Remembering Whitney Houston
追憶惠特尼•休斯頓
So far to fall
巨星隕落
Feb 13th 2012, 0:31 by E.B.
IN A summer camp in Maine in 1986, one cassette played in relentless rotation: “Whitney Houston”, the debut of a commanding young diva. Released the previous year, when Houston was 21, the album showcased a rare and breathtaking voice, strong as a gospel preacher and clear as a bell. The girlish timbre that eases listeners into some songs, such as “Saving All My Love For You”, swiftly gives way to an altogether muscular, ballad-ready soar. She could belt out a song with a womanly hunger, but these R&B roots were coupled with squeaky-clean lyrics (“How will I know if he really loves me?”) and worthy notions (“I believe the children are our future…”). Her hits were about strength, not transgression, and her look was regal. While her trashier pop rivals, such as Madonna and Cyndi Lauper, were singing about sex, regret and regression, Houston graced the cover of her debut wearing pearls and a draping white gown, her hair in a tight bun. She looked like a goddess, and unlike anything I had ever seen. In a cabin of scrawny nine-year-old Jewish girls, she was our hero.
1986那年，緬因州一個夏令營中循環(huán)播放著22歲小天后惠特尼•休斯頓同名處女卡帶。這張于之前一年發(fā)行的專輯展現(xiàn)了她天籟般驚人嗓音，如福音傳道士般高亢，如鳴鐘般清脆。那少女般音色讓聽者入迷，一曲《所有的愛為你所留》便巧妙地將有力的高音發(fā)揮極致，好似為流行音樂量身打造。她的歌聲中流露著女性的渴望，但這些藍調(diào)根音卻娓娓道來那完美的歌詞(“我如何知道你真的愛我?”)與價值觀念(“我相信孩子是我們的未來”)。一身女王范兒的她，歌曲富有感染力卻并不濫情。那些流行樂壇蝦兵蟹將，什么麥當娜，什么辛迪•勞博爾怎能惠特尼相比，歌詞中不是性，就是悔恨和逆行。專輯封面上她一身白色禮服外搭珍珠項鏈，精煉地盤起圓發(fā)髻，女神一般美麗，讓我眼前一亮。在那個小屋里，她是我們這群纖瘦的9歲*女孩的心中英雄。
“Whitney Houston” sold 24m copies in 1985, making it the best-selling debut for a female solo artist. The songs were slickly produced—shiny, seamless and danceable—and they revealed Houston to be a proper stylist with a commanding set of pipes. Now these tracks sound a bit cheesy and naïve, but the voice remains agelessly compelling. (And like Rebecca Traister in this fine piece in Salon, it seems I still know every word.)
1985年，《惠特尼•休斯頓》大賣2400萬張，成為最暢銷的女歌手處女專輯。歌曲平滑不失亮點，渾然天成，節(jié)奏律動，給力的高音可謂自成一派。盡管這些歌聽起來有點兒蹩腳，有點兒天真，但聲音還是那么響徹云霄。(就像這篇麗貝卡·特萊斯特在沙龍網(wǎng)上的博文，依然縈繞在我心際之間。)
My taste for Houston’s grand brand of sugary syrup didn’t survive into the 1990s, when songs about sex and regret (or, more accurately, the sweet-sweet misery of pining asexual English men) began to seem more cool. Still, it was hard to escape her ubiquitous 1992 hit “I Will Always Love You” from the film “The Bodyguard”; that irrepressible voice of hers has a way of sweeping up even reluctant listeners. And Houston continued to seem so strong, so clean, in a way that both transcended race but also functioned as a conscientious example of possibility and opportunity.
上世紀90年代，當以性與悔恨(具體說是英倫搖滾)為主題的歌曲愈發(fā)流行，我對休斯頓標志性的甜歌失去熱情。1992年《保鏢》的電影原聲《我會永遠愛你》紅遍世界，讓人難以錯過;那嗓音穿云裂石，就連不甚熱切的聽眾也為之一振。這就是惠特尼，她的堅強與純潔跨越種族樊籬，很好地詮釋了可能與機遇。
It was because of this veneer of perfection that early rumours of drug abuse and meltdowns felt so disappointing. Her fall came from such a great height, and she had very far to fall still. The drama soon became too sordid to follow, too perverse for even mild titillation. I’m ashamed to say that when I heard the news of her death on the radio this morning, a part of me was surprised to learn that she had still been alive.
看似完美的外表在早期藥物濫用與情況惡化面前不堪一擊。她從樂壇尖頂?shù)?，殊不知下面是萬丈深淵。隨后狼狽的生活難以啟齒，稍有醒悟跡象也是墮落不堪。不得不慚愧說，今早從廣播了解到她去世消息時，我自己都有點驚訝她竟然活到今天。
But death affords the opportunity to recognise and preserve the best parts of a life. And Whitney Houston's voice in recordings still sounds like a revelation, a bracing answer to an unspoken question. Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that it came from such a complicated place
惠特尼的死倒可以讓世人有機會了解、溫存她生命中最美的時光。唱片中的聲音依然啟迪人心，有力地詮釋了不為人言的問題。世間變化莫測，各位就節(jié)哀順變吧。