2009年7月アーカイブ

TITLE: Debris　（デブリー）
AUTHOR: Ronnie Lane　（ロニー・レーン）
PERFORMER: The Faces　（ザ・フェイセズ）

多発性硬化症との闘病もむなしく、1997年に51歳という若さで惜しまれつつこの世を去ったロニー・レーン(Ronnie Lane)の「デブリー(Debris)」が今回の曲です。

フェイセズ(The Faces)の1971年ワーナー・ブラザーズから出た「馬の耳に念仏(A Nod Is As Good As A Wink... To A Blind Horse)」というアルバムに収録されています。

フェイセズはそのほとんどをロッド・スチュワート(Rod Stewart)がボーカルを担当しているのですが、この曲は作者のロニー・レーンがリード・ボーカルです。

いつ聴いても、いい曲だなあって思います。ところで、この詞にでてくる"you"って父親なのでしょうね。慎ましくも逞しい生活感の中に、父親への愛情。なぜか、ほっとしてしまいます。

I left you on the debris
At the Sunday morning market
You was sorting through the odds and ends
You was looking for a bargain

I heard your footsteps at the front door
And that old familiar love song
'Cause you knew you'd find me waiting there
At the top of the stairs

I went there and back
Just to see how far it was
And you, you tried to tell me
But I had to learn for myself

There's more trouble at the depot
With the general workers union
And you said they'll never change a thing
Well they won't fight and they're not working

Oh you was my hero
How you are my good friend
I've been there and back
And I know how far it is

But I left you on the debris
Now we both know you got no money
And I wonder what you would have done
Without me hanging around

TITLE: Weile Weile Waile　（ウィーリヤー・ウィーリヤー・ウォーリヤ）
AUTHOR:
PERFORMER: The Dubliners　（ザ・ダブリナーズ）

森に住んでいるおばあさんに生後三ヶ月の赤ん坊がいました。おばあさんはナイフで心臓を突き刺しました。おばあさんは捕まって絞首刑になりました。

ダブリンには川がいくつも流れているようです。その中のひとつ、ソーリヤ川のほとりでのお話です。

子供はこの歌を大人から聞いて、「ひとりで森の中に入るのはやめよう」、「川で遊ぶのはやめよう」と思ったのでしょうか。

どの国にも昔話が伝承されて、今も語り続けられていますが、この歌もそんな中のひとつだと思います。

歌っているのはザ・ダブリナーズのロニー・ドリュー(Ronnie Drew)です。なかなか渋みのある声をしています。

There was an old woman and she lived in the woods
Weile weile waile
There was an old woman and she lived in the woods
Down by the river Saile

She had a baby three months old
Weile weile waile
She had a baby three months old
Down by the river Saile

She had a pen knife long and sharp
Weile weile waile
She had a pen knife long and sharp
Down by the river Saile

She stuck the pen knife in the baby's heart
Weile weile waile
She stuck the pen knife in the baby's heart
Down by the river Saile

There were three loud knocks come a-knockin' on the door
Weile weile waile
Three loud knocks come a-knockin' on the door
Down by the river Saile

There were two policemen and a special branchman
Weile weile waile
Two policemen and a special branchman
Down by the river Saile

They took her away and put her in the jail
Weile weile waile
They took her away and put her in the jail
Down by the river Saile

They put a rope around her neck
Weile weile waile
They put a rope around her neck
Down by the river Saile

Then they pulled the rope and she got hung
Weile weile waile
They pulled the rope and she got hung
Down by the river Saile

Well, that was the end of the woman in the woods
Weile weile waile
And that was the end of the baby too
Down by the river Saile

TITLE: The Streets Of London　（ザ・ストリーツ・オブ・ロンドン）
AUTHOR: Ralph McTell　（ラルフ・マクテル）
PERFORMER: Ralph McTell　（ラルフ・マクテル）

ロンドンの街並み、といったら何をイメージするでしょうか。私はロンドンはおろか、日本から一歩も外へ出たことがないので、映画やテレビ、雑誌などでしか味わうことができません。間接的に体験できたロンドンは現代的で華やかな大都会です。

ラルフ・マクテル(Ralph McTell)が描くロンドンは、蓋をしていないロンドンです。目で旅行するよりも耳で旅行したほうが得するかも、なんて負け惜しみをほざいております。

Have you seen the old man
In the closed-down market
Kicking up the paper
With his worn out shoes
In his eyes you see no pride
And held loosely at his side
Yesterday's paper
Telling yesterday's news

So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of London
Show you something
To make you change your mind

Have you seen the old girl
Who walks the streets of London
Dirt in her hair
And her clothes in rags
She's no time for talking
She just keeps right on walking
Carrying her home
In two carrier bags

So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of London
Show you something
To make you change your mind

In the all night café
At a quarter past eleven
Same old man
Sitting there on his own
Looking at the world
Over the rim of his tea-cup
Each tea last an hour
Then he wanders home alone

So how can you tell me you're lonely
Don't say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of London
Show you something
To make you change your mind

Have you seen the old man
Outside the seaman's mission
Memory fading with
The medal ribbons that he wears
In our winter city
The rain cries a little pity
For one more forgotten hero
And a world that doesn't care

So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand and
Lead you through the streets of London
Show you something
To make you change your mind

TITLE: The Sun Is Burning　（ザ・サン・イズ・バーニング）
AUTHOR: Ian Campbell　（イアン・キャンベル）
PERFORMER: Luke Kelly　（ルーク・ケリー）

日本人として永遠に忘れてはならないことがあります。題名は「太陽が燃えている」ですが、太陽が何かを燃やしているわけではありません。

ルーク・ケリーがその声に平和の祈りをしたためつつ、厳かに歌います。生々しい描写が一層平和を希求させます。

作者イアン・キャンベル(Ian Campbell)はイアン・キャンベル・フォーク・グループ(Ian Campbell Folk Group)の中心メンバーで、UB40のロビン・キャンベル(Robin Campbell)と、脱退してしまいましたがアリ・キャンベル(Ali Campbell)はイアンの息子です。

また、日本ではおなじみのサイモンとガーファンクル(Simon And Garfunkel)もこの歌をデビューアルバムで歌っています。

The sun is burning in the sky
Strands of cloud go slowly drifting by
In the park the dreamy bees are droning
In the flowers among the trees
And the sun is in the sky

Now the sun is in the west
Little kids lay down to take their rest
And the couples in the park are holding
Hands and waiting for the dark
And the sun is in the west

Now the sun is sinking low
Children playing know it's time to go
High above a spot appears a little
Blossom blooms and then draws near
And the sun is sinking low

Now the sun has come to earth
Shrouded in a mushroom cloud of death
Death comes in a blinding flash of
Hellish heat and leaves a smear of ash
And the sun has come to earth

Now the sun has disappeared
All is darkness, anger, pain and fear
Twisted, sightless wrecks of men go
Groping on their knees and cry in pain
And the sun has disappeared

TITLE: Maids When You're Young　（メイズ・ウェン・ユァ・ヤング）
AUTHOR:
PERFORMER: The Dubliners　（ザ・ダブリナーズ）

年上の、それもかなりの、男性と結婚した女性のお話です。言い寄られて結婚したはいいものの、肝心のものが．．．

キーワードはfaloorum（ファルーラム）とding-doorum（ディン・ドゥーラム）です。調べ方が悪いのか、どんなに辞書を引いたところで出てきません。これは想像するしかありません。

女房にこんなふうに思われているのかなあ、なんて思い当たることが。いや、思いすごしです。

Because he's got no faloorum, faliddle aye oorum
He's got no faloorum, faliddle aye ay
He's got no faloorum, he's lost his ding-doorum
Maids when you're young never wed an old man

An old man came courting me, hey ding-doorum down
An old man came courting me, me being young
An old man came courting me, fain would he marry me
Maids when you're young never wed an old man

Because he's got no faloorum, faliddle aye oorum
He's got no faloorum, faliddle aye ay
He's got no faloorum, he's lost his ding-doorum
Maids when you're young never wed an old man

When we went to church, hey ding-doorum down
When we went to church, me being young
When we went to church, he left me in the lurch
Maids when you're young never wed an old man

Because he's got no faloorum, faliddle aye oorum
He's got no faloorum, faliddle aye ay
He's got no faloorum, he's lost his ding-doorum
Maids when you're young never wed an old man

When we went to bed, hey ding-doorum down
When we went to bed, me being young
When we went to bed, he lay like he was dead
Maids when you're young never wed an old man

Because he's got no faloorum, faliddle aye oorum
He's got no faloorum, faliddle aye ay
He's got no faloorum, he's lost his ding-doorum
Maids when you're young never wed an old man

So I flung me leg over him, hey ding-doorum down
I flung me leg over him, me bein' young
I flung me leg over him, damn well, near smothered him
Maids when you're young never wed an old man

Because he's got no faloorum, faliddle aye oorum
He's got no faloorum, faliddle aye ay
He's got no faloorum, he's lost his ding-doorum
Maids when you're young never wed an old man

When he went to sleep, hey ding-doorum down
When he went to sleep, me being young
When he went to sleep, out of bed I did creep
Into the arms of a handsome young man

And I found his faloorum, faliddle aye oorum
I found his faloorum, faliddle aye ay
I found his faloorum, he's got my ding-doorum
Maids when you're young never wed an old man

TITLE: The Town I Loved So Well　（ザ・タウン・アイ・ラブド・ウェル）
AUTHOR: Phil Coulter　（フィル・コールター）
PERFORMER: The Dubliners　（ザ・ダブリナーズ）

このブログのタイトルとして拝借させてもらった曲です。ザ・タウン・アイ・ラブド・ソー・ウェル、「私が愛した町」とは、作者フィル・コールターにとってのデリー(Derry)です。

そのデリーに起こった悲劇を、敬愛して止まないルーク・ケリーが心の底から魂を込めて歌い上げます。その声には、心を動かす何かがあります。

In my memory I will always see
The town that I have loved so well
Where our school played ball by the gasyard wall
And we laughed through the smoke and the smell

Going home in the rain, running up the dark lane
Past the jail and down behind the fountain
Those were happy days in so many many ways
In the town I loved so well

In the early morning the shirt factory horn
Called women from Creggan, the Moor and the Bog
While the men on the dole played a mother's role
Fed the children and then walked the dog

And when times got tough there was just about enough
And they saw it through without complaining
But deep inside was a burning pride
In the town I loved so well

There was music there in the Derry air
Like a language that we all could understand
I remember the day that I earned my first pay
When I played in a small pick-up band

There I spent my youth and to tell you the truth
I was sad to leave it all behind me
For I'd learned about life and I'd found a wife
In the town I loved so well

But when I returned how my eyes have burned
To see how a town could be brought to its knees
By the armoured cars and the bombed-out bars
And the gas that hangs on to every breeze

Now an army's installed by that old gasyard wall
And the damned barbed wire gets higher and higher
With their tanks and their guns, oh my God what have they done
To the town I loved so well

Now the music's gone but they carry on
For their spirit's been bruised, never broken
They will not forget but their hearts are set
On tomorrow and peace once again

For what's done is done and what's won is won
And what's lost is lost and gone forever
I can only pray for a bright brand-new day
In the town I loved so well

TITLE: Cat's In The Cradle　（キャッツ・イン・ザ・クレードル）
AUTHOR: Harry Chapin / Sandy Chapin　（ハリー・チェイピン／サンディー・チェイピン）
PERFORMER: Harry Chapin　（ハリー・チェイピン）

キャッツ・イン・ザ・クレードル(Cat's In The Cradle)を直訳すると、「猫はゆりかご」となるのでしょうが、これと似たような言い回しにキャッツ・クレードル(cat's cradle)、つまり「あやとり」があります。

これを歌っているのは1981年に事故で亡くなったハリー・チェイピン(Harry Chapin)で、妻のサンディー(Sandy)との共作です。見事に「父親」が描かれています。

ところで、サビの部分に　"the silver spoon"　"Little Boy Blue"　"the man in the moon"　というのが出てきます。

"the silver spoon"は「よい」家庭に生まれてきたということをいう表現で、次の"Little Boy Blue"は『マザー・グース（イギリスの伝承童謡集）』の唄にでてくる少年のことです。そして、"the man in the moon"、これはかのシェークスピアの戯曲『真夏の夜の夢』第５幕第１場にでてくる台詞の一部にあるのです。ただ、すべて念頭において書かれたのかは定かではなく、私の頭の中だけでの想像でしかありません。

門外漢なのでよく分かりませんが、マザー・グースやシェークスピアに精通した人なら、この詞をもっと楽しめるのかなあ、なんて羨ましく思ってしまいます。

My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talking 'fore I knew it and as he grew
He'd say, I'm gonna be like you, dad
You know I'm gonna be like you

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
When you coming home, dad, I don't know when
But we'll get together then
You know we'll have a good time then

My son turned ten just the other day
He said, Thanks for the ball, dad, come on let's play
Can you teach me to throw,I said, not today
I got a lot to do, he said, that's OK
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
Said, I'm gonna be like him, yeah
You know I'm gonna be like him

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
When you coming home, dad, I don't know when
But we'll get together then
You know we'll have a good time then

Well, he came from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
Son, I'm proud of you, can you sit for a while
He shook his head and he said with a smile
What I'd really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later, can I have them please

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
When you coming home, son, I don't know when
But we'll get together then, dad
You know we'll have a good time then

I've long since retired and my son's moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, I'd like to see you if you don't mind
He said, I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time
You see, my new job's a hassle and the kid's got the flu
But it's sure nice talking to you, dad
It's been sure nice talking to you

And as I hung up the phone
It occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
When you coming home, son, I don't know when
But we'll get together then, dad
We're gonna have a good time then

TITLE: Dirty Old Town　（ダーティー・オールド・タウン）
AUTHOR: Ewan MacColl　（イワン・マッコール）
PERFORMER: Ewan MacColl　（イワン・マッコール）

今回の歌はイワン・マッコール(Ewan MacColl)の作品「ダーティー・オールド・タウン(Dirty Old Town)」です。

この曲は作者イワン・マッコールが生まれたマンチェスター地方のサルフォード(Salford)という町が舞台になっています。サルフォードは産業革命で非常に栄えた町だったのですが、その後廃れてこの曲に描かれている通りのダーティー（汚い）、オールド（古い）タウン（町）になってしまったのでしょうか。

I found my love by the gasworks croft
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
Kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town, dirty old town

Heard a siren from the dock
Saw a train set the night on fire
Smelled the spring on the smoky wind
Dirty old town, dirty old town

Clouds a-drifting across the moon
Cats a-prowling on the beat
Springs a girl in the street at night
Dirty old town, dirty old town

I'm goin' to make a good sharp axe
Shining steel tempered in a fire
Will chop you down like an old dead tree
Dirty old town, dirty old town

TITLE: The Wild Rover　（ザ・ワイルド・ローバー）
AUTHOR:
PERFORMER: The Dubliners　（ザ・ダブリナーズ）

アイルランドといえば、やはり「酒」でしょうか。今回のThe Wild Rover（ザ・ワイルド・ローバー）も酒がテーマです。飲んだくれの息子が久しぶりに地元に帰り改心しようと心に決めるが．．．、さて。

酒のひとつ、ウイスキーも語源を辿るとゲール語（アイルランド語）のuisge beatha（イシカ・バー＝"water of life"）に辿りつきます。ちなみにフランス語でも「命の水」という飲み物があります。L'eau de vie（ロ・ド・ヴィ）、これはブランデーのことです。因みにブランデー(brandy)は"brandywine"の短くなった形らしく、燃やしたワイン、つまり、蒸留したワインということなのでしょう。ワインを鍋にかけ、ふたをして、火をつけてしばらくすればふたに滴がつきます。これがブランデーの元なのです、か？

最後に因みに私はほぼ飲めません。唯一おいしく飲めるギネスも一杯が限度で、酒飲みを羨ましく思ってしまいます。

I've been a wild rover for many's the year
I've spent all me money on whiskey and beer
But now I'm returning with gold in great store
And I never will play the wild rover no more

And it's no, nay, never
No, nay, never, no more
Will I play the wild rover
No, never, no more

I went in to an alehouse I used to frequent
And I told the landlady me money was spent
I asked her for credit, she answered me nay
Such a customer as you I can have any day

And it's no, nay, never
No, nay, never, no more
Will I play the wild rover
No, never, no more

I took up from my pocket, ten sovereigns bright
And the landlady's eyes opened wide with delight
She says, I have whiskeys and wines of the best
And the words that you told me were only in jest

And it's no, nay, never
No, nay, never, no more
Will I play the wild rover
No, never, no more

I'll go home to my parents, confess what I've done
And I'll ask them to pardon their prodigal son
And when they've caressed me as oft times before
I never will play the wild rover no more

And it's no, nay, never
No, nay, never, no more
Will I play the wild rover
No, never, no more