多莉·艾莫丝：艺术遇上年华，越交融越陈香

Tori Amos has been looking at a lot of artwork and she turns the visual into the musical on her new CD.

（Soundbite of Song， “16 Shades of Blue”）

Rachel： Thats the song “16 Shades of Blue，” which refers to the artist Paul Cézanne， who is said to have had at least 16 shades of blue on his palette. Its a tune about aging from an artist who hit a significant milestone last year. Tori Amos turned 50， by the way. Shes explored a number of musical styles recently， from classical， where she began as a child， to a staged musical.

“The Black Clock” by Cézanne was very much what spurred on the song “16 Shades of Blue.”I really didnt get Cézanne until I turned 50. He didnt make any sense to me. Then I turned 50 and I was looking at “The Black Clock” and I started hearing the rhythm and the piano of this song. I read that Rilke wrote that Cézanne would paint with over 16 shades of blue on his palette at one time， and I had just turned 50， and I thought about how you learn from women about the different pressures of different ages， whether youre 15， 18 or in your 20s. I realized it was important to talk about the clock ticking， bringing different types of pressure to different types of women. —Time Magazine Interview

（Soundbite of Song， “Troubles Lament”）

Rachel： Often when you think about good and evil themes in country music， which comes up a lot， artists tend to use the word “devil.” You use the word “Satan，”which has a different kind of religious reference to it， a religious weight. Your dad was a preacher， a minister， right？

Tori： Methodist ministry， yes.

Rachel： Does that language find its way into your songwriting？

Tori： Well， he said to me so many times， “Oh， just be grateful youre a ministers daughter， what…what would you write about if I had been a dentist？”

I attended the Peabody Conservatory for classical music when I was five， but later fell out with its conservative philosophy. My dad said if I wanted a career in contemporary music I needed training. One day， when I was 13， he told me to dress to look older， so I put on trousers and heels and we went out and knocked on the doors of bars in Georgetown， Washington. Mr Henrys， a gay bar， gave me my first opportunity. My dad got flak from some parishioners， but he told them： “I cant think of a safer place for a 13-year-old girl than a gay bar.” —Mail Online Interview

Rachel： I gather there is another big influence on this recording—your young teenage daughter Natashya？ Youve said the song “Rose Dover” is about how to grow up with your imagination intact， which is an interesting kind of idea. Is that…thats clearly something that you wish for her.

Tori： I found that theres certain teenagers that have a very magical imagination and are trying to hold on to it， but sometimes they do have to combat judgment， harsh judgment from their peers.

（Soundbite of Song， “Rose Dover”）

Rachel： I imagine the answer is yes， but Im going to ask anyway—has parenthood， in particular raising a daughter， a teenager now， changed how you approach making music？

Tori： Its changed everything， Rachel. Im a different person. Becoming a mom was what I needed to refocus my attention. Magic glasses， I would call them. So I took off my other glasses， which might have been—Ill raise my hand—self-involved glasses， and then take off those glasses and put on mom glasses， and all of a sudden its in Technicolor.

I was very close to my mother as the youngest of three. She was my playmate. I went to school but I just didnt find it as stimulating as listening to mum. She would read to me Edgar Allan Poes The Raven， Robert Frosts The Road Not Taken and my favourite， Emily Dickinsons Because I Could Not Stop For Death. It didnt seem heavy， she was just sharing her favourite poetry and stories. She would have been an English teacher if she hadnt become a ministers wife， and I was her willing student.

—Mail Online Interview

多莉·艾莫絲最近对绘画作品多有涉猎，她在新专辑里将这些视觉元素转化成了音乐素材。

（歌曲《16种蓝色》片段）

蕾切尔：刚刚那首歌曲的歌名《16种蓝色》源自画家保罗·塞尚，据说在他的调色板上至少有16种不同的蓝色。这是一首关于“衰老”的曲子，来自一位在去年迎来重大里程碑的艺人——多莉·艾莫丝。顺带一提，她去年50岁了。最近她在钻研探索好几种音乐风格，包括她从小开始接触的古典音乐，还有舞台音乐剧等。

