“上尉诗人”詹姆斯·布朗特

“上尉诗人”詹姆斯·布朗特

梁碧滢

译

James Blunt

无疑是

200 5

年度欧美主流乐坛最让人惊喜

的“黑马王子”

。这位曾经在战乱的科索沃率领

3

万英国维

不能不为之动容 心碎的《

You Are Beautiful

》

，攻陷了众多乐

迷的心。今年三月，在有英国“格莱美”之称的“英国流行< /p>

音乐大奖”

颁奖典礼上，

他一举摘取

“最佳流行艺人”

和

“最

< br>佳男歌手”两个重要奖项，而他首张专辑《

Back to Bedlam

》

的销量步步高升，风行欧美，他的这份成绩单可谓炫目得让

人难以置信。

然而，

所有被

James Blunt

打动的人都知道，

他

并不只是一个背着吉他、拿过往战场上的经历招摇过市的歌

手。他的音乐中， 有生活，有爱，有他经历过的生与死的决

裂，还有让你心潮澎湃的感动……

(Terry)

The music

’

s romantic aspects and the

singer

’

s poster appeal

―

2)tousled hair, 3)bedroom eyes,

4)chiseled features and full mouth

―

have cast James Blunt as

the latest pop 5)pinup.

Droll and 6)unfailingly polite, Blunt also can be defensive

and a 7)tad 8)frosty, his tone hardening when he senses a

9)misperception or challenge. He smiles easily, wears a direct

gaze and speaks in a 10)crisp, rapid flow, seldom pausing and

11)dodging only matters of his private life. “I find language

quite limiting in capturing what’s going on in the mind,” he says.

“But combined with the medium of music, I found it captured

what

I felt. It was a natural and almost necessary outlet.”

Blunt

’

s outlet yielded an intercontinental 12)commotion.

Released in the UK in October 2004, Back to 13)Bedlam sold 2.4

million copies and perched nine weeks at No. 1 (unseating

Coldplay) to become the year

’

s best-selling album in England

and the biggest-selling disc in a single year since sales

14)tabulations began there in 1994. “You’re Beautiful,” a

gorgeous acoustic slice of heartache and 15)futile 16)pining,

spent five weeks at No. 1 last summer. He just won two 17)Brit

Awards, the UK 18)equivalent of the Grammys. Blunt threatens

to follow a similar 19)trajectory here in the U.S.. Bedlam has

gradually built an audience, and all shows on a headline tour

starting March 13 sold out the day tickets went on sale.

“

Commercialism is an ugly thing to focus on,” Blunt says.

“The U.S. is a very different place, and often we in Britain very

naively say, ‘We’re going to invade and break America.’ I’m

20)adamant that I haven’t come here to break an

yone. I hope

people from any country, race or religion can relate. I’m

enjoying the opportunity and the experience of connecting

musically.”

Blunt hardly seemed destined for rock stardom. He grew

up in a home with no stereo (except in the car) and musical

training that was long-haired in the pre-

’60s sense. At his

mother’s urging, he took up the 21)recorder at three, the violin

at five and the piano at seven.

“

It was a pretty miserable experience to play Bee- thoven

’

s 22)Sonata in F Sharp Major repetitively,

”

he says

. “But it was

a great introduction to an understanding of music.”

Through classmates in boarding school, he got an earful of

David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Su-pertramp and The

Pixies. Later he would 23)gravitate to Jeff Buckley, Paul Simon,

Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and Elliott Smith.

“

At that age, I was pretty naive,

”

Blunt says.

“

I hadn

’

t come across much. I didn

’

t have money to buy records. I had

my parents

’

one Beatles tape, one Beach Boys tape, their one

Don McLean. I got myself an electric guitar when I was 14 and

found I could experiment, make mistakes and write songs. I

could take it away to a private place. A piano is always public.”

At 14, he 24)pledged his life to music, a calling postponed

by a four-year 25)stint in the army. Born into a long line of

military men, Blunt joined after graduating from Bristol

University, going to Kosovo in 1999 first as a 26)reconnaissance

officer in the bombing campaign and then as a peacekeeper

with NATO forces. As the officer nearest the 27)Macedonia

border entry point, he led the march to 28)Pristina.

“

There was a column of 30,000 people behind us,

”

he

says.

“

You

’

ve got to be a good map reader and turn left

instead of right, because to arrive in Belgrade would have been

29)marginally embarrassing.”

Blunt kept a guitar strapped to his tank on patrol in Pristina,

not exactly an entertainment capital.

“

It was depressing,

”

he says.

“

I saw humanity at its worst

and most destructive, and at the same time individuals on all

sides showed incredible courage through strife.”

His war-zone experiences inspired the tune

“

No Bravery,

”

and playing it triggers flashbacks. The 30)genocide he

witnessed 31)sears his memory, but you won

’

t catch him

32)whining about it.

In a 33)jarring shift, Capt. Blunt spent his last year of

service in the Queen

’

s 34) Life Guard, riding horseback and

sporting 35)armor, a sword, a plumed helmet and tall boots

during her 2002 36)jubilee.

“

It was very easy to go from that to

being a rock star,”

Blunt quips.

Discharged in 2002, he played London

’

s small clubs and