VOA标准英语2008年-Nothing's 'Plain' About This Grammy-Nominated B

By Larry London
Washington
07 January 2008
 

For almost a decade, Plain White T's have been performing to packed audiences craving¹ their brand of pop-punk. The band's journey, which began in a suburban² basement playing cover songs, has taken the group to the Warped³ Tour three times, landed them opening slots for AFI, Jimmy Eat World and, most recently, Fall Out Boy. The band spoke⁴ with Larry London at VOA when their tour supporting their new CD, Every Second Counts stopped in Washington.

With their latest CD being certified⁵ platinum⁶ for U.S. sales, exceeding one million copies, earning a Teen Choice Award this year, and being nominated for a MTV Award (Monster Single of the Year), American Music Award (Breakout Artist) and two Grammy's (Song of the Year and Best Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal), Plain White T's are hoping their recent success is as sustaining as their name.

"We've always been into older music, like '50s and '60s music. Back then, it was a symbol of cool. Whoever wore a plain white T-shirt - whether it was Marlon Brando, James Dean, The Fonz [character from the American TV show "Happy Days"] - kind of something that was cool," said lead singer, band member, Tom Higgenson. "Even to this day people wear them. Everyone has them. You feel comfortable in it. It's always in style. We thought it was a cool thing."

 

Tom Higgenson, Plain White T's lead singer, started off playing drums, and then moved to lead singer. Tom says he wrote the hit song, "Hey There Delilah" for a real person. But his relationship with her was only in his mind.

 

"She was just a girl I met who I thought was gorgeous," he explained. "I kind of joked around with her, saying, 'I have a song about you', trying to flirt⁷ with her. She flirted⁸ back, 'I want to hear it. When do I get to hear my song?' I started writing the song, and after the first few lines I thought, this was really good. I lost contact, and we stopped talking for a while. I had this great beginning to a great song so I finished it thinking, 'If I was in a relationship with her or with anyone, like a long distance thing, what would I want to say?' That's how I wrote this song."

"Hey There Delilah" actually first appeared in 2005 on Plain White T's third album, All That We Needed.

Higgenson expains how the song became popular.  "We had it up on our MySpace page, and the song was on everyone's page. People would take it and put it on their page," he says. "We would play shows, and every time we would play it the whole crowd was singing along. Then we made our next record, and obviously we were not thinking, 'Let's put this on there.' But the label was like, 'Well guys … (Let's do it.)' It was [Disney Music's] idea since they saw how much of an impact the song was having, so they were like, 'Why don't we put this on as a bonus track and see what happens?' Of course, here we are and the song was a big smash."

Although Plain White T's have been together for 10 years, their recent success has brought them international fame. They feel the new CD, Every Second Counts, is better than their first three albums.

 

"The last album (All That We Needed) was a lot more rockin'," Higgenson says. "Then "Hey There Delilah" was kind of the end of the record. I think on this record there are a few more songs that round it out more. There is more variety and more range."

Now that they have established their popularity and success as a band, they plan to do more concerts around the world.

Regarding future plans, Higgenson explains, "In January we go to the U.K. and then all of Europe, and Australia for the first time ever. Then, New Zealand and Japan for the first time ever. Then we will record a brand new album that will come out [in 2008]."

Tom Higgenson is hoping for the best at the Grammy Awards Ceremony on February 10 for his first nomination⁹ as the songwriter for "Hey There Delilah". 

1 craving   

n.渴望,热望

参考例句：

• a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
• She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐，以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。

2 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

3 warped   

adj.反常的；乖戾的；（变）弯曲的；变形的v.弄弯，变歪( warp的过去式和过去分词 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾，

参考例句：

• a warped sense of humour 畸形的幽默感
• The board has warped. 木板翘了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

6 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

7 flirt   

v.调情，挑逗，调戏；n.调情者，卖俏者

参考例句：

• He used to flirt with every girl he met.过去他总是看到一个姑娘便跟她调情。
• He watched the stranger flirt with his girlfriend and got fighting mad.看着那个陌生人和他女朋友调情，他都要抓狂了。

8 flirted   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She flirted her fan. 她急速挥动着扇子。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• During his four months in Egypt he flirted with religious emotions. 在埃及逗留的这四个月期间，他又玩弄起宗教情绪来了。 来自辞典例句

9 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。