Streets of London Resonates with So Many《伦敦街道》引发众人共鸣

埃莱娜·舒马赫　李苹/译

Ralph McTell calls Streets of London the “blip in his graph”. Its by far his most successful， best-known and loved song， one that has inspired hundreds of cover versions around the world.

拉尔夫·麦可泰尔称《伦敦街道》是他人生“曲线图上的转折点”。这是他最成功、最著名、最受人喜爱的歌曲，世界各地有数百个翻唱版本。

More than half a century on， the song still feels as relevant today as when it was first written. Why does it have such long-lasting appeal？

半个多世纪过去了，这首歌在今天仍和最初问世时一样有现实意义。为什么它有如此持久的吸引力呢？

Streets of London could just have easily been called “Streets of Paris”. It was in part inspired by the clochards1 （homeless） who lay on the hot air grates of the French capitals metro to keep warm， placing their boots under their head so they wouldnt be stolen as they slept. The tune came first to McTell， and then the subject matter. “I tried to fit the people Id seen on the Paris streets to this tune，” he recalls. Once the song developed， McTell drew on his own experiences growing up in England and changed the location of the title.

《伦敦街道》本来可能被命名为“巴黎街道”。这首歌的部分灵感来源于法国首都的流浪汉，他们躺在地铁出热风的格栅上取暖，把靴子枕在头下以免睡觉时被偷走。麦可泰尔首先想到的是曲调，而后才是主题。他回忆道：“我努力把我在巴黎街头看到的那些人融入这首歌的曲调。”歌曲成形后，麦可泰尔根据自己在英国长大的经历，改变了歌名中的地点。

But this isnt an ode to Englands capital city. The “closed down market” where the old man is nonchalantly “kicking up the papers / with his worn-out shoes” to find leftover fruit from packed away stalls was actually a market in Croydon， London， near where McTell grew up.

但这不是英国首都伦敦的一曲颂歌。歌词写到，有位老人在“打烊后的市场”漫不经心地“用穿着破鞋的脚踢起报纸”，以便从已经收起的摊位上找残留的水果吃，这个市场其实位于伦敦的克罗伊登区，离麦可泰尔长大的地方不远。

The reason the song has such wide appeal is that it reflects some fundamental human truths. Namely， the fear of ending up alone， like the heartbreaking tale of the old man in the all-night café， sipping tea slowly and then wandering home alone. McTell believes that “everyone， deep down， is scared of that emptiness and loneliness and that alienation... by singing the chorus， it makes it all go away.”

這首歌之所以有如此广泛的吸引力，是因为它反映了人类的一些基本真相——害怕孤独终老，就像在那个令人心碎的故事里，老人在通宵营业的咖啡馆里慢慢地喝茶，然后独自漫步回家。麦可泰尔相信“每个人内心深处都害怕那种空虚、孤独和疏离的感觉……唱起副歌部分，那些感觉就都消失了。”

The song is undoubtedly heart-stirring and resonates with people in a number of ways， from the parents who hear it for the first time when their children sing it in choir to the German schoolchildren who study its lyrics as poetry to learn about those less fortunate than themselves. It provokes strong emotion. For me personally， it conjures up2 fond childhood memories of my dad playing it on the guitar. Others have more poignant and visceral associ-ations.

这首歌无疑是打动人心的，以多种方式引起人们的共鸣，无论是听孩子在合唱团演唱从而首次听到这首歌的父母，还是把歌词当作诗歌来学习的德国学生——学生们以此了解那些比自己不幸的人。这首歌能激起强烈的情感。于我个人而言，它让我想起我儿时父亲用吉他弹奏这首歌的美好记忆。其他人则有更感伤、更发自肺腑的联想。

One person for whom the song is memorable is Jerry Playle， a music producer. He told BBC Radio 4s Soul Music that as a young guitarist it was “irresistible”， and posed an enticing challenge with its chords， harmonies and words. He recalls a nerve-wracking audition for a folk club when he performed Streets of London. He had spent hours practising the guitar playing， but only realised when he opened his mouth to sing that he was far from word perfect. He thought he would have to make his apologies and slope off stage. But his audience， sensing he was floundering， joined in one by one， until everyone was singing along. He remembers feeling “utterly lifted by it. They rescued me.”

对有个人来说这首歌难以忘怀，这个人就是音乐制作人杰里·普莱尔。他在英国广播公司第四电台的《灵魂音乐》栏目中说到，这首歌让当时身为年轻吉他手的他“无法抗拒”，和弦、和声和歌词都是诱人的挑战。他想起有次去一家民谣俱乐部试演，他高度紧张，当时表演的正是《伦敦街道》。他之前花了数小时练习吉他演奏，结果开口唱歌时才意识到歌词记得远远不够熟练。他以为自己只能道完歉，溜下舞台。但听众感受到了他正不知所措，一个又一个地加入演唱，直到所有人都唱了起来。他记得自己感觉“整个人受到了鼓舞。他们解救了我”。

For Playle， there is a connection between the “encouragement and the kindness of strangers” in the audience saving his audition， and the words of the song itself. He says， “It could have been any song， but it was that song and thats a very profound experience.”

