Strawberry Fields Forever

想說即使三言兩語也要把這場表演紀錄下來。即使這已經去夏威夷之前的事了, 這真的是我人生中很值得紀念的一場表演。去夏威夷的每一天我幾乎都穿著看完演唱會後買的 T-Shirt。在 Maui 島一間賣衣服的小店, 店員開心的跟我說他認得 T-Shirt 後面的那幾行字:

"People used to make records, as in a record of an event ... now everything is cross marketing, it's about sunglasses and shoes."

她也是 Ani 的 fan。

開始聽 Ani ＤiFranco 是五年前在德州。聽的第一張專集是 Revelling / Reckoning, 之後最常聽的也是這張專集。黃色和灰色的雙CD。我特別喜歡灰色的那張, 重複聽了好幾次, 現在即使身在紐約, 音樂出來整個房間就充滿德州的味道, 好像又回到了漫無邊際的學生生活。

說來有趣, Ani DiFranco 其實出生於紐約水牛市。9歲的時候就開始學吉他, 20歲的時候到紐約的 New School 學習作詩技巧, 24 歲的時候就成立了自己的唱片公司 Righteous Baby。公司的名字和她的人一樣, 有種狂放感。34 歲時專輯 Educated Guess 獲 Grammy Award Best Recording Package。現在的 Ani 為兩個孩子的媽, 唱片和巡迴演出不斷。

一開始是為優美的旋律陶醉, 後來則為歌詞中的批判和理想而吸引。清脆優雅的吉他聲, 配合喃喃自語的歌聲, 深撫人心。

閱讀 (因為她唱太快常常聽不懂) Ani 的歌詞很有意思, 落落長二三十行, 像講故事。怪不得台下的歌迷這麼熱情, 因為聽了她這麼多的想法, 會覺得和她好像再熟悉不過的老朋友。像她的政治立場, 她對同性戀愛情的看法, 她寫給她老公和小孩的歌, 或是她對生活上面的疑惑和領悟, 全都在歌詞裡。我很喜歡聽她的演唱, 喜歡她的想法, 透過她自己的聲音, 傳到我的耳朵裡。那種很直接又很深刻的感覺。

這是我最喜歡的一首歌之一 Imagine That

Imagine that I'm on stage under a watchtower of punishing light.
And in the haze is your face bathed in shadow and what's beyond you is hidden from sight.
And somebody right now is yawning and watching me like a TV
And I've been frantically piling up sandbags against the flood waters of fatigue and insecurity.
And that's when I hear my guitar singing and so I just start singing along. 
And somewhere in my chest all the noise just gets crushed by the song. 
Imagine that I'm at your mercy, imagine that you are at mine. 
Just pretend that I've been standing here, watching you watching me all of this time.
Imagine that you are the weather in the tiny snow globe of this song.
And I am a statue of liberty one inch long. 
So here I am at my most hungry, and here I am at my most full. 
And here I am waving a red cape, locking eyes with a bull. 
Imagine that I'm on stage under a watchtower of punishing light.
And in the haze is your face bathed in shadow and what's beyond you is hidden from sight.