歌曲與電影

　　　　
　　　 Somewhere beyond the sea
　　　 Somewhere waitin』 for me
      My lover stands on golden sands
      And watches the ships that go sailin』.
 
      Somewhere beyond the sea
      She's there watchin』 for me
      If I could fly like birds on high
      Then straight to her arms I』d go sailin』.
     
      It's far beyond the stars
      It's near beyond the moon
      I know beyond a doubt
      My heart will lead me there soon.
 
      We'll meet beyond the shore
      We'll kiss just as before
      Happy we'll be beyond the sea
      And never again I'll go sailin'.
 
      I know beyond a doubt
      My heart will lead me there soon
      We'll meet … I know we'll meet … beyond the shore
      We'll kiss just as before.
 
      Happy we'll be beyond the sea
      And never again I'll go sailin'.
 
      No more sailin' …
      So long sailin' …
      Bye, bye sailin'...
      Move on out, captain …
      So long, ensign …
 


Finding Nimo（海底總動員）是我家閨女們常看的片子，結尾的那首Somewhere beyond the sea她們也能哼哼幾句。前年有部也是表現歌星生活的傳記片，名字就叫　Beyond the Sea，編劇導演和主演是奧斯卡得主Kevin Spacey 。影片的主人公Bobby Darin出身貧寒，小時候即患有心臟病，在母親的鼓勵下開始走上歌舞之路。其實他一直認作母親的女人是他的外祖母，他是個私生子，其親生母親一直被他當做姐姐。婚姻生活也比較離奇，他的妻子Sandra Dee 是童星出身，其母為掙錢謊報了她的年齡，她嫁人的時候才１６歲。為了和死亡爭奪時間，Bobby Darin拼命工作，到處演唱、拍電影，曾經獲得奧斯卡的提名，３７歲就離開了人世。Beyond the Sea不是他最早演唱，但他的版本比較有名。

在影片中Kevin Spacey 親自演唱，有評論說比原唱還要好。沒聽過原唱，不好比較，不過感覺比Walk the Line那兩位主演唱得要好得多。不過Kevin Spacey演出時 的年紀比Bobby Darin去世時還大８歲，看他和小姑娘談戀愛我覺得很不舒服。作為編導還算稱職，這是他導演的第二部作品，不知他是否會向前發展。

有意思的是，貝托魯齊的The Dreamers（戲夢人生）也以那首歌曲為主旋律，歌曲在影片中反覆播放，令我懷疑這首歌曲原來就是法文的，從聽者的感覺來看，法文版的演唱更自然順暢。感謝萬能的GOOGLE，我今天找到了源頭。果真如此。

請看英語版填詞人Jack Lawrence 的敘述：
http://www.jacklawrencesongwriter.com/home.html


The Story Behind The Song
As with all of Trenet's songs this one was originally published by Raoul Breton in France with the title "La Mer" (The Sea). This was also the title of a lovely concert piece by Debussy. In previous years I had met M. & Mme. Breton on their 紐約 visits and written English lyrics to their French hits. I never did direct translations; for one thing, my high school French was inadequate.

But I truly felt doing a literal translation was hardly creative so I would play the French song over and over until it became part of me. Then and only then would I start creating my lyric. In the past I had written lyrics to a couple of Trenet's French hits and when we finally met on one of his trips to the U.S. he complimented me on my work.

The Bretons came to my home in 紐約 in '46 with recordings of "La Mer" and said that Trenet would like me to do the English lyric. I loved the unusual melody he had written but was not intrigued with his French lyric, which told about the different moods of the sea, and how they affected him.

Also, most of the recordings that had been made were somber and symphonic in feeling. I decided that my lyric would tell a different story — a romantic tale of a sea-faring lover and a land-locked lover waiting on a golden shore for his return.

I would like to quote from an article by Will Friedwald that appeared in the 2002 music issue of Vanity Fair. He wrote:

"Lawrence's words to "Beyond The Sea" constitute a lyric of the highest order. He started by adding that one word: beyond, and that drove the entire song. In the song's middle section Lawrence goes beyond "beyond" by using the word as the linchpin of a series of phrases, each with a slightly different meaning. "Beyond a star... Beyond the moon... Beyond a doubt" The word star arrives on an accidental C-sharp, which charges the phrase with unexpected oomph and gives the word an especially starry feeling. Changing the title, paradoxically, allowed Lawrence to remain phonetically faithful, at least, to Trenet's original: in Trenet's text each 8 bar "A" section begins with the words "La Mer"; in Lawrence's version each of these sections commences with "Somewhere" so that the English lyric has the same sonic feel as the original."

Thank you, Will, for the clarity of your explanation. It's so nice to know that the workings of one's mind are being appreciated by experts.

Let me continue with more of Will's article:

"For all the craftsmanship of Lawrence and Trenet, "Beyond The Sea" was not an instant hit in America. The early recordings were surprisingly heavy. 班尼 Goodman recorded it with a string orchestra in 1947 and Tex Beneke cut it with his Glenn Miller orchestra. (An air check survives of Beneke playing it with Ronnie Deauville, a crooner who was almost impossible to distinguish from the young Sinatra. This track has been circulated by collectors as a Miller-Sinatra recording). For ten years or so the song lay dormant."

One day at the publisher's offices I ran into a new young singer with a distinctive style. He was brash and a bit cocky but rather refreshing and his name was Bobby Darin. He didn't hesitate to tell everyone that someday he would be as popular as Sinatra. I gave him a copy of "Beyond The Sea" and asked him what he thought of it. He said he liked some of the recordings he'd heard but he felt the song lacked a definite beat. A few months later he sent me his latest album and there was "Mack The Knife" and "Beyond The Sea" done to a crisp with an infectious toe-tapping beat and Bobby's inimitable delivery. Everyone in the business will agree that Bobby Darin's version turned those two songs into mega-hits.

Through the years, after his untimely death, there has been repeated talk of one of the big studios filming THE BOBBY DARIN STORY. Recently, Kevin Spacey announced that for years he has been eager to star in that role. Some say he may be a bit long in the tooth to play that youngster but let's wait and see. After all, he's an Oscar winner.