Never Understand

靠在Grant Hotel的露天陽台邊，正好就在賭場的對面。那時是1957年，摩納哥下午的和煦陽光還是有點刺眼，賽車快速地通過我眼前，混合著塵土與汽油味的落山風陣陣拂來，旁邊帶著巨大珍珠項鍊的小姐對著男伴說：「這是全世界最棒的生活。」，此時一個年輕男孩把他的Alfa Romeo賽車停在路邊，向路人要了一杯馬丁尼，被燻黑的臉龐朝我做了一個微笑，我朝他敬了口酒，白葡萄的香味在口中蒸發之時，我的人生也快走到了盡頭。

The Divine Comedy，或該說是Neil Hannon，在今年發行了新專輯Victory For the Comic Muse。在整體的設計感與概念來說，此張專輯是頗為成功的。宛如重回50、60年代的懷舊氣息，郵票的封套與內頁設計，都相當地令人激賞，而音樂內容也企圖重回五十年前的復古歌謠，但實際上卻是不甚動聽的， 儘管音符間仍能聽出一些深厚的功力，不過旋律性和樂器表現都比之前的專輯還差，唯一表現正常的，還是仍是一手好詞， Neil Hannon依舊是個浪漫美麗的Story Teller。

而A Lady Of A Certain Age則是專輯裡最傑出的歌曲，當然，這首歌的背後，也包含了某個感傷的故事。

A Lady Of A Certain Age

Back in the day you had been part of the smart set
You'd holidayed with kings, dined out with starlets
From London to New York, Cap Ferrat to Capri
In perfume by Chanel and clothes by Givenchy
You sipped camparis with David and Peter
At Noel's parties by Lake Geneva
Scaling the dizzy heights of high society
Armed only with a cheque-book and a family tree

You chased the sun around the Cote d'Azur
Until the light of youth became obscured
And left you on your own and in the shade
An English lady of a certain age
And if a nice young man would buy you a drink
You'd say with a conspiratorial wink
"You wouldn't think that I was seventy"
And he'd say,"no, you couldn't be!"

You had to marry someone very very rich
So that you might be kept in the style to which
You had all of your life been accustomed to
But that the socialists had taxed away from you
You gave him children, a girl and a boy
To keep your sanity a nanny was employed
And when the time came they were sent away
Well that was simply what you did in those days

You chased the sun around the Cote d'Azur
Until the light of youth became obscured
And left you on your own and in the shade
An English lady of a certain age
And if a nice young man would buy you a drink
You'd say with a conspiratorial wink
"You wouldn't think that I was sixty three"
And he'd say,"no, you couldn't be!

Your son's in stocks and bonds and lives back in Surrey
Flies down once in a while and leaves in a hurry
Your daughter never finished her finishing school
Married a strange young man of whom you don't approve
Your husband's hollow heart gave out one Christmas Day
He left the villa to his mistress in Marseilles
And so you come here to escape your little flat
Hoping someone will fill your glass and let you chat about how

You chased the sun around the Cote d'Azur
Until the light of youth became obscured
And left you all alone and in the shade
An English lady of a certain age
And if a nice young man would buy you a drink
You'd say with a conspiratorial wink
"You wouldn't think that I was fifty three"
And he'd say,"no, you couldn't be!