搬運自：微信公眾號【評論搬一堆】（在原文基礎上添加了英語原文與排版調整）

翻譯：Will Lin

校對：Ryan-Chopin

排版：Spencerc

他最新發(fā)行的唱片喚起了人們對于上世紀六、七十年代略帶鄉(xiāng)村風格的加州流行樂的回憶，專輯聽起來和他之前做的截然不同。

There have been times throughout?Bruce Springsteen’s career when California has called.?He named a song for the state?after his parents moved there in 1971, and he’d return to it, in life and writing, repeatedly, chasing his dreams like Steinbeck’s Tom Joad.?Western Stars?(out June 14th) is the latest visit: a lushly orchestrated set of throwback, country-tinged folk pop that, despite some resemblance to previous works like?Nebraska?and?The Ghost of Tom Joad,?sounds like little else in his catalog. Frankly, its sheen is off-putting at first. But once you settle in, the set reveals some of Springsteen’s most beguiling work ever.

Bruce Springsteen的職業(yè)生涯中曾多次提及加州。1971年他的父母搬到加州后，他把一首歌命名為加州，之后多次重返加州，在創(chuàng)作上也多次涉及加州，追逐著他如Steinbeck創(chuàng)作的小說人物Tom Joad一樣的夢想?！禬estern Stars》于6月14號發(fā)行，又一次提及了加州：略帶鄉(xiāng)村風格的民謠搖滾豪華回歸，誠意滿滿。盡管與之前的《Nebraska（內布拉斯加州)》和《The Ghost of Tom Joad (Tom Joad 的鬼魂)》等作品有些類似，新專輯依然具有獨特性。坦白說，一開始專輯并不出彩。但是一旦你習慣了，整張專輯就會向你散發(fā)Springsteen出道至今最吸引人的光彩。

The sonic approach is in full bloom on “Hello Sunshine,” the first single. Draped in strings and pedal steel moan, it evokes existential late-Sixties/early-Seventies radio balladry like?Glen Campbell’s version of Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman”?and?Harry Nilsson’s cover of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin’.”?The sound dates back to Springsteen’s youth, and he channels it masterfully, with some of his most polished singing.

首單“Hello Sunshine（你好陽光)”中對聲音的處理臻于極致。歌曲運用弦樂以及鋼鐵踏板發(fā)出的低音，喚起了聽眾存留在腦海中六十年代末期/七十年代初期的電臺民謠，例如Jimmy Webb 的“Wichita Lineman（威奇托線務員)”（Glen Campbell翻唱版)以及Fred Neil 的“Everybody’s Talkin’(人人都在談論)”(Harry Nilsson翻唱版)。Springsteen 的歌聲把我們帶回到他的青年時期，這歸功于他爐火純青的演唱以及強大的情感集中能力。

The vocals here are often revelatory, more Neil Diamond than Otis Redding or Woody Guthrie. “There Goes My Miracle” conjures the grandeur of Phil Spector-era Righteous Brothers and the Left Banke’s “Walk Away Renée,” with a dash of?Fiddler on the Roof’s “Sunrise, Sunset.” Meanwhile, “The Wayfarer,” — with a TV soundstage worth of strings, French horns and cooing background singers (Patti Scialfa and Soozie Tyrell) — brings the sort of borderline-camp drama one recalls from?The Engelbert Humperdinck Show.

歌曲的演唱通常具有啟示性，Springsteen的嗓音更像是Neil Diamond，而非Otis Redding或者Woody Guthrie。歌曲“There Goes My Miracle（我的力量來了)”帶有Phil Spector那個年代Righteous Brothers組合和the Left Banke樂隊的歌曲“Walk Away Renée”中的宏偉感，又有一點音樂劇《Fiddler on the Roof (屋頂上的提琴手)》中的插曲“Sunrise, Sunset （日出，日落)”的感覺。同時，歌曲“The Wayfarer”運用了弦樂、法國號以及低聲細語的人聲伴唱（Patti Scialfa和Soozie Tyrell)，以現(xiàn)場音樂會的形式通過電視播出，讓人回想起《The Engelbert Humperdinck Show》中陣營分明的戲劇表演。

The stories Springsteen tells here are a departure, too. Gone are the hardscrabble immigrant farmworkers and drug mules of?Tom Joad.?In their place is the C-list actor of the title track, whose claim to fame is having been “shot by John Wayne,” and apparently is now reduced to doing ads for boner meds (“.?.?.?that little blue pill/That promises to bring it all back to you again”). The narrator of “Drive Fast (The Stuntman)” — in an echo of?Springsteen’s theme song for Mickey Rourke’s?The Wrestler?— is a fellow has-been who laments, “I got two pins in my ankle and a busted collarbone/A steel rod in my leg, but it walks me home.” Against a backdrop of 2019 America, and sung by a man who turns 70 this fall, the music’s metaphoric thrust — tough-guy actors whose time is nearly past — is obvious.

Springsteen在這首歌中講述的故事也是一場別離。貧窮的外來農民和Tom Joad的毒品走私犯走了。取而代之的是專輯同名曲中眼熟卻叫不出名字的演員。他們因參與John Wayne拍攝的電影而出名，但明顯如今落魄到給一些藥物拍廣告（“...藍色小藥片/保證讓你再次重溫一切”)。歌曲“Drive Fast (The Stuntman)”呼應了Springsteen為演員Mickey Rourke主演的電影《The Wrestler（摔角王）》創(chuàng)作的主題曲。該曲講述了一個風光不再的專家，他哀嘆道：“我的腳踝猶如針刺，我的鎖骨傷痕累累/我的腿中好像有根鋼筋，但是它卻支撐著我回家?！睂］嬘?019年在美國發(fā)行，由一位即將在這個秋天達到70高齡的老先生演唱。如此一來，專輯體現(xiàn)的隱喻性要旨——屬于堅韌演員的時代將要過去——就不言而喻了。

A number of the songs here straddle the classic and the cliché, as country songs often do, though they’re not country, exactly. Taken individually, they can also seem thin. As the singer himself cops at one point, “Same old cliché, a wanderer on his way.” But framed by the album’s larger themes, they hit home, deepened by a seasoned actor’s self-awareness.?Western Stars?shows Springsteen pulling back the curtain on his craft in much the same way?Springsteen on Broadway?did. In fact, in its elliptical narratives, it might have the makings of a good musical itself.

盡管確切地說，專輯中的許多歌曲并不屬于鄉(xiāng)村音樂，但正如鄉(xiāng)村音樂常表現(xiàn)出來的那樣，這些歌曲介于經典和陳腔濫調之間。以私人的眼光看，這些歌曲似乎看起來也沒有深意。正如歌手本身一度說過：“又是同樣的陳腔濫調，一個流浪漢在路上。”但是在專輯更宏大主題的框架下，這些歌曲切中要害，通過一位老練演員的自知之明得到深化?！禬estern Stars》表明了Springsteen正在退出自己的舒適圈，這點Springsteen在專輯《Springsteen on Broadway》里也有體現(xiàn)。事實上，借助隱晦的敘事方式，此專輯具有成為一部優(yōu)秀音樂劇的潛質。