Are You Lonesome Tonight? || William’s Blog

Are You Lonesome Tonight?

2005 年十月 22 日 (星期六) 5:57 pm
分類：文學

穿插一兩段口白，是讓歌曲更趨感性的技法。只不過口白通常只是陪襯、點綴、變化的角色，時間和字數都不會喧賓奪主（除非是像 RAP 這種流派）。

剛剛重聽一遍貓王 (Elvis Presley) 的精選輯 CD，驚訝地發現，旋律及唱腔原本就已經夠迷人的 Are You Lonesome Tonight 這首歌，中間居然是一大段時間和字數都佔了絕大部份的口白（我以前怎麼都沒有注意到這一點？）。豎起耳朵聽，這口白可不僅是聊作點綴的配角；修辭譬喻之精，吞吐轉折之美，在貓王的誦讀聲中，句句敲進心坎，很值得細細品味。

真不愧是貓王！

整首歌充滿隱性的角色互換，表面上說對方，骨子裡卻是自況。像第一段歌詞中，主角問對方：

Do the chairs in your parlor seem empty and bare?
Do you gaze at your doorstep and picture me there?

其實這也正是主角本身的寫照，既問對方，也說自己。所以後來第 2 分 22 秒的口白末段，才會如此呼應：

Now the stage is bare,
And I’m standing there
With emptiness all around.

因此，就整體結構而論，主角先以 parlor 和 doorstep 等空間設局，巧妙地引出「人生即舞台」之喻後，接著便順勢帶出他的口白：

You know someone said that
The world’s a stage
And each must play a part.

此乃引用莎士比亞的「全世界是一座舞台」名句：

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
…

As You Like It, Act 2, scene 7, 139–143.

接下來則繼續以 Act One（第一幕）、Act Two（第二幕）的比喻字眼回顧兩人的過往。劇已落幕，舞台已空，徒留唏噓！

經過如此分析，再反覆重聽這首歌，除了因醉人的旋律、唱腔、和聲所感動之外，內心更被深一層的意境觸動。

全曲歌詞如下：

Are You Lonesome Tonight?
Singer: Elvis Presley
Music: Lou Handman
Lyrics: Roy Turk

Are you lonesome tonight?
Do you miss me tonight?
Are you sorry we drifted apart?
Does your memory stray to a brighter summer day
When I kissed you and called you sweetheart?
Do the chairs in your parlor seem empty and bare?
Do you gaze at your doorstep and picture me there?

Is your heart filled with pain?
Shall I come back again?
Tell me dear,
Are you lonesome tonight?

[Spoken]
I wonder if you’re lonesome tonight

You know someone said that
The world’s a stage
And each must play a part.
Fate had me playing in love with you as my sweet heart.

Act One was when we met.
I loved you at first glance.
You read your line so cleverly and never missed a cue

Then came Act Two.
You seemed to change, you acted strange,
And why I’ve never known.

Honey, you lied when you said you loved me
And I had no cause to doubt you.
But I’d rather go on hearing your lies
Than go on living without you.

Now the stage is bare,
And I’m standing there
With emptiness all around.
And if you won’t come back to me,
Then they can bring the curtain down.

Is your heart filled with pain?
Shall I come back again?
Tell me dear,
Are you lonesome tonight?

◤您也可以閱讀以下文章：

著作授權方式：Creative Commons 條款。

追蹤留言回應：以 RSS 2.0 方式。
文章永久網址：
» http://william.cswiz.org/blog/archives/2005-10-22/lonesome/
引用通告 (trackback)：
» http://william.cswiz.org/blog/archives/2005-10-22/lonesome/trackback/

本站歡迎您以合乎創用CC 的方式，將文章選錄至網路書籤或社群網站，也別忘了將您寶貴的意見（尤其是延伸的評論、補充、彙整、反駁等）留言在本站。謝謝！