对普莱尔来说，挽救了他试演的观众给予了他“来自陌生人的鼓励和善意”，这与歌曲本身的歌词之间存在联系。他说：“本来有可能是任何一首歌，但当时就是那首歌，那是一次非常深刻的经历。”

The association with the song has come full circle as he has since met McTell and become a trustee for the Streets of London charity， which supports people who are homeless in London.

自那时起，他结识了麦可泰尔并成为慈善机构“伦敦街道”的受托人，他与这首歌的联系也兜兜转转回到原点。“伦敦街道”帮助的正是在伦敦无家可归的人。

Gwen Ever， a DJ who became homeless in the 1980s， is reminded of that era when he listens to a powerful punk version of Streets of London by the Anti-Nowhere League. The song had an anger that chimed with the time： activism had taken off and homelessness was an issue people were incensed about. But， says Ever： “I had no idea that before the decade would have ended， that I would be one of those people in the song.”

格溫·埃弗是一名打碟师，曾在20世纪80年代变得无家可归。当听到“反无处联盟”乐队演唱的劲爆朋克版《伦敦街道》，他想起了自己的流浪岁月。这首歌有一种契合那个年代的愤怒：当时激进主义已经兴起，无家可归是一个让人们愤怒的问题。但埃弗说：“我未曾想过在那十年结束之前，我竟会成为歌中人的一员。”

His personal world came crashing down following a split with his pregnant girlfriend and losing loved ones in the Zeebrugge ferry disaster3. When he ended up sleeping in doorways， he developed mental health issues， deciding： “I wasnt going to carry on; Id had enough.” But after surviving an overdose he turned his life around—he says： “It sounds cliché， but Ive got my spirit back.”

与怀孕的女朋友分手，又在泽布吕赫渡轮灾难中失去至亲，埃弗的个人世界崩塌了。当最终沦落到睡在门廊，他出现了心理问题，下定决心结束自己的生命：“我不要继续下去了，我受够了。”但从一次过量服药中幸存下来后，他扭转了人生。他说：“虽然听起来老套，但我的精气神回来了。”

But hes still angry about the problem of homelessness. “Streets of London should be a marker of a time thats gone past，” he says， “but its not.” Today there are more people living on the streets—including children—than when he was.

但他仍对无家可归的问题感到愤怒。“《伦敦街道》应该是一个逝去时代的标志，”他说道，“但事实并非如此。”与他那时相比，如今有更多的人流落街头，其中还有孩子。

The song also resonates with Maria Bentley-Dingwall， the niece of Derek Bentley， who was convicted of murder and hanged in 1953. Dereks sister Iris Bentley， Marias mother， had promised she would always fight to clear his name.

这首歌还引起了德里克·本特利的外甥女玛丽亚·本特利-丁沃尔的共鸣。德里克在1953年被判谋杀罪并被处以绞刑。德里克的姐姐艾里斯·本特利，即玛丽亚的妈妈，曾承诺会一直努力还德里克清白。

McTell became involved in Iriss campaign and wrote a song called the Ballad of Bentley and Craig， because he felt deeply about the injustice of Dereks execution. When Iris died in 1997， Maria promised to carry on her campaign， and McTell himself sang Streets of London at Iriss funeral. “It reminded me of her; mum was a Londoner， born and bred，” Bentley-Dingwall says. She recalls： “When Ralph started playing， my spine just went completely tingly. He was taking me on my walk with my mum; our last walk， together.” In 1998 Dereks sentence was finally quashed—a year after Iriss death.

麦克泰尔参与了艾里斯的申诉运动，并写了一首《本特利和克雷格之歌》，因为他深感处决德里克的不公。1997年艾里斯离世，玛丽亚承诺会继续申诉，而麦克泰尔本人则在艾里斯的葬礼上唱了《伦敦街道》。“这首歌让我想起了妈妈，她是土生土长的伦敦人。”本特利-丁沃尔说道。她还回忆说：“拉尔夫一开始演奏，我的整根脊梁感到刺痛。他的歌声带着我和妈妈一起散步，这是我们最后一次一起散步。”1998年，德里克的判决终于被撤销了，而艾里斯已离世一年。

For McTell， the song is about alienation. It was specifically directed at a friend who had cut himself off by using heroin. But more broadly its about the characters he describes as “within our society and yet outside it”. That it has such an important theme at its core may be the fundamental reason that people from around the world connect with the song in their own individual and personal ways.

對麦克泰尔来说，这首歌关乎疏离，当初是专门写给一位因吸食海洛因而离世的朋友的。但推而广之，这首歌关乎那些如他所说“在我们的社会之内，但又游离其外”的人。这首歌拥有如此重要的核心主题，这可能是世界各地的人能以自己独特的方式与这首歌产生共鸣的根本原因。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）