埃萊娜·舒馬赫　李蘋/譯

Ralph McTell calls Streets of London the “blip in his graph”. Its by far his most successful， best-known and loved song， one that has inspired hundreds of cover versions around the world.

拉爾夫·麥可泰爾稱《倫敦街道》是他人生“曲線圖上的轉折點”。這是他最成功、最著名、最受人喜愛的歌曲，世界各地有數百個翻唱版本。

More than half a century on， the song still feels as relevant today as when it was first written. Why does it have such long-lasting appeal？

半個多世紀過去了，這首歌在今天仍和最初問世時一樣有現實意義。為什么它有如此持久的吸引力呢？

Streets of London could just have easily been called “Streets of Paris”. It was in part inspired by the clochards1 （homeless） who lay on the hot air grates of the French capitals metro to keep warm， placing their boots under their head so they wouldnt be stolen as they slept. The tune came first to McTell， and then the subject matter. “I tried to fit the people Id seen on the Paris streets to this tune，” he recalls. Once the song developed， McTell drew on his own experiences growing up in England and changed the location of the title.

《倫敦街道》本來可能被命名為“巴黎街道”。這首歌的部分靈感來源于法國首都的流浪漢，他們躺在地鐵出熱風的格柵上取暖，把靴子枕在頭下以免睡覺時被偷走。麥可泰爾首先想到的是曲調，而后才是主題。他回憶道：“我努力把我在巴黎街頭看到的那些人融入這首歌的曲調?！备枨尚魏?，麥可泰爾根據自己在英國長大的經歷，改變了歌名中的地點。

But this isnt an ode to Englands capital city. The “closed down market” where the old man is nonchalantly “kicking up the papers / with his worn-out shoes” to find leftover fruit from packed away stalls was actually a market in Croydon， London， near where McTell grew up.

但這不是英國首都倫敦的一曲頌歌。歌詞寫到，有位老人在“打烊后的市場”漫不經心地“用穿著破鞋的腳踢起報紙”，以便從已經收起的攤位上找殘留的水果吃，這個市場其實位于倫敦的克羅伊登區(qū)，離麥可泰爾長大的地方不遠。

The reason the song has such wide appeal is that it reflects some fundamental human truths. Namely， the fear of ending up alone， like the heartbreaking tale of the old man in the all-night café， sipping tea slowly and then wandering home alone. McTell believes that “everyone， deep down， is scared of that emptiness and loneliness and that alienation... by singing the chorus， it makes it all go away.”

這首歌之所以有如此廣泛的吸引力，是因為它反映了人類的一些基本真相——害怕孤獨終老，就像在那個令人心碎的故事里，老人在通宵營業(yè)的咖啡館里慢慢地喝茶，然后獨自漫步回家。麥可泰爾相信“每個人內心深處都害怕那種空虛、孤獨和疏離的感覺……唱起副歌部分，那些感覺就都消失了?！?/p>

The song is undoubtedly heart-stirring and resonates with people in a number of ways， from the parents who hear it for the first time when their children sing it in choir to the German schoolchildren who study its lyrics as poetry to learn about those less fortunate than themselves. It provokes strong emotion. For me personally， it conjures up2 fond childhood memories of my dad playing it on the guitar. Others have more poignant and visceral associ-ations.

這首歌無疑是打動人心的，以多種方式引起人們的共鳴，無論是聽孩子在合唱團演唱從而首次聽到這首歌的父母，還是把歌詞當作詩歌來學習的德國學生——學生們以此了解那些比自己不幸的人。這首歌能激起強烈的情感。于我個人而言，它讓我想起我兒時父親用吉他彈奏這首歌的美好記憶。其他人則有更感傷、更發(fā)自肺腑的聯想。

One person for whom the song is memorable is Jerry Playle， a music producer. He told BBC Radio 4s Soul Music that as a young guitarist it was “irresistible”， and posed an enticing challenge with its chords， harmonies and words. He recalls a nerve-wracking audition for a folk club when he performed Streets of London. He had spent hours practising the guitar playing， but only realised when he opened his mouth to sing that he was far from word perfect. He thought he would have to make his apologies and slope off stage. But his audience， sensing he was floundering， joined in one by one， until everyone was singing along. He remembers feeling “utterly lifted by it. They rescued me.”

對有個人來說這首歌難以忘懷，這個人就是音樂制作人杰里·普萊爾。他在英國廣播公司第四電臺的《靈魂音樂》欄目中說到，這首歌讓當時身為年輕吉他手的他“無法抗拒”，和弦、和聲和歌詞都是誘人的挑戰(zhàn)。他想起有次去一家民謠俱樂部試演，他高度緊張，當時表演的正是《倫敦街道》。他之前花了數小時練習吉他演奏，結果開口唱歌時才意識到歌詞記得遠遠不夠熟練。他以為自己只能道完歉，溜下舞臺。但聽眾感受到了他正不知所措，一個又一個地加入演唱，直到所有人都唱了起來。他記得自己感覺“整個人受到了鼓舞。他們解救了我”。

For Playle， there is a connection between the “encouragement and the kindness of strangers” in the audience saving his audition， and the words of the song itself. He says， “It could have been any song， but it was that song and thats a very profound experience.”

