2018年经济学人 美国“灵魂歌后”艾瑞莎·弗兰克林去世 享年76岁(1)

 

Obituary¹ Aretha Franklin

讣告：艾瑞莎·弗兰克林

A deeper love

更深沉的爱

Aretha Franklin, soul singer, died on August 16th, aged² 76

灵魂歌手艾瑞莎·弗兰克林逝于8月16日，享年76岁

At points in her concerts, which enthralled³ America for 50 years, Aretha Franklin would fling her arms out wide.

艾瑞莎·弗兰克林的演唱会让美国为之着迷了50年，在演唱会上，她会张开双臂。

Sometimes it was to shrug⁴ her strong shoulders out of some satiny or feathery dress,

有时是耸肩，绸缎或羽毛似的衣服滑落，露出结实的肩膀，

or to throw away her long fur coat, like any diva (though she was the ultimate diva) who by the end of her career had won 18 Grammys and sold 75m records.

或者所有天后(尽管她是终极天后)都会做的那般，扔掉皮草大衣。在她职业生涯结束时，共赢得18座格莱美奖，卖出7500万张唱片。

Sometimes it was to embrace America, all colours, as when she sang “Precious Lord” at Martin Luther King’s funeral,

有时歌声会感染整个美国，无论何种肤色，就像她在马丁路德金的葬礼上唱《亲爱的主》，

or gave her rapturous version of “My Country’tis of Thee” in a big-bow-statement hat at Barack Obama’s inauguration⁵.

在贝拉克·奥巴马的就职典礼上，戴着夸张的大蝴蝶结礼帽，热情洋溢地唱《这是你的国家，也是我的国家》。

Or possibly those arms just demonstrated how her voice, the whispering or crying height of it and drop-jaw depth of it, seemed to pass any limit that people might imagine.

又或者张开的双臂只是为了强调她的音域，轻喃低语，激越高亢，浑厚低沉，她的音域之广似乎超越了观众的想象。

Open arms suggested love, but more often Everywoman’s frustration⁶, black or white.

张开双臂喻示爱，但更多时候是表达女性的沮丧，无论是黑人还是白人。

For every super-sharp man she daydreamed⁷ of, Turns me right on when I hear him say/Hey baby let’s get away,

只要听到梦寐以求聪明过人的男人对她说：“嘿，宝贝，我们走吧”，

there would be ten who let her down: You’re a no-good heartbreaker/You’re a liar⁸ and you’re a cheat/And I don’t know why/I let you do these things to me.

结局往往让人失望：“你是个差劲的芳心终结者/你是个谎话连篇的骗子/不知何故/我许你对我做这些”。

They messed with her mind, as she fumed⁹ in the Blues¹⁰ Brothers film in 1980, pummelling her palms into her big man’s stupid chest: Just think/Think about what you’re tryin’ to do to me.

他们搅乱了她的思想，1980年，她在电影《福禄双霸天》中演绎恼怒，手掌重重砸向那个大块头愚蠢的胸膛：“好好思考/思考你要对我做什么”。

After all, it don’t take too much high IQs.

毕竟，这并不需要很高的智商。

Men in general didn’t begin to give her what she wanted, just a little respect when you get home…

一般，男人给不了她想要的，哪怕只是回家后的一点尊重……

R-E-S-P-E-C-T/Find out what it means to me.

“尊——重/看看这对我意味着什么”。

This, her most famous song, wasn’t just about a put-down woman and a do-wrong man;

这是她最著名的歌曲，这首歌描述的并不仅仅是一个被贬低的女人和一个做错事的男人；

it became the anthem¹¹ of every liberation movement because of her roof-raising style.

后因其慷慨激越的曲风成为了每一次解放运动的圣歌。

It was her personal anthem, too.

这也是她自己的圣歌。

She wished to be called “Ms Franklin”, to be paid cash and to be spared air-conditioning. All I’m askin’, honey.

她希望被称为“弗兰克林女士”，希望收现金，并避免使用空调。亲爱的，我的要求不高。

1 obituary   

n.讣告，死亡公告；adj.死亡的

参考例句：

• The obituary records the whole life of the deceased.讣文记述了这位死者的生平。
• Five days after the letter came,he found Andersen s obituary in the morning paper.收到那封信五天后，他在早报上发现了安德森的讣告。

2 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 enthralled   

迷住，吸引住( enthrall的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到非常愉快

参考例句：

• The child watched, enthralled by the bright moving images. 这孩子看着那明亮的移动的影像，被迷住了。
• The children listened enthralled as the storyteller unfolded her tale. 讲故事的人一步步展开故事情节，孩子们都听得入迷了。

4 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

5 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

6 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

7 daydreamed   

v.想入非非，空想( daydream的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She daydreamed, and oh! What lovely fantasies. 她在白日做梦，噢！多么美妙的幻想啊！ 来自辞典例句
• She daydreamed about a carefree vacation. 她梦想那无忧无虑的假期。 来自辞典例句

8 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

9 fumed   

愤怒( fume的过去式和过去分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟

参考例句：

• He fumed with rage because she did not appear. 因为她没出现，所以他大发雷霆。
• He fumed and fretted and did not know what was the matter. 他烦躁，气恼，不知是怎么回事。

10 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。

11 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。