美国国家公共电台 NPR--Musician Matt Butler has turned years of playing in prisons into a one-man show

Musician Matt Butler has turned years of playing in prisons into a one-man show

Transcript¹

Singer-songwriter Matt Butler has performed in more than 50 prisons and jails. His show about the people he met there and the stories they told is called "Reckless Son."

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Singer-songwriter Matt Butler says he's performed for incarcerated² people in more than 50 prisons and jails across the country. He's not just telling them stories through song; sometimes he gets to hear the inmates³' stories, too - how they got there, how they cope. Butler's written a few of those moments into a new one-man show. It's called "Reckless Son."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TELL LUCY THAT I LOVE HER")

MATT BUTLER: (Singing) Don't try to lie or to pretend. Everybody knew that I would end up here again.

FADEL: Matt Butler says he started playing for incarcerated audiences at the Albany County Correctional Facility in New York, and he had no idea what he was getting into.

BUTLER: It was an intimidating⁴ experience. I found myself walking through these long corridors and these various security checkpoints and these big metal bar doors slamming behind me, and I definitely thought to myself, how did I get into this? You know, like, what is about to happen? It turned out to be just this really wonderful, beautiful experience.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TELL LUCY THAT I LOVE HER")

BUTLER: (Singing) Tell Lucy that I love her, but I'm not what she needs. Tell her I said she's better off without me.

FADEL: When you say it was a wonderful and beautiful reaction, I mean, what does that look like? Were they relating to the lyrics⁵? Is it a moment of freedom? I mean, these are people who don't have their freedom to walk around, to go to a concert. I mean, what was it that made it wonderful?

BUTLER: I keep in mind that they're not necessarily choosing to hear my music, either. You know, that's something that in - to some degree, is, like, being sort of foisted⁶ upon them. And I try to be humble⁷ about that. There was a lot of smiling and laughing but also reflection. And like you said, I think there was some relating and there was some identification that took place. And one of the things that sort of made the experience so valuable for me was that I was able to have sort of a conversation. I asked them questions, and they asked me questions. And I think that the music is almost what, like, allows for some sort of, like, intimacy⁸ to take place. And I would say that I'm still learning.

FADEL: So is there, like, one anecdote⁹ that is an example of you learning something, relating in a different way, a mistake?

BUTLER: Yeah. There's a song on the beginning of the record called "Time To Be A Man." I wrote that and I was very, very nervous about performing that for an incarcerated audience for the first time.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TIME TO BE A MAN")

BUTLER: (Singing) Till I got busted¹⁰ in some parking lot. Cop said guys like you either die or get caught. And he locked those cuffs¹¹ around my hands. He looked me in the eyes and he says, son, it's time to be a man.

I was afraid that it would come off as me scolding them in some degree. And that is sort of the last thing I would ever want to do in that situation, is sort of rubbing their nose in something. You know, like, if anybody is aware of the situation that they're in, it's them. When I played it, one of them, who was - I would say was a pretty intimidating guy, like, I'm kind of on the small side and this individual was well over six feet and had a mohawk, but the mohawk wasn't done up with gel. It was, like, just sort of hanging off the side of his face and he just...

FADEL: Yeah. He had a look.

BUTLER: Yeah, yeah. He had a well-cultivated look. And he looked at me - and I know we're probably not allowed to use profanity in this program, but he said, hey, man, that song really F-ed with me.

FADEL: Oh.

BUTLER: And the look he gave me, he just looked like he was going to tear my head off. And I was kind of like...

FADEL: Uh-oh.

BUTLER: ...When he said it, I was looking around to see how...

FADEL: Where's the exit?

BUTLER: ...You know, like, where - is there someone here that could get to me before he does? And the exact opposite of what I thought was going to happen happened.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TIME TO BE A MAN")

BUTLER: (Singing) It's time to be a man. It's time to choose, boy, it's time to take a stand. It's time to find out who I really am. It's time to be a man.

FADEL: Do you make money? Do you get paid for these gigs?

BUTLER: No. So...

FADEL: Yeah, I was thinking, like, how do you survive, Matt Butler?

