看音乐剧，学英语（一）

 

音乐剧文本是很有趣的学习英文的材料，因为音乐和故事，也不会觉得英文枯燥。今天我们以大热剧《汉密尔顿》的同名开场曲《亚历山大·汉密尔顿》为例，学习一下其中的单词词组。

 

这首歌曲是非常具有代表性的一首歌，在开场就让各个与汉密尔顿有关联的人讲明了各自的关系以及汉密尔顿的人生道路甚至结局。作为开场非常震撼。

https://y.qq.com/n/yqq/song/002nWngt1KAr6k.html

 

 

关于音乐剧《汉密尔顿》

《汉密尔顿：一部美国音乐剧》（英语：Hamilton: An American Musical），是一部关于美国开国元勋亚历山大·汉密尔顿的音乐剧，由林-曼努尔·米兰达编剧、作曲及填词。这出剧受到2004年朗·车诺所写的传记《亚历山大·汉密尔顿》所启发，评价与票房都取得了巨大成功。

 

本剧2015年2月于外百老汇的公众剧院首演时售罄。在2015年8月登上百老汇的理察·罗杰斯剧院。剧作在百老汇收获热烈好评以及空前的票房纪录，获得格莱美奖最佳音乐剧专辑及普利策戏剧奖。外百老汇的演出赢得2015年戏剧桌奖（或译：纽约戏剧奖）十四项提名，得到杰出音乐剧等七项奖项。百老汇的演出获得破纪录的十六项东尼奖提名，得到最佳音乐剧等十一项大奖。

 

本剧赢得了许多评论家的热烈好评。《综艺》杂志的玛丽莲·斯塔西奥（Marilyn Stasio）在关于外百老汇作品的评论中写道：“（本剧的）音乐令人兴奋，但歌词更是个大惊喜。本剧为每一个角色量身打造了各自唱白的质感与音色。” 《经济学人》的一篇评论总结了对汉密尔顿的评价，称其为“近乎普遍的好评”。美国总统巴拉克·奥巴马开玩笑说，“对《汉密尔顿》的欣赏是唯一一件我和迪克·切尼都同意的事”。

 

 

注：大多词都有多种含义，这里只取语境中一种

 

Alexander Hamilton

 

[AARON BURR]

How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a

Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten

Spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor

Grow up to be a hero and a scholar?

 

bastard n. 私生子a person born to parents who are not married to each other

He was born in 1798, the bastard son of a country squire and his mistress.

他生于1798年，是个乡绅与其情妇的私生子。

providence n. 天意，天道，天命 an influence that is not human in origin and is thought to control people's lives  

divine providence 神的旨意

a forgotten spot 一个被遗忘的地点

impoverished adj. 赤贫的 very poor

an impoverished young actor

squalor n. 非常邋遢潦倒的境地，通常因为缺钱the condition of being extremely dirty and unpleasant, often because of lack of money

How can you live in that squalor?

These people are forced to live in squalor.

 

 

[JOHN LAURENS]

The ten-dollar Founding Father without a father

Got a lot farther by working a lot harder

By being a lot smarter

By being a self-starter

By fourteen, they placed him in charge of a trading charter

 

self-starter n. 有主动性的人；干活自觉的人 a person who is able to work effectively without regularly needing to be told what to do

in charge (of something/someone) 负责某事或某人responsible for something or someone

Who’s in charge here?

The teacher put me in charge of organizing the project.

 

[THOMAS JEFFERSON]

And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted

Away across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up

Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of

The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter

 

slaughter v. 屠杀，杀戮 to cruelly and unfairly kill a lot of people

Thousands of people were slaughtered in the civil war. 成千上万的人在这场内战中被屠杀

cart v. （尤指费力地）运送，搬运 to take something or someone somewhere, especially using a lot of effort

long for v. 渴望…；渴望做… to want something very much

I'm longing for news of him. 我正在盼望着得到他的消息。

barter v. 以物易物；易货贸易 to exchange goods for other things rather than for money

 

[JAMES MADISON]

Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned

Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain

Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain

And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain

 

reign v. 主宰；起支配作用；盛行 to be the main feeling or quality in a situation or person

The bomb attacks produced a panic which reigned over the city. 炸弹袭击引起的恐慌笼罩全城。

down the drain 打水漂，付诸东流 If work or money is or goes down the drain, it is spoiled or wasted. drain n. 下水道

If the factory closes, that will be a million dollars' worth of investment down the drain. 如果工厂关闭，那么100万美元的投资就打水漂了。

temple n. 太阳穴，鬓角 the flat area on each side of your head in front of the top of your ear

refrain n. 一再重复的话；老调 a phrase that is often repeated

"Every vote counts" is a familiar refrain in politics. “每一票都重要”是政治上的老生常谈。

testament n. 证明；验证 proof

The detail of her wildlife paintings is (a) testament to (= proof of) her powers of observation. 她画野生动物十分细致，这证明她有很强的观察能力。

 

 

[BURR]

Well, the word got around, they said, "This kid is insane, man"

Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland

"Get your education, don't forget from whence you came, and

The world's gonna know your name. What's your name, man?"

