MkGenie Polaris

那天，我是为了看看昆西·琼斯《你行我也行》的MV是否在网上已有下载，才到处去搜索的。结果想找的没找着，倒是闯进了唱这首歌的年轻歌手刘金的的博客里，更看到她提起Ray Charles大爷的《A Song For You》，颇为惊讶和触动。没想到刘金是这么soulful的一位。有前途。

这首《A Song for You》诞生于1970年，最初是由Leon Russell创作和表演的。词曲里边，满是哀怨，满是痛苦，满是凄凉。感觉就是绝望中的最后挽留或道别，唱完这首歌的人我怀疑都要去自杀了……真的真的很适合殉情前唱，同时可以录下来，死前寄给你的ex-，作为一个陌生男人的来信。

《A Song for You》是Russell最著名的歌曲之一，有多个翻唱版本，比如Donny Hathaway、The Temptations、Natalie Cole、Michael Bublé、Whitney Houston等小牌大牌头牌都唱过。不过就我个人喜好而言，最欣赏的还是Carpenters版本。

《A Song for You》貌似简单，却决不好唱。这是咱经过实践而得出来的切身感受——因为我每次去卡拉OK房，都必选这首来K，可是哪怕那天超常发挥，把其它歌都唱得勉强过关，唯有这首，却次次都让我心凉：不是索然无味就是跟不上趟。

已经在天堂的Ray Charles曾在1993年录过一个版本，收在《My World》专辑上。这也是我第二最喜欢的版本。该版本还很争气地给老爷子再挣了一座“格莱美最佳R&B男歌手”奖。MV中，Ray唱得满脸是笑，丝毫不见悲伤和凄绝，反而令人感觉幸福得想哭。这是饱经世事后的逍遥、从容和淡定吗？是给绝望的人们开导和指路吗？尽管他几乎一生都看不见阳光，但他心里却满溢是阳光吧。

然而好戏还在后头：2003年4月9日，在纽约灯塔戏院里举行的Willie Nelson七十岁生日致敬晚会上，Ray Charles弹着钢琴，和原作者Leon Russell、Nelson合唱《A Song for You》。这一幕多么珍贵，终成经典，连Nelson最后都感动得泪光闪闪。

需要重温一下了，我想。遂前往YouTube……也正是在那年那月那日那时，才发现YouTube被突然封杀，上不去了。愁煞我也。但我下定决心要找到的东西就一定要找到。于是接下来这几天里，我辗转反侧通过各种方法和搜索，终于从其它站点挖到了这两段录象。为了对得起我这几天执着的劳动，我决定把它们转手上传到我的土豆网帐户里，并专门写一篇如上所述的文章来纪念我又一次努力去老音乐里雕刻时光。

录影如下：

Ray Charles《A Song for You》的音乐录影

Ray Charles与Leon Russell、Willie Nelson的经典合唱

A Song for You

I've been so many places in my life and time
I've sung a lot of songs, I've made some bad rhyme
I've acted out my life in stages
With ten thousand people watching
But we're alone now and I'm singin' this song for you

I know your image of me is what I hope to be, baby
I've treated you unkindly but girl can't you see
There's no one more important to me
So darling can't you please see through me
'cause we're alone now and I'm singin' my song for you

You taught me precious secrets of the truth, withholdin' nothin'
You came out in front and I was hiding
But now I'm so much better so if my words don't come together
Listen to the melody cause my love's in there hiding

I love you in a place where there's no space or time
I love you for my life, 'cause you're a friend of mine
And when my life is over, remember when we were together
We were alone and I was singin' my song for you

I love you in a place where there's no space or time
I've loved you for my life, yes, you're a friend of mine
And when my life is over, remember when we were together
We were alone and I was singin' my song for you, yes
We were alone and I was singin' this song for you, baby
We were alone and I was singin' my song,
Singin' my song, singin' my song, singin' my song
Singin' my song