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写在前面
思维导图：
Nikolae，新手人民教师，声优探索者，乃木坂47与AKB49
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精读|翻译|词组
Culture | Take me to Texas
经济学人文化｜带我去德州
英文部分选自经济学人20230330期文化板块
Culture | Take me to Texas
经济学人文化｜带我去德州
What lies behind Beyoncé’s country turn?
碧昂丝为何转型乡村歌手？
The star singer has always been a canny interpreter of musical trends
碧昂丝：敏锐嗅觉，演绎音乐风潮
Beyoncé hadshown her cards long before she released “Texas Hold ’Em”, a country-pop track, in February. In 2021 she launched a clothing collection inspired by the “overlooked history of the American black cowboy”. She sat astride a crystal horse for the album cover of “Renaissance” (2022) and wore a white, wide-brimmed hat to the Grammy awards. Her lyrics have frequently referred to her upbringing in Houston. “Earned all this money,” she sang on “Formation” in 2016, “but they never take the country out” of her.
早在2月份发布乡村流行歌曲《Texas Hold ’Em》之前，碧昂丝的转型之路已见端倪。2021年，她以“美国黑人牛仔那段被忽略的历史”为灵感，推出系列时装。2022年，碧昂丝骑着水晶马现身专辑《Renaissance》封面。同年，她戴着宽边白帽，出席格莱美颁奖典礼。她在歌词里常常提及休斯敦的成长经历。2016年，碧昂丝推出单曲《Formation》，歌词唱道：“我赚到了那么多钱，永不变的是我的乡村气息。”
注释：
1.A track is one of the songs or pieces of music on a CD, record, or tape. (CD、唱片或磁带上的一首)歌曲，乐曲
2.card: something (such as an advantage) compared to a valuable playing card in one's hand优势；王牌；绝招
Show one’s cards: to make one's plans, intentions, ideas, or resources known to others, especially those previously hidden or kept secret.
3.A fashion designer's new collection consists of the new clothes they have designed for the next season. N-COUNT (为新季设计的)系列时装
4.If you sit or stand astride something, you sit or stand with one leg on each side of it. 跨坐地；骑着
5.拓展阅读：美国黑人牛仔的历史https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/concepts-african-american-history/black-cowboys-in-the-19th-century-west-1850-1900/
Her new album, “Cowboy Carter”, released on March 29th, evokes a honky-tonk. The record is the second instalment in a three-part project conceived during the covid-19 pandemic, in which Beyoncé pays tribute to the black roots of musical genres. (On “Renaissance” she focused on disco and house music.)
碧昂丝新专《Cowboy Carter》于3月29号发行，颇有酒吧音乐的风格。新冠疫情期间，碧昂丝计划以三部曲概念推出专辑，致敬黑人对各流派音乐发展的影响，新专是该系列的第二部。（序章《Renaissance》主打迪斯科和浩室音乐。）
注释：
1.Honky-tonk is the kind of piano music that was formerly played in honky-tonks. （旧时在低级酒吧或夜总会里演奏的）钢琴乐曲，杭基汤克乐曲
honky-tonk：指代演奏欢快乡村歌曲供人消遣娱乐的小酒馆，也指代在这类酒馆演奏的音乐风格，属于乡村音乐的一种。
2.House music is a musical genre that combines electronic elements, samples, and disco influences. 浩室音乐
The album is as perfectly timed as a line dance: Americana is flourishing in popular culture. Models have been strutting down Louis Vuitton’s catwalk wearing snakeskin cowboy boots, and Prada is selling bolo ties.Western sagas such as “Yellowstone” have drawn millions of viewers. Last year country-music tracks accounted for more than a third of streams of the top 50 songs on Spotify in America, up from 2% in 2016.
这张专辑的发布时机恰到好处，就像排舞一样精准：美式乡村风（Americana）正席卷流行文化。模特们穿着蛇皮牛仔靴登上路易·威登(Louis Vuitton)T台，普拉达(Prada)也在销售波洛领带结。诸如《黄石》(Yellowstone)这样的西部传奇故事吸引了数百万观众。去年，美国Spotify榜单前50首歌曲中，乡村音乐狂揽超过三分之一的播放量，这一比例在2016年仅为2%。
注释：
1.Someone who struts walks in a proud way, with their head held high and their chest out, as if they are very important. 趾高气扬地走;昂首阔步
2.Americana：Americana is an amalgam of American music formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the musical ethos of the United States of America, with particular emphasis on music historically developed in the American South.
