一个古老忧伤的故事
The Decemberists并不是又一只普通的美国独立摇滚乐队。
他们有悦耳流畅的旋律：简单，质朴，亲切，乐哈哈地振奋人心。不待见他们的人也许觉得The Decemberists有些发傻。也许他们的旋律里透着美国乡村民谣的土气，与之相配的还有早期如假包换的土气歌词：“I’m very sorry Steven, but your bicycle’s been stolen”。不过这（所谓的）“土气”也是我喜欢的。他们有奇特尴尬的幽默感。The Decemberists来自美国俄勒岗州波特兰，主唱/吉他手/主要创作人Colin Meloy曾先后在俄勒岗和蒙大拿大学学习创作写作（Creative Writing）。他们的歌词大多是文学气息浓厚的民谣故事，也许和Meloy的进修不无关系。
The Decemberists奇特的幽默感反映在早期的歌词里，除了上文提到的为丢失自行车向朋友赔礼的歌（“The Apology Song”），还有暴露狂（Billy Liar's got his hands in his pockets. Staring over at the neighbor's, knickers down － Billy Liar把双手插在口袋里，盯着邻居家，脱下内裤)；两位沉船事件后幸存的水手在大鲸鱼肚子里的复仇故事（The Mariner’s Revenge Song）。
然而The Decemberists的另一面是古老纯净的忧伤。2007年的专辑The Crane Wife和2009年的专辑The Hazards of Love就是代表 － 两张都是可以称为摇滚歌剧的概念专辑。后者尤其明显：全碟歌曲连成一体，没有间隙。
The Hazards of Love讲的是一个悲剧爱情故事。它似乎老套。然而初次从歌词知道这个故事的始末，依然忍不住落泪。
故事从器乐的Prelude开始，紧接下去是The Hazards of Love 1。女主人公Margaret某天在树林里好心地拯救了一只受伤的小鹿：
My true love went riding out
In white and green and gray
And there she came upon
A white and wounded fawn
Singing: oh, the hazards of love
然而夜幕降临时小鹿变成了男主人公William：
The taiga shifted strangea shifted strange
The beast began to change
(2. Hazards Of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone))
William是一个孤儿，早年间，林中女王从河中漂流的摇篮里救出了他，并给他施了魔法：白天William是一只小鹿，夜晚才恢复人形。林中女王意图把他留在自己身边作为陪伴。
然而，William和Margaret恋爱了，而且Margaret怀了William的孩子：
And when young Margaret’s waistline grew wider
The fruit of her amorous entwine inside her
(3. A Bower Scene)
林中女王得知后，怒吼咆哮，要阻挠他们的爱情，把William拒为己有。她唱道：
How I made you
I wrought you
I pulled you
And now: this is how I am repaid?
This is how I am repaid?
(8. The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid)
William苦苦哀求女王。他表示，只要女王同意让他们度过这个不受打扰的晚上，他愿意在清晨回到女王身旁。女王同意了，但威胁他要以余生来偿还：
And if I grant you
This favor to hand you
Your life for the evening
I will re-take by morning
然后，经过一个interlude，在Track 10，恶棍Rake出场。他结过婚，婚姻的前9个月还不错，但妻子在生产第4个孩子时和婴儿一同去世了，留下Rake和三个孩子。他憎恨他的孩子，把他的两男一女挨个弄死了（投毒，溺水…）。The Rake’s Song是全碟中最出彩的，无论是歌词还是乐曲。为什么写恶人这么容易呢？
I was wedded and it whetted my thirst
Until her womb started spilling out babies
Only then did I reckon my curse
What can one do when one is a widower
Shamefully saddled with three little pests
All that I wanted was the freedom of a new life
So my burden I began to divest
All right, all right, all right!
Charlotte I buried after feeding her foxglove
Dawn was easy: she was drowned in the bath
Isaiah fought but was easily bested
Burned his body for incurring my wrath
(10. The Rake’s Song)
接下来，他动了Margaret的邪恶念头，把她从William身边拐走了。
Rake胁迫Margaret来到河边，林中女王助了Rake一臂之力，让他们过了河。“是你驱除了对我那可怜孩子的诱惑。你留着年轻的Margaret吧！强奸她或杀了她，随你的便”。
And you have removed this temptation that’s troubled my innocent child
To abduct and abuse and to render her rift and defiled
But the river is deep to the banks and the water is wild
But I will fly you the far side
(12. The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing)
William追到河边时却无法过河。他哀求河水，“请这次让我过去，让我去拯救我的爱人。我愿意以自己的生命做交换，哪怕下一次渡过你时，让你卷走我的躯体。”
But if you calm and let me pass
You may render me a wreck when I come back
So calm your waves and slow the churn
And you may have my precious bones on my return
(13. Annan Water)
此刻，在河的对岸，Rake在调戏／威胁Margaret:
RAKE:
Don’t hold out for rescue
None can hear your call
’Til I have wrest and wrecked you
Behind these fortress walls
MARGARET:
O my own true love
O my own true love
Can you hear me love
Can you hear me love?
(14. Margaret in Captivity)
故事接下来的发展并不明朗。也许William及时赶到河对岸，杀死了Rake救出了Margaret，抑或，William赶到时，他的爱人已经死了。然而结尾的一幕是真切的：在河水中间，William抱着他的爱人Margaret，轻轻吻她。
So let’s be married here today, these rushing waves to bear our witness
And we will lie like river stones, rolling only where it takes us
With this long last rush of air, we'll speak our vows of starry whisper.
And when the waves came crashing down, he closed his eyes and softly kissed her.
