风靡世界的“寿喜烧”：Sukiyaki

蝉联美国公信榜榜首的日文歌曲《寿喜烧》到底有何秘诀？

In June 1963, a Japanese pop song soared to the top of America's Billboard Hot 100 chart.More than 50 years later, “Sukiyaki” remains the only Japanese song to have done so.Ironic, when you learn that lyricist Rokusuke Ei wrote it partly as a lament over the Japanese government's capitulation to a treaty extending the status of American bases in Japan.

1963年6月，一首日文流行歌曲荣登美国告示牌最强单曲榜榜首。50多年以后，《寿喜烧》仍然是获此殊荣的唯一一首日文歌曲。非常讽刺的是，作词者永六辅（Rokusuke Ei）当时作词的部分原因是为日本政府与美国签订安全协议表示悲哀。该协议旨在升级美国在日本的军事基地。

Born in 1933 and raised in the grounds of Buddhist temple, Ei was evacuated to the countryside during the war, which informed a passionate, life-long support of pacifism.A popular radio personality right until his death last summer at the age of 83, Ei defended the military-renouncing Article 9 of the postwar constitution, and condemned a recent campaign to revise it.

永六辅生于1933年，在佛寺中长大，在战争期间，他搬到乡下，发展成为一名狂热的、终身和平主义支持者。永六辅去年夏天去世，享年83岁。在此之前，他一直是一名家喻户晓的电台主持人，他坚决维护以放弃发动战争为主要内容的日本战后宪法第九条（内容：日本国民衷心谋求基于正义与秩序的国际和平，永远放弃以国权发动的战争、武力威胁或武力行使作为解决国际争端的手段），严厉谴责近期修改此条宪法的运动。

In the late 1950s he teamed up with piano prodigy Hachidai Nakamura , who had been turned on to jazz by US military radio.Both young men were part of a new generation bored by the sentimental and formulaic “mudo kayō” songs popular with those drowning their postwar sorrows in Japan's blue collar bars.Nakamura wrote light, free, danceable melodies and Ei used vernacular lyrics：together they revolutionised Japanese pop.

在1950年代末，他与钢琴天才中村八大（Hachidai Nakamura）合作。中村八大通过美国军方广播，喜欢上了爵士乐。这两个年轻人都是新一代人，这一代人厌倦了感伤俗套的“mudo kayo”音乐。这种音乐在将战后的悲伤情绪诉诸于日本蓝领酒吧的人们之中非常流行。中村八大所写音乐轻柔明快，让人不自觉地想跟着跳舞；永六辅的歌词用方言写就。两者完美结合重塑了日本流行音乐。

Despite Ei's commitment to leftist causes, their catchy hits were part of an escapist cultural movement targeted at the new, aspirational urban middle classes.Translating roughly as “I look up as I walk”, “Ue o Muite Aruko” reflects Ei's determination to remain optimistic for his newborn son in the face of political events that included the US treaty, the death of a student on a protest march and the assassination of a socialist leader live on TV by a samurai sword-wielding rightwing teenager.

尽管永六辅投身左翼事业，但是他们朗朗上口的歌曲却促进了逃避现实的文化运动，该运动目标人群是有抱负的城市中产阶级。“Ue o Muite Aruko”翻译过来大致是“我一边走一边寻觅”，显示了永六辅下定决心要为了他刚出生的儿子保持乐观，尽管面对着一系列政治事件，包括日美协议，抗议游行的学生之死，以及电视上直播的日本右翼年轻武士舞剑暗杀一个社会主义领导者的事件。

Photo Credit：Amazon

When the song was premiered live in August 1961, Ei was upset that 19-year-old rockabilly singer Kyu Sakamoto bopped so glibly through his profound expressions of “hitoribocchi” （loneliness）.But the song was an instant earworm.British record executive Louis Benjamin snapped it up for jazzman Kenny Ball's Dixieland band while on a visit to Tokyo in 1962.Suspecting that the original title was too difficult for western audiences, Benjamin rechristened it, somewhat disrespectfully, after his favourite Japanese beef stew：“Sukiyaki”.

1961年8月，这首歌首次现场演出，当时，一个19岁的乡村摇滚乐歌手坂本九（Kyu Sakamoto）意味深长地表达了孤独“hitoribocchi”，他散漫地跟着音乐跳舞，这让永六辅不太高兴。但是这首歌迅速走红。1962年，英国唱片公司高管Louis Benjamin到访东京，立刻为爵士歌手Kenny Ball的乐队Dixieland买下了这首歌。Benjamin怀疑，对于西方人来说，这首歌原来的名字太难了，所以他将这首歌曲重新命名，有点无礼的是，就用了最喜欢的日本牛肉焖锅“寿喜烧”。

Soon American DJs caught on to the original record and Sakamoto's version became an international bestseller （though it kept its title, “Sukiyaki”）.Writing for the BBC on the song's 50th anniversary, American John Taylor said its popularity marked a turning point as his countrymen “began to see Japanese people not just as a former enemy or some mysterious, exotic race, but as people with feelings no different from their own, and capable of expressing beautiful, tender emotions”.