3.At a fashion show, the catwalk is a narrow platform that models walk along to display clothes.时装表演台;T型台
Beyoncé’s experimentation with country is part of a tradition of artists crossing into new genres in search of new audiences.Bob Dylan forsook acoustic folk for electrified rock (and was called a “Judas” for his efforts). David Bowie tried on a wardrobe of looks and produced different sounds to match. Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift and Shania Twain all left country behind for mainstream pop. Coldplay have moved away from the sometimes dour indie rock of their early albums for more upbeat pop and electronic tunes.
艺人常常跨界新的音乐流派，期待收获新听众，碧昂丝对乡村音乐的尝试正是延续了这一传统。鲍勃·迪伦(Bob Dylan)放弃原声民谣转向电声摇滚(因其尝试被称作“犹大”)。大卫·鲍伊(David Bowie)以百变造型不断探索不同音乐风格。多莉·帕顿(Dolly Parton)、泰勒·斯威夫特(Taylor Swift)和仙妮亚·唐恩(Shania Twain)都曾跳出乡村音乐圈，拥抱主流流行乐。酷玩乐队(Coldplay)抛弃了早期专辑那种时而阴郁的独立摇滚，转向更为激昂的流行和电子曲风。
Those who adapt to new musical trends thrive. Coldplay and Ms Swift are in the midst of lucrative concert tours—which have brought in an estimated $810m and $1bn, respectively—while many of their contemporaries have faded into obscurity.
跟上音乐潮流的音乐人事业风生水起。酷玩乐队和泰勒·斯威夫特靠着巡回演唱会赚得盆满钵满(分别吸金约8.1亿和10亿美元)，而他们同期的歌手大都已经淡出大众视野。
Beyoncé has also evolved to meet changing tastes. In the 1990s, as the lead singer of Destiny’s Child, a girl band, she sang rousing anthems of female empowerment. After striking out on her own, she added soulful ballads to her repertoire to show off her powerful voice and later incorporated reggae and trap.
碧昂斯一直在适应不断变化的市场音乐品味。上世纪90年代，身为女子团体真命天女（Destiny’s Child）主唱的碧昂丝唱着激励人心的女性赋权赞歌。单飞后，她尝试灵魂民谣，凸显自己充满力量的嗓音。此后，她还吸收了雷鬼音乐和trap嘻哈的风格。
Country allows Beyoncé to experiment with a new style of songwriting again. On earlyr&b hits she bragged of having too much money to spend. By contrast, on “16 Carriages”, one of the new country tracks, Beyoncé’s lyrics are more down-to-earth: she remembers the toil of her early career and being “overworked and overwhelmed”. Tonally, these songs are better suited to an era of inflation and cost-of-living crises.
转型乡村音乐，碧昂斯再次尝试了全新的歌曲创作风格。在早期的R&B热门单曲中，她夸耀自己的钱多得花不完。相比之下，新单曲《16 Carriages》的歌词更加接地气：她回忆了职业生涯早期的辛苦，“劳累过度，不堪重负”。从音调音色上看，这些歌曲更贴合这个面临通货膨胀和生活成本危机的时代。
As well as being an astute commercial choice, crossing over allows artists to make a statement about their own value. Lady Gaga, for instance, was a pop hitmaker and chose to release an album of jazz standards to prove her vocal chops. Having range has long been important. In the early 20th century, when record labels made and marketed music along racial lines, experimentation became a way for black artists such asLouis Armstrong to “assert that no one should reduce them to a stereotype”, says Eric Weisbard, a music historian. By turning her talents to a host of genres, Beyoncé is showing that she has “no limit artistically”, he adds.
