美国国家公共电台 NPR An Americana Hymnal For The Doomsday Cult Of 'Far Cry 5'

 

(SOUNDBITE OF DAN ROMER'S "NOW THAT THIS OLD WORLD IS ENDING")

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The award-winning composer Dan Romer is best known for scoring TV shows and films like "Beasts Of The Southern Wild." Recently his career took a turn from movies to video games. He's written the music for the latest installment¹ in the popular game series "Far Cry."

(SOUNDBITE OF DAN ROMER'S "NOW THAT THIS OLD WORLD IS ENDING")

SHAPIRO: "Far Cry 5" is a first-person shooter game set in rural Montana. You are a sheriff's deputy hunting the leader of a murderous doomsday cult². As you move through the game, the cult's hymns³ play through loudspeakers and car radios. In total, Dan Romer told me he wrote about five hours of music for this game.

DAN ROMER: It's all kind of centered around Americana music. It's all kind of centered around, like, banjos, mandolins, fiddles⁴, accordions⁵, those kind of, like, you know, American folk instruments but then kind of supported by super aggressive electronic and organic percussion⁶.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SHAPIRO: And apart from all of the background music that plays when you're on a menu or when you're working your way through the game, you wrote a bunch of songs with a beginning, middle and end, verse, chorus. That seems unusual for a video game.

ROMER: Sure. So the game revolves⁷ around a fictional⁸ cult. And they gave me a copy of the cult's Bible.

SHAPIRO: They actually wrote a bible for this cult.

ROMER: They wrote a bible for the cult, yeah. And they gave it to me. And they're like, absorb this. We want 10 songs that they would sing as their hymns.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OH JOHN")

CHARLIE MTN.: (Singing) Come brothers, and come sisters. Come weary, and come strong. Come meet the man who reaps the land on which we walk upon. The time has come...

ROMER: So these are songs that are used for two things by the cult. They're for brainwashing purposes and recruitment purposes.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OH JOHN")

CHARLIE MTN.: (Singing) Oh, John...

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS #1: Oh, John.

CHARLIE MTN.: (Singing) ...Bold and brave. He's finding us a family. He's teaching us to fend⁹. Oh, John...

ROMER: These are meant to be real-world, like, hey, check out how great it is over here. We all love each other. The rest of the world is so horrible, you know?

SHAPIRO: Can you tell us a phrase that came from that fictional cult bible that you incorporated into one of these songs?

ROMER: One of the most harrowing and poetic¹⁰ things in their Bible was the idea of the great collapse¹¹. And I have a song that I wrote about that. It's called "We Will Rise Again."

SHAPIRO: Ok. Let's listen.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WE WILL RISE AGAIN")

MEREDITH GODREAU: (Singing) Oh, Lord, the great collapse won't be our end. When the world falls into the flames, we will rise again. We will rise...

SHAPIRO: I mean, the thing about so many of these songs is even though they come from a murderous apocalyptic¹² cult, they're just really pretty.

ROMER: Oh, thank you so much. That's very kind of you.

SHAPIRO: But it's weird¹³ to hear these lyrics¹⁴ about apocalypse that just sound like they're coming from some beautiful folk singer.

ROMER: Yeah. That's Meredith Godreau. She's amazing. I love her voice so, so much.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WE WILL RISE AGAIN")

GODREAU: (Singing) Let the chaos¹⁵ come. Let our houses freeze.

ROMER: I wanted to make songs that make you want to join this cult and make you want to have this family. I wanted to make these songs relatable. And I wanted to make this cult feel realistic. If all the songs were like, (singing) we're a cult, and we do terrible things to people...

SHAPIRO: (Laughter).

ROMER: ...You'd be like, I'm not joining this cult. That's crazy. But if they're like - you know, if they're singing about love and family, I mean, you're like, this sounds great. My - the world has gotten so strange.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HELP ME FAITH (CHOIR¹⁶ VERSION)")

THE HOPE COUNTY CHOIR: (Singing) Help me, faith. Help me, faith. Shield me from sorrow, from fear of tomorrow. Help me, faith.

SHAPIRO: How many musicians did you work with on this? There are so many different singers, choirs¹⁷, instrumentalists.

ROMER: The singers - I think I had eight lead singers. I had one do two songs and then I did one song.

SHAPIRO: Which song did you do?

ROMER: I sang the song "Let The Water Wash Away Your Sins."

(SOUNDBITE OF DAN ROMER SONG, "LET THE WATER WASH AWAY YOUR SINS")

SHAPIRO: How'd you pick that one for yourself?

