Cogito & Microcosmos

一兩年前，我買了一張精選集，名字叫做"Love Songs a Compilation...Old & New", 是Phil Collins的自選集。我當初會買的原因是Collins翻唱了Cindy Lauper的"True Colours", 合聲非常完美，整首歌只有合聲，間奏有Saxphone等,沒有編曲，很純粹。聽完後，我更喜歡上該專輯的另一首歌曲，"I've Been Trying".
這首歌並不是Collins的曲子，是Curtis Mayfield的創作，六零年代由英國搖滾樂團Yardbird翻唱過。一切機緣之下，Collins錄製了這首曲子。
我一聽就深深愛上，旋律明瞭，然而編曲很了不起，簡單下又有一種風味，很低沉、很適合半夜看書的背景音樂。事實上，這張專輯就陪我度過了大學二年級的夜晚。
聽了一陣子後，我一直在想，到底歌詞想說的是什麼？講述了分手還是容忍或者是愛的不可自拔，因為有一句是"So keep on trying , boy, she's gonna change".
那麼到底要"trying"什麼呢？試著改變那女人或者是著改變自己以配合她？
這首歌的歌詞到現在還是個不可結的迷，實在很配編曲風格，不明朗、沉重、環繞著一股說不出的憂傷。

說實在，我不是個Collins迷，他的很多歌曲也非常「芭樂」，唱到不能在唱，只要是現年30-40歲的一定有聽過他的歌曲。(再次重申我是因為喜歡老歌，可不是也30-40歲了！)
但是很意外地，這張選集選了一些很經典但又不太芭樂的歌曲，有許多不是當年的A面主打歌，整體來說，也偏向憂傷的個性。


I've Been Trying
by Curtis Mayfield


I've been trying,
lord knows that I've been trying
to understand why
can't I be your only man

Now you said you loved me
so sincerely
that I believed that you loved me
Yet I can't understand why
Can't I be your only man

Day after day you
Ya Treat me any old way
I wanna go but my heart says no
Acting so strange
but my love still remains
So keep on trying boy
she's gonna change

[Instrumental]

Day after day you
Ya Treat me any old way
I wanna go but my heart says no
Acting so strange
yet my love still remains
It says keep on trying boy
she's gonna change

Now, I've been trying,
lord knows how I've been trying
But I can't understand why
can't I be your only man

I just keep on trying
Oooh...ohoooh...
Just keep on trying...
Oooh...ohoooh...
Ya gotta keep on trying
Oooh...ohoooh...