在各种音乐节看惯了穿着各式紧身裤的时髦摇滚青年,突然看到一个金属迷,穿一条合身的迷彩裤,那种感觉并不唐突,反而会让不禁暗笑,“嚯,好酷。”物质时代降低了人的思考速度,“快”几乎是做所有事情的前提。领导给你安排任务,他一定问你,明天能做出来么?你也只能支支吾吾的半推半就。年纪越大,就越容易反感时代,比如鲍勃·迪伦就说,“我再也写不出60年代的歌曲了,时代让我无所适从。”
几乎所有的东西都可以复制和购买的时候,阅历成了一个人最大的财富,被人艳羡。Tom Waits,一个用豆沙嗓唱歌的61岁老男人,每一张唱片都充满故事,像是一颗从快节奏的时代跳出的灵魂。
老头的声音从来都听起来不怎么顺耳,即使在这张被所有媒体追捧的唱片里,它依然我行我素,但是神奇的是,这个声音居然陪伴很多人走过了他们的中年。Tom Waits和鲍勃·迪伦一样成为了上个世纪的经典,并依然在延续。在Bob Dylan的北京演唱会上,身边的女同行突然对我说,唱得真好。我回她,“如果给你们单独生活的机会,你一定会爱上他。”这句话同样适用于Tom Waits。从没注意过,Tom Waits和滚石乐队的关系如此密切,不仅专辑的第一首歌《Chicago》的吉他出自滚石的吉他手Keith Richards, 在另一首歌曲《Satisfied》里,Tom Waits甚至直接唱到“贾格(滚石乐队主唱)和理查德斯(滚石乐队吉他手)会为我挠痒的”,可见彼此颇为默契;而《Satisfied》也更像是对滚石乐队著名单曲《I Can't Be Satisfied》的回应。同名单曲《Bad As Me》听起来异常疯癫,像是猫王时代的摇摆乐,Tom Waits的自嘲方式和口吻特别推而广之,他把自己比作一个老旧的黄麻袋,一辆草丛里的啤酒汽车,虽然用语低俗,但情绪激昂,完全不像一个破落的酒鬼,而是一个可以洞穿世故人情的牧师,“我对此已经很满足。”如此简单的一句话,没有经历过一些岁月的人怎会有资本说出?老头和Bob Dylan一样,都是反战主义者,《Hell Broke Luce》就是一段他从别人身上看到的前线回忆,在歌曲里他甚至加入了机关枪扫射时的声音采样。另外,给红辣椒迷们提个醒,这首歌的贝斯是由红辣椒的贝司手Flea演奏的。面对Tom Waits的邀约,几乎没有人会拒绝,这将是他们这辈子非常值得炫耀并且充满回忆的经历。
听Tom Waits,不可以用旋律去衡量好听与否。比如《Get Lost》。这张专辑里最摇滚的歌曲莫过于它了,几乎涵盖了根源摇滚乐的一切,老头用一种近乎抽搐的方式讲述他和女朋友失恋的故事,当Tom Waits用反常的方式唱着“Love me tender”的时候,你就发现他就是个老顽童。
再过一个月,就将是2012,这个世界会怎样呢?网络上无数的人都希望扮演一个预言家的角色,描述他们的末日。生死有命,富贵在天,何足担忧。不知道这张专辑之后,Tom Waits在何时才能又给我交出一张布满阅历的唱片。就算是末日,Tom Waits也给我们送出了2012的新年祝福《New Year's Eve》。合上唱片,对这个酷老头说一句感谢,以此作结。 (文:朱尔摩斯)
Throughout his career, Tom Waits has created milestone albums that serve both to refine the music that has come before, and to signal a new phase in his career: Rain Dogs and Mule Variations are both counted by fans as among these pivotal works. Now comes Bad As Me, his first studio album of all new music in seven years, which finds Tom Waits in possibly the finest voice of his career and at the height of his songwriting powers, working with a veteran team of gifted musicians and longtime co-writer/producer Kathleen Brennan. From the opening horn-fueled chug of “Chicago,” to the closing barroom chorale of “New Year’s Eve,” Bad As Me displays the full career range of Waits’ songwriting, from beautiful ballads like “Last Leaf,” to the avant cinematic soundscape of “Hell Broke Luce,” a battlefront dispatch. On tracks like “Talking at the Same Time,” Waits shows off a supple falsetto, while on blues burners like “Raised Right Men” and the gospel tinged “Satisfied” he spits, stutters and howls. Like a good boxer, these songs are lean and mean, with strong hooks and tight running times. And there is a pervasive sense of players delighting in each other’s musical company that brings a feeling of loose joy even to the album’s saddest songs. Bad As Me is a Tom Waits album for the ages.