killing me softly with his song
一曲销魂（又译作：轻歌销魂）
1971年，美国民谣女歌手Lori Lieberman在一次偶然的机缘下，去听了当时还并不见传的另一位民谣歌手Don Mclean的现场演唱。Lori Lieberman被Don的一首歌“Empty chair”深深地打动了，她随后写下诗歌“Killing me softly with his blues”。这首诗后来被Charles Fox和Norman Gimbel创作成了歌曲“Killing me softly with his song”,并由Lori Lieberman亲自演唱。但真正让这首歌走红的是美国老牌黑人女歌手Roberta Flack，1973年，Flack碰巧在飞机上听到这歌，下飞机后立马找到作者要求录制这歌，结果一个月里登上BILLBOARD的冠军，接下来又收录在一张专辑里，获得当年GRAMMY年度最佳女流行歌手、最佳专辑、最佳歌曲奖。
Roberta Flack的曲风带有流行色彩的“轻柔爵士”，嗓音厚实，略带沙哑，高亢嘹亮，中气十足，同时也蕴藏多变的真假声技巧。现在，Roberta Flack虽然隐退歌坛，但像Madonna、Whitney Houston等后生巨星，均曾拜她为师。她也会应邀偶然出现在白宫，为总统以及国宾表演。歌曲“Killing me softly with his song”后被许多歌手演唱过，传唱至今，成为不朽名曲之一。就中国歌手而言，早年的邓丽君、当今的超女李宇春都曾翻唱过该曲。
这首歌曲在一部叫作“About a boy”的电影里可以听到。电影里的男孩为了让整日忧忧郁寡的母亲快乐，于是决定参加学校里的音乐比赛，演唱母亲最喜爱的歌曲“Killing me softly with his song”。男孩在学校里是经常被同学们嘲弄的对象，且演唱也确不为他所擅长，因此，歌曲演唱得很糟糕。但这次糟糕的演唱却是一段很感人的情节。由于年代久远，这首歌不可避免地带上了留声机时代遗留下来的怀旧味道，但这种味道深情而并不陈旧。歌曲一遍遍重复着“killing me softly with his song”这句歌词的优美旋律，她是真的醉了，已经无力逃脱了，又更像是在自言自语，脑子里全是他的声音... ...
Killing Me Softly With His Song - Roberta Flack
73年全美流行单曲榜5周冠军曲
演唱：Roberta Flack
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.
I heard he sang a good song.
I heard he had a style.
And so I come to see him
To listen for a while.
And there he was, this young boy
A stranger to my eyes.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.
I felt I flushed with fever,
Embarrassed by the crowd.
I felt he found my letters
And read each one out loud.
I loved that he would finish.
But he just kept right on.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.
He sang as if he knew me,
In all my dark despair.
And then he looked right through me
As if I wasn‘t there.
And he just kept on singing,
Singing clear and strong.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words.
Killing me softly with his song.
He was strumming my pain,
He‘s singing my life,
La, La, La...
Killing me softly with his song.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.
【参考译文】
轻歌销魂
用手指弹奏出我的苦楚，
用歌词唱出我的生活，
用轻歌他销我的魂，
用轻歌他销我的魂，
用歌词唱说我整个一生，
用轻歌他销我的魂。
听他唱了一首好歌，
听他有一种风格，
于是我来看他，
要听他唱会儿歌。
他就在那儿，这少年
我一点也不认识。
用手指弹奏出我的苦楚，
用歌词唱出我的生活，
用轻歌他销我的魂，
用轻歌他销我的魂，
用歌词唱说我整个一生，
用轻歌他销我的魂。
我感到我满脸羞红，
在人群前窘迫。
感到他发现了我的信，
大声地朗读每一封，
但愿他快停止，
但他一直往下读。
用手弹奏出我的苦楚，
用歌词唱出我的生活，
用轻歌他销我的魂，
用轻歌他销我的魂，
用歌词唱说我整个一生，
用轻歌他销我的魂。
他唱得仿佛他认识我，
知道我所有绝望，
之后他看透我的心，
又仿佛我不存在。
他只是不停地唱，
唱得清晰而激昂。
用手指弹奏出我的苦楚，
用歌词唱出我的生活，
用轻歌他销我的魂，
用轻歌他销我的魂，
用歌词唱说我整个一生，
用轻歌他销我的魂。
他在弹奏出我的苦痛，
他在唱说我的生活，
啦，啦，啦……
用轻歌他销我的魂。
用手指弹奏出我的苦痛，
用歌词唱出我的生活，
用轻歌他销我的魂，
用轻歌他销我的魂，
用歌词唱说我整个一生，
用轻歌他销我的魂。