Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens的「Illinois」這張實在很耐聽。儘管先前就已經在家聽好幾回了，上班時不知不覺中repeat了它好幾回還不會膩，可以說與The Mars Volta、Arcade Fire等並列聽今年最多遍的搖滾樂專輯，而且還有後來居上的傾向。坦言自己一直不能算是民謠或鄉村音樂的愛好者，其實從幾個禮拜前半信半疑地買了它到現在心悅誠服也不過幾個禮拜時間而已。

跟前一張「Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lakes State」創作概念類似，Stevens於Brooklyn的錄音室與音樂夥伴們努力地搜尋當地風土人情與相關資料，再將它們融會貫通以音樂戲劇的方式表現。這張音樂所涵蓋種類包羅萬象，除了Stevens招牌嗓音詮釋與多樣樂器才能以外更加強Progressive Folk野心編排，還接受紐奧良爵士、鄉村小調、與些許二十世紀前衛音樂的影響，統整成特殊而又引人入勝的音樂表現形式。在這張值得反覆聆聽的專輯裡自己特別欣賞的歌曲有:

03. Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (suite)
04. John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
09. Chicago
12. The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
15. The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!
20. The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders (suite)

雖然這張作品內容或許無法與每個人生活經驗作緊密連結，每個人聆賞角度也不同，但對我而言，音樂本身的繁複與誠意還是完全打動了我。原因或許是部分音樂片段能喚起我的回憶，讓我舊地重遊了一番似的；也或許是對當年自己有眼不識泰山的現場觀賞經驗 (這段緣由請詳德政2003-06-14的紐約遊記) 作事後無謂的彌補吧。Stevens目前為止共完成了密西根與伊利諾兩州概念專輯，據估計完成全美五十州可能要2053年才能完成。不管他最後有沒有辦法完成計畫，每一州的完成都將是一項了不起的成就。私心希望他趕緊先完成紐約州。哈!!

總之，「Illinois」是張在音樂本身及文本都同樣出色的專輯。音樂上它就是近百年美國流行音樂史的縮影，而好聽之餘也在內容上探討了部分社會問題，如911事件之後美國政局與民心的轉變等等，很值得對美國東北部鄉土風情有興趣的朋友細讀。這套大型組曲當中最讓我動容的是描述小丑殺人魔王John Wayne Gacy, Jr.成長歷程與雙面人生活的ballad，旋律輕柔舒緩但令人為之感傷。John Wayne Gacy, Jr.歌詞全文如下:

His father was a drinker
And his mother cried in bed
Folding John Wayne's T-shirts
When the swingset hit his head
The neighbors they adored him
For his humor and his conversation
Look underneath the house there
Find the few living things
Rotting fast in their sleep of the dead
Twenty-seven people, even more
They were boys with their cars, summer jobs
Oh my God

Are you one of them?

He dressed up like a clown for them
With his face paint white and red
And on his best behavior
In a dark room on the bed he kissed them all
He'd kill ten thousand people
With a sleight of his hand
Running far, running fast to the dead
He took of all their clothes for them
He put a cloth on their lips
Quiet hands, quiet kiss
On the mouth

And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid