《小狗金曲站》

Honey

《Honey》可說是 Bobby Goldsboro 最成功的一首歌曲，收錄在同名大碟〈Honey〉內，它在1968年曾高据美國流行榜第一位達5星期之久。《Honey》的流行程度也可從翻唱的版本數量反影出來，不同風格的歌手提供了這首歌的多種形態。

《Honey》的調子跟《Autumn Of My Life》同樣是十分哀傷，開首描述歌者看到屋前的一棵樹而想起逝去的愛人，因為那是經愛人親手栽種，悉心照料的一棵樹，跟著一幕幕往日的片段呈現腦海中。她擁有一顆童真的心，一忽兒像是很愚笨，一忽兒又變得很精明。家中每一角落，也令歌者想起種種相處時之樂事，而副歌不斷重覆著懷念之情，實叫人也感受到哀傷之痛。

Bobby Goldsboro 的《Honey》：

Honey





Music and Lyrics: Bobby Russell

4/4



F                                                                       Gm7

See the tree how big it's grown, but friend, it hasn't been too long it wasn't big.

                                C7                                       F  

I laughed at her and she got mad, the first day that she planted it was just a twig.

                                                                       Gm7

Then the first snow came and she ran out to brush the snow away so it wouldn't die.

C7       Gm7                   C7                                F

Came runnin' in all excited, slipped and almost hurt herself, and I laughed till I cried.



She was always young at heart, kinda dumb and kinda smart and I loved her so.

And I surprised her with a puppy, kept me up all Christmas eve, two years ago.

And it would sure embarrass her when I came home from work late 'cause I would know.

That she'd been sitting there and crying over some sad and silly late late show.



CHORUS:

F               Gm7      C7           F

And Honey, I miss you and I'm, being good.

                   Gm7     C7           F

And I'd love to be with you, if only I could.



She wrecked the car and she was sad and so afraid that I'd be mad, but what the heck.

Though I pretended hard to be, guess you could say she saw through me, and hugged my neck.

I came home unexpectedly and found her crying needlessly in the middle of the day.

And it was in the early spring, when flowers bloom and robins sing, she went away.



CHORUS



One day while I was not home, she was there and all alone, the angels came.

Now all I have is memories of Honey, and I wake up nights and call her name.

Now my life's an empty stage, where Honey lived and Honey played, and love grew up.

A small cloud passes overhead and cries down in the flowerbed that Honey loved.



CHORUS

由於翻唱的歌手眾多，我挑選了幾個不同風格的版本（30秒試聽版）。
第一個版本是來自加拿大鄉謠歌手 Hank Snow (1914-1999)，《Honey》收錄在他於1969年出版的大碟〈Hits Covered By Snow〉，這個版本當然鄉謠味道較重。這張大碟的名稱頗為有趣，語帶相關，封面鋪了一些雪在地上，所以就是 "coverd by snow"。而碟中的歌曲是 Hank Snow 翻唱別人的流行曲，所以便成了 "Hits Covered By Snow"。

第二個是女歌手的版本，來自有墨西哥血統的 Vikki Carr ，收錄在1971年出版的大碟〈The Ways to Love a Man〉。

第三個是騷靈 (soul) 版，來自 The Four Tops 於1969年的大碟〈Soul Spin〉，這個版本把原有的旋律全都去掉了。



第四個是搖滾版，來自美國搖滾樂隊 Billy Joe Winghead 於2003年的大碟〈Precious Moments With Billy Joe Winghead 〉，這個版本也是取代了原有的旋律。



下面兩個是我較為喜歡的版本，先聽以下的一段，看看大家能否聽出是那位歌手的演繹。



很明顯是來自我們的貓王 Elvis 吧！但是 Elvis 應該沒有唱過《Honey》啊！

第五個是來自美國男歌手 Orion（1945-1998）的版本，收錄於1978年的大碟〈Reborn〉。Orion 原名 Jimmy Ellis ，他無論談話與歌唱跟 Elvis 實在太相似了，在樂迷聽來好像延續了 Elvis 的歌唱一樣。Orion 無論在唱片封面或現場演出時都戴上了面具，在 Youtube 可以看到一些他的片段，如他唱《Save Your Last Dance For Me 》的現場演出。

第六個版本是來自美國鄉謠歌手 Eddy Arnold ，收錄於1968年出版的大碟〈The Romantic World of Eddy Arnold〉。

聽 Eddy Arnold 演繹一些抒情歌曲時，風格跟他同期的男歌手十分相近，如 Pat Boone, Perry Como, Jim Reeves , Bing Crosby 等，那時期的男歌手都擁有一把雄厚而優美的聲音，Youtube 上有他唱的《Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye》。