美国国家公共电台 NPR The Story Behind 'The Christmas Song'

 

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE CHRISTMAS SONG")

NAT KING COLE: (Singing) Chestnuts¹ roasting on an open fire, Jack² Frost nipping at your nose.

NOEL KING, HOST:

In 1946, Nat King Cole was the first recording³ artist to wrap his luscious⁴ voice around what would become a standard of the season, "The Christmas Song." But that song was written by a different crooner, Mel Torme.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE CHRISTMAS SONG")

MEL TORME: (Singing) Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe help to make the season bright.

KING: There is a terrific story behind the writing of this song, and we thought the best person to tell it would be Mel Torme's youngest son, James. He himself is a jazz singer. James Torme, welcome to the show.

JAMES TORME: Noel, thanks for having me.

KING: So this song is a Christmas classic. It evokes⁶ a frigid⁷ winter day. You know, folks dressed up like Eskimos. But there is a twist.

J. TORME: Oh, yeah. In the summer of 1945, the year before the song's release, it was a very hot, sort of an oppressive summer that summer. And my father went to the house of his then-writing partner, a guy called Bob Wells. And Wells was nowhere to be seen. But there was a spiral pad at the piano. There were four lines sort of scribbled⁸ down on it in pencil - chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose, yuletide carols being sung by a choir⁹, and folks dressed up like Eskimos.

And when Bob Wells eventually appeared he said, you know, Mel, I have tried everything to cool down. I've been in my pool. I had a cold drink. I've taken a cold shower. I'm nothing but hot. And I thought that maybe, you know, if I could just write down a few lines of wintery (ph) verse I could psychologically get an edge over this heat.

KING: Wishful thinking.

J. TORME: So my dad sort of looked at Bob, looked back down at the spiral pad, and then looked back at Wells and said, I think there's something here. And about 45 minutes later - no more than that - the song was born.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE CHRISTMAS SONG")

M. TORME: (Singing) They know that Santa's on his way.

J. TORME: The two of them, you know, they got kind of excited about it and drove it over to Van Heusen publishing, where those guys said to them, no. Nobody would ever want a song like this that's only really going to be popular one day of the year. So they, a little bit dejected, took the song the same afternoon to the house of a guy called Nat Cole.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE CHRISTMAS SONG")

COLE: (Singing) And so I'm offering...

J. TORME: Played the song once for Nat and he said, play that again. And they played it one more time. And before they could get it done, he said, stop everything. That's my song.

KING: (Laughter).

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE CHRISTMAS SONG")

COLE: (Singing) Although it's been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you.

KING: I love that story. But I do wonder, your dad himself had such a beautiful voice. Did he ever think about keeping that song for himself?

J. TORME: You're right. But the simple truth is Nat Cole was simply exploding at that particular moment in time. And so my dad and Bob Wells sort of - you know, they just put it in his hands and said, you know what? You take this. We want you to have this.

KING: I'm talking to James Torme, the son of legendary¹⁰ singer Mel Torme. And, James, "The Christmas Song" is not the only Christmas song your dad wrote. In fact, you're reviving one of his songs called "The Christmas Feeling." Tell me about that song.

J. TORME: It's a song that I discovered through doing my father's symphony arrangements that I do all over the world with celebrated¹¹ orchestras and...

KING: So you didn't know anything about this other Christmas song, "The Christmas Feeling," when you were a kid growing up.

J. TORME: I didn't. That was a little bit of an epiphany for me. And just the fact that it seemed like it was so contemporary, the melody of the song, and yet these beautiful, timeless lyrics¹² a lot like, in fact, chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE CHRISTMAS FEELING")

M. TORME: (Singing) The Christmas feeling, that time when we will once again sing all the carols while we trim the tree. We'll open presents and we'll watch the children play. And then we'll gather around the table Christmas day.

KING: All right, and now I want to hear your interpretation¹³ of "The Christmas Feeling." Let's take a listen to that.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE CHRISTMAS FEELING")

J. TORME: (Singing) The Christmas feeling, the time when we will once again sing all the carols while we trim the tree. We'll open...

KING: James, your dad, Mel Torme, passed away when you were in your mid-20s almost 20 years ago. And I wonder, when you hear his songs, when you hear his voice, and when you sing his songs, what kind of memories does that evoke⁵?

J. TORME: Well, the whole thing is sort of a double-edged sword from an emotional point of view. During the Christmas holidays I'm hearing my father. You know, you go into a mall, be in a mall in London or something, and there he'll come on. I sometimes get very emotional about it. But overall, I just look at it as, hey, my dad's saying hi. You know, that's the way I choose to look at it. You asked me the type of memories that I have. We had magical Christmases as kids, my sister Daisy and I. Mr. Christmas, we used to call Dad - an accomplishment¹⁴ for a Jew.

KING: Yeah.

J. TORME: It was the fake sleigh marks in the front yard and the singing music together in four-part harmonies. Dad made our Christmases very, very special. So it just - you know, it brings a smile to my face and a sort of a glow to my heart when I'm walking around somewhere and suddenly I hear Dad.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHITE CHRISTMAS")

M. TORME: (Singing) I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.

KING: That is James Torme, the son of Mel Torme. James, thank you so much, and Merry Christmas.

J. TORME: You, too. Thanks for having me.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHITE CHRISTMAS")

M. TORME: (Singing) Where the treetops glisten¹⁵...

1 chestnuts   

n.栗子( chestnut的名词复数 )；栗色；栗树；栗色马

参考例句：

• A man in the street was selling bags of hot chestnuts. 街上有个男人在卖一包包热栗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Talk of chestnuts loosened the tongue of this inarticulate young man. 因为栗子，正苦无话可说的年青人，得到同情他的人了。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

2 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

3 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

4 luscious   

adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的

参考例句：

• The watermelon was very luscious.Everyone wanted another slice.西瓜很可口，每个人都想再来一片。
• What I like most about Gabby is her luscious lips!我最喜欢的是盖比那性感饱满的双唇！

5 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。

6 evokes   

产生，引起，唤起( evoke的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• Each type evokes antibodies which protect against the homologous. 每一种类型都能产生抗同种病毒的抗体。

7 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

8 scribbled   

v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。
• He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前，他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。

9 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

10 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

11 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

12 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

13 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

14 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

15 glisten   

vi.（光洁或湿润表面等）闪闪发光，闪闪发亮

参考例句：

• Dewdrops glisten in the morning sun.露珠在晨光下闪闪发光。
• His sunken eyes glistened with delight.他凹陷的眼睛闪现出喜悦的光芒。