shelley's lyric poetry.这首诗是雪莱抒情诗的范例。
• His earlier work announced a lyric talent of the first order.他的早期作品显露了一流的抒情才华。

6 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。

7 whips   

鞭子( whip的名词复数 )； 组织秘书，政党纪律委员（英国和美国的政党中负责确保本党党员出席政府重大辩论并投票的官员）

参考例句：

• The solution that the Volvo engineers came up with was WHIPS (Whiplash Protection System). Volvo工程师所提出的解决方案是whips（头颈部保护系统）。
• Examples on passive safety systems include safety belts, airbags, and WHIPS whiplash protection system. 被动安全系统组成包括安全带、安全气囊，和whips头颈部保护系统。

8 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。