搬運(yùn)自：微信公眾號(hào)【評(píng)論搬一堆】（在原文基礎(chǔ)上添加了英語原文與排版調(diào)整）?

翻譯：酒釀冰激凌

校正：Ryan-Chopin

《Egypt Station》——即使是他的第17張專輯，他仍有話要繼續(xù)說

When you’ve done enough in music to ensure your name defines the rock’n’roll era and will be mentioned alongside Mozart and Beethoven by the people of 2518, you have three standard late-career options. You could bow out reliving former glories as a reminder of your monumental achievements. You could chase the zeitgeist, working with the hottest young talent to try to recapture your cutting edge. Or you could slouch off into trad rock, playing out your days in the Blues Jam Retirement Home For Idea Drained Duffers.

當(dāng)你在音樂領(lǐng)域贏得一片天地、甚至能確保你的名字得以定義搖滾樂時(shí)代、并且在2518年的未來你將與莫扎特和貝多芬一起為人們稱道時(shí)，在職業(yè)生涯后期你有三個(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的選擇。 你可以選“退休”，重溫昔日的輝煌，以提醒你曾獲得巨大成就；你可以追逐時(shí)代精神，與最炙手可熱的年輕人一起努力，重新奪回你的前沿；或者你可以躲進(jìn)傳統(tǒng)搖滾世界里偷懶，在為想法枯竭者提供的“藍(lán)調(diào)果醬退休之家”虛度你的光陰。

On his 17th solo album, Egypt Station, Macca tries all three on for size. Of late he’s courted young buck producers including Mark Ronson and Paul Epworth on his rather dazzling 2013 album New, and suffered the barrage of Kim Kardashian selfies that comes with recording with Kanye West.

在他的第17張個(gè)人專輯《Egypt Station》中，保羅將這三個(gè)選擇嘗試了個(gè)遍。 近來，他招來包括Mark Ronson和Paul Epworth在內(nèi)的年輕制作人來一同合作，他們都參與制作了保羅發(fā)行與2013年那令人印象深刻的專輯“New”。但當(dāng)時(shí)他遭受炮轟，因?yàn)镵anye West的妻子Kim Kardashian大尺度的照片影響了保羅與Kanye West的合作。

Here just three tracks vie, unsuccessfully, to mesh with modern pop. “Caesar Rock” updates the loop collage of “Tomorrow Never Knows” with dashes of The Who rock and contemporary R&B, but only serves to illustrate that although McCartney might have helped to invent electronica, he should probably leave it to the specialists now. The synthetic samba “Back In Brazil” is plain awful. Meanwhile, “Fuh You” paints the charming Sir Paul as a prowling, priapic horndog at a Bastille gig, and is easily the cheesiest thing he’s done since 1986’s “Press”.

這里只有三首曲目與現(xiàn)今流行音樂沾邊，且并未成功入流。 “Caesar Rock”則是“Tomorrow Never Knows”配上“The Who”的搖滾風(fēng)格，并融合了R&B風(fēng)格后的升級(jí)版。這只是為了說明雖然McCartney可能助力創(chuàng)造了電子音樂，但他現(xiàn)在或許應(yīng)該將這種音樂留給相關(guān)專業(yè)人士，而自己的制作并不是很成熟，合成的桑巴風(fēng)格歌曲“Back In Brazil”呈現(xiàn)的效果非常糟糕。 與此同時(shí)，在“Fuh You”中，迷人的保羅爵士被刻畫成在“巴士底獄”中的一個(gè)四處游蕩的色鬼角色，這是他自1986年發(fā)行“Press”后所做的最奇怪的事。

He’s no less lusty on the couple of trad rock/bar blues numbers, which are frankly beneath him. “Come on to Me”, for instance, has McCartney encouraging the advances of an admirer in a flurry of septuagenarian innuendo (“I don’t think I can wait ... how soon can we arrange a formal introduction?”) more suited to the pensioners on First Dates.

