Don 在這張唱片中的另一首經典曲，Vincent，則是首十足民謠風味的歌。

1971 年，Don McLean 讀完了一本有關十九世紀畫家梵古的故事後寫下這首曲子。同樣地，他以慣用的細膩筆法與濃厚的感情，以隱誨的技巧；用梵古的畫名為經，畫物為緯；把他對這位 畫家的思慕與歎息寫了下來。這首歌在呈現上十分單純，沒有華麗的製作，基本上就是他的自己的歌聲及一把吉他。妙的是，它能從頭到尾吸引著你的注意力。

Don的歌詞寫的太好，把它不著痕跡地譯成中文，有其難度。我花了點時間，把歌詞翻譯出來。但希望這不會是我一人之作。個人能力有限，我十分希望這份翻譯會成為一項大家集思廣義的「集體創作」，還望您能「共襄勝舉」，把你的翻譯寄過來。

這是我製作的 video. 望你喜歡：

八方論談網

YouTube網：

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Vincent — Don McLean

Starry starry night
paint your palette blue and gray

「繁星的夜晚」
在你畫板中加入了灰與藍

look out on a summer’s day
with eyes that know the
darkness in my soul.

用你能透視我靈魂深處的眼力
眺望著這樣的一個夏日

Shadows on the hills
sketch the trees and the daffodils

你描繪了各式的水仙和樹木
又加上山坡上的陰影

catch the breeze and the winter chills
in colors on the snowy linen land.

用那凈如白紗的色調
捕捉著冬日的冷風及寒觫

And now I understand what you tried to say to me

現在，我清楚了
我了解了你要告訴我什麼

how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.

你要告訴我，你當時是如何地被自己的瘋狂所苦
你要告訴我，你渴望著掙脫它的桎梏

They would not listen
they did not know how

但人們不願聆聽你的呼喊
他們也不曉得如何靜聽你的傾訴

perhaps they’ll listen now.

也許現在，他們會聽你說話了

Starry starry night
flaming flo’rs that brightly blaze
swirling clouds in violet haze

「繁星的夜晚」
「火焰色的花發射著炙熱的色彩」
「在紫紅的薄霧中纏繞著的雲彩」

Reflect in
Vincent’s eyes of China blue.

映出了 Vicent 那對「中國藍」的眼珠

Colors changing hue
morning fields of amber grain

「多彩的薄霧」
「晨曦中橘紅的稻穀」

weathered faces lined in pain
are soothed beneath the artist’s
loving hand.

「一個個飽受風霜及痛苦的臉龐」
在藝術家充滿愛心的筆下，忠實地呈現了出來

And now I understand what you tried to say to me

我現在了解了
我了解你要告訴我些什麼

how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.

你要說的，是你當時如何地被自己的瘋狂所苦
你要說的，是你當時如何渴望地掙脫它的束縛

They did not listen they did not know how
perhaps they’ll listen now.

那時他們聽不見，也不想聽
現在，他們可能要聽了

For they could not love you
but still your love was true

人們雖然不愛惜你
但你的情感仍舊是真稚的

and when no hope was left in sight on that
starry starry night.
You took your life as lovers often do;

就在那個絕望的一個繁星之夜中
像個「尋愛者」，你奪走了自己的生命

But I could have told you, Vincent
this world was never
meant for one
as beautiful as you.

但我早該告訴你, Vincent
這個世界是配不上像你這麼一個美麗的人物的

Starry starry night
portraits hung in empty halls

「一個充滿繁星的夜晚」
「空蕩的廳堂中掛著的人像」

frameless heads on nameless walls

「一些無名的牆上，掛著些無框的肖像」

with eyes
that watch the world and can’t forget.

用它們的眼睛注視著這不能忘懷的世界

Like the stranger that you’ve met
the ragged men in ragged clothes
the silver thorn of bloddy rose
lie crushed and broken
on the virgin snow.

就像你見過的那個陌生人
「襤褸的人們，及他們襤褸的衣裳」
還有支離破碎地，躺在初雪中的紅玫瑰；以及它銀色的花刺

And now I think I know
what you tried to say to me

我想，現在我知道了
我知道你想告訴我些什麼

how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.

你想說的是：
你當時是如何地被自己的瘋狂所苦
你當時是如何渴望著掙脫它的桎梏

They would not listen
they’re not list’ning still

他們是不會去聽你要說些什麼的，
直到現在，他們還是不想聽

perhaps they never will.
也許，他們永遠都不會去聽了….

聽歌應該是件愉快的事兒，因此我一向不喜歡把它談的太正經，或給予太多的「學術氣味」。但經過了六十多年的沉澱，我覺得有些歌的確有必要特別提出來談談。因為在美國流行歌曲的歷史中，它具有指標性。

1971年，在美國出現了一張專集唱片。名為 American Pie (美國派），創作人是來自紐約的歌手 Don McLean。

唱片推出後，引起了空前的轟動。這張專集以及其中的兩首歌(單曲) 後來都成了經典：

其一是 American Pie
其二是 Vincent

談及美國文化的具像代表，「派」可能是一個常見的印像。不知是否因為它給人一種「母親」的聯想？（母親做的 pie? motherland? ，像是老中的「祖國」？）

American Pie 談的是美國的流行音樂文化，當年引起了廣大的共鳴。作者用八分多鐘的時間闡述自己的「搖滾記憶」與他成長間的關係，以及在他記憶中的1959年，當聞及一 架飛機失事奪走了三位炙手的年輕搖滾樂手(Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens & The Big Bopper)後的悲痛。Don 在歌中將飛機失事的那一天訂為 “The Day The Music Died” (「音樂死亡」的那一天），因為他認為搖混樂就在那一天劃上了句號。他的這句話後來也成了名言。

American Pie 是首敘事與抒情的歌，Don McLean 在歌中很巧妙地用了很多隱諱的指名與典故來敘說故事，這些典故當時引起了許多人的揣測和討論。也宜發地助長了人們對其人，其樂，以及這張唱片的興趣。

American Pie (美國派) 專集版長達八分三十三秒；單曲發行時則分正反兩面，正面是四分十一秒；反面是四分三十一秒。從當時唱片的製作及銷售來講，這張專集發行的時間, 剛好也是市場上專集唱片的重要性日見凌架單曲的時候。這項轉型，使得當時發行這首長達八分多鐘的歌成為可能。至於它的單曲版本，各電台都不約而同地放棄正 面，祇播反面（B面），也成為一種奇特的現像。因為一般四十五轉的單曲唱片，正面（A面）才是主打歌。

此曲當年造成的風潮，除了排行榜的佳績之外，一時全美（即使說全球，可能也不為過）在廣播中，電視上，報紙內，雜誌間都在討論它。它有多麼轟動？就 在同一年(1971)另 一首流行歌 Killing Me Softly With His Song （他的歌溫柔地終結了我） 說的就是該曲作者聽了 Don 演唱後的感觸。歌詞是這麼說的：

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song….

他（彈奏的）手指不經意地觸及了我的痛處
他（演唱的）歌詞敘述了我的人生
他的歌曲溫柔地終結了我
他的歌曲溫柔地終結了我….

四十年後的今天，此曲的「經典」地位，在人們的心目中，依舊是十分穩固地歭立著。

聽歌，這是一位泰國女歌手的版本。唱的不錯（非本人製作）：

歌詞蠻長，需要點耐心。Here it is…

A long, long time ago…
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.

But february made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.

I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

So bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”

Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock ’n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you’re in love with him
`cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.

I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.

I started singin’,
“bye-bye, miss american pie.”
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”

Now for ten years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone,
But that’s not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
In a coat he borrowed from james dean
And a voice that came from you and me,

Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.
And while lennon read a book of marx,
The quartet practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died.

We were singing,
“bye-bye, miss american pie.”
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”

Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and falling fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass,
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

We started singing,
“bye-bye, miss american pie.”
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”

Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devil’s only friend.

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that satan’s spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singing,
“bye-bye, miss american pie.”
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play.

And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.

And they were singing,
“bye-bye, miss american pie.”
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”

They were singing,
“bye-bye, miss american pie.”
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.”

這是我在YT上找到的最佳 American Pie 視頻。除了介紹歌之外，也詳細介紹了歌詞的內容。非常好：