转型不仅是个聪明的商业选择，也让艺人有机会展现自身价值。例如，流行金曲制造机Lady Gaga发表了一张爵士专辑来证明她的人声切片音色。音乐跨度向来重要。音乐历史学家埃里克·维斯巴德(Eric Weisbard)说，20世纪初期，唱片公司按照不同人种来制作和营销音乐，路易斯·阿姆斯特朗(Louis Armstrong)等黑人艺人纷纷尝试不同风格，“主张任何人都不应让他们沦为刻板印象”。他补充道，碧昂斯玩转众多流派，证明自己“在艺术上没有极限”。
“Texas Hold ’Em” has been at the top of the charts in America and Britain. But some have questioned whether Beyoncé’s tracks are authentic country music. One country radio station even refused to play it. This is a fraught subject in a heavily white genre, which originated 100 years ago and has roots in African-American folk music. Beyoncé hopes her work will help to nullify “the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music”. Posting an image of her on yet another horse, she declared: “This ain’t a country album. This is a Beyoncé album.”
《Texas Hold ’Em》已登顶英美音乐排行榜。但有人质疑碧昂斯的音乐是否算得上纯正的乡村音乐。某乡村音乐电台甚至拒绝播放这首单曲。碧昂丝的转型在乡村音乐圈备受争议，虽然乡村音乐起源于100年前非裔美国人吟唱的民谣，但却是白人占据主流。碧昂斯希望她的作品能够帮助人们不再“将艺术家的种族与音乐流派挂钩”。她以一张自己身骑白马的照片宣告：“这不是一张乡村专辑，而是碧昂斯的专辑。”
翻译组：
Ryan，译海徜徉的一条咸鱼
Cece，消防人+经济学人粉丝
Qianna，对语言有点敏感，对逻辑十分执拗，对摇滚太过着迷
校对组：
UU，保持低调
Lucian，灵魂在杰作中冒险
小脑袋，努力建设自我支持系统的小翻译
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观点|评论|思考
本期感想
Vicky，少儿英语老师+笔译新人
自我与改变
经过那场著名的MTV音乐录影带事件的两个当事人如今异曲同工选择了相同的道路——改变。碧昂丝选择从流行走向乡村，霉霉选择从乡村走向流行，突破和改变是两个优秀的女性音乐人共同的选择，也帮助两个人从成功走向更成功。
当然，在改变的过程中一定会伴随的就是质疑，碧昂丝被质疑不是纯正的乡村音乐，霉霉被质疑抛弃了曾经的自我，变得“面目全非”，不再纯粹。
其实何止碧昂丝和霉霉，改变向上变好的路上从来都充满荆棘和质疑。杨笠的脱口秀引起全民讨论，于是就被池子质疑不是脱口秀，仿佛这项从西方传过来的艺术形式，需要他来把关审核。中国有嘻哈大火了之后，GAI把音乐调整为更适合主流的形式，并与各种流行元素相结合，于是被质疑不够地下不够纯粹不够嘻哈。
我们都知道一成不变是不对的，可是面对改变的时候不但需要面对自我的勇气，更要有面对质疑的魄力，而比这两者更重要的是与之相配的努力和实力。碧昂丝和霉霉在转型后都创作出了非常优秀的作品，这是她们面对改变的诚意。我们永远不是为了改变而改变，而是为了变得更好而改变。不用为了所谓的初心就把自己框死在最初的圈子里，最后无非是为了自己的不思进取找借口，我们要改变就要努力变得更好，哪怕不被理解，哪怕在向上探索的路上备受质疑，形单影只，历经波折，但是我们知道这是一条向上的路，一条让自己变好的路，那么就应该一往无前的走下去。
其实哪里仅止于娱乐行业，新东方做东方甄选的时候，被人质疑教育初心不再，向政策现实妥协，老罗做手机、做直播、微博噤声，一次次被人质疑初心不再、世俗功利，结果是怎样呢？无论是东方甄选在新东方最困难时期的力挽狂澜，还是老罗的《真还传》，都证明了正确的人永远正确，而做事的人永远牛X。
无论是碧昂丝、霉霉、杨笠、GAI、新东方、老罗，在改变的路上都遇到了各种问题、嘲讽和阻碍，但并不妨碍他们比99%的人过得都更好，所以不用内耗纠结于文青式的初心在与不在，我们来到这个世上，就是希望成为更好的人，所以不要害怕改变，祝福你我，奔跑向前，坚定勇敢。
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