我被六十年代的歌曲<Tammy>打动了，Tammy是个女孩的名字，如果真有这个姑娘，现在该是个满头银发的奶奶了。奇怪，身边几乎没有人拿这个取名，也许它的是某个时代的特征，就好像我们的美珍，丽娟，根宝或者家明一样吧！

回想一下，有许多以人名为曲名的歌，都是那么好听。今天突发奇想来盘点一下。

<Tammy>

<Tammy>有着什么样的背景？那么深情款款，那么悲伤缠绵，我想象它应该是词作者的一段经历，或者一个古老的传说？然而网上的资料并不多，这首歌的背景其实并不如歌词那么诗情画意。

Tammy，是一个在1957年倒1967年之间的一个系列电影的女主公的名字，据描述这个Tammy姑娘就是个傻白甜的村姑，三部电影的情节包括了追寻浪漫爱情，陷入热恋，沐浴爱河，然后经历受伤这些很多电影都有的桥段，以及向上帝祈祷，向祖母倾诉，从祖父那里汲取智慧—这就是大众的智慧？虽然Tammy没受过什么高等教育，但她有着朴素的思想和民间的智慧，因而也得到了普罗大众的归宿—每个结果都是happy ending。

这种电影，不该是欢快的歌曲做背景吗？比如<over the rainbow>,或者<que sarasara>，都是迷茫的姑娘最终找到了人生答案？而歌曲<Tammy>始终是在等待，期盼和迷茫。

对于歌曲背景的查找让我的期望值打了折扣，但回到这首歌本身，仍令我迷恋不已，歌词的美，从一开始的cottonwoods whispering，就唤醒了我的村姑情怀，然后是猫头鹰hootie hootie的叫声，哇，月光下的乡村爱情故事！想着心上人就在身边，听到她的梵婀玲一般的嗓音，想着躺在他的臂弯，Wish Iknew if he knew what I'm dreaming of，听上去像绕口令，其实这种感觉人人都曾经历过。

I hear the cottonwoods whisperin' above

Tammy,Tammy, Tammy's in love

The oldhootie owl hootie-hoo's to the dove

Tammy,Tammy, Tammy's in love

Does mylover feel what I feel when he comes near?

My heartbeats so joyfully

You'dthink that he could hear

Wish Iknew if he knew what I'm dreaming of

Tammy,Tammy, Tammy's in love

Whippoorwill,whippoorwill, you and I know

Tammy,Tammy can't let him go

Thebreeze from the bayou keeps murmuring low

Tammy,Tammy, you love him so

When thenight is warm, soft and warm

I longfor his charms

I'd singlike a violin

If I werein his arms

Wish Iknew if he knew what I'm dreaming of

Tammy,Tammy, Tammy's in love

<Tell Laura I love her>

小时候听<Tell Laura I love her>，简直怀疑自己听错了，居然爱情歌曲里还会死人？

《告诉罗拉我爱她》整首歌曲讲述了一个故事: 第一段讲述男孩Tommy和女孩Laura相爱, Tommy为了给Laura购买结婚戒指而参加了一个奖金1000美元的汽车比赛; 第二段讲述在比赛中由于未说明的原因(No one knows what happened that dayhow his car overturned in flames), 男孩发生车祸, 将死的时候不断重复"Tell Laura I love her...my lovefor her will never die". 第三段则讲述Laura参加Tommy葬礼时听到了Tommy的告白。歌曲中将Tommy车祸后的情形描述得非常细致，让人几乎身临其境。

Laura and Tommy were lovers

He wanted to give her everything

Flowers, presents and most of all, awedding ring

He saw a sign for a stock car race

A thousand dollar prize it read

He couldn't get Laura on the phone

So to her mother Tommy said

Tell Laura I love her, tell Laura Ineed her

Tell Laura I may be late

I've something to do, that cannot wait

He drove his car to the racing grounds

He was the youngest driver there

The crowed roared as they started therace

'Round the track they drove at adeadly pace

No one knows what happened that day

How his car overturned in flames

But as they pulled him from thetwisted wreck

With his dying breath, they heard himsay

Tell Laura I love her, tell Laura Ineed her

Tell Laura not to cry

My love for her will never die

And in the chapel where Laura prays

For Tommy who passed away

It was just for Laura he lived and died

Alone in the chapel she can hear himcry

Tell Laura I love her, tell Laura Ineed her

Tell Laura not to cry

My love for her will never die

少年悲剧歌曲是1950年代到1960年代流行的一种歌曲形式. 这种歌曲讲述少年情侣爱情故事, 故事经常以一方的死亡为结束. 演唱者的视角有时是将死的一方, 有时是死者的爱人。

