VOA美语咖啡屋 Lesson 67：Mary Huff, Woman in Rock

 

VOA美语咖啡屋 Lesson 67：Mary Huff, Woman in Rock

Y:各位听众好，我是杨晨。欢迎收听美语咖啡屋。 

J: And I'm Jody. Welcome to the American Cafe. Yang Chen, you mentioned that you bought a guitar. How's it going? 

Y: 我刚开始学。不过我真的有点担心我要是学不好该怎么办呢。 

J: Oh, don't worry about it. It's fun just to learn something new. But, on today's show, I have a surprise for you. 

Y: A surprise? 你是不是又想出什么新的花招吓唬我。 

J: No, no, no, don't worry! You'll like this surprise. Today's guest on the show is a woman who's been in rock-n-roll for the past 17 years. 

Y: 真的？她叫什么名字，是那个乐队的？ 

J: Her name's Mary Huff and the band is called Southern Culture on the Skids¹, SCOTS, for short. She's the female part of this 3-person rock-n-roll band. 

Y: 她演奏那种乐器啊？不会正好是吉他吧？ 

J: You guess it! She plays the bass² guitar, the keyboards and she sings. 

Y: 真是不得了。她的专长是低音吉他、电子琴，而且她还会唱歌。这么有才能的人，我一定要认识她。 

J: Well, you'll have your chance in a minute. Mary started playing piano when she was quite young. And then her older brother started learning how to play the bass. That's when she decided³ to one up him and learn the bass herself. 

Y: 你可能得解释一下"one up somebody"是什么意思。 

J: Oh, that a good idea. To one up somebody means to do better than them; to best them. Now, let's meet Mary. 

实录1: Mary Huff: Actually I started playing pretty young, you know. I was the pianist in the family and all that. Then, ah, big brother decided to play bass. And I was like "No way! I'm the musician in the family." So, I had to one up him there. 

Y: 开来Mary 的好胜心好象很强，作什么事都想超过别人。 

J: Exactly! Mary said, "No way man, no way big brother. I'm the musician in the family." 

Y: 我们还是谈谈乐队里的其他成员吧？ 

J: 好了！Well, there's also Rick Miller⁴, on lead guitar and vocals⁵, and Dave Hartman on drums and vocals as well. 

Y: Lead guitar 和bass guitar 的区别是什么呢？ 

J: Oh, that's a good question. The bass guitar is usually in the background and keeps the rhythm, like the drums. In this song "Smilin' Yeah Yeah Yeah" Mary's bass is in background keeping the rhythm. 

(Enter "Smiley Yeah Yeah Yeah") 

Y: Oh yeah, 听得出来低音吉他保持着乐曲的节奏。 

J: And she sings. And as the only woman in the band she gives SCOTS that feminine⁶ touch. Here's a sample of Mary singing "Fire of Love" like only a woman can sing! 

(Enter "Fire of Love" featuring Mary Huff) 

Y: Mary她唱不错！ 那她参加乐队多长时间了？ 

J: Oh, let's let Mary explain. Here's Mary! 

实录2: Mary Huff: I joined when I was nineteen and I'm not even going to tell you how I am now but I've been in the band for 17 years, if you can figure that out. 

Y: 她19年加入乐队，经过了17年，19 加上17 一概是36岁没错。 

J: I think you're right. She wouldn't exactly tell her age, you know. But she let me do the math and because I'm quick, Yang Chen, I figured it out. 19...17. She tried to be sneaky, but we figured it out, didn't we? 

Y: 没错。 

J: But that lead me to a question. You know that led me to a question though. Is it easy being in rock-n-roll as a woman? 

实录3: Mary Huff: It's fine, you know, until beauty starts to fade then it's a little rough. But um, I don't know. It's fine. It's great. I've never had any problem with it. I've I think it's an assett. Ass-set, that is. Always has been for me. I don't know 

Y: 好，Mary加油，我们支持你。本来就是吗，为什么男的五六十岁还可以唱摇滚乐，女的当然也可以。对不对, Jody, 

J: Of course! I know a lot of women who are old school rock-n-rollers. And besides, Yang Chen, it's not an age thing, it's more of a lifestyle thing. Don't you agree? 

Y: 没错。 因为很多女的后来结了婚，生了孩子要照顾家庭所以没办法跟者乐队到处去奔波。 这可以理解。 

J: That's right. But, Mary just chose a different road, the road of rock-n-roll. So, talking about the bass guitar and lead guitar, Yang Chen, which one are you going to play? 

Y: 这个问题嘛... 

J: Okay, okay, you just started learning so maybe in a couple of months I'll ask you if you're a lead guitarist or a bass guitarist. 你自己选择！ You pick it! 

Y: 好，六个月以后你再问我这个问题！ 

J: Okay, okay! 

(End with "Fire of Love")

1 skids   

n.滑向一侧( skid的名词复数 )；滑道；滚道；制轮器v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的第三人称单数 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区

参考例句：

• The aging football player was playing on the skids. 那个上了年纪的足球运动员很明显地在走下坡路。 来自辞典例句
• It's a shame that he hit the skids. 很遗憾他消沉了。 来自辞典例句

2 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

5 vocals   

（乐曲中的）歌唱部份，声乐部份( vocal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Also look out for soaring vocals on The Right Man. 另外，也可留意一下《意中人》中的那高亢的唱腔。
• Lazy bass line, lazier drums, lush violins, great piano and incomparable vocals. 懒惰的低音线，较懒惰的鼓，饮小提琴，棒的钢琴和无比的声音。

6 feminine   

adj.女性的，女子气的

参考例句：

• He has a very feminine voice.他的声音非常像女人。
• She was a very feminine person.她是个很有女性气质的人。