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Little Richard Rock-'n'-roll progenitor
摇滚鼻祖小理查德
By StephanIe Zacharek
文/斯蒂芬妮·扎卡雷克
In the 1940s, teenagers were just adults in waiting, busy with responsibilities like going to war.
20世纪40年代的青少年与成年人似乎并无二致，除了年龄。因为他们早就在忙着应付各种责任，比如上战场的责任了。
But the luckier teenagers of the 1950s became a kind of royalty,
相比之下，50年代的青少年则要幸运许多，他们脱胎成了一种贵族，
and Little Richard—who died on May 9 at age 87—welcomed them with an embrace of raucous, peacock splendor.
成了小理查德——已于今年5月9日去世，享年87岁——用喧嚣而神气的拥抱隆重欢迎的对象。
In 1955, his “Tutti Frutti” hit like a glitter bomb of self-expression,
1955年，小理查德的专辑《Tutti Frutti》犹如一颗金光闪闪的、洋溢自我的炸弹一般横空出世，
opening with a lomp-bomp-bomp that would be rock 'n' roll's Big Bang.
专辑开头那一阵轰隆隆的轰鸣声即将成为为摇滚乐开辟鸿蒙的一声巨响。
Everyone who followed—an eternally scrolling list that includes the Beatles, Elton John and, of course, Prince—owes him a debt.
所有追随他脚步的人——细数起来就是一份没有尽头的名单，披头士乐队、埃尔顿·约翰，当然，还有普林斯都在其列——都受了他的一份恩惠。
To anyone who would listen, and to those who wouldn't,
无论是喜欢听，还是不喜欢听他的音乐的人，在他们印象里，
the man who was born Richard Wayne Penniman, in Macon, Ga., often boasted that he invented rock 'n' roll.
这位出生在佐治亚州梅肯，原名理查德·韦恩·彭尼曼的家伙都是一个经常吹嘘自己发明了摇滚乐的人。
But is it a boast if it's true?
问题是，如果他说的是真的，那还算吹嘘吗？
His splashy but elegant piano attack, his voice as raw as a hungry kiss:
他弹奏的钢琴曲花俏却又不失优雅，他的歌声又如迫不及待的亲吻一般直白：
Little Richard was carnal but never vulgar, and his personal style—
小理查德是欲而不俗的，他的个人风格——
the pencil mustache, the metallic suits, the pompadour reaching toward Heaven—
铅笔胡须，金属西装，高高的蓬头——
spoke to the man inside the woman and the woman inside the man.
既代表了女人内心男人的一面，也代表了男人体内女人的一面。
He showed the world what it meant to be yourself, at a time when that was much harder than it is today.
他昭告了全世界什么才叫做自己，还是在比今天困难得多的年代。
Any among us who ever wanted to scream, shout or wear a sequin:
你我之辈，凡是有过想要尖叫，想要呐喊，或是想穿上带有浓浓金属味的行头的人，
we are all children of Little Richard.
都得尊他一声“爷爷”。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
