我们今天介绍的这首歌是著名的美国乡村音乐巨匠莫尔·特拉维斯(Merle Travis)写给他的友人泰克斯·威廉姆斯(Tex Williams)的。泰克斯是一位资深烟民,吸烟不仅使他染上肺病,也使他的事业日渐消沉。于是,他的朋友莫尔为他写了这首歌,以警戒他吸烟的危害,同时希望能劝勉他戒烟。本歌由泰克斯传唱后,迅速风靡全美,也成为最流行的戒烟歌曲之一。
虽然这首歌拯救了泰克斯濒危的事业,但却无力挽回他的生命,1985年10月13日,在多次戒烟失败后,泰克斯最终死于晚期肺癌。正如歌中所唱:“抽,抽,抽完那根烟;吐烟圈,吐烟圈,直到吐掉自己的性命;告诉在天堂等待的圣彼得;你不想让他等太久;因此还得再抽一根烟。”(注:原歌曲中含有大量美国南部口语,提供下载的翻唱版的歌词会略有出入。)
Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!(That Cigarette)
Now I'm a guy with a heart of gold
And the ways of a gentleman I've been told
Kind-of-a-guy that wouldn't even harm a flea
But if me and a certain character met
The man who invented that cigarette
I'd murder that son-of-a gun in the first degree
It ain't cuz I don't smoke 'em myself
and i don't think that it'll hurt my health
I smoked 'em 25 years and I ain't dead yet
But nicotine slaves are all the same
at a pettin' party or a poker game
Everything gotta stop while they have a cigarette
CHORUS
Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette
Puff, puff, puff until you puff yourself to death.
Tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate
That you hate to make him wait,
You just gotta have another cigarette.
In a game of chance the other night
Old dame fortune was good and right
The kings and queens they kept on comin' around
Aw, I was hittin' em good and bettin' 'em high
But my bluff didn't work on a certain guy
He kept callin' and layin' his money down
See, he'd raise me then I'd raise him
and I'd say to him buddy ya gotta sink or swim
Finally called me but didn't raise the bet!
Hmmph! I said Aces Full Pal -- I got you!
He said, "I'll pay up in a minute or two
But right now, i just gotta have another cigarette."
CHORUS
Now the other night I had a date
with the cutest little gal in the 51 state
A high-bred, uptown, fancy little dame
She said she loved me and it seemd to me
That things were sorta like they suppose to be
So hand in hand we strolled down lovers lane
She was a long way from a chunk of ice
And our pettin' party was goin' real nice
And I got an idea I might have been there yet
So I give her a kiss and a little squeeze
Then she said, "Johnny, Excuse me Please
But I just gotta have a cigarette."
CHORUS
重点词汇详解:
n.性格,品质; 特征; [计] 字符; 人物,角色
vt.刻,印; 使具有特征
2、cigarette[英] [ˌsiɡəˈret] [美] [ˌsɪɡəˈrɛt, ˈsɪɡəˌrɛt]
2、cigarette[英] [ˌsiɡəˈret] [美] [ˌsɪɡəˈrɛt, ˈsɪɡəˌrɛt]
n.纸烟,香烟
3、murder[英] [ˈmə:də] [美] [ˈmɚdɚ]
n.谋杀; 杀戮; 极艰难[令人沮丧]的经历
vt.凶杀; 糟蹋; 打垮
vi.杀人
4、health[英] [helθ] [美] [hɛlθ]
4、health[英] [helθ] [美] [hɛlθ]
n.健康状况; 卫生; 保健; 昌盛,兴旺
5、nicotine[英] [ˈnikəti:n] [美] [ˈnɪkəˌtin]
5、nicotine[英] [ˈnikəti:n] [美] [ˈnɪkəˌtin]
n.尼古丁; [化]烟碱