對普萊爾來說，挽救了他試演的觀眾給予了他“來自陌生人的鼓勵和善意”，這與歌曲本身的歌詞之間存在聯系。他說：“本來有可能是任何一首歌，但當時就是那首歌，那是一次非常深刻的經歷?！?/p>

The association with the song has come full circle as he has since met McTell and become a trustee for the Streets of London charity， which supports people who are homeless in London.

自那時起，他結識了麥可泰爾并成為慈善機構“倫敦街道”的受托人，他與這首歌的聯系也兜兜轉轉回到原點?！皞惗亟值馈睅椭恼窃趥惗責o家可歸的人。

Gwen Ever， a DJ who became homeless in the 1980s， is reminded of that era when he listens to a powerful punk version of Streets of London by the Anti-Nowhere League. The song had an anger that chimed with the time： activism had taken off and homelessness was an issue people were incensed about. But， says Ever： “I had no idea that before the decade would have ended， that I would be one of those people in the song.”

格溫·埃弗是一名打碟師，曾在20世紀80年代變得無家可歸。當聽到“反無處聯盟”樂隊演唱的勁爆朋克版《倫敦街道》，他想起了自己的流浪歲月。這首歌有一種契合那個年代的憤怒：當時激進主義已經興起，無家可歸是一個讓人們憤怒的問題。但埃弗說：“我未曾想過在那十年結束之前，我竟會成為歌中人的一員。”

His personal world came crashing down following a split with his pregnant girlfriend and losing loved ones in the Zeebrugge ferry disaster3. When he ended up sleeping in doorways， he developed mental health issues， deciding： “I wasnt going to carry on; Id had enough.” But after surviving an overdose he turned his life around—he says： “It sounds cliché， but Ive got my spirit back.”

與懷孕的女朋友分手，又在澤布呂赫渡輪災難中失去至親，埃弗的個人世界崩塌了。當最終淪落到睡在門廊，他出現了心理問題，下定決心結束自己的生命：“我不要繼續(xù)下去了，我受夠了。”但從一次過量服藥中幸存下來后，他扭轉了人生。他說：“雖然聽起來老套，但我的精氣神回來了?！?/p>

But hes still angry about the problem of homelessness. “Streets of London should be a marker of a time thats gone past，” he says， “but its not.” Today there are more people living on the streets—including children—than when he was.

但他仍對無家可歸的問題感到憤怒?！啊秱惗亟值馈窇撌且粋€逝去時代的標志，”他說道，“但事實并非如此。”與他那時相比，如今有更多的人流落街頭，其中還有孩子。

The song also resonates with Maria Bentley-Dingwall， the niece of Derek Bentley， who was convicted of murder and hanged in 1953. Dereks sister Iris Bentley， Marias mother， had promised she would always fight to clear his name.

這首歌還引起了德里克·本特利的外甥女瑪麗亞·本特利-丁沃爾的共鳴。德里克在1953年被判謀殺罪并被處以絞刑。德里克的姐姐艾里斯·本特利，即瑪麗亞的媽媽，曾承諾會一直努力還德里克清白。

McTell became involved in Iriss campaign and wrote a song called the Ballad of Bentley and Craig， because he felt deeply about the injustice of Dereks execution. When Iris died in 1997， Maria promised to carry on her campaign， and McTell himself sang Streets of London at Iriss funeral. “It reminded me of her; mum was a Londoner， born and bred，” Bentley-Dingwall says. She recalls： “When Ralph started playing， my spine just went completely tingly. He was taking me on my walk with my mum; our last walk， together.” In 1998 Dereks sentence was finally quashed—a year after Iriss death.

麥克泰爾參與了艾里斯的申訴運動，并寫了一首《本特利和克雷格之歌》，因為他深感處決德里克的不公。1997年艾里斯離世，瑪麗亞承諾會繼續(xù)申訴，而麥克泰爾本人則在艾里斯的葬禮上唱了《倫敦街道》?！斑@首歌讓我想起了媽媽，她是土生土長的倫敦人?！北咎乩?丁沃爾說道。她還回憶說：“拉爾夫一開始演奏，我的整根脊梁感到刺痛。他的歌聲帶著我和媽媽一起散步，這是我們最后一次一起散步?！?998年，德里克的判決終于被撤銷了，而艾里斯已離世一年。

For McTell， the song is about alienation. It was specifically directed at a friend who had cut himself off by using heroin. But more broadly its about the characters he describes as “within our society and yet outside it”. That it has such an important theme at its core may be the fundamental reason that people from around the world connect with the song in their own individual and personal ways.

對麥克泰爾來說，這首歌關乎疏離，當初是專門寫給一位因吸食海洛因而離世的朋友的。但推而廣之，這首歌關乎那些如他所說“在我們的社會之內，但又游離其外”的人。這首歌擁有如此重要的核心主題，這可能是世界各地的人能以自己獨特的方式與這首歌產生共鳴的根本原因。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）