Rock Superstars摇滚明星.docx

Rock Superstars:What Do They Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society? 这篇文章选自美国1974年的一期高中生杂志（Senior Scholastic）,作者在文中着重从社会学的角度探讨摇滚乐的社会意义。在文章的头三段里，作者以相同的手法描写了三位摇滚歌星的表演盛况。青少年把他们视为偶像，赞美不绝，而成年观众则觉得他们恶心，难以忍受，这反映了青少年和成人社会对摇滚乐截然不同的态度。接着作者引用社会学家和音乐家的话，指出摇滚乐是“一种社会心理的表现”，它“表现其时代”，是各种思想交锋的场所。在这个辩论的论坛上，摇滚歌星们不但表达了青少年对各种政治与社会问题的立场和观点，帮助社会解释其信仰与态度，而且也表达了青少年的情感和愿望。作者在文章的结尾重又提出副标题里的问题，旨在鼓励读者认真考虑这个问题。 Rock摇滚乐的英文全名叫Rock & Roll, RocknRoll或Rock music，于20世纪50年代兴起于美国，继而风靡世界。初期的摇滚乐基本上是由典型的黑人音乐“节奏与布鲁斯”（Rhythm & Blues）和传统的白人音乐“乡村与西部”（Country & Western）两类乐种融合而成的。1954年白人乡村音乐歌手比尔.黑利（Bill Haley）首次把R & B 的曲式融于自己的音乐中，于是，一种白人和黑人青少年都酷爱的新型音乐摇滚乐诞生了。此后，摇滚乐以其顽强的青春活力茁壮成长，蓬勃发展。民谣音乐（Folk Music）、爵士音乐（Jazz Music）和流行音乐（Pop Music）等音乐形式也都相继融于摇滚乐中，形成了各种不同风格的摇滚乐；摇滚歌星们也以各自不同的舞台形象和演唱风格争奇斗艳，大放异彩。从50年代直到90年代，摇滚乐走过了一个又一个辉煌时代，一直深受广大青少年的喜爱。 T Rock is the music of teenage rebellion. John Rockwell, rock music critic By a mans heroes ye shall know him. Robert Penn Warren, novelistIt was mid-June,1972, the Chicago Amphitheatre（圆形露天剧场） was packed, sweltering, rocking. Onstage, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones was singing “Midnight Rambler.” Critic Don Heckman was there when the song ended. “Jagger,” he said, “grabs a half-gallon jug of water and runs along the front platform, sprinkling its contents over the first few rows of sweltering listeners. They surge to follow him, eager to be touched by a few baptismal drops.”It was late December, 1973. Some 14,000 screaming fans were crunching up to the front of the stage at Capital Center, outside Washington, D.C. Alice Cooper, Americas singing ghoul, was ending his act. He ends it by pretending to end his life with guillotine. His “head” drops into a straw basket. “Ooh,” gasped a girl dressed in black. “Oh, isnt that marvelous?” Fourteen-year-old Mike Perlie was there too, but his parents werent. “They think hes sick, sick, sick,” Mike said. “They say to me, How can you stand that stuff?”It was late January, 1974. Inside the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New Work, Bob Dylan and The Band were tuning for a concert. Outside, in the pouring rain, fan Chris Singer was waiting to get in. “This is pilgrimage,” Chris said, “I ought to be crawling on my knees.” How do you feel about all this adulation(过分赞美，奉承) and hero worship? When Mike Jaggers fans look at him as a high priest or a god, are you with them or against them? Do you share Chris Singers almost religious reverence for Bob Dylan? Do you think he or Dylan is misguided? Do you reject Alice Cooper as sick? Or are you drawn somehow to this strange clown, perhaps because he acts out your wildest fantasies? These arent idle questions. Some sociologists say that your answers to them could explain a lot about what you are thinking and about what your society is thinking in other words, about where you and your society are. “Music expresses its times,” says sociologist Irving Horowitz. Horowitz sees the rock music arena as a sort of debating forum, a place where ideas clash and crash. He sees it as a place where America society struggles to define and redefine its feelings and beliefs. “The redefinition,” Horowitz says, “is a task uniquely performed by the young. It is they alone who combine invention and exaggeration, reason and motion, word and sound, music and politics.”Todd Rundgren, the composer and singer, agrees. “Rock music,” he says, “is really a sociological expression rather than a musical force. Even Elvis Presley wasnt really a great musical force. Its just that Elvis managed to embody the frustrated teenage spirit of the 1950s.” Of course Presley horrified adult America. Newspapers editorialized against him, and TV networks banned him. But Elvis may