VOA标准英语2014--斯普林斯汀发行新专辑——向《诞生在美国》致敬

 

Latest Springsteen Release a Tribute to ‘Born In The U.S.A.’ 斯普林斯汀发行新专辑——向《诞生在美国》致敬

It’s been a big year for rock singer, songwriter and guitarist Bruce Springsteen: “The Boss,” as his fans call him, just turned 65 years old. And a few months before, his album "Born In The USA" turned 30 years old. Released in June, 1984, "Born In The USA" was hugely popular, spawning¹ an amazing seven top-10 hit songs in America. It has also been called Springsteen’s most misunderstood album.

Now, a new recording², "Dead Man’s Town: A Tribute to Born In The U.S.A.,"  aims to peel back the layers on Springsteen’s original tracks.

On the surface, Springsteen’s “Born In The U.S.A.” sounds like just another upbeat pop song.

The title led a lot of people to think the song was a patriotic³ anthem⁴. President Ronald Reagan declared that Springsteen’s song had a “message of hope.” But strip away the keyboards and snare-drum back-beat, and listen carefully to the words, a different story comes out. And that’s what co-producer Logan Rogers wanted to spotlight⁵ on the tribute album "Dead Man’s Town."

“If you pay attention to the song and the lyrics⁶, you’re going to see that this is a protest song without any sort of compromise," he said. "And it kind of speaks to the times, like how massive this song was. It also speaks to how many people misinterpreted what this songs says.“

Husband and wife duo Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires re-imagine in their version of “Born In The U.S.A” by putting the darkness back in the story of a Vietnam veteran trying to get his life back on track after returning home from the war.

"Dead Man’s Town" puts the emphasis on the lyrics of the songs that make up Springsteen’s "Born In The U.S.A," the album that made him a worldwide superstar. But despite Springsteen’s breakout success 30 years ago, not everyone involved in the new project had been a huge fan of the original record. One of them, says Rogers, was Dave Cobb, who produced three cuts, including the title track.

“He just couldn’t get past the ‘80s-ness of some of the originals. But once Jason and Amanda came in, he really paid attention to the craft of the song and what the song is really saying and then he really came around," Rogers said.    

Austin singer Joe Pug says that "Born In The USA" has influenced a generation of musicians, even those who didn’t consider themselves fans of the album.

“Strangely enough, for me, it was kind of ‘just there,’' he said. "I’ve obviously listened to it before, you can’t really play singer-songwriter music in America these days without being familiar with that record.”

His contribution is a piano-based version of “Downbound Train,” a song that Pug describes as a very intimate portrait of a life going bad.

“It’s kind of going off the rails, going in a direction they didn’t expect and didn’t want,” he said.

Pug hopes that after hearing “Dead Man’s Road,” listeners will come away with a new appreciation⁷ for "Born in the USA" and for Bruce Springsteen as a songwriter.

“A lot of the tunes⁸ on this tribute CD have been slowed down to a certain degree and it’s almost like getting to watch a deconstruction of a really finely built building," he said. "I think Bruce’s work comes into focus when it’s able to be brought down like this and I guarantee you that there’s a bunch of albums that will remain nameless, not his, but other people’s over the years, that couldn’t be deconstructed like this because there’s nothing below the production.”

The biggest hit single to come from the original Springsteen album was “Dancing in the Dark.”

Rogers, producer of the new recording, found Nicole Atkin’s new version of the song particularly surprising.

“It was kind of a shocker. I wasn’t sure what to expect and they put a groove⁹ into it that wasn’t there before," he said. "And it’s a little bit darker. But it definitely has a dancey-groove that I was surprised by. I really expected her to do a version that was more similar to the original.”

1 spawning   

产卵

参考例句：

• Encounter sites have a small chance of spawning a "Commander" NPC. 遭遇战地区有很小的几率遇到NPC指挥官。
• Instantly revives your Champion at your Spawning Pool, 9 minute cooldown. 立即在出生地复活你的英雄，冷却时间9分钟。

2 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。

3 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

4 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

5 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。

6 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

7 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

8 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 groove   

n.沟，槽；凹线，（刻出的）线条，习惯

参考例句：

• They're happy to stay in the same old groove.他们乐于墨守成规。
• The cupboard door slides open along the groove.食橱门沿槽移开。