2020年经济学人 家庭娱乐专栏--笑料百出(1)

Books & arts

文艺版块

home entertainment

家庭娱乐专栏

Musical high jinks

音乐狂人

Played for laughs

笑料百出

A Norwegian comedy duo find inspiration in banality¹

一对挪威喜剧组合在平淡中找到灵感

The song begins in typical power-ballad fashion, with plaintive² piano chords and rumbling³ strings⁴. Soon, though, the lyrics⁵ go awry⁶. The lead singer reflects on his good fortune—a successful career on television, a passionate⁷ marriage, a “thousand- dollar haircut”—but laments⁸ that he is tormented⁹ day and night by a single question. Such soft-rock numbers usually dwell on a former lover or missed opportunity; what preoccupies¹⁰ this man is a prehistoric¹¹ monument in south-west England. “What’s the deal with Stonehenge?”he cries, his white shirt billowing in the wind. Is it “a giant granite¹² birthday cake, or a prison far too easy to escape”?

这首歌以典型的强力情歌风格开场，搭配哀怨的钢琴和弦和隆隆的弦乐。不过，很快歌词就出了岔子。这位主唱回顾着自己的好运——成功的电视事业，激情的婚姻，“千元理发”——但他却感叹自己日日夜夜被一个问题折磨着。这样的慢摇滚通常都是关于前任或者是错过的机会；而这个人关注的是英格兰西南部的一座史前纪念碑。“巨石阵是怎么回事？”他哭着，白衬衫在风中翻滚。是“一个巨大的花岗岩生日蛋糕吗，还是一个极易越狱的监狱”？

There are few more enjoyable ways to while away an evening in lockdown than discovering the work of Ylvis, a Norwegian comedy duo.Made up of brothers Vegard and Bard¹³ Ylvisaker, the band produces delightfully¹⁴ absurd pastiches¹⁵ of various kinds of music. Many of the songs were written in English for their variety TV show, “Tonight With Ylvis”, and are best consumed on YouTube with the zany accompanying videos. This is music designed to be appreciated at home, where the lyrics can be easily digested and the videos paused or repeated when laughter ensues.

在封锁时期的晚上，没有什么比发现挪威喜剧组合Ylvis的作品更能让人愉快了。这个乐队的成员有维加德和巴德·伊尔维塞克兄弟，他们会制作各种各样的音乐，令人很愉悦但又很荒谬。他们的许多音乐是英文歌，而且是为自己的综艺节目《今夜与Ylvis》制作的，他们的音乐会配上滑稽的视频发布在YouTube上，十分受欢迎。这首是专为在家欣赏而设计的音乐，歌词易于理解，在人们的欢笑声中，视频会停止或重新播放。

1 banality   

n.陈腐；平庸；陈词滥调

参考例句：

• Neil's ability to utter banalities never ceased to amaze me.每次我都很惊讶，尼尔怎么能讲出这么索然无味的东西。
• He couldn't believe the banality of the question.他无法相信那问题竟如此陈腐。

2 plaintive   

adj.可怜的，伤心的

参考例句：

• Her voice was small and plaintive.她的声音微弱而哀伤。
• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。

3 rumbling   

n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词

参考例句：

• The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
• The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。

4 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

5 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。

6 awry   

adj.扭曲的，错的

参考例句：

• She was in a fury over a plan that had gone awry. 计划出了问题，她很愤怒。
• Something has gone awry in our plans.我们的计划出差错了。

7 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

8 laments   

n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the poem he laments the destruction of the countryside. 在那首诗里他对乡村遭到的破坏流露出悲哀。
• In this book he laments the slight interest shown in his writings. 在该书中他慨叹人们对他的著作兴趣微弱。 来自辞典例句

9 tormented   

饱受折磨的

参考例句：

• The knowledge of his guilt tormented him. 知道了自己的罪责使他非常痛苦。
• He had lain awake all night, tormented by jealousy. 他彻夜未眠，深受嫉妒的折磨。

10 preoccupies   

v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

11 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

12 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

13 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

14 delightfully   

大喜，欣然

参考例句：

• The room is delightfully appointed. 这房子的设备令人舒适愉快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The evening is delightfully cool. 晚间凉爽宜人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 pastiches   

n.模仿作品( pastiche的名词复数 )；拼凑的艺术作品；集锦；模仿的艺术风格

参考例句：

• They were pastiches of other people's work. 这些作品都是根据其他作品模仿而来的。 来自互联网