 

insane adj. 疯狂的；荒唐的extremely unreasonable or stupid  

It would be insane not to take advantage of this opportunity. 如果不抓住这一机会的话那就太荒唐了。

whence adv, conj. 从那里 (from) where

It has been returned to the shop from whence it came. 已经把它退还给原商店了。

 

 

 

[ALEXANDER HAMILTON]

Alexander Hamilton

My name is Alexander Hamilton

And there's a million things I haven't done

But just you wait, just you wait...

 

[ELIZA HAMILTON]

When he was ten his father split, full of it, debt-ridden

Two years later, see Alex and his mother bed-ridden

Half-dead sitting in their own sick, the scent thick

 

split v. 离开 to leave a place

debt-ridden adj. having a lot of debt and therefore in financial difficulty

a debt-ridden country/economy

bedridden adj. having to stay in bed because of illness or injury

His aunt was 93 and bedridden.

 

[FULL COMPANY EXCEPT HAMILTON (whispering)]

And Alex got better but his mother went quick

 

[GEORGE WASHINGTON & COMPANY, BOTH]

Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide

Left him with nothing but ruined pride, something new inside

A voice saying

"Alex, you gotta fend for yourself."

He started retreating and reading every treatise on the shelf

 

commit suicide 自杀a phrase used to mean “to kill yourself”, which is now considered offensive because it suggests that doing this is a crime

fend for yourself to take care of and provide for yourself without depending on anyone else:

Now that the children are old enough to fend for themselves, we can go away on holiday by ourselves.

retreat to decide not to do something, or to stop believing something, because it causes too many problems:

The government is retreating from its promises.

treatise a formal piece of writing that considers and examines a particular subject:

a six-volume treatise on trademark law

 

[BURR & COMPANY, BOTH]

There would have been nothing left to do

For someone less astute

He woulda been dead or destitute

Without a cent of restitution

Started working, clerking for his late mother's landlord

Trading sugar cane and rum and all the things he can't afford

Scamming for every book he can get his hands on

Planning for the future see him now as he stands on (ooh)

The bow of a ship headed for a new land

In New York you can be a new man

 

astute adj. 敏锐的able to understand a situation quickly and see how to take advantage of it:

an astute investor/businesswoman

his astute handling of the situation

destitute adj. 身无分文without money, food, a home, or possessions:

The floods left thousands of people destitute.

restitution n. payment made for damage or loss:

The chemical company promised to make full restitution to the victims for the injury to their health.

clerk v. to work as a clerk担任职员(文员或店员)

Debbie has a summer job clerking in an office. 戴比暑期在一家办事处当文书。

sugar cane n. a tropical plant from whose tall thick stems sugar can be got 甘蔗

rum n. a strong alcoholic drink made from the juice of the sugar cane plant朗姆酒

I'll have a (glass of) rum. 我要一杯朗姆酒。

scam v. 诈骗；骗钱to obtain money or other goods from somebody by dishonest means

bow n. 船头，舰首the front part of a ship

 

 

[COMPANY & HAMILTON, WOMEN, MEN]

In New York you can be a new man (Just you wait)

In New York you can be a new man (Just you wait)

In New York you can be a new man

In New York, New York

Just you wait!

 

[COMPANY]

Alexander Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)

We are waiting in the wings for you (waiting in the wings for you)

You could never back down

You never learned to take your time!

Oh, Alexander Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)

When America sings for you

Will they know what you overcame?

Will they know you rewrote the game?

The world will never be the same, oh

 

[BURR, MEN, & COMPANY]

The ship is in the harbor now

See if you can spot him

Just you wait

Another immigrant

Coming up from the bottom

Just you wait

His enemies destroyed his rep

America forgot him

 

[MULLIGAN/MADISON & LAFAYETTE/JEFFERSON]

We fought with him

 

[LAURENS/PHILIP]

Me? I died for him

 

[WASHINGTON]

Me? I trusted him

 

[ELIZA & ANGELICA & PEGGY/MARIA]

Me? I loved him

 

[BURR]

And me? I'm the damn fool that shot him

 

[COMPANY]

There's a million things I haven't done

But just you wait!

 

[BURR]

What's your name, man?

 

[COMPANY]

Alexander Hamilton!