Stay (Faraway, So Close!) - U2

Stay (Faraway, So Close!)是我最愛的歌曲之一，述說一個失意的人在尋求慰藉。

在U2的Stay (Faraway, So Close!)中，唱出人生的困境。一個人走到7-11中，想要買一包菸，雖然他並不抽菸。他穿得極為蠟塌，就像從被撞爛的車裡爬出來一樣。他的輪子仍在轉動，只不過人已經翻了車。可是他並不在意那種傷痛，因為至少傷痛讓他感覺自己活著......他獨自一人站在清晨街上看著廣告看板......或許他可以到天涯海角，可以渡過那一夜......

Stay (Faraway, So Close!)的靈感據說來自Frank Sinatra的音樂。Frank Sinatra昵稱瘦皮猴，著名美國男歌手和奧斯卡獎得獎演員。常被公認為20世紀最優秀的美國流行男歌手。




Frank Sinatra的音樂生涯始於搖擺樂時代，踏入1950年代初，Frank Sinatra曾一度陷入低潮，但未幾便成功在1953年因取得奧斯卡最佳男配角獎而捲土重來。Frank Sinatra曾經與Capitol唱片簽約，並發行了好幾張廣受好評的唱片（當中包括In the Wee Small Hours、Songs For Swingin' Lovers、Come Fly With Me、Only the Lonely和Nice 'n' Easy）。他後來又離開了Capitol唱片，轉為自立門戶，創立屬於自己的Reprise唱片（當中著名唱片計有Ring-A-Ding-Ding、Sinatra at the Sands和Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim），除了周遊各地外，在1960年代初甚至與鼠黨及美國總統甘迺迪建立起親如兄弟的友誼。

在1965年，即Frank Sinatra步入50歲的那年，他發行了一套名為September of My Years的唱片，作為對自己的回顧，其後他又有Strangers in the Night和My Way等曲更成為了膾炙人口的名曲。Frank Sinatra在後期曾嘗試貼近樂壇的轉變，而發行過好幾份風格截然不同的唱片，這些唱片之中的部份歌曲雖然曾在電影中播放過，可是始終不獲好評，結果促使他在1971年宣佈退休。不過到了1973年，辛納屈宣佈復出，除了在1976年娶Barbara Marx為妻，又重新發行唱片（其中又以New York, New York一曲最為有名），環遊各地演出，一直到在1998年去逝前數年才再度淡出。

My Way也是我最愛的歌曲之一，如果人生能活到像My Way中說的：「I've lived, a life that's full, I've traveled each and every highway. And more, much more than this, I did it my way.」，夫復何求？




Stay (Faraway, So Close!)也是德國大導演Wim Wenders的電影《咫尺天涯》（In weiter Ferne, so nah!，英譯Faraway, So Close!)的主題曲，《咫尺天涯》是《慾望之翼》（又譯《柏林穹蒼下》，Der Himmel über Berlin，英譯Wings of Desire）的續集。Bono坦承他受Wings of Desire的影響很深。Stay (Faraway, So Close!)的MV也是Wim Wenders執導的，拍攝地點也是柏林，MV就很有那兩部電影的味道。













如果說Wings of Desire中，對人生允滿憧景，那Faraway, So Close!就要告訴我們，人生中常常充滿無奈。Wings of Desire中，故事發生在德國柏林，主角是兩位天使Damiel和Cassiel，他們徘徊人世間傾聽人們的心聲，可是他們無法和人有任何接觸，他們從頭到尾都只是旁觀者。他們只能看著事情的發生，可是卻無法改變任何一切。可是，天使存在的意義又是什麼呢？天使，是向人類傳達訊息的使者，他們本身不是訊息，而訊息本身又是什麼呢？至到有一天Damiel愛上了馬戲團中的女藝人Marion，讓他厭倦了當旁觀者的日子，加上前天使Peter Falk說出了當人類最大的樂趣，能抽根菸和喝杯熱咖啡，Damiel開始心動而下凡，他的世界開始從深沉黑白，變成了明亮的彩色。而他，也尋找到他所愛，留下天使Cassiel仍然在理性地冷眼旁觀。

Faraway, So Close!是Wim Wenders實現他在Wings of Desire片尾的承諾，讓故事繼續。兩部電影相隔了七年，故事也相隔七年。這七年發生之中，世界發生了許多大事，而柏林圍墻也已經倒下了。唯一不變的，是人心。許多人，仍庸庸碌碌地活著，仍花費心思去擔心生活中的小細節而不在乎心靈；人仍然自以為是世界的主宰，可是卻不知世界才是自己的主宰；人仍然只在乎看得到聽的見的，不在乎不能輕易看見聽到的精神世界......而天使Cassiel，仍然不能理解人類究竟看的是什麼、聽的是什麼、活著是為什麼......他和女天使Raphaela只能望著人類的世界悲嘆。（請見〈天使來到人間 〉一文）

Stay (Faraway, So Close!)原收錄U2在1993年的專輯Zooropa中。Zooropa是很異類的搖滾專輯，充滿舞曲風格的歌曲，Stay (Faraway, So Close!)算是最正統的搖滾歌曲了。




Stay (Faraway, So Close!)也收錄在精選輯The Best of 1990 - 2000。




Stay (Faraway, So Close!)的歌詞：

Green light, Seven Eleven
You stop in for a pack of cigarettes
You don't smoke, don't even want to
Hey now, check your change
Dressed up like a car crash
Your wheels are turning but you're upside down
You say when he hits you, you don't mind
Because when he hurts you, you feel alive
Hey babe, is that what it is

Red lights, gray morning
You stumble out of a hole in the ground
A vampire or a victim
It depend's on who's around
You used to stay in to watch the adverts
You could lip synch to the talk shows

And if you look, you look through me
And when you talk, you talk at me
And when I touch you, you don't feel a thing

If I could stay...
Then the night would give you up
Stay...and the day would keep its trust
Stay...and the night would be enough

Faraway, so close
Up with the static and the radio
With satelite television
You can go anywhere
Miami, New Orleans
London, Belfast and Berlin

And if you listen I can't call
And if you jump, you just might fall
And if you shout, I'll only hear you

If I could stay...
Then the night would give you up
Stay...then the day would keep its trust
Stay...with the demons you drowned
Stay...with the spirit I found
Stay...and the night would be enough

Three o'clock in the morning
It's quiet and there's no one around
Just the bang and the clatter
As an angel runs to ground

Just the bang
And the clatter
As an angel
Hits the ground

My Way歌詞：

And now, the end is near, and so I face, the final curtain.
My friend, I'll say it clear,
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain.
I've lived, a life that's full, I've traveled each and every highway.
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention.
I did, what I had to do, and saw it through, without exemption.
I planned, each charted course, each careful step, along the byway,
and more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew,
When I bit off, more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up, and spit it out.
I faced it all, and I stood tall,
and did it my way.

I've loved, I've laughed and cried,
I've had my fill; my share of losing.
And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing.
To think, I did all that, and may I say --- not in a shy way,
"Oh no, oh no not me,
I did it my way".

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things, he truly feels,
And not the words, of one who kneels.
The record shows, I took the blows ---
And did it my way!

I did it my way.

延伸閱讀：

The Sky of Gene - U2