My tiny little things

到了美國之後，我一直有些疑問。雖然美國和英國都是
講同種語言(即便嚴格來說，不算完全一樣..)，但是，
為什麼我覺得他們像是生活在不同次元空間的星球人呢?

真的很扯說。

講話口音不一樣(這個大家都知道)。城市規劃不一樣(美國
真是太大了)，超市販賣的東西不一樣(美國的零食真是好吃
阿)，出產的音樂類型也不一樣(這個也很容易分)。

然後我想到，在Friends裡頭，編劇總是喜歡大開英國人玩笑
。(譬如，Ross，美國人，去倫敦結婚時候，他父母與Emily
父母，英國人，嗆聲。Ross的爸爸就很酸的回一句"哼，要不
是我們，你們現在早就通通講德語了!!!!!!")。最新一季的
Desperate Housewives，裡頭的Sussan(美國人)和Ian(英國人)
相戀。後來在一次爭吵中，Sussan生氣的說"要不是你那該死的
英國腔，太過迷人，讓我愛上你....$%^U$"

雖然英國人常被開玩笑，他們倒是也非常奮力抵抗"美國"勢力
。最近剛好看到英國搖滾樂團在1990年代中期，是如何反對美
國搖滾浪潮的新聞。我只能說，英美大對抗，大家走著瞧吧...

(Monday, 15 August 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4144458.stm)
Looking back at the birth of Britpop
By Ian Youngs
BBC News entertainment reporter

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the chart battle between
Blur and Oasis at the height of Britpop. In the first of a series
of features, we look at how Britpop was born.
(英式搖滾的誕生)
Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain Early Britpop bands were reacting
against Nirvana's success In early 1992, one band dominated
the global alternative rock scene.

Nirvana had suddenly become the voice of a restless generation
thanks to their seminal, seething album Nevermind and single
Smells Like Teen Spirit, which were released the previous year.

Grunge was cool, Seattle was the rock capital and other US bands
like Pearl Jam, Metallica and Guns N' Roses were also enjoying
mammoth success.
(美國搖滾樂團Nirvana在1992年時候異軍突起，並且成功地帶起其他美國
樂團，Pearl Jam, Metallica and Guns N' Roses)

In the UK, the "Madchester" scene of the Stone Roses and Happy
Mondays had burned brightly for a while but soon fizzled out.
(在英國，Stone Roses和Happy Mondays的"madchester"風格都只是曇花
一現)
In its wake came little more than the underwhelming, unambitious
"shoegazing" phase.

'Kill grunge'

With this backdrop, Blur - who had their first hit in 1991 amid
the Madchester-inspired "baggy" craze - set off on their second
US tour.
(1991，Blur仍持續著"madchester"風格在美國展開他們的巡迴表演)
The 44-city trek was a depressing experience.
(但這四十四個城市的巡迴只是令人失望的經驗)
Bands who were not grunge were all but dismissed and Blur came to
despise the disinterest and uniformity they encountered.

But the trip provoked a strong reaction.
(但是這個行程，卻激起極大的迴響)
It inspired the band, they said, to begin a mission to "get rid
of grunge", "declare war on America" and make music that was
identifiably English.
(他們說"擺脫蹩腳"!"在美國宣戰"，做可一眼就可辯別的"English"音樂)
Other new British bands had similar, if less fervent, ideas.

Suede, whose debut single The Drowners came out while Blur were
on that tour, also celebrated their origins while railing against
US influence.
(Suede也在抵抗著美國影響)
Justine Frischmann had been in Suede and in a relationship with
singer Brett Anderson - but left both to form her own group,
Elastica, and get together with Blur frontman Damon Albarn.
(Elastica與Blur關係密切)
And Pulp, who were getting noticed for wry songs about everyday
life, had moved into the same London orbit as Blur, Suede and Elastica.
(Pulp遷移到倫敦，也與Blur, Suede and Elastica關係密切)
Reared on acts like David Bowie, The Jam, The Specials and The Smiths,
these bands now set about reasserting their roots.
(David Bowie, the Jam, the Smiths也聲援)

The troubles and influences of US bands seemed very distant, according
to John Harris, author of The Last Party and presenter of BBC Four's
The Britpop Story.