BUTLER: Yeah, well, I have to be adaptable¹². Typically, I would be on tour. And a lot of times, I was doing private events. And what would end up happening was that, like, people would see where I was going to be based on social media. And wherever I was, a lot of people would reach out and say, hey, if you're going to be in this town for this gig or this city for this gig, would you mind also maybe playing at the county jail during the day? So I would do one show that I was getting paid for in order to do three or four that I was doing for free.

FADEL: When you do these performances, do you often get to have one-on-one interactions, conversations with the incarcerated individuals that you're performing for?

BUTLER: Yes, it's very different each time. In all of those situations, I try to interact as much as I can. Some of those scenarios¹³ lend themselves to interaction more than others. There's a song called "Been Gone So Long." It's, you know, I remember just hearing a guy saying how hard it was for him to make it to his job interviews and his probation¹⁴ and parole appointments because he didn't have a car, and he didn't have a driver's license¹⁵, and he lived in somewhat rural West Virginia. Traveling was very difficult for him to, you know, make it to these different places. And he just didn't have a license.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BEEN GONE SO LONG")

BUTLER: (Singing) Early in the morning, I go looking for work. I bum¹⁶ rides since I lost my car. I hitch¹⁷ a couple miles to my PO just to tell him no luck so far.

And to me, that was sort of this moment of, like, insight into the entire experience of reentry and just the incredible amount of obstacles that people face when they are no longer incarcerated, but they're trying to make their way back into society and to stay out of jail...

FADEL: Yeah.

BUTLER: ...And the factors that can really be problematic for them and lead to recidivism¹⁸.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BEEN GONE SO LONG")

BUTLER: (Singing) Now this place don't feel like home. I've been gone so long.

My sense is that it's very easy for the incarcerated to feel forgotten or neglected or unseen. And I think that sometimes, just the simple act of showing up to say, hey, I'm here to spend some time with you is something that, like, right off the rip is really appreciated by them. So my sense really is that, like, the best audiences I've ever played for have been in jails and in prison.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PRAYING FOR RAIN")

BUTLER: (Singing) I'm praying for rain. I'm praying for the purpose in all of this pain.

FADEL: Matt Butler turned his experience performing music in prisons into a new one-man show called "Reckless Son." Thank you so much, Matt.

BUTLER: Thank you, Leila. I really appreciate it.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PRAYING FOR RAIN")

BUTLER: (Singing) I'm shedding these tears in vain.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

3 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

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 foisted   

强迫接受，把…强加于( foist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She resented having the child foisted on her while the parents went travelling abroad. 她对孩子的父母出国旅行卻硬要她来照看孩子这事很反感。
• The author discovered that the translator had foisted several passages into his book. 作者发现译者偷偷在他的原著中插入了几段。

7 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

8 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

9 anecdote   

n.轶事，趣闻，短故事

参考例句：

• He departed from the text to tell an anecdote.他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
• It had never been more than a family anecdote.那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。

10 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

11 cuffs   

n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• a collar and cuffs of white lace 带白色蕾丝花边的衣领和袖口
• The cuffs of his shirt were fraying. 他衬衣的袖口磨破了。

12 adaptable   

adj.能适应的，适应性强的，可改编的

参考例句：

• He is an adaptable man and will soon learn the new work.他是个适应性很强的人，很快就将学会这种工作。
• The soil is adaptable to the growth of peanuts.这土壤适宜于花生的生长。

13 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

14 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

15 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

16 bum   

n.臀部；流浪汉，乞丐；vt.乞求，乞讨

参考例句：

• A man pinched her bum on the train so she hit him.在火车上有人捏她屁股，她打了那人。
• The penniless man had to bum a ride home.那个身无分文的人只好乞求搭车回家。

17 hitch   

v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉

参考例句：

• They had an eighty-mile journey and decided to hitch hike.他们要走80英里的路程，最后决定搭便车。
• All the candidates are able to answer the questions without any hitch.所有报考者都能对答如流。

18 recidivism   

n.累犯，再犯

参考例句：

• Many areas and work units have experienced no recidivism at all for as long as ten or more years.不少地区和单位出现了连续几年、十几年没有发生重新犯罪的好典型。
• It needs to supplement the personality factor to confirm the ordinary recidivism.在普通累犯成立的条件中,应增加罪犯的人格因素。