※ 引述《[email protected] ( get it on now! )》之铭言： : Amy Grant - Simple Things : 01 - Happy : 02 - Eye To Eye : 03 - Simple Things : 04 - Beautiful : 05 - Out In The Open : 06 - I Dont Know Why : 07 - Looking For You : 08 - Touch : 09 - Innocence Lost : 10 - After The Fire : 很舒服，很甜美的一张专辑。 先前在另一个地方 po 的 Amy 新专辑的专访简译 参考参考 : All About "Simple Things"! : Amy will release her long-awaited pop album, Simple Things, on : August 19. Read more about Grammy and Dove award winning female : vocalist’s first album of all new material since the 1997 release : of Behind the Eyes. Simple Things 是 Amy 自 1997 年的 Behind the Eyes 专辑後六年来第一张 流行专辑 於此期间有一张圣诞专辑和 CCM 专辑的发行 BMG 也於去年重新整理了张 Amy 於 1980 年代的旧作为精选发行 : “This album is three years in the making,” said Grant, who re- : leased a Christmas album and a Hymns project in the interim. ꄊ: 你s a result, Simple Things is a collection of songs that reflect : a lot of life that has happened along the way.” 新专辑反映了 Amy 几年来生活的点点滴滴，制作时间长达三年 : "I know how it feels to go into a studio to start a record, and : eight weeks later it's finished. I know how an intense schedule : feels. Simple Things was the antithesis of all that." : So says Amy Grant, whose new A&M release Simple Things was three : full years in the making. Was it worth the wait? You bet. Emotional, : honest songs, glistening productions, arrangements that sweep through : fields of strings and settle into a nest of solo acoustic guitar -- : every detail of her seventeenth album exceeds the singer's standards, : which are as high as standards come in this business. 新专辑值得如此长时间的等待吗？ 答案是肯定的 充满情感、诚实的歌曲，在编曲上偏向 acoustic guitar （或许编曲上会比较近似 Behind the Eyes） 在整体感觉上也超越歌者过去的所有作品 （真的吗？ 听了才会知道 :p） : But something beyond the music gives Simple Things its real meaning. : The story behind its creation reflects elements of Amy's life at a cri- : tical stage -- elements of both shadow and light, uncertainty and con- : viction, and above all love and its endurance. 是音乐之外的事物赋予新专辑真实的意义 制作过程背後的故事反应 Amy 生涯中的关键时刻中的点点滴滴 -- 阴暗与曙光、犹疑与确信以及坚忍不移的爱 : Simple Things was born from love, during a memorable week with family : and friends. It comes to the world now on wings of love, from a place : of warmth and resolution, now that the process is done. Between these : milestones, though, the going wasn't always easy, thanks to changes in : and beyond Amy's world. （颇为老套的介绍...... :p） : It began in the summer of 2000, when Amy and her husband Vince Gill : left Nashville with producer Keith Thomas and a few co-writers for a : week in Destin, Florida. In a house just steps from the shore, they'd : pair off after breakfast and write songs together. Then, as evening : neared, they'd gather, compare notes, share quiet as well as festive : moments. 新专辑的制作始於 2000 年的夏天 制作阵容包括 Amy、丈夫 Vince Gill、长期以来的制作伙伴 Keith Thomas 与其他 : "One night we were all going out to dinner," Amy remembers. "We all : dressed up and went down to the beach to take our pictures in that : beautiful sunset. Somehow we wound up running into the ocean and : getting drenched in all our nice clothes." : Much of the material on Simple Things took form during that idyll: : "Looking For You," "Happy," the title cut, and one song, "Touch," that : perhaps conveys the feeling of that time more vividly than anything : else on the album. "I think ‘Touch’ was written on the first or se- : cond day," Amy says, "and it was so hypnotic and beautiful, so much : like the ocean. Through out the rest of that week, when we'd get to the : end of the day, we'd grab a cold drink, feel the spray in the air, and : just play that song …" 上面两段提到的是专辑制作的环境 当时 Amy 等人在 Florida 的海边度假 进行歌曲创作的同时，也享受当地的游憩气氛 专辑中 Looking for You、Happy、Simple Things 与 Touch 等歌曲最能反映 此种生活的心情 : It's likely that more than music was created in Destin. Shortly : after coming back home, with every intention to begin her next project, : Amy discovered that she was pregnant. Priorities quickly shifted, as : she gave birth to her and Vince's first child, Corrina. The time that : followed proved even more challenging, and in unexpected ways. 当 2000 年夏天的假期结束後， Amy 发现自己怀孕了 所有的计画因此必须重新调整 : There were issues involved with being a blended family. "We're just : now in the fifth year since my older children’s dad and I split up," : Amy explains. "Then, in March of 2000, I married Vince. The kids had : to deal with some changes in their lives, and I had to grapple with : the shame that youfeel when you've been through a divorce. Thankfully, : all of us continue to grow and life works itself out, but those years : were a very sensitive time for us all." 小女儿 Corrina 的出生为 Amy 与 Gill、以及两人之前组成的家庭带来冲击 至 2000 年时， Amy 已与前夫 Gary Chapman 仳离五年 同年三月， Amy 与 Vince Gill 步入礼堂 孩子必须重新调整父母离婚後的生活，Amy 也必须面对离婚对她带来的影响 尽管几年来，大家都找到适合彼此的方式 但也必须承认，这并不容易 : These transitions would inspire some of the most personal material : on Simple Things, including "Out in the Open" and "Innocence Lost," : one of only two songs on the album that Amy didn't write. "But a big : part of that lyric captures what I was feeling," she says, "about how : part of living involves losing your innocence. And 'Out in the Open' : is about freedom from shame and forgiving yourself. To me, they're both : very emotional songs about that period." 