"When someone came round the corner singing about dingy suburban England,
losing your money on fruit machines and greasy spoon cafes, I thought 'aha,
yes, I understand'," he says.
(他們唱起英格蘭郊區的破爛生活，那些花了錢在吃角子老虎與廉價的小餐館上的人們)
"It reminded people both of their own lives and also of the music that had
soundtracked those lives 10 or 12 years before."
(這使人們聯想到他們自己的人生，以及那曾經在十或十二年前，伴隨他們生活的背景
音樂)
In 1993, Suede's debut album went to number one, Blur signalled their new
start with Modern Life Is Rubbish and now-defunct magazine Select published
a famous issue celebrating the new British bands.
(1993，Suede的專輯達到第一名。Blur同時發表他們的"Modern Life is Rubbish")

Send us your memories
"They seemed to start talking about people's lives in this country as
they were lived and the things people were familiar with," Andrew Harrison,
editor at the time, remembers.
(他們開始講起在這個國家人們的生活)
"It just seemed to be a lot more powerful and potent.
(這似乎更加的具有影響力)
"And it also went with a much more interesting look. Who wants to shamble
round in a third-hand lumberjack shirt when you can be wearing the great
Fred Perry?"

It all plugged into British heritage and culture at a very creative time
for the country, he adds - with Britart, films and designers also on a high.

Also in 1993, a clear-out of DJs began at BBC Radio 1, then the nation's
most popular radio station, replacing ageing, middle-of-the-road hosts and
playlists with younger blood.

"It's no coincidence that Britpop happened a year later," John Harris says.
"I don't think Britpop could have happened without that."

Blur singer Damon Albarn (left) with Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker
Blur and Pulp were among Britpop's most distinctive voices
And there was an atmosphere of change in wider society as it became clear
that the era of Conservative rule was coming to an end.
(英國保守黨的統治進入尾聲)
When a young, vibrant rock fan called Tony Blair took over as Labour leader
in 1994, the sense of possibility and expectation grew.
(Tony Blair，搖滾迷，是工黨的領袖。於是，1994年，可能性與期待慢慢茁壯。)
Kurt Cobain's suicide in April 1994 finally finished off grunge as another
British band was rapidly emerging - but not from the same southern art school
origins as the likes of Blur and Suede.
(Kurt Cobain,Nirvana的主唱身兼吉他手在1994年自殺了，結束了"grunge"。而此時，
英國樂團仍不斷出現，卻已經不是像Blur and Suede的根源)
Oasis merely wanted to pick up where the Stone Roses left off and be as big
as The Beatles.
(Oasis只是想要撿起Stone Roses停止的地方，變成像Beatles一樣的出名)
"Oasis were a no-nonsense rock 'n' roll band who wanted to roll around on a
bed of £50 notes," Mr Harris says.
(Oasis是個正經的搖滾樂團，想要打滾在50磅紙幣做成的床上
-->容我大大大大大大大大大的一笑~~~~~~~~~太好笑了~~~~~)
Confidence

Tony Blair and Noel Gallagher

Political and musical developments went together for a time
As Oasis enjoyed hits with rousing anthems Live Forever and Cigarettes
and Alcohol, Blur hit new heights with Girls and Boys and Parklife, social
commentary dressed as pop hits.
(政治與音樂一起合作。當Oasis享受著他們國歌"Live Forever","Cigarettes and Alcohol"
,Blur達到新高)
That set the scene for their chart showdown the following summer - and for
a new crop of acts like Supergrass, Menswear, Sleeper and Dodgy to take the
stage.

Some of those bands were inspired by the confidence and success of the Britpop
pioneers, while others merely happened to come along at the same time.
(有一些樂團誕生，因為受到那些充滿自信與成功的英式搖滾先鋒的激勵)
But they all became part of Britpop and helped the UK's alternative rock regain
its voice - for a while.
(他們在那段時間裡幫助了英國alternative rock找回它的聲音)