AMERICAN MOSAIC - The Killers / A Question about Valentine's

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - The Killers² / A Question about Valentine's Day / Chronicles, Volume One by Bob Dylan
By Shelley Gollust and Nancy

Broadcast: Friday, February 11, 2005

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

Grammy-nominated³ music from the group called the Killers ...

A question about the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday ...

And a look at a new book by a popular American musician.

Bob Dylan's "Chronicles, Volume One"

(MUSIC)

 
 
Bob Dylan is one of the America's greatest songwriters. Now he has written a book about his life that critics have praised. Shep O'Neal tells us about it.

SHEP O'NEAL: Bob Dylan's book, "Chronicles: Volume One," was published in October. It has been among the best-selling books in America. The New York Times newspaper named it one of the five best non-fiction, or true life, books of two thousand four. And recently, the National Book Critics Circle named it one of the five finalists for best biography⁴ or autobiography⁵ of last year.

Bob Dylan grew up in the small town of Hibbing, Minnesota. As a young man, in nineteen sixty-one, he moved to New York City with his guitar. He wanted to become a folk singer and musician. In his book, he writes about his experiences playing and singing other people's songs in clubs in the Greenwich Village area. He writes about the many artists, writers and musicians who influenced him.

His main influence was the great folk singer Woody Guthrie. Guthrie was living in a hospital in New Jersey⁶ because he had a serious disease. Dylan visited him often and played Guthrie's songs to him.Later, Dylan became extremely famous for the songs he wrote. The media called him the "voice of a generation." But he rejected this fame. He writes: "All I'd ever done was sing songs that were dead straight and expressed powerful new realities. I had very little in common with, and knew even less about, a generation that I was supposed to be the voice of."

Bob Dylan writes that his wife and five children were the most important part of his life. He describes trying to find privacy⁷ for his family at his home in Woodstock, a town in New York State. But people from all over the country came to visit him and destroyed his peace.

Dylan also writes about spending time in New Orleans, Louisiana, while recording⁸ the album "Oh Mercy" in nineteen eighty-nine. He writes about the process of recording the album. And he writes about the interesting people he met in Louisiana. One was a store owner named Sun Pie, who gave Dylan a sign for his car that says "World's Greatest Grandpa."

Critics have compared Bob Dylan's book "Chronicles" to one of his songs. They say it brings to life images, faces and places. They say the book forms layers of meaning through rich details. "A song is like a dream," Dylan writes, "and you try to make it come true."

 
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Valentine's Day

DOUG JOHNSON: Our VOA listener question this week comes from Iran. Nima Foroud asks about the holiday called Valentine's Day. Americans celebrate Valentine's Day each year on February fourteenth. It is a holiday for lovers.

Valentine's Day is a good day for a man to ask his girlfriend to marry him. It is also a good day for couples to get married. Other couples might go out for a special meal at a nice restaurant.

The holiday is named for Saint¹⁰ Valentine. He was an early Christian¹¹ churchman who reportedly helped young lovers. Valentine was executed for his Christian beliefs on February fourteenth, more than one thousand seven hundred years ago. But the day that has his name is even older than that.

The ancient Romans celebrated¹² a holiday for lovers more than two thousand years ago. As part of the celebration, each girl wrote her name on a piece of paper and put it in a large container. Each boy reached into the container and pulled out the name of a girl. That girl became his girlfriend for a year.

Lovers still put their names on pieces of paper on Valentine's Day. They send each other cards that express their love. Sometimes they send other gifts, too, like jewelry… or flowers… or candy…or all three!

Americans usually send cards through the mail system or in a computer message. But there is another way many Americans send messages of love on Valentine's Day. They pay to have them printed in a newspaper.

Some of these messages are simple and short: "Susan, I love you very much. From John." Others say more, like this example: "David, roses are red, violets are blue, I hope you love me as much as I love you. Forever, Mary."

There is only one problem in sending a Valentine's Day message this way. It will only reach the one you love if he or she reads the newspaper that day!

The Killers

 
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Have you heard of the American rock group called the Killers? The group was popular in Britain before becoming well known in the United States. Now the group has been nominated for three Grammy awards. Faith Lapidus has more.

FAITH LAPIDUS: The four members of the Killers are Brandon Flowers, David Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vanucci. They met a few years ago in their hometown, Las Vegas, Nevada. The first song that Flowers and Keuning wrote together is called "Mister Brightside." Keuning says it is still the only song the group plays every time it performs. Let's listen:

(MUSIC)

"Mister Brightside" is one of eleven songs on the Killers' first album, "Hot Fuss¹³." The album has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Album. Another popular song from the album is about a girl who is killed by her boyfriend. It is called "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine."

(MUSIC)

One song on "Hot Fuss" is nominated for two Grammys -- Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group, and Best Rock Song. It was also the first hit single from the album. We leave you now with the Killers singing that song, "Somebody Told Me."

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program this week.

This show was written by Shelley Gollust and Nancy. Paul Thompson was the producer. Our engineer was Efeem Drucker.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine in Special English.

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

3 nominated   

adj.被提名的，被任命的 动词nominate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She has been nominated for the presidency. 她已经获得了董事长职位的提名。
• The movie was nominated for an Oscar. 这部电影获奥斯卡金像奖提名。

4 biography   

n.个人经历，传记

参考例句：

• He is now collecting material for a biography of Tao Yuanming.他正在为写陶渊明传记搜集材料。
• Boswell wrote a famous biography of Dr.White.鲍斯韦尔为怀特博士写过一本著名传记。

5 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

6 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

7 privacy   

n.私人权利，个人自由，隐私权

参考例句：

• In such matters,privacy is impossible.在这类事情中，保密是不可能的。
• She wept in the privacy of her own room.她在自己房内暗暗落泪。

8 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。

9 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。

10 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

11 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

12 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。

13 fuss   

n.过分关心，过分体贴，大惊小怪，小题大作

参考例句：

• My mother makes a fuss of me every time I come home.我每次回家，母亲总对我体贴备至。
• Stop all this fuss and do your homework.别大惊小怪了，去做你的家庭作业吧。