Mingus Mingus Mingus

一向無法安於主流看法所謂的「巔峰」。這是之所以我偏好Bruce Springsteen的Tunnel of Love, 而不是Born in the USA, 或Born to Run; Bob Dylan的 Blood on the Tracks, 而不是Blond on Blond。 兩位樂手都在前者裏, 細膩而淌血地寫下人生失落期的種種經驗。

多年前, 有一段日子, 我曾經不斷聽Blood on the Tracks 直到天明。

這首Dylan的Simple Twist of Fate(單純的命運乖桀), 可說是療傷級的經典。最近無意間在老家重拾Rolling Stone 的SACD sampler, 才又勾起這首歌的完整記憶。先節錄歌詞的後幾段:

He woke up, the room was bare
He didn't see her anywhere.
He told himself he didn't care, pushed the window open wide,
Felt an emptiness inside to which he just could not relate
Brought on by a simple twist of fate.

He hears the ticking of the clocks
And walks along with a parrot that talks,
Hunts her down by the waterfront docks where the sailers all come in.
Maybe she'll pick him out again, how long must he wait
Once more for a simple twist of fate.

People tell me it's a sin
To know and feel too much within.
I still believe she was my twin, but I lost the ring.
She was born in spring, but I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate.

如同最後一段所言:
知道太多, 感覺太深, 是種原罪。
像柏拉圖所提過的, 人都在尋覓靈魂失散多年的另一半, 這也是Dylan歌詞中承受的負荷: 直至分手都仍認為對方是自己一半的雙胞胎。