【逆耳】善良的故事我都已说尽——Nick Cave 纵横40年

综合了几个重要网站的评价，Nick Cave荣登当代最好的歌作者，歌迷遍布全世界——我也是最近才知道的。说Nick Cave是当代最好的歌作者，我当然没有异议，因为其他的歌作者要嘛已经去世（如Leonard Cohen和Lou Reed），更多的已经是退休或半退休了（如Joni Mitchell、Bob Dylan、Tom Waits、Paul Simon等等），而Nick Cave依然活跃。

Nick Cave首先以The Boys Next Door在澳洲墨尔本出版专辑，后组The Birthday Party，以暴力与煽动的表演受到欧美地下音乐圈瞩目。这几个乐团，都像是The Velvet Underground再生，Nick Cave的歌词火爆穿墙，音乐尖锐汹涌。解散当时他定居德国柏林，从最后一代的The Birthday Party团员里边他凑成Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds，出版《From Here To Eternity》（1983），原意是要单飞，或之后封麦专注于写作。

结果Nick Cave还是继续摇滚，接下来几张专辑可见乐团成员更替，摇摇欲坠，基本上就是靠同学好友懂得玩多样乐器的Mick Harvey支撑才得以继续。直到第五张专辑《Tender Prey》（1988）总算趋向稳定，更重要的是凭主打歌<The Mercy Seat>（电椅），确立了哥特摇滚的经典地位。<The Mercy Seat>长达七分多钟，其中五分钟是反复，犹如撬开地狱大门的行军节奏。歌词结合了英国表现主义画家Francis Bacon的作品的意象，以及日本导演黑泽明的作品《罗生门》真假是非难辨的情节，成了Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds哥特时期最高调的总结。

<The Mercy Seat> 歌词

And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I’m yearning
To be done with all this measuring of truth.
And an eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I’m not afraid to die.

And the mercy seat is burning
And I think my head is glowing
And in a way I’m hoping
To be done with all this weighing up of truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And I’ve got nothing left to lose
And I’m not afraid to die.

And the mercy seat is glowing
And I think my head is smoking
And in a way I’m hoping
To be done with all these looks of disbelief.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway there was no proof
Nor a motive why.

And the mercy seat is smoking
And I think my head is melting
And in a way I’m helping
To be done with all this twisting of the truth.
A lie for a lie
And a truth for a truth
And I’ve got nothing left to lose
And I’m not afraid to die.

And the mercy seat is melting
And I think my blood is boiling
And in a way I’m spoiling
All the fun with all this truth and consequence.
An eye for an eye
An a truth for a truth
And anyway I told the truth
And I’m not afraid to die.

And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I’m yearning
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
A life for a life
And a truth for a truth
And anyway there was no proof
But I’m not afraid to tell a lie.

And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I’m yearning
To be done with all this measuring of truth.
An eye for an eye
And a truth for a truth
And anyway I told the truth
But I’m afraid I told a lie.

介绍Nick Cave，介绍他的歌词是必须的，四十年来他都是一手包办所有的歌词。

《Tender Prey》出版之后，Nick Cave移居南美洲巴西里约热内卢，接下来的专辑《The Good Son》（1990）连带风格也跟着转向拉丁，叫人措手不及。《The Good Son》叫人认识了Nick Cave创作旋律的功力，其中<The Ship Song>与<The Weeping Song>成了心碎名曲，其中<The Weeping Song>也带出了来自德国柏林的吉他手Blixa Bargeld——也是重工业乐团Einstürzende Neubauten的首脑，这个不得不提——升格乐团第二主唱，接下来十年在专辑与现场表演献声合唱。

点燃全世界的专辑是《Henry’s Dream》（1992），这时期The Bad Seeds 已经是扎实的六人帮，Nick Cave的歌词结合传统格律诗、童话以及梦魇，叙事与意象达到了炉火纯青的程度。看看这首<Papa Won’t Leave You Henry>的第一段：

I went out walking the other day
The heat hung wet around my neck
My head it rung with screams and groans
From the night I spent amongst her bones
And I passed beside the mission house
Where that mad old buzzard, the reverend
Shrieked and flapped about life after your dead
Well, I thought about my friend, Michel
How they rolled him in linoleum
And shot him in the neck
A bloody halo, like a think-bubble
Circling his head
And I bellowed at the firmament
Looks like the rains are here to stay
And the rain pissed down upon me
And washed me all away

Saying:

Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, Boy
Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, Boy
Well, the road is long
And the road is hard
And a many fall by the side
But Papa won't leave you, Henry
So there ain't no need to cry

《Henry’s Dream》累积了足够的人气，让Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds可以在澳洲、日本、欧洲、美国展开乐团成立10周年巡演，Nick Cave升格成为地下音乐的神/魔头。

世界巡演之后Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds再踏入录音室的作品，又是另一个转变。《Let Love It》（1994）从庞克、蓝调、哥特、拉丁走出来，一个时髦当代的Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds诞生了！就像插电的Miles Davis乐团一样，新版的Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds叫人精神大振，直接就不想再坐着听他们的歌了。新版同时踏上了另类音乐的列车，专辑里边几乎一半的歌曲都被选来电视剧和电影当背景音乐，如<Thirsty Dog>、<Loverman>、<Red Right Hand>等，大大提高了他们的知名度。