他擅長傳統(tǒng)搖滾/藍(lán)調(diào)音樂，坦白講，對(duì)他來說要熟悉制作這類音樂絲毫不在話下。 舉例來說，“Come on to me”是保羅用70年代的暗語鼓勵(lì)他的一位崇拜者前進(jìn)（“I don’t think I can wait ... how soon can we arrange a formal introduction?/我想我等不了那么久......我們什么時(shí)候可以來一次正式介紹呢？”），來鼓勵(lì)著他們發(fā)起“第一場約會(huì)”。

Such unbecoming carnality is, perhaps, part of the album’s overarching concept of reflecting on a lifetime of romance – McCartney describes each song as a station on life’s journey. It’s a theme unravelled on the tracks that throw back to his prime eras, where Egypt Station’s real magic lies. “Happy with You” has him declaring “I used to get stoned, I liked to get wasted, but these days I don’t because I’m happy with you”, from within a gorgeous pastoral flutter of flutes, toe taps and arpeggios that should really have been called “Mother Nature’s Grandad”.

這種不雅的欲望也許是專輯所要反映的浪漫概念的一部分，而這份浪漫足以持續(xù)一生，正如保羅將每首歌都描述為人生旅程中的一站。 回到黃金時(shí)代是這人生道路上的一大主題，這也是《Egypt Station》的真正魅力所在。 “Happy with you”中從飄來愉悅笛聲、足尖點(diǎn)地起舞以及琶音和聲，他在此宣稱“I used to get stoned, I liked to get wasted, but these days I don’t because I’m happy with you（我曾為此迷醉，我曾虛度光陰，但近來我不再那樣，因?yàn)榕c你一起我很開心）”，這應(yīng)該算是“大自然母親的爺爺了”（披頭士曾有首歌叫“Mother Nature’s son/大自然母親的孩子”，此處意為“Happy with you”更加悅耳美妙）。

“Confidante”, an open letter to an ex-soulmate, recalls the proggier folk bits of 1970s Macca, while “I Don’t Know” and “Dominoes” revisit Wings’ plusher mid-Seventies arrangements. Invoking fresh flower power, “People Want Peace” seamlessly fuses “Magical Mystery Tour”, “Eleanor Rigby” and Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance”, and Mother Mary would undoubtedly approve of “Hand in Hand”, panpipe solo and all.

給前靈魂伴侶的公開信“Confidante”，勾起了我們對(duì)20世紀(jì)70年代瑪卡（Macca）民謠的回憶，而“I Don’t Know”和“Dominoes”則讓我們能重新審視七十年代中期的編曲。“People Want Peace”也無縫銜接了“Magical Mystery Tour”、“Eleanor Rigby”和列儂（Lennon）的“Give Peace a Chance”，而母親瑪麗則會(huì)毫無疑問支持“Hand in hand”、排簫獨(dú)奏、甚至全部。

Most heartening of all, though, is the seafaring remake of “Band on the Run” that is “Despite Repeated Warnings”. Opening as a classic “Live and Let Die” piano refrain telling the story of a deranged captain steering their ship towards disaster despite the crew’s desperate pleas, it ramps up the drama over tense, shifting 10cc and ELO segments before the line “it’s the will of the people” reveals its hand as a Brexit metaphor. So many records as reflective and evocative as Egypt Station prove to be career codas. Despite occasional misfires this one proves that, at 76, McCartney, socially and sonically, still has plenty to say.

實(shí)際上最令人振奮的是“Band on the Run”的航海翻版，即“Despite Repeated Warnings”。 作為一部經(jīng)典的以“Live and Let Die”式鋼琴開場的歌曲，它講述了這樣一個(gè)故事：盡管航海人員絕望地懇求，但瘋狂的船長仍將他們的船轉(zhuǎn)向?yàn)?zāi)難，在緊張情況下增加了戲劇性的一幕，以“人民的意愿”為借口將10cc和ELO段轉(zhuǎn)移，暗指英國脫歐。 因此像《Egypt Station》這樣發(fā)人深省又令人回味的專輯會(huì)是職業(yè)生涯的代表性杰作。 盡管他偶爾會(huì)跌倒，但這這張專輯證明了76歲的保羅·麥卡特尼對(duì)世界仍有許多話想說。