 |
| Bush likes using
his 'iPod One' to listen to music while he pedals around his
Texas ranch on a mountain
bike | |
The music tastes of U.S. President George W. Bush have come under scrutiny after an aide revealed the
playlist of his new iPod player.
The portable digital device, given to Bush by his daughters Jenna and
Barbara last July, contains much country music, but also songs by Joni
Mitchell, Van Morrison and the Knack.
The MP3 player, which can store up to 10,000 songs, only contains about
250, according to the New York Times, which first reported the story.
"iPod One," as the player has been dubbed, is used by Bush while he
pedals around his Texas ranch on a mountain bike, presidential media
adviser Mark McKinnon told the newspaper.
The task of downloading the music falls to the 58-year-old president's
personal aide, Blake Gottesman, who buys individual songs and albums from
the iTunes music store.
Not every track is "on-message." The playlist -- regarded by many as a
mirror to the soul -- includes musicians who campaigned against Bush, such
as John Fogerty. Also on the iPod is the 1979 song "My Sharona" by the
Knack, about a man pursuing a much younger woman.
One of that song's lyrics, "Such a dirty mind. Always get it up for the
touch of the younger kind," prompted Spin magazine editor Dave Itzkoff to
comment: "This wouldn't be consistent with Bush's image as protector of
conservative values."
Bush, who quit drinking after his 40th birthday, also listens to
recovering alcoholic George Jones, a country singer who sings about
heartbreak and drinking. Joe Levy, deputy editor of Rolling Stone
magazine, said this indicated "a little bit of taste for hard core and honky-tonk ."
McKinnon advised though against too much analysis of the playlist. "The
fact is that any president who would limit themselves to pro-establishment
musicians would have a pretty slim collection.
"No one should psychoanalyze the song selection. It's music to get over
the next hill," he told the New York Times.
The playlist does reveal a rather narrow range of babyboomer tunes.
Writing in the London Times, Caitlin Moran noted: "No black artists, no
gay artists, no world music ,
only one woman, no genre less than 25 years old, and no Beatles."
Levy agreed, telling the New York Times: "What we're talking about is a
lot of great artists from the '60s and '70s and more modern artists who
sound like great artists from the '60s and '70s.
"This is basically boomer rock 'n' roll and more recent music out of
Nashville made for boomers. It's safe, it's reliable, it's loving. What I
mean to say is, it's feel-good music. The Sex Pistols it's
not."
（Agencies) |
自从美国总统乔治·布什的新款iPod音乐播放器里的歌单被一位助手“泄露”之后，人们就开始仔细研究他的音乐品味。
布什的iPod便携式数码音乐播放器是他的双胞胎女儿詹娜和芭芭拉去年七月份送给他的，这款音乐播放器中存了很多乡村音乐，还有乔妮·米切尔、范·莫里森和Knack乐队的歌曲。
据最早披露此事的《纽约时报》报道，布什的这款MP3播放器可储存一万首歌，但现在只存了大约250首。
布什总统的媒体顾问马克·麦钦伦告诉《纽约时报》说，布什用的这款播放器被称为“第一iPod”，布什绕着德州农场骑山地车时用它来听音乐。
下载音乐的任务就全交给了总统的私人助手、58岁的布莱克·戈特斯曼。他经常从iTunes音乐商店购买个人唱片和专辑。
并不是每一段音乐都能恰如其分地反映布什的想法。布什的歌单中包括一些在大选中反对布什的音乐家，比如约翰·福格蒂，在很多人眼里歌单就是“心灵的一面镜子”。布什的iPod里还有Knack乐队1979年的一首老歌《我的莎罗娜》，这首歌讲述了一个男人追求一个比他年轻很多的女人的故事。
这首歌有一句歌词是这样的：“这是一颗多么肮脏的心灵啊，总会因为与更年轻的心灵接触而蠢蠢欲动。”《Spin》杂志的编辑大卫·特则克夫评论说：“这和布什一贯的保守形象不太相符。”
布什在过了40岁生日之后就戒了酒，但是他还听乡村歌手乔治·琼斯的歌，后者可是一位酒瘾复发者，老唱一些有关借酒浇愁的悲苦情歌。《滚石》杂志的副主编乔·利维说，这暗示着“布什对硬核音乐和酒吧音乐还是有一点感觉的”。
但是，麦钦伦建议人们不要过多地分析研究布什的歌单，他说：“事实上，对任何一位总统来说，如果他只选择听那些追随主流的音乐家的音乐，那他的音乐库就会非常贫乏。”
他告诉《纽约时报》说：“人们不应该通过某人听的音乐去对他作心理分析。那些音乐不过是帮助（他）翻越一个又一个小山坡的助力器而已。”
这份歌单的确反映了“婴儿潮一代”相对狭窄的音乐选择。凯特琳·摩伦在伦敦《泰晤士报》上发表文章指出：“（歌单上）没有黑人和同性恋音乐家，没有流行音乐，只有一位女歌手的音乐，没有年纪在25岁以下的音乐流派，也没有甲克虫乐队的歌。”
利维对此观点表示认可，他对《纽约时报》说：“我们谈论的是六七十年代的一批伟大艺术家，以及和他们风格相似的现代艺术家们。”
“（布什的歌单里）基本上都是婴儿潮一代喜欢的摇滚乐，还有些年代稍晚的音乐，来自专为他们量身定制的歌舞电影《纳什维尔》（1975）。这些歌曲安全、可靠、深情，我想说的是--它们是一些听上去感觉非常好的音乐。不过Sex
Pistols乐队不在其列。”
（中国日报网站译） |
Updated: 2005-04-14 10:08