(17. The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned))
个人觉得最感人的一刻，在于William陈述的第一人称突然转变为第三人称。于是一下子，你知道这对恋人已经被河水吞没，从此消失不复存在了。
他们有悦耳流畅的旋律：简单，质朴，亲切，乐哈哈地振奋人心。不待见他们的人也许觉得The Decemberists有些发傻。也许他们的旋律里透着美国乡村民谣的土气，与之相配的还有早期如假包换的土气歌词：“I’m very sorry Steven, but your bicycle’s been stolen”。不过这（所谓的）“土气”也是我喜欢的。他们有奇特尴尬的幽默感。The Decemberists来自美国俄勒岗州波特兰，主唱/吉他手/主要创作人Colin Meloy曾先后在俄勒岗和蒙大拿大学学习创作写作（Creative Writing）。他们的歌词大多是文学气息浓厚的民谣故事，也许和Meloy的进修不无关系。
The Decemberists奇特的幽默感反映在早期的歌词里，除了上文提到的为丢失自行车向朋友赔礼的歌（“The Apology Song”），还有暴露狂（Billy Liar's got his hands in his pockets. Staring over at the neighbor's, knickers down － Billy Liar把双手插在口袋里，盯着邻居家，脱下内裤)；两位沉船事件后幸存的水手在大鲸鱼肚子里的复仇故事（The Mariner’s Revenge Song）。
然而The Decemberists的另一面是古老纯净的忧伤。2007年的专辑The Crane Wife和2009年的专辑The Hazards of Love就是代表 － 两张都是可以称为摇滚歌剧的概念专辑。后者尤其明显：全碟歌曲连成一体，没有间隙。
The Hazards of Love讲的是一个悲剧爱情故事。它似乎老套。然而初次从歌词知道这个故事的始末，依然忍不住落泪。
故事从器乐的Prelude开始，紧接下去是The Hazards of Love 1。女主人公Margaret某天在树林里好心地拯救了一只受伤的小鹿：
My true love went riding out
In white and green and gray
And there she came upon
A white and wounded fawn
Singing: oh, the hazards of love
然而夜幕降临时小鹿变成了男主人公William：
The taiga shifted strangea shifted strange
The beast began to change
(2. Hazards Of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone))
William是一个孤儿，早年间，林中女王从河中漂流的摇篮里救出了他，并给他施了魔法：白天William是一只小鹿，夜晚才恢复人形。林中女王意图把他留在自己身边作为陪伴。
然而，William和Margaret恋爱了，而且Margaret怀了William的孩子：
And when young Margaret’s waistline grew wider
The fruit of her amorous entwine inside her
(3. A Bower Scene)
林中女王得知后，怒吼咆哮，要阻挠他们的爱情，把William拒为己有。她唱道：
How I made you
I wrought you
I pulled you
And now: this is how I am repaid?
This is how I am repaid?
(8. The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid)
William苦苦哀求女王。他表示，只要女王同意让他们度过这个不受打扰的晚上，他愿意在清晨回到女王身旁。女王同意了，但威胁他要以余生来偿还：
And if I grant you
This favor to hand you
Your life for the evening
I will re-take by morning
然后，经过一个interlude，在Track 10，恶棍Rake出场。他结过婚，婚姻的前9个月还不错，但妻子在生产第4个孩子时和婴儿一同去世了，留下Rake和三个孩子。他憎恨他的孩子，把他的两男一女挨个弄死了（投毒，溺水…）。The Rake’s Song是全碟中最出彩的，无论是歌词还是乐曲。为什么写恶人这么容易呢？
I was wedded and it whetted my thirst
Until her womb started spilling out babies
Only then did I reckon my curse
What can one do when one is a widower
Shamefully saddled with three little pests
All that I wanted was the freedom of a new life
So my burden I began to divest
All right, all right, all right!
Charlotte I buried after feeding her foxglove
Dawn was easy: she was drowned in the bath
Isaiah fought but was easily bested
Burned his body for incurring my wrath
(10. The Rake’s Song)
接下来，他动了Margaret的邪恶念头，把她从William身边拐走了。
Rake胁迫Margaret来到河边，林中女王助了Rake一臂之力，让他们过了河。“是你驱除了对我那可怜孩子的诱惑。你留着年轻的Margaret吧！强奸她或杀了她，随你的便”。
And you have removed this temptation that’s troubled my innocent child
To abduct and abuse and to render her rift and defiled
But the river is deep to the banks and the water is wild
But I will fly you the far side
(12. The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing)
William追到河边时却无法过河。他哀求河水，“请这次让我过去，让我去拯救我的爱人。我愿意以自己的生命做交换，哪怕下一次渡过你时，让你卷走我的躯体。”
But if you calm and let me pass
You may render me a wreck when I come back
So calm your waves and slow the churn
And you may have my precious bones on my return
(13. Annan Water)
此刻，在河的对岸，Rake在调戏／威胁Margaret:
RAKE:
Don’t hold out for rescue
None can hear your call
’Til I have wrest and wrecked you
Behind these fortress walls
MARGARET:
O my own true love
O my own true love
Can you hear me love
Can you hear me love?
(14. Margaret in Captivity)
故事接下来的发展并不明朗。也许William及时赶到河对岸，杀死了Rake救出了Margaret，抑或，William赶到时，他的爱人已经死了。然而结尾的一幕是真切的：在河水中间，William抱着他的爱人Margaret，轻轻吻她。
So let’s be married here today, these rushing waves to bear our witness
And we will lie like river stones, rolling only where it takes us
With this long last rush of air, we'll speak our vows of starry whisper.
And when the waves came crashing down, he closed his eyes and softly kissed her.
(17. The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned))
个人觉得最感人的一刻，在于William陈述的第一人称突然转变为第三人称。于是一下子，你知道这对恋人已经被河水吞没，从此消失不复存在了。
