A Bird in a Gilded Cage (在一个镀金的笼子鸟)
这是一个伤感的民谣,成为1900年最流行的歌曲之一,词作者:Arthur J Lamb,曲作者:Harry Von Tilzer,据称大卖200万张乐谱拷贝。最早的演唱者是Jere Mahoney和Steve Porter。据Tilzer回忆,在1899年的某一天,Lamb带着这首歌的歌词找到他。虽然他很喜欢,但他要求Lamb做一些改动,使得歌词更明白的表示是一个已婚妇人,而不是一个情妇。当天晚上,他在一个公共场合和朋友聚会的时候,用那里的钢琴谱出了歌曲的旋律。他注意到在附近的一些女孩在听了之后无不动容而泣,让他坚信这首歌会成功。后来,Tilzer声称,这首歌是“为他敞开了财富和名利的大门”的关键。它的成功标志着美国流行音乐民谣的主导地位直到1914。
歌词大意是一位美丽的女子为了金钱而不爱情结婚后外表看似光鲜,但内心充满悲伤的生活。
The ballroom was filled with fashion's throng, It shone with a thousand lights,And there was a woman who passed along,The fairest of all the sights,A girl to her lover then softly sighed,There's riches at her command;But she married for wealth, not for love, he cried,Though she lives in a mansion grand.- CHORUS
- She's only a bird in a gilded cage,
- A beautiful sight to see,
- You may think she's happy and free from care,
- She's not, though she seems to be,
- 'Tis sad when you think of her wasted life,
- For youth cannot mate with age,
- And her beauty was sold,
- For an old man's gold,
- She's a bird in a gilded cage.
- I stood in a churchyard just at eve',
- When sunset adorned the west,
- And looked at the people who'd come to grieve,
- For loved ones now laid at rest,
- A tall marble monument marked the grave,
- Of one who'd been fashion's queen,
- And I thought she is happier here at rest,
- Than to have people say when seen.
宴会厅充满了时尚的人群;灯火辉煌。一个女子翩翩走来;成为瞩目的焦点。在她的爱人面前她只能轻作叹息;她拥有傲人的财富。他哭了,因为她嫁给了金钱,而不是爱情。虽然她住在豪宅中,但她不过是一只生活在镀金笼子里的鸟,美丽不可妨物。你也许以为她很快乐而无忧,虽然她看起来是,但她并不是。更可悲的是当你想到她被浪费掉的一生,因为青春无法永驻,而她用青春美貌,换来一个老男人的金钱,她只是只在镀金笼子里的鸟。当我在夜幕降临的墓地,看前来凭吊的人们,他们曾经爱的人已经安息。一个高大的大理石墓碑刻着,曾经的时尚女王的文字,我想她在这里安息,会比人们曾经见到她时更快乐。
虽然时间已经飘过100多年了,但这歌词里的女郎,现在还大有人在。不过价值观也许不一样了,所以很难说那种时刻更快乐。