前篇提到, 除了 “Mrs.
Robinson” 之外, 電影 The Graduate 中的其餘插曲, 都是現成的歌。其 中的 “The Sound Of
Silence” 一曲, 頗富傳奇性。
記得在中學時, 一位英文老師在解釋
‘hear’ 和 ‘listen’ 之時, 提到其中的兩句歌詞, 相信亦是全首 歌最令人印像深刻、最多人提起的兩句「金句」:
“People talking without speaking, People hearing with listening” , 以當年非常有限的英文水平,
聽了之後, 真是有多了些「大智慧」的感 覺。
此曲全部由Paul Simon 作曲寫詞。他寫這首歌時, 剛好是在50年前的1964年, 在 JFK (約翰甘 乃迪)
被殺後, 引起他對人生的思索而。據他自己表示,
他很喜歡以結他自彈自唱、「搵」靈感, 他也很喜歡在沖涼時唱歌,
因為在浴室中的有限空間, 令聲音迴響,
就好像整個人「浸」 在自己 的歌聲中, 此外就是一切靜寂(silence),
此曲的靈感就是如此來。
1964年, Paul Simon 將此曲放在他們出版的的第一隻大碟 ‘Wednesday
Morning 3 A.M.’中, 但 唱片剛出版之後, 二人就各自尋各路。Paul Simon 去了英國, 與「拆夥」後的 The Seekers 的 靈魂人物 Bruce
Woodley, 在英國及歐洲巡迴演唱, 而 Art
Garfunkel 則嘗試演戲。
在大碟發行了差不多一年, 唱片的監製突然發覺在美國各地的電台,
開始越來越多聽眾點唱該 大碟中的 ‘The Sound Of Silence ’ 。原本這首歌的錄音只是由 Paul Simon 以木結他伴奏, 但 藉著那個機會, 唱片的監製將他們的錄音重新混聲,
加入了當時新興起的 ‘folk rock’ 的原素: 電 結他、低音電結他、鼓、及迴聲效果等, 然後以 Single 重新發行, 隨即打入美國流行榜的頭 100位之內, 並在短短的三個月間, 在1966年1月1日, 登上美國流行榜的第一位。Paul Simon 及 Art
Garfunkel 真是「發咗達都唔知」。此曲成為了兩人歷來第二首最受歡迎的作品, 之後有 超過二十位歌手將之重新灌錄, 而且都將之用作唱片主題和封面, 可見他們對此曲的重視。
「視而不見, 聽而不聞」。
The
Sound Of Silence 的歌詞:
Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools", said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence
Simon
& Garfunkel - The Sound Of SilenceI've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools", said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence
http://youtu.be/fPo6v0KhBdw
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