在之后的一张专辑The Answer To Everything - Girl Answer Songs OfThe '60'S中，Marilyn Michaels演唱了一首Tell Tommy I miss him作为Laura对本曲的回应。这首歌除了第一段独白以外，从头到尾几乎都是女生二重唱，高音部好像女生脑海中的声音一般，高亢而悲怆，久久回旋在空中。

Tommy mysweetheart has gone now

He's upin the heaven somewhere so little star high above

If yousee Tommy tell him all my love

'TellTommy I love him, tell Tommy I miss him

Tell himthough I may cry, My love for him will never die'

He drovehis car in the stock car race

To winmoney so we could wed

He wantedit so much to make me his wife

Mow mylovely Tom though he lost his life

I'm solonely without him near

Oh, how Imiss his warm embrace

I love noother, I want him to know

Oh littlestar please tell him so

Althoughhe wanted to give me the world

Why didhe do such a reckless thing

Littlestar he should realize

I waswretched and mean when he looked into my eyes

'TellTommy I love him, tell Tommy I miss him

Tell himthro' I may cry, My love for him will never die.

Althoughhe wanted to give me the world

Why didhe do such a reckless thing

Littlestar he should have realized

I wasricher than a queen when he looked into my eyes.

TellTommy I love him

TellTommy I miss him

Tell himthough I may try

My lovefor him will never die.

<Hey Jude>

<Hey Jude>有多么的脍炙人口，看看翻唱的版本和语言就知道了，这首Beatles的名曲由Paul McCartney保罗·麦卡特尼创作，署名为列侬-麦卡特尼。该曲原名为“HeyJules”，是麦卡特尼为安慰约翰·列侬之子朱利安在他父母离婚期间所作。

1968年，由于约翰·列侬和小野洋子有染，他和妻子辛西娅·列侬分开了。不久之后，保罗·麦卡特尼驾车拜访辛西娅和列侬的儿子朱利安。辛西娅回忆道：“当一天下午保罗单独到来，我真的非常惊讶。他明显关心我们是否过得好，让我很感动……我永远不会忘记保罗来看望我们的关切姿态。”

这首歌原来的标题是<Hey Jules>，意图安慰处于父母离婚压力下的朱利安·列侬。麦卡特尼说：“我开始时想‘嘿，朱利斯’，那是指朱利安，别沮丧，唱首悲伤的歌曲，来舒缓自己的心情（don't make it bad, take a sad song andmake it better）。嘿，试着接受这个糟糕的事吧。我知道这对他来说很不容易。我总是为离婚中的孩子们感到难过……在到他们家前我有了这首歌的点子。我把它改成<Hey Jude>因为我觉得这样更好听点。”

很少有一个歌会被如此多重和深度的解读，甚至有人为了记歌词，画了一个简易流程图。

有趣的是，朱利安·列侬直到近二十年后才发现这首歌是写给他的。

尽管麦卡特尼是为朱利安写了这首歌，约翰·列侬以为这其实是写给他的。当时，洋子刚刚开始被牵扯进整件事中。他以为他的朋友是在说：嘿，Jude——嘿，约翰（John）。“我知道我听起来像那些过分解读、添油加醋的歌迷，但你可以理解为一首写给我的歌……潜意识中，他在说，去吧，离开我。在有意识的层面上，他不想要我去。”

<Hey Jude>开始于由麦卡特尼人声和钢琴组成的主歌-过门结构，之后其他乐器陆续加入。第四段主歌过后，该歌曲在一段长度超过4分钟的尾声段中淡出，耗时之长，似乎让人感受一个少年成长成熟必经之路之漫长。

