美国国家公共电台 NPR--Natalia Lafourcade's newest album has been a long time coming

Natalia Lafourcade's newest album has been a long time coming

Transcript¹

NPR's A Martinez talks to singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade about her new album, heartbreak and caring for your inner garden.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The year was 2015. And Natalia Lafourcade practically swept the Latin Grammys - Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Alternative album and Song.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HASTA LA RAIZ")

NATALIA LAFOURCADE: (Singing in Spanish).

MART?NEZ: So you think, well, follow it up quickly - right? - and strike while the iron is hot. Not so much. It's taken seven years for Natalia Lafourcade to release an album of original material. But it's here now. And it's titled "De todas las flores."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MARIA LA CURANDERA")

LAFOURCADE: (Singing in Spanish).

The timing² for this album, it's been like cooking a dish in very, very slow fire.

MART?NEZ: Cooking for a long time, you know, sometimes it's (speaking Spanish), you know?

LAFOURCADE: It's good, yeah.

MART?NEZ: Yeah, it really is.

She says these songs are her musical diary from the past seven years, covering life, death, love gone wrong and healing.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DE TODAS LAS FLORES")

LAFOURCADE: (Singing in Spanish).

MART?NEZ: The title track, that's actually my favorite one, "De todas las flores" - "Of All The Flowers." In that song, you sing, of all the flowers that we planted, only a few are still in bloom. Every morning, they wonder when you will come and sing to them.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DE TODAS LAS FLORES")

LAFOURCADE: (Singing in Spanish).

MART?NEZ: That sounds like a breakup song.

LAFOURCADE: It is a breakup song. It comes from love - (speaking Spanish). It's, like, heartbroken. But also, it has a lot to do with that inner garden, which is me, right? So it's a metaphor³ of this thing that happens when you fall in love with somebody and then you give so much that you forget about your own garden. And now it's like I have to go back to my empty space and build it all again and see what's inside.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DE TODAS LAS FLORES")

LAFOURCADE: (Singing in Spanish).

MART?NEZ: What is it about breakups, though, because "Hasta la raiz" was a breakup album - "De todas las flores," breakup song.

LAFOURCADE: (Laughter).

MART?NEZ: I mean, what is it about breakups with you that sparks musical expression?

LAFOURCADE: I don't know. I don't know. It happened. I mean, right now, I am married. And I am very, very happy. But there was a moment I got separate. I was broken inside. I was trying to keep going. That's why I love this metaphor about this huge garden inside myself that has so many different places that I could even forget they exist in there. So then when you go through this inner journey, it's such a deep process and long thing to do. Like, you get there. And you don't know what you are going to run into.

(SOUNDBITE OF NATALIA LAFOURCADE SONG, "MI MANERA DE QUERER")

MART?NEZ: In "Mi manera de querer" - "My Way Of Loving" - you describe and sing about what kind of lover you are.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MI MANERA DE QUERER")

LAFOURCADE: (Singing in Spanish).

This one is very light. And it's very honest. And it's very much my way of thinking about love, because I realized that at the very, very end, you're a human being that is full of light inside. And when you're able to connect to that inner light, and when you're able to really, really feel that and to really love that inside yourself, then you're able to see that in others. And you're able to realize how that light, it's inside every person you can have in front of you.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MI MANERA DE QUERER")

LAFOURCADE: (Singing in Spanish).

MART?NEZ: But isn't that difficult, loving yourself?

LAFOURCADE: Yes (laughter).

MART?NEZ: I mean, there's everything, like forgiving yourself, loving yourself. That seems to be the most difficult first step that most human beings can do...

LAFOURCADE: Oh, yeah.

MART?NEZ: ...Before they can do that with anyone else.

LAFOURCADE: Yeah. And when you go through a breakup, it's so hard - right? - because you can get so mad at that person and be like, you did this to me and this happened. And then it's so hard to forgive yourself. It's such a profound⁴ process.

MART?NEZ: Another song that really grabbed⁵ my ears was "Muerte" - "Death." And you started by saying, I give thanks to death for showing me how to live.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MUERTE")

LAFOURCADE: (Speaking Spanish).

MART?NEZ: It sounded, though, I mean, like, you were reciting a poem more than you were singing. Why did you approach that song in this way?

LAFOURCADE: When I was at the studio trying to sing the melody⁶ of this song, it felt like this one, with its own spirit and soul, was really fighting the melodies⁷. This one was like, please, just say the words.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MUERTA")

LAFOURCADE: (Speaking Spanish).

And it was very hard. So I was like, OK, if I don't sing, then what I do?

MART?NEZ: So you were fighting yourself not to just sing?

LAFOURCADE: Yes.

MART?NEZ: Wow.

LAFOURCADE: It seemed everything was good. But my singing, it was horrible.

MART?NEZ: I don't believe that.

LAFOURCADE: (Laughter) It was so terrible.

MART?NEZ: No, I don't believe that.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MUERTE")

LAFOURCADE: (Singing in Spanish).

So I really wanted to tell through this song how much I thank death, that small, little death that I had through love and all what happened next, because that let me be so alive and so present and so open to this new moment in my life.

MART?NEZ: I think a lot of people are going to be surprised pleasantly by that one, by "Muerte".

LAFOURCADE: Thank you. That's nice (laughter) because I suffered for that one.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MUERTE")

LAFOURCADE: (Speaking Spanish).

MART?NEZ: She's Natalia Lafourcade. And her new album is called "De todas las flores." Natalia, thank you very much.

LAFOURCADE: Thank you so much. Thank you for this space.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MUERTE")

LAFOURCADE: (Speaking Spanish).

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 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

3 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

4 profound   

adj.深奥的，造诣深的；深度的，极度的

参考例句：

• I give you my profound thanks for saving my life.我对您的救命之恩深表谢意。
• He has a profound knowledge of mathematics.他数学知识渊博。

5 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

6 melody   

n.旋律，曲调，悦耳的音乐

参考例句：

• She struck up a folk melody on the piano.她开始用钢琴演奏那首民歌。
• After she wrote the melody,she asked us for criticisms.她做好曲之后，请我们提意见。

7 melodies   

曲调( melody的名词复数 )； 旋律； 乐曲的音符编排； 美妙的音乐

参考例句：

• The two melodies are played in counterpoint. 用对位法来演奏这两首曲调。
• And now for your further delectation, we present a selection of popular melodies. 为使你们更加愉快，我们奉献给你们一组精选的流行歌曲。