美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Mr. Brightside' Will Never Die, And Here's Why

 

(SOUNDBITE OF THE KILLERS¹ SONG, "MR. BRIGHTSIDE")

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

"Mr. Brightside" by The Killers became a hit song all the way back in 2004. That was more than a decade ago. But somehow, the song has never really gone away. In fact, it spent time on the U.K. Top 100 charts nearly every year since its release. So we turn to Stephen Thompson of NPR's Music team to find out why "Mr. Brightside" is still so popular all these years later.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MR. BRIGHTSIDE")

THE KILLERS: (Singing) Now they're going to bed, and my stomach...

STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE²: It is a completely timeless-sounding song. It hasn't aged³, I think, the way a lot of older songs do because of, you know, production techniques or whatever.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MR. BRIGHTSIDE")

THE KILLERS: (Singing) Let me go...

THOMPSON: A lot of songs that came out around that era, early 2000s, you think about what the pop hits were by groups like the Black Eyed Peas, where there is a little bit of a dated feel to the song. And you hear that, and you think - ugh, God, that's so 2004. When you hear "Mr. Brightside," you don't necessarily think - ugh, that's so 2004, even if you relate it to your life back then.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MR. BRIGHTSIDE")

THE KILLERS: (Singing) Jealousy⁴ - turning saints into the sea, swimming through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis⁵.

THOMPSON: And I understand any skepticism people are feeling referring to a song that became a hit in 2004 as, quote, unquote, "timeless," as if, like, this song will echo through the ages. But you do have this data point of a song that is 13 years old that is continuing to chart.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE KILLERS SONG, "MR. BRIGHTSIDE")

THOMPSON: Over the years, the way things chart has changed. So something as simple as streaming a song over and over again can have more of an impact. You don't have the gatekeepers of radio program directors saying, OK, this song's played out. This song's been on our rotation⁶ for six months. We're going to take it out. Streaming is a little bit more eternal. And so I think that older songs have the potential to have a longer life if a lot of people continue to stream them.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MR. BRIGHTSIDE")

THE KILLERS: (Singing) Now I'm falling asleep. And she's calling a cab while he's having a smoke, and she's taking a drag.

THOMPSON: It's a song with this incredible kind of emotional output (laughter) to it. He's hollering, you know, this, like - (singing) I just can't look it's killing⁷ me. That alone is, like, first of all, I think we've all felt that, you know - like, my feelings are crushing me under their sheer weight.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MR. BRIGHTSIDE")

THE KILLERS: (Singing) 'Cause I just can't look. It's killing me...

THOMPSON: And so the song, in that way, it never dies because feelings never die.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MR. BRIGHTSIDE")

THE KILLERS: (Singing) Jealousy - turning saints into the sea...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That was NPR's Stephen Thompson.

1 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

5 alibis   

某人在别处的证据( alibi的名词复数 )； 不在犯罪现场的证人； 借口； 托辞

参考例句：

• The suspects all had alibis for the day of the robbery. 嫌疑人均有证据证明抢劫当天不在犯罪现场。
• I'm not trying to beat your alibis any more than I'm trying to prove 'em. 我并不是不让你辩护，我只是想把那个人找出来。

6 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。