乐评人蒂姆·利雷（Tim Riley）的理解是“这首歌是关于在困难面前的自我价值和自我慰藉，人声本身的表现传达了这一旅程。他从安慰他人的歌唱开始，然后随着歌曲的进程感情加深，最后在反复的副歌中他自己渐渐坚定，开始相信自己。”

Hey Jude,don't make it bad

Take asad song and make it better

Rememberto let her into your heart

Then youcan start to make it better

Hey Jude,don't be afraid

You weremade to go out and get her

Theminute you let her under your skin

Then youbegin to make it better

Andanytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain

Don'tcarry the world upon your shoulders

For wellyou know that it's a fool who plays it cool

By makinghis world a little colder

Hey Jude,don't let me down

You havefound her, now go and get her

(Let itout and let it in, Hey Jude)

Rememberto let her into your heart

Then youcan start to make it better

So let itout and let it in, hey Jude, begin

You'rewaiting for someone to perform with

And don'tyou know that it's just you, hey Jude, you'll do

Themovement you need is on your shoulder

Hey Jude,don't make it bad

Take asad song and make it better

Rememberto let her under your skin

Thenyou'll begin to make it

Betterbetter better better better better, oh

[Outro]

Na na nana na, na na na, hey Jude

Na na nana na, na na na, hey Jude...

<Vincent>

去年，<至爱梵高>电影红极一时。但其实有关梵高歌曲<Vincent>已经流传了几十年了，它也是第一个让我一笔一划记下歌词歌，那每一句词都是一首诗，一幅画。

1971年，Don Mclean在读完一本讲述梵高一生的书籍之后写下了这首歌的歌词，使用了手风琴、颤音琴、弦乐器和吉他配乐。它也成了梵高博物馆天天伴随梵高画作播放的歌曲。

这首歌清楚地表达了对梵高作品以及对梵高本人深深的崇拜。这首歌包含了大量对梵高作品的描述。歌词“描绘出树林和水仙花（sketchthe trees and the daffodils）”和“清晨的田园里琥珀色的谷物（morningfields of amber grain）”描述了梵高作品中数次出现的琥珀色的小麦。其中有几句歌词也婉转地提到了梵高的自画像，例如“饱经风霜的脸上写满了痛苦，在艺术家的手里得到抚慰（weatheredfaces lined in pain / are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand）”。麦克林在此暗示梵高可能在创作自画像的过程中寻找到一些安慰。但是，这句歌词也可能指梵高的另一作品<吃马铃薯的人>，这幅画中描述了一个辛苦工作的德国家庭。

另外还有一行歌词“火红的花朵灿烂地燃烧着（flaming flowers that brightly blaze）”描述了梵高最为著名的系列画作<向日葵>。这句歌词不仅借鉴了画作中明亮的黄色和橘色，也创造出了充满能量的太阳的意象。

在最后，Mclean唱到“人们不曾倾听你的心声，现在依然未倾听你的心声，也许永远不会（Theywould not listen / they're not listening still / perhaps they never will）。这是梵高的故事，直到他死，他才被认为是一位艺术家，在这之前，他只是个割自己耳朵的神经病。

Starry, starry night

paint your palette blue and gray

look out on a summer's day

with eyes that know the darkness in my soul.

Shadows on the hills

sketch the trees and the daffodils

catch the breeze and the winter chills

in colors on the snowy linen land.

And now I understand

what you tried to say to me

and how you suffered for your sanity

and how you tried to set them free.

They would not listen they did not know how

perhaps they'll listen now.

Starry starry night

flaming flowers that brightly blaze

swirling clouds in violet haze

reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.

Colors changing hue

morning fields of amber grain

weathered faces lined in pain

are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.

And now I understand

what you tried to say to me

and how you suffered for your sanity

and how you tried to set them free.

They would not listen they did not know how

perhaps they'll listen now.

For they could not love you

but still your love was true

and when no hope was left in sight on that

starry starry night.

You took your life as lovers often do,

But I could have told you Vincent

this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.

