
什么是万圣节大游行(Halloween Parade)?
【背景知识】
纽约市的万圣节大游行 (Halloween Parade) 堪称是纽约格林威治村 (Greenwich Village) 的年度盛事 (annual event)。这个游行源于1973年,刚开始只是一位面具制作家 (mask maker) 兼木偶操作师 (puppeteer) Ralph Lee 的简单想法。当时他带着几个小孩在社区内办了一次小型的万圣节游行。第二年,纽约剧院邀请他将此构想带上大街,开始了一年一度的大游行。后来10月的最后一周正式被定为"万圣周"(Halloweek)。
现在,每年大约有三万名化装的游行者和近二百万人前来观赏。阵容庞大的游行队伍里,随处可见各式各样的奇异装扮 (fancy costume),即使是看尽千奇百怪的纽约人 (New Yorker)也对它啧啧称奇。此外,还有数人同时操作的巨大人偶 (giant puppet),将奇幻的意象具体呈现出来。最后,游行路线 (route)会来到纽约市最狂野的同性恋区,大街小巷挤满了尽情表演的变装人 (cross-dresser),为这场疯狂大聚会划下完美的句号。
大游行每年都会搭配不同的主题 (theme),比如环保、爱滋病等。去年因为"9o11"恐怖袭击事件 (terrorist attacks),格林威治村树立起(erect)一座振翅飞起的凤凰雕像 (statue of the phoenix),象征纽约市的重生 (reborn after a baptism of fire)。今年的游行主题则是"玩乐" (play),想必世界各地游行爱好者已经蠢蠢欲动,我们就拭目以待 (Let's wait and see) 吧
今天为大家推荐的这首Halloween Parade就是对万圣节大游行的描写,歌词对万圣节游行描写的惟妙惟肖,歌手肯定是参加过好多次这样的游行的。
Lou Reed - Halloween Parade Lyrics
There's a down town fairy singing out "Proud Mary"
as she cruises Christopher Street
And some Southern Queen is acting loud and mean
where the docks and the Badlands meet
This Halloween is something to be sure
Especially to be here without you
There's a Greta Garbo and an Alfred Hitchcock
and some black Jamaican stud
There's five Cinderellas and some leather drags
I almost fell into my mug
There's a Crawford, Davis and a tacky Cary Grant
And some Homeboys lookin' for trouble down here from the Bronx
But there ain't no Hairy and no Virgin Mary
you won't hear those voices again
And Johnny Rio and Rotten Rita
you'll never see those faces again
This Halloween is something to be sure
Especially to be here without you
There's the Born Again Losers and the Lavender Boozers
and some crack team from Washington Heights
The boys from Avenue B and the girls from Avenue D
a Tinkerbell in tights
This celebration somehow get me down
Especially when I see you're not around
There's no Peter Pedantic saying things romantic
In Latin, Greek or Spic
There's no Three bananas or Brandy Alexander
Dishing all their tricks
It's a different feeling that I have today
Especially when I know you've gone away
There's a girl from Soho with a teeshirt saying "I Blow"
She's wi