美國無名 南非傳奇

2013奧斯卡最佳紀(jì)錄長片——《尋找小糖人》：37歲的導(dǎo)演馬利克·本德讓勞爾在電影界名不見經(jīng)傳。對初執(zhí)導(dǎo)筒的他而言，獲得奧斯卡大獎可謂意料之外的結(jié)果。最初，他只是想把一個令他驚訝感動的好故事拍成一部短片，后來沒剎住車，前后花了六年時間拍攝成一部紀(jì)錄長片，并因此耗盡家產(chǎn)。本德讓勞爾數(shù)次受困于資金斷裂，捉襟見肘之下，突發(fā)奇想地用iPhone5和8mm的老式相機完成了最后場景。相比影片拍攝制作過程的艱辛，本德讓勞爾記錄的音樂天才羅德里格茲的傳奇故事更令人唏噓……

America： A Hippy With Shades

美國：陰影里的嬉皮士

When American folk music prevailed for a time in the 1970s， a folk singer， Rodriguez， released two albums.The first album was Cold Fact， and the second Come From Reality. However， the album did not catch any attention， and he was dismissed by the company later. The next few decades， Rodriguez worked as a construction worker for a living. “Rodriguez， at that time， had all the machinery in place. Big names， big money behind it. Circumstances were right. Why not make it？ That’s the big question that today still haunts me. Did he get enough promotion？ Did he do enough performances？ Was he too political？” said Mac Theodore， who discoved Rodriguez’s talent and was the producer for his first album. Nobody was even interested in listening to him. Nobody in America had ever heard of him.

20世紀(jì)70年代美國民謠盛行的時期，一個名叫羅德里格茲的民謠歌手發(fā)行了兩張專輯——第一張專輯《冷事實》，第二張專輯《來自現(xiàn)實》。但兩張專輯毫無反響，不久羅德里格茲被公司辭退。此后的幾十年，羅德里格茲靠當(dāng)建筑工人養(yǎng)家糊口。發(fā)掘羅德里格茲才華并為他制作第一張專輯的制作人麥克·西奧多說：“當(dāng)時萬事俱備，有大牌制作人，大量資金，時機也恰好，所以我一直不明白他為什么沒出名？是宣傳沒到位嗎？歌詞的政治色彩太濃了？”在美國沒有人有興趣聽他的歌，甚至沒有人聽說過他。

South Africa： Spiritual Idol

南非：精神偶像

It’s still a bit mysterious of how the first copy of Cold Fact actually came to South Africa. At that time， Africa was very conservative， and there wasn’t television there. People didn’t not know what the outside world was. They discovered Rodriguez’s talent in his music. More importantly， those songs about complaints about political， economic and racial inequality made young people against apartheid in South Africa find unprecedented resonance. His clear voice， philosophical lyrics， the indictment of the modern city and the expression of hard living at the bottom made people think of Bob Dylan. Everyone there listened to his songs. He was the soundtrack to their lives.

羅德里格茲的第一張專輯如何傳入南非仍是一個謎。那時的南非非常保守，也沒有電視。人們并不知道外面的世界正在流行什么，他們在羅德里格茲的音樂中感受到了他的才氣，更重要的是，歌里的那些關(guān)于政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)與種族不平等的控訴讓南非反對種族隔離制度的年輕人找到了空前的共鳴。他清澈的嗓音、充滿哲理的歌詞、對現(xiàn)代城市的控訴和底層艱辛的表達(dá)，都會令人想到鮑勃·迪倫（有影響力的美國民謠歌手、音樂家、詩人）。南非所有的音樂人都聽他的音樂，對南非年輕人來說，羅德里格茲就是他們生命的背景音樂。

Internet Era： Fair Tale Turned into Reality

互聯(lián)網(wǎng)時代：童話變成現(xiàn)實

No one could guess his age， height， and even saw his face.The record did not provide any information about him. It was rumored that the great singer was dead. His fans set up a website to prove their superstar’s death. Until 1998， Rodriguez’s daughter accidentally discovered the website and send a message. The whole South Africa was shocked. They totally did not expect the godfather of South Africa turned out to be a humble construction worker in the United States， doing tough work in order to support a family of five.