Starry starry night

portraits hung in empty halls

Frame less heads on nameless walls

with eyes that watch the world and can't forget.

Like the stranger that you've met

the ragged men in ragged clothes

the silver thorn of bloodyrose

lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow.

And now I think I know

what you tried to say to me

and how you suffered for your sanity

and how you tried to set them free.

They would not listen they're not listening still

perhaps they never will.

<DannyBoy>

歌曲存在时代越久远，里面的故事越多。丹尼男孩（Danny Boy）就是这样，最早可以追溯到1560年，那时候它还只是一段曲调，由爱尔兰的一位盲人竖琴师Rory Dall O'Cahan创作。这类曲调后来被陈伟伦敦德里小调Londonderry Air。由于曲调优美，吟唱版本众多，常被爱尔兰裔美国人、爱尔兰裔加拿大人当做非官方的颂歌。这首歌也常用于葬礼中，以风笛演奏。

1910年，歌词的雏形由英格蘭作曲家弗雷德里克·威德里在薩默塞特郡巴斯谱写，然后1913年他的居於美國的妯娌Margaret，寄給他一份<伦敦德里小调>的抄本后，威德里便將歌詞與小調合拍作成了曲子于是在这首爱尔兰民谣的基础上，成为了今天的<DannyBoy>。

歌词最早描述的是一位爱尔兰父亲写给即将从军的儿子，告诉他说，当你下次回来的时候，我大概已经躺在坟里，就像整个夏天的过去，花朵的凋零，就像你现在要走，也不能挽留。后来，作者又加上第四段，才使得这首歌由父子间的诀别，变成了好似情人的分手。照爱尔兰民歌的原始意味，这首歌是写父子之情，DannyBoy最后寻找到的，是父子之爱。

扯个题外话，盲人竖琴师Rory的另一个著名的作品是'Give Me Your Hand'---人们耳熟能详的是用风笛和管风琴演奏的版本。如果去听一下原版本（查找Tabhair Dom do Lámh也会有惊喜），

被归纳为<IrisRovers>（爱尔兰流浪者）的调调，更多是口琴和手风琴演及手鼓绎的，透过那种曲调几乎能看到那些衣衫褴褛，风尘仆仆而又自由快乐的人们在高山下的草甸上，围在一起弹唱的场面。谁听了都会爱上那个调调以及发挥出无限的想象 。

Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
        From glen to glen, and down themountain side,
        The summer's gone, and all theroses falling,
        It's you, it's you must go and Imust bide.

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
        Or when the valley's hushed andwhite with snow,
        It's I'll be here in sunshine orin shadow,
        Oh, Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, Ilove you so!

But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying,
        If I am dead, as dead I well maybe,
        Ye'll come and find the placewhere I am lying,
        And kneel and say an Ave therefor me;

And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
        And all my grave will warmer,sweeter be,
        For you will bend and tell methat you love me,
        And I shall sleep in peace untilyou come to me! 

< Je m'appelle Helene >

画家可以有自画像，歌手也会有自己的歌曲，1966年出生的法国女歌手伊莲娜·霍莱（Hélène Rollès)，1993年以一曲<我的名字叫伊莲>（Je m'appelle Helene）红遍上世纪九十年代中国的大街小巷，至今它仍是回荡在世界各地咖啡馆里最有味道的“咖啡伴侣”。

这个歌对我自己而言，也有着特殊的意义。因为这个法国名字Hélène的发音（H是不发音的），是我的英文名IRENE的其中一种发音，所以歌手一声声呼唤直击我的心坎，产生奇妙的感觉。最早给自己起名IRENE，是在初中时候，一直以来以为发音是艾琳。上班后曾有一个老板是位南斯拉夫老太太，她呼我的名字叫”伊琳”，我听听也不错，和我的中文名”懿琳”有着百分之九十的高度吻合。再后来有个法国同事告诉我，在他们国家，这是一个著名的女歌手的名字，而在意大利，这个词的读音是”伊莲娜”。一下子觉得自己好像有了好多名字，去一个国家得把自己的名字叫正确了才行。听听这个歌，看似温柔的姑娘，偏偏唱出了气势磅礴的感觉。