不久，原版的录音带在美国的电台主播间流行起来，坂本九表演的版本成为了世界范围内的畅销唱片（不过歌曲名字仍沿用了“寿喜烧”）。在这首歌的50周年纪念时，美国人John Taylor为BBC撰文，他表示这首歌能够流行起来，标志着一个转折点，显示了美国人“开始不只是把日本人看做以前的敌人，或者是神秘的异域民族，而是与自己没什么不同的有感觉的人，能够表达美丽、细腻的情感”。

Covers soon blossomed in many languages.1963 welcomed a Portuguese version by Brazil's Trio Esperança, and Indo-Dutch duo The Blue Diamonds sang it in German.Soul man Jewel Akens wrote the first English lyrics on his brassy “My First Lonely Night” （1966）.

许多其它语言的翻唱很快如雨后春笋般涌现出来。1963年，巴西歌手Trio Esperança演绎了一个葡语版本，印欧语系二重唱组合The Blue Diamonds用德语翻唱，灵魂歌者Jewel Akens第一次作了英语版本的歌词，来搭配粗犷的歌曲《My First Lonely Night》（1966）。

The best known English lyrics were written by Californian disco duo A Taste of Honey, who turned it into a break-up ballad in 1980.The duo's singer Janice-Marie Johnson was heartbroken herself when she recorded it and credits “Sukiyaki” with “teaching me you can't cry and sing at the same time”.

最著名的英语歌词是由加州迪斯科二重奏组合A Taste of Honey创作的，1980年，他们将其变为一首讲述分手的情歌。这个组合的歌手Janice-Marie Johnson在录制歌曲时，自己都感到心碎。她感谢《寿喜烧》教她不能一边唱歌一边哭泣。

It was A Taste of Honey's version that infiltrated early hip-hop, sung by London-born Slick Rick （on 1985's dexterous, misogynist “La Di Da Di”）and Snoop Dogg on his 1993 tribute “Lodi Dodi”.

伦敦出生的说唱歌手Slick Rick在1985年发布了娴熟的、体现厌恶女人情感的单曲《La Di Da Di》，饶舌歌手Snoop Dogg在1993年的致敬专辑《Lodi Dodi》中再次演绎。A Taste of Honey组合的版本影响了早期的嘻哈音乐。

The most poignant recent rendition came from British-born violinist Diana Yukawa, whose father was killed （before she was born） in a plane crash in 1985.In 2000, aged just 15, she played it on the mountain where Japan Airlines Flight 123 hit the ground after 32 minutes of worsening technical failures during which some passengers had time to scribble final words to their loved ones.520 people were killed; also among the dead was the song's original singer, Sakamoto.

近期最深刻的演唱则来自于英国出生的小提琴手Diana Yukawa，她的父亲1985年（在她出生前）死于飞机失事。2000年，还在她仅仅15岁的时候，她在一座山上演奏了这首歌。日航123经过32分钟机械故障后坠毁在这里，在这32分钟里乘客给他们的深爱之人留下了最后的话语。在这次事故中，520人丧生，其中包括这首歌的原唱，坂本九。

词汇总结

prodigy['prɒdɪdʒɪ]

n.天才

In the late 1950s he teamed up with piano prodigy Hachidai Nakamura.

在1950年代末，他与钢琴天才中村八大（Hachidai Nakamura）合作。

vernacular[və'nækjʊlə]

adj.本国的；地方的；用本地语写成的

n.本地话，方言；动植物的俗名

Nakamura wrote light, free, danceable melodies and Ei used vernacular lyrics：together they revolutionised Japanese pop.

中村八大所写音乐轻柔明快，让人不自觉地想跟着跳舞；永六辅的歌词用方言写就。两者完美结合重塑了日本流行音乐。

escapist[ɪ'skeɪpɪst]

n.逃避现实者

adj.逃避现实的

aspirational[,æspə'reʃənl]

adj.有雄心壮志的；（生活形态等）梦寐以求的

n.成功指南；处世自助手册

Despite Ei's commitment to leftist causes, their catchy hits were part of an escapist cultural movement targeted at the new, aspirational urban middle classes.

尽管永六辅投身左翼事业，但是他们朗朗上口的歌曲却促进了逃避现实的文化运动，该运动目标人群是有抱负的城市中产阶级。

infiltrate['ɪnfɪltreɪt]

v.潜入；渗入，浸润

It was A Taste of Honey's version that infiltrated early hip-hop, sung by London-born Slick Rick （on 1985's dexterous, misogynist “La Di Da Di”）and Snoop Dogg on his 1993 tribute “Lodi Dodi”.

伦敦出生的说唱歌手Slick Rick在1985年发布了娴熟的、体现厌恶女人情感的单曲《La Di Da Di》，饶舌歌手Snoop Dogg在1993年的致敬专辑《Lodi Dodi》中再次演绎。A Taste of Honey组合的版本影响了早期的嘻哈音乐。