In March 1998， Rodriguez was invited to South Africa to hold concerts， which led this legendary to its climax. “It’s like hospitality for Madonna，” little daughter Eva recalled. “Most exaggeratedly， my father’s album cover was tattooed on someone’s arm. They seemed to see Elvis’ resurrection.” For so many years， Rodriguez returned to the stage， and have never had such a big stage and the audience. But his face was not bewilded， but tranquility and serenity.

His daughter recalled， “It’s a city that tells you not to dream big， not to expect anything more， but Dad always took me to places only elite people would be able to go. He instills in me that I can go anywhere I want， regardless of what my bank statement says. My Dad gave us a lot of exposure of the arts. He would let us go into the libraries， museums and science centres， where that was our day care. We began to learn of life outside of the city.”

After returning to the United States， Rodriguez， still unknown in his hometown， returned to do construction， lawn mowing and cleaning work. He needed to do these work to meet the basic needs of life. His life has not changed. He walked in the streets of Detroit with a guitar on back， living a quiet and silent life. He went to South Africa 4 times， and held more than 30 concerts. He gave most of money to his family and friends. He still lives in the house where he has lived for 40 years. Eva said， “My father has two life styles. A Cinderella in the United States， while on a pumpkin carriage in South Africa.”

Rodriguez said，“Destinity forced me to give up music， and made me a star. It’s not until the last second who ever knows what the arrangement of destinity is.”

沒人能猜出他的年紀(jì)和身高，更看不清他的相貌，唱片也沒有提供任何信息。在南非有傳言，這位偉大的歌手已經(jīng)去世。南非歌迷在網(wǎng)上建立網(wǎng)站求證心中巨星的死訊。直到1998年，羅德里格茲的女兒才偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)這則消息并作出回復(fù)。南非人震驚了，他們完全沒想到南非的音樂教父，在美國竟然是一個毫不起眼的建筑工人，為養(yǎng)活一家五口，干著粗重的活兒。

1998年3月，羅德里格茲被南非邀請舉辦演唱會，這成為傳奇的高潮。“就像招待麥當(dāng)娜一樣，”小女兒伊娃回憶說，“最夸張的是，有的人胳膊上居然文了我父親的專輯封面。他們就像看到貓王復(fù)活一樣。”這么多年后，羅德里格茲回到久違的舞臺，而且是從來沒有過的這么大的舞臺，面對如此多的觀眾，他的臉上沒有受寵若驚，而是平和與寧靜。

羅德里格茲的女兒回憶：“這個城市（底特律）試圖告訴這里的人，不要有什么不切實際的夢想，不要期待太多。但是，父親會帶我去一些地方，那些地方通常只有上層精英人士才會去。他似乎在告訴我，無論你銀行里有沒有存款，你可以去任何你想去的地方。他帶我們?nèi)D書館、博物館、科技館，這些地方好像是我們的幼兒園。我們從書籍、繪畫和音樂中認(rèn)識到了這個城市之外的世界。”

回到美國以后，在家鄉(xiāng)依然默默無聞的羅德里格茲重返建筑老本行，為別人家修整草坪，做清潔工等。他需要做這些以滿足生活的基本需求。他的生活沒有變化，他仍背著吉他漫步在底特律的大街小巷，一如既往保持沉默安靜的生活。他后來四度去南非，開了三十多場演唱會。他把這些收入的大部分都給了他的家人和朋友。他仍住在底特律已住了40年的房子里。對此，伊娃說：“我的父親有兩種生活，在美國他是個‘灰姑娘’，在南非，他就像坐上了南瓜馬車。”

羅德里格茲說：“命運讓我放棄音樂，又讓我成為巨星，不到最后一刻，誰也不知道命運的安排是如何。”