美国国家公共电台 NPR Why The 'Sgt. Pepper's' Cover Art Matters As Much As The Music

 

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS BAND CLUB")

THE BEATLES: (Singing) It was 20 years ago today Sergeant¹ Pepper taught the band to play. They've been going in and out of style, but they're guaranteed to raise a smile. So may I introduce to you the act you've known for all these years, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Fifty years ago, The Beatles released one of the most well-known and influential² rock albums of all time. I barely even have to say the name - "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." And my guest, music critic Colin Fleming, argues the artwork on the album's cover is as important as the music. Colin, welcome.

COLIN FLEMING: Hey, how are you, Lulu?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I'm good. That sounds like almost something that is heretical. But before we get into why the artwork is important, remind us what the album cover looks like so everyone out there knows what we're talking about.

FLEMING: It's a vertiginous³ assembly, really, almost like a giant birthday party or an Irish wake where you have lots of famous people from history from pop culture assembled around The Beatles as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and wax statues of the lovable mop top Beatles. And it's either, depending on how you look at it, kind of like a death of the pop Beatles and a rebirth really of this new, almost populist avant garde Beatles.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What was the process behind "Sergeant Pepper?" How involved with The Beatles in crafting that image?

FLEMING: They were quite involved, Paul McCartney, in particular, because it's around this time that he's spearheading a lot of things to the - for the band, much to, like, John Lennon's annoyance⁴. So I'm going to say that it was his central idea. He wanted to have The Beatles in, like, Edwardian garb⁵ in this room, almost like a locked room mystery, with photographs on the wall of people and, like, their dead uncles and whatnot. And - but you have that sort of bric-a-brac collage⁶ idea, which is built up, of course, by Peter Blake, the pop artist, into the cover that we know now.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So in that crowd in that image, you have Marilyn Monroe and you have Bob Dylan. Were there arguments about who to include there?

FLEMING: Oh, yes, they really were. Lennon had to be reigned⁷ in. Now, it's - the year before, he says that they're more popular than Jesus, which wasn't, like, completely fatuous⁸. Like, it was ballpark.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Laughter).

FLEMING: But he wanted Jesus on the cover. It's just like, maybe not. He also wanted Hitler to pair with Jesus on the cover. So they couldn't do that. Shirley Temple wanted to hear the record, like music critic style, before she would allow herself to be on it. And Aleister Crowley, the satanist of all people, is on the cover, too.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What cultural impact do you think the art had?

FLEMING: It produced a lot of drecky imitation, certainly. But beyond that, I think it expanded the notion of what was possible. Not just visually with a record, but musically, you could go as far as your imagination was able to take you. Now, I don't think that's the same right now, but it was for, like, a bunch of years. And the notion of freedom, I think, the cover as much as the final famous chord of "A Day In The Life" signifies the same kind of idea.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That's music critic Colin Fleming. Colin, thanks so much.

FLEMING: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS BAND CLUB")

THE BEATLES: (Singing) We're Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. We hope you have enjoyed the show. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, we're sorry, but it's time to go.

1 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

2 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。

3 vertiginous   

adj.回旋的；引起头晕的

参考例句：

• House prices continued their vertiginous decline,with the US,UK,Spain and Ireland leading the way.房屋价格继续他们的旋转式下降，美国、英国、西班牙和爱尔兰引领着这个趋势。
• My small mind contained in earthly human limits,not lost in vertiginous space and elements unknown.我的狭隘思想局限在人类世俗之中，不会

4 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

5 garb   

n.服装，装束

参考例句：

• He wore the garb of a general.他身着将军的制服。
• Certain political,social,and legal forms reappear in seemingly different garb.一些政治、社会和法律的形式在表面不同的外衣下重复出现。

6 collage   

n.拼贴画；v.拼贴；把……创作成拼贴画

参考例句：

• A collage of coloured paper covers a table top.一副彩纸拼贴画盖在桌面上。
• He has used a mixture of mosaic,collage and felt-tip pen.他混合使用了马赛克、拼贴画和毡头笔。

7 reigned   

vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• Silence reigned in the hall. 全场肃静。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Night was deep and dead silence reigned everywhere. 夜深人静，一片死寂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 fatuous   

adj.愚昧的；昏庸的

参考例句：

• He seems to get pride in fatuous remarks.说起这番蠢话来他似乎还挺得意。
• After his boring speech for over an hour,fatuous speaker waited for applause from the audience.经过超过一小时的烦闷的演讲，那个愚昧的演讲者还等着观众的掌声。