PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Cole Porter Pt. 2

PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Cole Porter Pt. 2
By Rochelle Gollust

Broadcast: Sunday, August 22, 2004

Rochelle Gollust

((THEME))

VOICE ONE:

This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we bring you the second part of our program about American songwriter Cole Porter. Porter wrote his songs from the nineteen-twenties to the nineteen-fifties. They continue to be popular today.

((MUSIC))

 
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VOICE ONE:

That was a recording² of "Anything Goes", one of Cole Porter's most famous songs. Caroline O'Connor sings it in the movie about Cole Porter called "De-Lovely." Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd star in this movie about Porter's life, released in two-thousand-four. The title of the movie is from one of Porter's popular songs, "It's De-Lovely." In the song, Porter plays with words that start with the letter "d." Robbie Williams sings the song.

((MUSIC))

VOICE TWO:

As we said in our program last week, Cole Porter went to live in France in nineteen-sixteen before he became famous. He was a wealthy young man who was smart and funny and knew how to enjoy life. He and his wife, Linda, became well known for their costly³ and exciting parties.

Yet Cole Porter never let other pleasures interfere⁴ with what he loved most – writing songs. He worked hard on his songs. Both the words and music had to be perfect.

VOICE ONE:

Porter gained fame as a musical theater writer by the early nineteen-thirties. His musical plays were produced in Broadway theaters in New York City. He had a new musical every year or so during the years of America's great economic depression. His words and music gave people a few hours of pleasurable escape during difficult times.

Some critics still consider one of Porter's early musical plays, "Anything Goes," to be his best. "Anything Goes" opened on Broadway in nineteen-thirty-four. It starred one of Porter's favorite singers, Ethel Merman. She sang a song that became famous immediately. It is called "I Get a Kick Out of You." That expression means I enjoy being with you.

((MUSIC))

 
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VOICE TWO:

For years, Porter was Broadway's "King Cole." His musical plays were very successful. Later, he went to Los Angeles, California and wrote music for Hollywood movies. They were very popular, too.

Cole and Linda Porter traveled all over the world. They were happily married most of the time. But Cole Porter was homosexual. He had sex with men. Homosexuality was both accepted and forbidden in high society at that time. Love affairs between men were not exactly secret. Yet they could never be admitted publicly.

VOICE ONE:

All his life, Cole Porter wrote songs about love, desire and passion. He included the names of foreign countries, famous people and comments on current events. And he filled his songs with little jokes and hidden meanings.

Porter's words stretched the limits of what was socially acceptable. They spoke⁵ directly and indirectly⁶ about sex. They admitted that love is not always pure. It is often selfish. And it rarely lasts forever. Porter was not even sure what love really is. He wonders about it in this song, "What is This Thing Called Love?" It is sung by Lemar.

((MUSIC))

VOICE TWO:

 
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Cole Porter also wrote some of the most beautiful love songs ever, full of true, deep feeling. Critics consider "Every Time We Say Goodbye" to be one of his finest songs. Natalie Cole sings the song.

((MUSIC))

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen-thirty-seven, Cole Porter was injured while riding a horse. The horse slid on a muddy hill and fell on top of him. His legs were crushed. Cole Porter spent the rest of his life, twenty-seven years, disabled and in severe pain. Yet he continued writing wonderful songs, musical plays and movies.

In nineteen-forty-eight, he wrote what some consider his greatest work. It was a musical play called "Kiss Me, Kate." It was based on William Shakespeare's play, "The Taming of the Shrew." But it takes place in modern times, among a group of actors. The play was produced again on Broadway in nineteen-ninety-nine.

One of the most famous songs in the musical is called "Too Darn Hot." It is a funny song about how hard it is to be interested in love in really hot weather. Stanley Wayne Mathis sings it in "Kiss Me, Kate."

((MUSIC))

VOICE TWO:

Cole Porter had another hit show in nineteen-fifty-three, called "Cancan." It was his final play. That same year, Porter's wife, Linda, died. Porter was very sad, and increasingly disabled by his old injury. He died at the age of seventy-three in nineteen-sixty-four.

In nineteen-ninety-one, America celebrated⁷ the one-hundredth anniversary of Cole Porter's birth. Special concerts celebrated his music. New recordings⁸ were issued. Jazz singers and symphony orchestras recorded his songs.

So did several rock-and-roll artists. They made a recording and special music video to honor him. All the money earned from the recording and video was given to research on AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome⁹.

AIDS is a disease that was first discovered among homosexual men.

VOICE ONE:

Today, Cole Porter's songs are still valued for their beauty, humor and intelligence. And for their unexpected jokes and word play. They shine like jewels, one critic wrote. They are shot through with love that sometimes feels like pain.

There seems little doubt that Cole Porter's songs will continue to be sung. They will make us laugh. They will make us cry. And they will touch the deepest truths of our emotions.

((MUSIC))

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Lawan Davis. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for People in America in VOA Special English.

1 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

2 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。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

7 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。

8 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

9 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。