美国国家公共电台 NPR Ramen Rock: These Japanese Punk Legends Sing About Food

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Now we turn to a story about a legendary¹ rock band from Japan. It's Shonen Knife, a trio of women. And for over 35 years, they've been serving up bubbly punk songs with a delicious twist. A lot of their songs are about food with titles like "Wasabi," "Hot Chocolate" and "Sushi Bar."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUSHI BAR")

SHONEN KNIFE: (Singing) Sushi, sushi, sushi bar, going to a sushi bar. Sushi, sushi, sushi...

SHAPIRO: The band's latest adventure is a Ramen Rock tour of the U.S. Here's NPR's Maria Godoy host of our food blog The Salt.

MARIA GODOY, BYLINE²: Yeah. You heard that right - a rock band on a ramen tour. Why ramen? Well, ramen is really like Japanese soul food, and it's becoming all the rage here in America. So to promote their latest album called "Adventure," Shonen Knife has embarked³ on what it calls the Ramen Adventure Tour of the U.S. By night, they play gigs. By day, they sample ramen from cities around the country.

ATSUKO: OK. I will take a Shoyu ramen.

NAOKO: I'll have a Shoyu ramen.

GODOY: I met up with them at Haikan, a hip⁴ ramen restaurant in Washington, D.C.

RISA: Hi. I'm Risa. I play the drums.

ATSUKO: Hello. I'm Atsuko. I play the bass⁵ guitar.

NAOKO: Hi. I'm Naoko. I play the guitar.

GODOY: Atsuko and Naoko are sisters. Like Cher or Beyonce, all three ladies go by first names only. Naoko's the most fluent in English and does most of the talking. I kick off by asking the obvious. Why go on a ramen tour?

NAOKO: Sushi is already very popular, but ramen is now happening in America.

GODOY: And, oh, yeah. They happen to have an anthem⁶ called "Ramen Rock."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RAMEN ROCK")

SHONEN KNIFE: (Singing) Ramen noodle (unintelligible). Ramen noodle, the more I get...

GODOY: Naoko and Atsuko formed Shonen Knife in the early 1980s in Osaka, Japan. They were inspired by pop punk bands like The Ramones.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ROCKAWAY BEACH")

THE RAMONES: (Singing) Rock, rock, Rockaway Beach, rock, rock, Rockaway Beach...

GODOY: Naoko has always been the frontwoman, and from the very beginning, many of their songs have been about food.

NAOKO: When I started Shonen Knife, I was ashamed to write about love.

GODOY: Naoko says romantic love, the standard stuff of music lyrics⁷ was just too embarrassing to sing about. But love of food - that was another story.

NAOKO: I found that eating delicious food is the most important thing for people. It's a kind of universal topic.

GODOY: So is dieting. Naoko who is quite petite says the need to curb⁸ her love of cookies inspired this song.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I WANNA EAT COOKIES")

SHONEN KNIFE: (Singing) I want to eat delicious cookies as much as I want to eat.

GODOY: In the early '90s, Shonen Knife's catchy⁹, playful songs attracted some pretty influential¹⁰ fans like alt-rock giant Sonic Youth. In 1991, Shonen Knife was asked to join Nirvana on tour. At the time, Naoko says, she'd never heard of Kurt Cobain and company.

NAOKO: I was so scared because their looking was very wild.

GODOY: That was just as Nirvana's seminal¹¹ album "Nevermind" was blowing up. But as Cobain told MTV News a couple of years later, he was the one in awe¹² of Shonen Knife watching them perform every night.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KURT COBAIN: I was an emotional sap the whole time. I cried every night.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: He couldn't help it.

GODOY: Unlike Nirvana, Shonen Knife never made it huge. But over the decades, the band has remained a cult¹³ favorite. A couple of hours after our Ramen dinner, they took the stage at D.C.'s Black Cat. And they kick things off with a song called "Banana Chips" of course.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BANANA CHIPS")

SHONEN KNIFE: (Singing) Banana chips for you. Banana chips for me. In the afternoon, banana chips and tea.

GODOY: Shonen Knife will be on tour in the U.S. through the end of May. Maria Godoy, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BANANA CHIPS")

SHONEN KNIFE: (Singing) They're just a little bit sweet. Banana chips, banana chips, banana chips, banana chips, banana chips, banana chips, banana chips. Oh, yeah.

1 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。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

4 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

9 catchy   

adj.易记住的，诡诈的，易使人上当的

参考例句：

• We need a new slogan.The old one's not catchy enough.我们需要新的口号，旧的不够吸引人。
• The chorus is very catchy to say the least.副歌部分很容易上口。

10 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

11 seminal   

adj.影响深远的；种子的

参考例句：

• The reforms have been a seminal event in the history of the NHS.这些改革已成为英国国民保健制度史上影响深远的一件大事。
• The emperor's importance as a seminal figure of history won't be diminished.做为一个开创性历史人物的重要性是不会减弱的。

12 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

13 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。