《Murder Ballads》（1996）终于把他们带到一线主流——我不知道他们当时比较红，还是近年比较红——《谋杀组曲》踩着审查尺度的底线，来一场轰轰烈烈的派对。《Murder Ballads》的成功反映了一个叛逆时代的顶峰，就如六十年代的嬉皮士一样，另类的一代把打破陈腐规章的另类音乐推上一直以来邪淫又道貌岸然的畅销排行榜。

成功并没有冲昏Nick Cave的脑袋，《The Boatman’s Call》（1997）就象是听从了远方的召唤，完完全全回归歌作者的根本，整个专辑以钢琴为主轴，The Bad Seeds的贡献被降至最低。歌词方面，Nick Cave也转向更内省的写作，一直延续至今。其中<Lime Tree Arbour>更是少见的温情。

<Lime Tree Arbour> 歌词

The boatman calls from the lake
A lone loon dives upon the water
I put my hand over hers
Down in the lime tree arbour

The wind in the trees is whispering
Whispering low that I love her
She puts her hand over mine
Down in the lime tree arbour

Through every breath that I breathe
And every place I go
There is a hand that protects me
And I do love her so

There will always be suffering
It flows through life like water
I put my hand over hers
Down in the lime tree arbour

The boatman he has gone
And the loons have flown for cover
She puts her hand over mine
Down in the lime tree arbour

Through every word that I speak
And every thing I know
There is a hand that protects me
And I do love her so

就在很多人都以为Nick Cave就此给三十年横冲直撞、颠覆、反基督、愤怒、火爆的划下句点，从此过着幸福快乐的日子……

四年没有发新专辑，Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds却在跨过千禧年后带来了犹如世界末日的哀嚎的《No More Shall We Part》（2001），就象是全世界都在欢呼欢庆人类进入千禧年，Nick Cave却高声告诉大家，噩梦并没有结束。《No More Shall We Part》是一个新的起点，就像千斤坠一样把听众带到阴郁的深渊，从此留在那里。<As I Sat Sadly By Her Side>的歌词应该是Nick Cave创作的巅峰。这是其中一段（注意！有猫！）：

As I sat sadly by her side
The kitten she did gently pass
Over to me and again we pressed
Our different faces to the glass
“That may be very well”, I said
“But watch the one falling in the street
See him gesture to his neighbors
See him trampled beneath their feet
All outward motion connects to nothing
For each is concerned with their immediate need
Witness the man reaching up from the gutter
See the other one stumbling on who can not see”

《No More Shall We Part》就像Nick Cave与世界和解的谈判告吹，Nick Cave不会粉刷太平，就如下一张专辑《Nocturama》（2003）的主打歌<Wonderful Life>唱的一样：

It’s a wonderful life…… If you can find it

找不到的就没有你的份，就这么简单。

接下来二十年Nick Cave一直持续发表作品，一般来说维持水平，不过没有突破，没有一张是可以不听，也没有几首歌特别推荐，就任你们给其所需吧。

这里来个插播，制作《Push The Sky Away》（2013）专辑的同时，Nick Cave也接受了纪录片采访，以《20,000 Days on Earth》（2014）推出，虽然主干是讲述Nick Cave的一天，实则阵容鼎盛，有在《Murder Ballads》献声的Kylie Minogue，有因为《The Boatman’s Call》意见相左的老搭档Blixa Bargeld在后来离团，也亮相和解（感动到哭）——其中Nick Cave告诉Blixa Bargeld他的歌词越写越短了。

最新专辑《Ghosteen》（2019）被视为是《Push the Sky Away》与《Skeleton Tree》（2016）三部曲，其中最大的特色就是歌词便短了，有时候寥寥几句，反反复复，却冷冻深入骨髓。

<Girl in Amber>

Some go on, some stay behind, some never move at all
Girl in amber, trapped forever, spinning down the hall
Let no part of her go unremembered, clothes across the floor
Girl in amber, long does slumber, shuts the bathroom door
The phone, the phone, the phone, it rings, it rings, it rings no more
The song, the song, the song, it spins since 1984
The phone, the phone, the phone, it rings, the phone it rings no more
The song, the song, its been spinning now since 1984

If you want to bleed, just bleed
If you want to bleed, just bleed
If you want to bleed, don’t breathe
A word, just step away
And let the world spinning now

You turn, you turn, you kneel lace up his shoes your little blue-eyed boy
Take him by his hand, go moving spinning down the hall
I get lucky I get lucky cause I tried again
I knew the world it would stop spinning now since you’ve been gone
I used to think that when you died you kind of wandered the world
In a slumber until you crumbled, were absorbed into the earth
Well I don’t think that anymore, the phone it rings no more
The song the song it spins it spins now since 1984
The song the song the song it spins its been spinning now
And if you hold me I will tell you that you know that

If you want to leave, don’t breathe
If you want to leave, don’t breathe
If you want to leave, don’t breathe
A word, and let the world turn

The song the song it spins the song it spins it spins no more
The phone it rings it rings and you won’t stay

Don’t touch me
Don’t touch me
Don’t touch me
Don’t touch me

<Waiting For You>

All through the night we drove
And the wind caught her hair
And we parked on the beach
In the cool evening air
Well, sometimes it’s better not to say anything at all

Your body is an anchor
Never asked to be free
Just want to stay in the business
Of making you happy
Well, I’m just waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you

A priest runs through the chapel
All the calendars are turning
A Jesus freak on the street
Says He is returning
Well, sometimes a little bit of faith
Can go a long, long way

Your soul is my anchor
I never asked to be freed
Well, sleep now, sleep now
Take as long as you need
Cause I’m just waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you

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