横跨一个多世纪的美国时代寓言
这个专辑的前三首出自Laurie和Anne Bogart合作导演的音乐剧：Songs and Stories from Moby Dick，并比现场加入了更多乐器和recollection。音乐剧于1999年4月首演，以梅尔维尔1851年出版的小说《白鲸记》为基础做延伸。中场演员Tom Nelis (饰亚哈船长) 的一声 “Monster!” 非常震撼；Pieces and Parts表现力超强，心跳声和宿命感贯穿表演始终。
专辑以One White Whale做为她叙事的Intro。这首歌的歌词来自音乐剧中同名的第十四首，是一段独白。旋律则改编自演出的结尾 (首演场01:25:25，Sinking of the Pequod)。
The Island Where I Come From的歌词让人想到她的Blue Lagoon，但不同的是和鼓点结合精妙的电子故障音让歌曲听上去灵动很多。讲述的故事是一个不完全明媚的奇怪回忆，我很喜欢这一段：
“There are lots of people who talk just to hear the sound
The sound, the sound of their own voices
But take an empty shell and put it up to your ear
You can hear the ocean rumbling around in there…”
第四首歌曲Here with You则关于一个纯粹的感觉体验，一首写给她的丈夫Lou和小狗Lolabelle的情歌：
“It's a love song for Lou (Reed) and our dog Lola. Every time I play it I think of us and I feel like I'm flying. I'm so free. And somehow they're there with me. It reminds me of when Lou and I play together, which for me is the purest expression to say how I feel about him. And Lola, I know it sounds really stupid to say but her absolute purity has taught us a lot about love. It's a love song for love.”
Slip Away是对父亲去世的描绘，比她92年所作World Without End走得更远；My Compensation，一个黑暗小故事，氛围营造出色的sample实验；Dark Angel听起来像一个迪斯尼黑色童话，继续她对技术的快速更迭和商业化营销的批判；Broken，关于迷失的独白，带有微妙的电子故障效果；Washington Street，美国黑白电影的怀旧气氛；Statue of Liberty，对阴影中的美国的表现持续她一贯的风格 (United States I-IV)；One Beautiful Evening，在历史、fiction和遐思交融的一个傍晚，Laurie唱：
“And horrible things have happened to them during the play
And they stand there while you clap and now what?
What happens next?”
标题曲Life on a String，整篇寓言的结尾。Laurie设置了一个渐隐效果，就像消失在日落的地平线一样：
“Some people know exactly where they're going
The pilgrims to Mecca
The climbers to the mountaintop
But me, I'm just looking
For just a single moment
So I can slip through time”
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Life on a String是Laurie的兴趣和经历碰撞的结果。在音乐剧的巡演之后，她被委托制作了一个管弦乐作品，她对演奏效果感到惊喜，这让她把目光转向弦乐。同时被委托的还有一份关于纽约的不列颠百科全书条目。她以观察者的视角和Lolabelle在纽约走了很长一段路去寻找灵感，最终，这个漫步记录成为了标题曲所展现的孤独城市漫游者的听觉肖像。
总体来说是非常inspiring的一专，既有宏大主题，又有精细描写。我想她把这12首歌凑到一起，大概是要营造她歌词里所写的 “Drawing a picture of a perfect moment” 这种氛围吧。
专辑从引用一个美国的经典文学作品开始，到描绘日常生活结尾，Laurie的作品总是包含很多内容，但主题其实也很小，她对美国的探索从未停止。当Keith Phipps询问她在关于美国的主题上和梅尔维尔的书是否有着某些联系时，Laurie回答说，最大的联系是关于寻找某样东西。在白鲸记的结尾，船长和水手最终找到了那头白鲸，但Laurie的寻找之旅仍在继续，这同时也是美国人生活的缩影。如同她对Songs and Stories from Moby Dick的解释：
“It’s about people working — and that’s pretty American. Another is that you’re trapped on a ship with a captain who’s out of his mind. And this is not an unfamiliar concept to Americans: The guy in charge is crazy, completely crazy. And the third is that it’s about something that you look for, that you’re never going to find.”
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Reference：
Susan, H. (no date). Songs and Stories from Moby Dick. Available at: Songs and Stories From Moby Dick (London... susanhilferty.com (Accessed: 09 July 2020)
Jim, D. (2000). Ingrid Sischy Interview. Available at: Ingrid Sischy Interview (Laurie Anderson... jimdavies.org (Accessed: 08 November 2022)
Research自用：
Next Wave Festival 1999 (BAM Archive): http://levyarchive.bam.org/Detail/occurrences/2772
较喜欢的reviews: Music: Laurie Anderson's "Songs and Stor... thecityreview.com