have proved what Horowitz and Rundgren believe. When he appeared on the Ed. Sullivan Sunday night variety show in front of millions, a kind of “debate” took place. Most of the older viewers frowned, while most of the younger viewers applauded. Between Elvis and Alice, rock critics say, a number of rock stars have helped our society define its beliefs and attitudes. Bob Dylan touched a nerve of disaffection. He spoke of civil rights, nuclear fallout, and loneliness. He spoke of change and of the bewilderment of an older generation. “Somethings happening here,” he sang. “You dont know what it is, do you, Mr. Jones?” Others entered the debate. The Beatles, Horowitz said, urged peace and piety, with humor and maybe a little help from drugs. The Rolling Stones, arrogant street-fighting men, demanded revolution. The Jefferson Airplanes “We Can Be Together” and “Volunteers (Got a Revolution)” were two further statements of radical youth. But politics wasnt the only subject debated in the hard rock of the sixties. Feelings, always a part of any musical statement, were a major subject. Janis Joplin sang of her sadness. The Beatles showed there were a range of emotions between love and hate. Then came The Band, mixing the more traditional ideas of country and western music into the more radical “city” ideas of the hard rock. This country element, Horowitz feels, helped its audience express an urge to current examples of what Horowitz is talking about is John Denver . His most notable songs “Sunshine on My Shoulders”, “Rocky Mountain High”, and “Country Road” combine the musical drive and power of folk rock, while the lyrics celebrate the simple joys of “the good old days.” The list could go on and on. Like all, artists, these rock musicians mirror feelings and beliefs that help us see and form our own. What do we give them in return? Applause and praise, of course. In one 1972 national opinion poll, more than 10 percent of the high school boys and 20 percent of the girls said their hero was a rock superstar. We also give them money. “The fastest way to become a millionaire these days,” says Forbes, a business magazine, “is to become a rocknroll star.” Todays heroes some of them, anyway tell us they enjoy their rewards. “And I laughed to myself at the men and the ladies. Who never conceived of us billion-dollar babies.” The particular “culture hero” who sings that is Alice Cooper. The big question remains: Why is he a culture hero? What does he or any other current rock success tell us about his fans? About ourselves and our society? Where it is, where it was, where its heading? 中文翻译：摇滚乐是青少年式叛逆的音乐。约翰.罗克韦尔，摇滚乐乐评人想了解一个人，就看他崇拜谁。 罗伯特.本.沃瑞，小说家 1972年六月中旬，芝加哥圆形露天剧场人山人海，热气逼人，人们群情激昂。舞台上滚石乐队的米克.贾格尔在唱着午夜漫步者。乐评人唐.赫克曼当时在那儿听到歌结束。他说：“贾格尔拿着一罐装着半加仑水的瓶子，沿着舞台前方跑，将水洒在前面几排热汗淋漓的听众身上。他们跳起来跟随他，急切地想感受到几滴如洗礼般的水滴。”1973年12月下旬，大约14000名尖叫着的粉丝蜂拥至华盛顿特区外的首都中心内舞台前。埃利斯.库伯，这位美国的恐怖歌手正在结束他的表演。他的结束动作是假装结束他的生命用断头台。他的“头”掉进了一个草篮里。一个穿着黑色衣服的女孩大叫到：“噢，这是不是很神奇？“14岁的麦克.波利也在那儿，但是他的父母不在。麦克说：“他们觉得他很恶心，恶心，恶心。他们对我说你怎么忍受得了那些东西？”1974年1月下旬，在纽约尤宁达尔的拿骚体育场，鲍勃.迪伦和传奇乐队正在音乐会上演唱。场外正下着瓢泼大雨，一名叫克里斯.森格的粉丝正在等待进场。克里斯说：“这是一场朝圣，我应该用膝盖跪着走。”你如何看待这些过分的赞美之词和英雄崇拜？当麦克.贾格尔的粉丝们把他当作高高在上的传教士或者一个神时，你同意还是不同意？你对鲍勃.迪伦是不是跟克里斯.森格一样怀着近乎宗教般的崇敬？你觉得他或者迪伦被误导了吗？你觉得埃利斯.库伯很恶心吗？或者你被这个奇怪的小丑般的人物所吸引，可能因为他表现出了你最疯狂的幻想？这些不是随随便便问题。一些社会学家认为你对这些问题的回答可以说明你是怎么想的和你所在的社会是怎么想的换种说法，你和你的社会处在一个什么样的位置。社会学家艾文.霍洛维兹说：“音乐表达了它所处时代。”霍洛维兹把摇滚乐的场地看成是一个辩论的场所，在这里各种思想激烈地碰撞。他将它看成是一个美国社会努力定义和再定义自己感受和信仰的场所。霍洛维兹说：“这种再定义是单独赋于年轻人的使命。也只有他们才结合的了创造和渲染，理智和情感，文字和声音，音乐和政治。”托德.朗德格伦，一名作曲家和歌手，赞成这种说法。他说：“摇滚乐真正是一种对社会的表达而不是一种音乐形式的力量。甚至埃尔维斯.普里斯利都不能代表一种伟大音乐力量。只是埃尔维斯成功的体现了20世纪50年代挫败的青少年一代的精神。”普里斯利的确震惊了美国的成人社会。报纸舆论反对他，电视节目封杀他。但是埃尔维斯可能证实了霍洛维兹和朗德格伦所说的。当他出现在艾德.沙利文周日晚上的综艺节目上，在数百万的观众面前时，一种“辩论”就开始了。大多数年长的观众皱着眉头，然而大多数年轻的观众拍手叫好。摇滚乐评论家认为，从埃尔维斯到埃利斯，有许许