美国国家公共电台 NPR--Songs of Remembrance: Bruce Simms loved 'Paradise' by John Prine

Songs of Remembrance: Bruce Simms loved 'Paradise' by John Prine

Transcript¹

Angela Simms and her daughter Dorri Smith remember husband and father Bruce Simms of LaGrange, Ga. He died of COVID-19 in February at the age of 73.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

More than 1 million people have died in the U.S. from COVID-19. NPR is remembering some of them by listening to the music they loved. Angela Simms lost her husband, Bruce, in February. She remembered him with her daughter, Dorri Smith.

ANGELA SIMMS: Bruce and I were married for 41 years. And Marc Benno's "Me And A Friend Of Mine" was our song. In fact, "Me And A Friend Of Mine" was my ringtone, and so I knew when he called because "Me And A Friend Of Mine" would come on the phone.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ME AND A FRIEND OF MINE")

MARC BENNO: (Singing) Me and a friend of mine. We're always right on time. Don't need no white lines.

SIMMS: We started dating in January of 1980. And when I went to his house, he has over 300 albums. We would listen to everything from Lou Rawls to Crash Test Dummies².

DORRI SMITH: The song that really resonates for me that he loved is "Paradise" by John Prine.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PARADISE")

JOHN PRINE: (Singing) And, daddy, won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County, down by the Green River where paradise lay?

SMITH: I just have very vivid memories of riding in his old Galaxie 500 two-tone blue monster of a car. And, you know, he'd have that in the cassette deck, and that's what we'd be listening to.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN PRINE SONG, "PARADISE")

SIMMS: He did construction and all. He grew up in North Miami Beach, and he worked on the Three Mile Bridge down in the Keys and did construction. And when he moved to Georgia, he did tree harvesting. His hearing was not all that great because of the chainsaw noises and whatever, so he listened to things at 15 decibels³ above what the rest of us could stand. But we let him do - you know, he loved his music, and that's what he did.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PARADISE")

PRINE: (Singing) And there's a backwards⁴ old town that's often remembered.

FADEL: That was Angela Simms and her daughter, Dorri Smith, remembering husband and father Bruce Simms of LaGrange, Ga. He died of COVID in February. He was 73 years old.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PARADISE")

PRINE: (Singing) Well, I'm sorry, my son.

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 dummies   

n.仿制品( dummy的名词复数 )；橡皮奶头；笨蛋；假传球

参考例句：

• If he dummies up, just try a little persuasion. 如果他不说话，稍微劝劝他就是了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All the articles in the window are dummies. 橱窗里的全部物品都是仿制品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 decibels   

n.分贝( decibel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The typical lawn mower makes about 90 decibels of noise. 典型的割草机发出的声响约为90分贝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A normal conversation reaches 55 decibels. 普通的谈话即可达55分贝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。