The Blues 蓝调百年之旅

I can't imagine my life or anyone else’s without music. It's like a light in the darkness that never goes out.

The blues¹ takes you back to the place where it first came to life. There is an old African saying that the roots of a tree cast no shadow. That's how deep the blues goes. When you really listen to the music, you understand this is the one thing they could never take away from black people.

You are listening to songs that were recorded for the Library of Congress in the 1930s. John Lomax who worked for the library called himself a ballad² hunter. He and his son Alan drove all across America and made literally³ thousands of recordings⁴. They were doing one of the most important things anyone can do. They were preserving the past before it disappeared forever.

It was John Lomax who first recorded Lead Belly⁵ in 1933 in a Louisiana prison. After Lead Belly was released, he went to Philadelphia with the Lomaxes and he gave a series of concerts.

Northern audiences responded to Lead Belly and they loved the songs he performed. As Lead Belly became famous around the world, a different kind of musician was reworking the blues down in the Mississippi Delta⁶ in a way that would eventually reach an even wider audience.

1 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

2 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

5 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

6 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。