翻譯：Nomanlandever

“Two years and just like that/My head still takes me back/Thought it was done but I/Guess it’s never really over,” Katy Perry sings on “Never Really Over.” Thank god she’s not talking about her Witness phase, the 2017 album that found her making hackneyed political statements and personal platitudes. Though her last record cycle attempted something approximating depth and maturity, Perry has never really thrived as that kind of pop star. She excels at the kind of sugary megahits that sound like eating frosting out of a jar. Her new single, however, feels like a promising way forward.

“Two years and just like that/My head still takes me back/Thought it was done but I/Guess it’s never really over,” Katy Perry在歌曲《Never Really Over》里唱道，感謝上帝她沒(méi)提《Witness》時(shí)期，在這張2017年的專輯中，她說(shuō)著陳詞濫調(diào)的政治觀點(diǎn)和個(gè)人態(tài)度。盡管上張專輯時(shí)期她想做出一些有深度和成熟的東西，Katy Perry卻從未達(dá)到那樣的流行高度。她很擅長(zhǎng)做那種像是從蜜罐里掏出糖漿的國(guó)民大熱單曲。然而，她的新單讓人感覺(jué)未來(lái)一片光明。

Produced by Zedd, “Never Really Over” throws in everything but the kitchen sink—ticking clocks, piano chords recalling “Baba O’Riley,” a drumline, a synth-y chorus worthy of a CRJ banger—and ends up with a surprising amount of subtlety. She could have stood to do without the obvious ticking in a song about the passage of time, and the drumline might get her in trouble with the Beyhive, but all in all, “Never Really Over” is her best single since 2013’s “Walking on Air.”

由Zedd制作的歌曲《Never Really Over》化繁為簡(jiǎn)，全曲只有廚房水槽——滴答作響的時(shí)鐘，讓人想起“Baba O’riley”的鋼琴和弦，鼓聲，和CRJ樂(lè)隊(duì)的合成器合唱——用許多精妙無(wú)比的細(xì)節(jié)結(jié)束整首歌曲。在一首講述時(shí)間流逝的歌曲中，她本可以不使用明顯的滴答聲，歌曲的鼓聲部分可能會(huì)讓她陷入與碧昂絲粉絲（Beyhive）的麻煩中。但總之，《Never Really Over》是她自2013年單曲《Walking on Air》后最好的歌。

Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the lyrics are not horrendously cheesy (a noted weak spot for Perry and her co-writers), instead adeptly capturing the conflicted pull of a love you can’t quit. Everybody has their own Mr. Big at one point or another: the person you keep letting in even though it hurts, even though you swore you were done. Instead of shrouding that notion in big Trap beats and a tortured rap coo (see: Ariana Grande’s “everytime”), Perry jokes about online stalking and offers up her most impressively tongue-tied chorus to date. She makes bad decisions sound enticing.

特別值得注意的是，歌曲歌詞部分沒(méi)有特別低俗（一個(gè)Katy Perry與她合作者的大缺點(diǎn)）。相反，它巧妙地捕捉到了一段無(wú)法脫身的戀情的矛盾感。不管是誰(shuí)，每個(gè)人心中都有自己的“真命天子”（Mr.Big)：一個(gè)即使傷你心，你發(fā)誓說(shuō)受夠了，但也會(huì)接納的人。Katy Perry在歌中沒(méi)有加入大Trap節(jié)奏和一段重拳出擊的rap（如Ariana Grande歌曲《everytime》），而是玩笑說(shuō)著“網(wǎng)路追蹤”的事，獻(xiàn)上了她至今最令人印象深刻的燙嘴副歌。她做出的錯(cuò)誤抉擇聽(tīng)起來(lái)十分刺激。