上述的种种自然也影响新作的走向 Out in the Open 与 Innocence Lost 是专辑中 Amy 唯二未参与创作的作品 但却忠实地捕捉歌者的心情 : At the same time, staying away from stage and studio took a physical : toll. "In going through pregnancy and post-delivery, my support muscles : weakened," she explains. "In the past, when I'd recorded during a break : in a tour, it was so easy to sing, because I felt strong. Also, like so : many new mothers, I wasn't getting a lot of sleep, and sleeping is such : a huge part of being able to sing." （这边是说 Amy 离开舞台、录音室与怀孕期间的一些生理上的不适现象） : For nearly a year Amy was able to record only sporadically -- sometimes : just two days a month. "So much of my energy was going into my family : that when I was able to get to the studio I felt : remember! I have interests! I make music!'" 将近一年，录音的工作时断时续 : As Corrina grew and life at home settled, Amy's strength returned and : her schedule loosened. She re-recorded some of the early vocal tracks : and was getting into gear when the events of 911 suddenly cast a pall : over the proceedings. As it happened, she was writing a song at that : point that seemed to connect to the feelings stirred by tragedy. 当 Corrina 出生後的生活逐渐稳定， Amy 也逐渐重拾个人生活的规律 重新录制了一些先前已完成演唱的曲子 也将九一一带来的冲击反映在作品里 : "Wayne Kirkpatrick and I had started writing 'I Don't Know Why' about : a week earlier," Amy says. "We'd been talking about those moments where, : for whatever reason, everything distills into what really matters. When : I watched those firefighters and workers digging through Ground Zero, : trying to see if there was anybody in there, I thought of a lyric we'd : just written: 'This is one of those mo ments when all that really matters : is crystal clear' -- which means being there for each other, 'woven : together by whatever threads of life that have brought us here.'" : In the perspective that took form after September 11, a new meaning : emerged as Amy and Wayne worked on the song. "The words 'all I know : is now' came from the uncertainty we felt," she says. "It's like when : you're sitting in a waiting room at the hospital: Nothing exists except : for that moment you're in. It might not be over 9/11, but we've all felt : that odd way that life and tragedy bring people together." 专辑中的作品 I Don't Know Why 即是悲剧发生後的产物 其中的歌词 "all i know is now" 即是指生活中的不确定，似乎唯有当下才是真实的 : Which brings Simple Things into full circle. From the personal to : the global, from the playfulness of "Happy" through the impassioned : duet shared by Amy and Vince on "Beautiful," Simple Things is perhaps : the most intimate glimpse ever offered into the heart of this artist. : With tracks brilliantly pro duced by Keith Thomas, Brown Banister and : Wayne Kirkpatrick, this music seems to rush through storms and sunlight : before coming to rest in "After the Fire," a summary of all that we've : experienced on our own and heard on this disc -- simple, soft, and quietly : triumphant. 生命中的悲喜无常，一一反映在 Simple Things 中 : And now, a personal note … : Over the past hour, as Amy led me through the story of Simple Things, : I've seen, over her shoulder and silhouetted in sunlight streaming : through the window of her sitting room, an old baby grand piano, on : which family photos stand in faded array. She tells me that it once : belonged to the late comedienne Minnie Pearl, whose memory brings a : light to Amy's eyes. : "I'm thinking about a conversation we had years ago," she says. "It : was after Minnie's stroke, and she was bedridden, but this was one of : her lucid days. We were talking about light and dark. She was saying, : 'They're both a part of life. For instance, what do you think is the : most important color on an artist's palette?' I said I didn't know. : She said, 'Black, of course. Without black, no color has any depth. : But if you mix black with everything, suddenly there's shadow -- no, : not just shadow, but fullness. You've got to be willing to mix black : into your palette if you want to create something that's real.'" 这边说的是 Amy 和这篇 review 的纂写人 Doerschuk 对谈时 Amy 回想起之前与故友 Minnie Pearl 的对话，後者当时因中风而卧病在床不起됊 Minnie 说，光与影，都是生命不可缺的一部份 当画家在涂抹画布时，黑色必不可少 因为没了黑色，其他的色彩会因此失去深度 但当你把黑色与其他颜色相混时，不仅出现阴影，也带来圆满（fullness） 如果想要为自己的生命带来真实，就必须要愿意将黑色加进生命的画布 : And so we return to where we came in: to the play of shadow and light, : pain and sweetness, and to the music of Simple Things, which is as simple : and yet unfathomable as we all know the world to be. : ----Robert L. Doerschuk ------- -- 永远都记得你离去的那天清晨 你无声无息地从我的枕边离去 你选择回到那拥有你灵魂的人的身边 而我 只能再回到那段令我恐惧的岁月 我连忙跑到海边 哭喊着「请别离开我」 悲伤的泪水不断的从我的眼中流出 无奈的我只愿大海能带走我心中的伤痛 但只见一阵阵的潮水打在岸边 彷佛悲伤又再一阵阵的涌上心头 --

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