ROMER: You know, it was the one where I felt like I wouldn't get anybody to sing it exactly the way I wanted it to be sung. It's very dramatic.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET THE WATER WASH AWAY YOUR SINS")

ROMER: (Singing) If your soul has grown weary and your heart feels tired...

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS #2: (Singing) Let the water wash away your sins.

ROMER: (Singing) And if the snow begins to fall and you can't find the fire...

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS #2: (Singing) Let the water wash away your sins.

ROMER: I don't know. I felt like it was the kind of thing where I just - I kind of had it in the back of my head I wanted to sing one song.

SHAPIRO: This is your moment to be a cult leader in your own mind.

ROMER: (Laughter) Yeah.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET THE WATER WASH AWAY YOUR SINS")

ROMER: (Singing) All right, let the water wash away your sins. Let the water wash away your sins. Now that this old world is ending, a new one begins. Let the water wash away your sins.

SHAPIRO: You just recently plugged into composing for video games. Is this something that a lot of people who score films and TV shows are doing now? Has this become a space for legitimate¹⁸ composers to create music that people take seriously?

ROMER: For sure. I mean, there's tons of film composers going into video game composing at this point for sure. Video games are getting more and more like movies. TV shows are getting more and more like movies. You know, I mean, we're demanding as we go a higher caliber¹⁹ of storytelling and a higher caliber of production. And so who knows how long we go before there's no real difference between those three things?

SHAPIRO: Well, Dan Romer, thanks so much for talking with us today.

ROMER: Thanks so much for having me, Ari.

SHAPIRO: He is the composer for "Far Cry 5."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG)

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing) Build it higher than the...

1 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

2 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。

3 hymns   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At first, they played the hymns and marches familiar to them. 起初他们只吹奏自己熟悉的赞美诗和进行曲。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• I like singing hymns. 我喜欢唱圣歌。 来自辞典例句

4 fiddles   

n.小提琴( fiddle的名词复数 )；欺诈；（需要运用手指功夫的）细巧活动；当第二把手v.伪造( fiddle的第三人称单数 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动

参考例句：

• He fiddles with his papers on the table. 他抚弄着桌子上那些报纸。 来自辞典例句
• The annual Smithsonian Festival of American Folk Life celebrates hands-hands plucking guitars and playing fiddles. 一年一度的美国民间的“史密斯索尼安节”是赞美人的双手的节日--弹拔吉他的手，演奏小提琴的手。 来自辞典例句

5 accordions   

n.手风琴( accordion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Accordions were nowhere in my hit parade. 手风琴在我的流行曲目里根本排不上号。 来自名作英译部分
• Most musical instruments( especially wind instruments and accordions) can be played without moving your fingers. 不需要动手指，就可以演奏多数的乐器，尤其是吹管乐器与手风琴。 来自互联网

6 percussion   

n.打击乐器；冲突，撞击；震动，音响

参考例句：

• In an orchestra,people who play percussion instruments sit at the back.在管弦乐队中，演奏打击乐器的人会坐在后面。
• Percussion of the abdomen is often omitted.腹部叩诊常被省略。

7 revolves   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的第三人称单数 )；细想

参考例句：

• The earth revolves both round the sun and on its own axis. 地球既公转又自转。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Thus a wheel revolves on its axle. 于是，轮子在轴上旋转。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

9 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

10 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

11 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

12 apocalyptic   

adj.预示灾祸的，启示的

参考例句：

• The air is chill and stagnant,the language apocalyptic.空气寒冷而污浊，语言则是《启示录》式的。
• Parts of the ocean there look just absolutely apocalyptic.海洋的很多区域看上去完全像是世界末日。

13 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

14 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。

15 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

16 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。

17 choirs   

n.教堂的唱诗班( choir的名词复数 )；唱诗队；公开表演的合唱团；（教堂）唱经楼

参考例句：

• They ran the three churches to which they belonged, the clergy, the choirs and the parishioners. 她们管理着自己所属的那三家教堂、牧师、唱诗班和教区居民。 来自飘（部分）
• Since 1935, several village choirs skilled in this music have been created. 1935以来，数支熟练掌握这种音乐的乡村唱诗班相继建立起来。 来自互联网

18 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

19 caliber   

n.能力；水准

参考例句：

• They ought to win with players of such high caliber.他们选手的能力这样高,应该获胜。
• We are always trying to improve the caliber of our schools.我们一直在想方设法提高我们学校的水平。