Cogito & Microcosmos

有一天早上，我吃豪華大早餐的時候，放了一張唱片。當時我一邊吃一邊急著把《二刻拍案驚奇》第四卷看完，也不很注意拿了什麼唱片放，反正有點音樂就是了。聽了一會，我才聽出來是「年輕的Sting」。爲什麼說「年輕的」？原來我拿到的唱片是「警察樂團」。這個名字真的很怪，我認為英國三大怪團名非"The Police", "Queen"以及"Yardbirds"莫屬。
這張唱片是"The Very Best of...Sting & the Police"。當然一方面是因為警察合唱團的音樂很不錯，更大的原因是因為這張的封面Sting實在太帥太英俊了。封面上他手撐著頭，冷靜地看著我。不過當我買了之後，才發現裡面有很多首歌曲我都有了....因為這張是警察合唱團以及Sting單飛後的精選集，不免重複。
警察合唱團的音樂很有意思，我想來想去，不知道屬於British Rock 還是Soft Rock還是Pop/Rock。因為好像這三個都有。British Rock這是不用說的，第一，整團都是英國人，第二，團峰也走英國路線，這就好像你聽到Jimmy Hendrix，你會說這個絕對不是British Rock,而你聽到The Eagles，也不會把它放在這個類型中。並不是因為你知道Jimmy Hendrix或是The Eagles都是美國人或美國團，而是英式搖滾和美國搖滾有很大的區別，一聽就知道，譬如Gun 'N' Roses就是美國搖滾，而Eric Clapton(現在改走Blue Rock), Yardbirds、Oasis就是英式搖滾。
簡單的說，英式搖滾的編曲都不怎麼華麗，和絃也比較簡單，就連歌詞經過多重考慮，絕對是有意思的，唱法上，有時候只是低低沉吟，以求整個曲子的和諧，大吼大叫的情況比較少見。美國搖滾，我目前還沒聽到那種有「低低沉吟」的，譬如"Aero Smith", "Bon Jovi"還是什麼"Skid Row", 哪個不是又吼又叫，好像非得把喉嚨喊破了似的，很強調音樂的爆發，給人一瞬間的重擊。另外，加入鄉村因素的通常也只有美國團，因為鄉村的發源地是美國啊，譬如Bob Dylon, The Eagles。說起來，兩個各有好處啦，只是要我來選，我還是喜歡British Rock.


Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
by The Police

Though Ive tried before to tell her
Of the feelings I have for her in my heart
Every time that I come near her
I just lose my nerve
As Ive done from the start

Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on

Do I have to tell the story
Of a thousand rainy days since we first met
Its a big enough umbrella
But its always me that ends up getting wet

Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on

I resolve to call her up a thousand times a day
And ask her if shell marry me in some old fashioned way
But my silent fears have gripped me
Long before I reach the phone
Long before my tongue has tripped me
Must I always be alone?

Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on