从很大程度上说，是塞尚的《黑色时钟》催生了这首《16种蓝色》。我直到年过半百才真正看明白了塞尚（的作品）。过去我总是搞不懂他。后来到了50岁，我看着《黑色时钟》，耳边开始流淌出这首歌的旋律和钢琴声。我读到过里尔克曾写道，塞尚每次在作画的时候，会在调色盘里调出超过16种深浅不一的蓝色。我已经50岁了，我不禁想到不管你现在15岁、18岁还是双十年华，你都可以从女性身上学到些什么东西，因为不同年龄层的女性会面临不同的压力。我意识到这是很有意义的事情——讲讲时间的流逝，讲讲年岁给不同的女性带来的各种压力。 ——《时代周刊》专访

（歌曲《麻烦的挽歌》片段）

蕾切尔：每当人们想到乡村音乐里关于善与邪恶的主题——这类主题比比皆是，歌手们常常喜欢用“恶魔”这个词，而你用的是“撒旦”，这个词有着不一样的宗教含义，有种宗教的厚重感。你的爸爸是一位传教士，一位牧师，对吧？

多莉：卫理公会的牧师，没错。

蕾切尔：宗教语言会影响你的歌曲创作吗？

多莉：这个嘛，他老是这样对我说：“噢，你该庆幸你是个牧师的女儿，如果我是一个牙医，你会写出什么东西来啊？”

我五岁就去了皮博迪音乐学院学习古典音乐，但后来实在无法接受那里的保守派作风。爸爸说，如果我想投身当代音乐界，我就必须接受“培训”。有一天——那时我才13岁，他让我打扮得老成一点，于是我换上裤子，蹬着一双高跟鞋，我们一起出门，在华盛顿的乔治城敲开了一家又一家酒吧的大门。一家同性恋酒吧——亨利先生酒吧给了我第一个机会。教区里有些教徒严厉谴责我爸爸的行为，但他对他们说：“对一个13岁的小女生来说，我想不出还有比同性恋酒吧更安全的地方了。”——《每日邮报》网络版专访

蕾切尔：据我所知，你录制这张专辑还受到另一个重要因素的影响，就是你那正值花季的女儿娜塔莎对吧？你曾经说过，《萝丝·多弗》这首歌讲的是如何在成长的过程中保持想象力，这是一个挺有意思的想法。是否……这显然是你对女儿的期望吧。

多莉：我发现有那么一些青少年，他们有着特别神奇的想象力，也希望一直保有这种能力;但他们有时候确实要和各种评头论足作斗争，他们要面对同龄人那无情的指指点点。

（歌曲《萝丝·多弗》片段）

蕾切尔：我猜你一定会给我一个肯定的答案，不过我还是想问一问：为人母亲——特别是养育女儿，她现在已经是个少女了，这是否改变了你创作音乐的方式？

多莉：这确实改变了一切，蕾切尔。我已经完全不同了。当妈妈正是我所需要的东西，这让我重新找到了生活的重心。我会说这就是我的“魔法眼镜”。我摘掉了其他“眼镜”——我得承认，那些也许都是些以自我为中心的眼镜。我把这些眼镜都摘下来，戴上“妈妈眼镜”，整个世界突然一片斑斓。

作为三个孩子当中的幺女，我和母亲非常亲近，她就是我的玩伴。我上学了，但是我发现学校根本不像听妈妈说话那么让我兴奋。她会给我念埃德加·爱伦·坡的《乌鸦》和罗伯特·弗罗斯特的《未选择的路》，还有我最喜欢的诗歌——艾米莉·狄金森的《因为我不能停步等待死神》。这听起来一点都不沉重，她只是在向我分享她所喜欢的诗歌和故事。如果她没有嫁给一个牧师，她或许会去当英语老师，我会是她好学的学生。

——《每日邮报》网络版专访

笑 柄

英解：somebody or something that is regarded as being foolish

“Stock”（足枷）是古时英国用来拘禁犯人的刑具之一，犯人会被带到一个广场示众，在一旁观看的人群会对囚犯丢东西，或讥笑辱骂他。“a laughing stock”（笑柄）的典故据说就是由此而来。

A：They say you're going to dress like superman at the party.

听说你要在派对上穿得像超人一样。

B：No way！ That would make me a laughing stock.

才不哩！那会让我变成笑柄的。