VOA标准英语2008年-Iraqi Rock Band Afraid to Return Home

By Dorian Jones
Istanbul
17 June 2008

A Baghdad heavy metal band called Acrassicauda- Black Scorpion¹ in English, became internationally known following a documentary² made while they were performing in Iraq. But along with ethnicity and religious belief, being a heavy metal performer has also become a reason to be a target of the death squads³ in Baghdad. Now in Turkey, the group is still performing, as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
　

Black Scorpion

The group is Iraq's hottest heavy metal band.

Playing to a packed concert at Istanbul's Kermanci's rock club, they are fast winning new fans. But this recent performance is a far a cry from their last gig in Baghdad. As band members Marwan Ryad, Firas al-Lateef and Faisal Talal explain.

"I remember the last concert, there was impacts and mortar⁴ rounds all around the place, concert, and the people were kind of scared," Talal said.

"There were really risking their lives, back then," al-Lateef added.

"They risked themselves just to get into the concert and they knew they could get killed, by any explosion on the street. Or either just because of wearing a heavy metal tee shirts," noted⁵ Talal.

Such experiences are the main driving force behind their music. Drummer Marwan Ryad writes many of the songs.

"You can figure that out from the names. Massacre⁶, Message from Baghdad, Between the Ashes, The Underworld. It is our experience in life ... It is us. We have got a lot of sadness, a lot of drama. But still we got a lot of happy moments, that we enjoyed in our lives," he said.

But being in a heavy metal band in Baghdad, carries its own risks, as Ryad and his bass-guitarist Firas al-Lateef explain.

"You get killed for any reasons, but heavy metal is something also reason to get killed for," said Ryad.

"I tell you something, they have got a long long list of causes for death, and happen that rock music, is between them. The garage where we used to practice, we had a small piece of paper, stuck on the lock of the door, saying like, trying to be Americanized, playing this kind of music, and you need to stop doing that, otherwise ... and period," added al-Lateef.

Asked if the band took it seriously, al-Lateef replied, "We kept practicing and going there, until the practice place got blowed up. Like the whole building got bombed, so after that we decided⁷ to go to Syria."

But surviving in Syria, like for most Iraqi refugees⁹ was not easy, especially when their savings¹⁰ ran out. But thanks to publicity¹¹ created by a Canadian documentary made about them in Baghdad, heavy metal lovers around the world, came to their aid.

"We got help from all our fans across the world , they set up a donation web site, called a "Pay Pal¹²" account, Heavy metal in Baghdad, that is the name of the web site, so people started donating money. This how we collected the money, for the tickets, and here we are," Ryad said.

The concert at Kemanci, one Istanbul's most famous clubs, saw some of Turkey's top bands perform in support of their Iraqi rock brothers. For Fatih Tan from the band The Ancient it was not a difficult choice.

"For this support for the Iraqi group, we are playing tonight and they have a lot of hard times and we have to support them, because they are playing our music. Because music is an un-national thing, it is not important your nationality, your color, your religion, the music is music, and if there is dire¹³ position as musician we have to support them," Tan said.

And that support can also be found among all those attending the benefit concert.

"They were really good, they have soul, that is why it was really good," said one person attending the concert.

"They are playing heavy metal , that is why I like, that is it, they are playing heavy metal, they have the soul, they have the feeling they are good , we like them," said another.

Despite such support, unlike most rock bands, their dreams are not about record contracts, and stardom, but rather returning home. Although according to Firas al-Lateef, that will not be anytime soon.

VOA: "Do you plan to go home?"
Al-Lateef: "If things get better, better better, 100 percent better, then we would, we dream about going back home."
VOA: "But you do not see it in the near future?"
Al-Lateef: "To be honest, no."

For now, the priority¹⁴ of Acrassicauda is getting refugee⁸ status with the United Nations, along with the hope of a possible tour of Turkey.

1 scorpion   

n.蝎子，心黑的人，蝎子鞭

参考例句：

• The scorpion has a sting that can be deadly.蝎子有可以致命的螫针。
• The scorpion has a sting that can be deadly.蝎子有可以致命的螫针。

2 documentary   

adj.文献的；n.纪录片

参考例句：

• This case lacked documentary proof.本案缺少书面证据。
• I watched a documentary on the Civil War.我看了一部关于内战的纪录片。

3 squads   

n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍

参考例句：

• Anti-riot squads were called out to deal with the situation. 防暴队奉命出动以对付这一局势。 来自辞典例句
• Three squads constitute a platoon. 三个班组成一个排。 来自辞典例句

4 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

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 refugee   

n.难民，流亡者

参考例句：

• The refugee was condemned to a life of wandering.这个难民注定要过流浪的生活。
• The refugee is suffering for want of food and medical supplies.难民苦于缺少食物和医药用品。

9 refugees   

n.避难者，难民( refugee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
• They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。

10 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

11 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

12 pal   

n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友

参考例句：

• He is a pal of mine.他是我的一个朋友。
• Listen,pal,I don't want you talking to my sister any more.听着，小子，我不让你再和我妹妹说话了。

13 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

14 priority   

n.优先处理的事，居先，优先（权）

参考例句：

• The development of the national economy is a top priority.发展国民经济是应予以最优先考虑的事。
• Things should be taken up in order of priority.办事应有个先后次序。