美国乡村音乐:Me And My Gang

Way on down to southern Alabama
With the guitars jammin' that's where we're headed
Straight up to Butte, Montana singin' Lord
I was born a ramblin' man
California to Oregon
Even New York City got one or two
hillbillies ready to hit the road

It's a brother and a sister kinda thang
Raise up your hands if you all wanna hang with
Me and my gang
We live to ride, we ride to live
Me and my gang
Jump on that train
Grab a hold of them reigns
We gonna rock this thang, cock this thang
Me and my gang

We got hippies, gypsies, freaks and geeks
High class women in Daisy Duke denim
Bangin' on gongs and singin' our songs
Dude named Elrod jammin' on an Ipod
Beer and bonfires
Wide open throttle¹, Coors in a bottle
It's all for one and one for all y'all

It's a brother and a sister kinda thang
Raise up your hands if you all wanna hang with
With me and my gang
We live to ride, we ride to live
Me and my gang
Jump on that train
Grab a hold of them reigns
We gonna rock this thang, cock this thang
Me and my gang

在上张专辑《Feels Like Today》中的单曲《Bless The Broken Road》获得2005年度第48届格莱美奖“年度最佳单曲”奖的提名之后，在美国本来就已经颇受欢迎的当代乡村三人组合Rascal² Flatts的人气又有了明显的提升。Rascal Flatts的第四张专辑《Me and My Gang》在4月4日发行后第一周内就狂卖了72万2千张，轻松称霸本周的Billboard 200专辑榜和本周的乡村专辑榜。同时，Rascal Flatts的这张专辑还刷新了南方说唱歌手T.I.的新专辑《King》上周刚刚创造的2006年专辑单周最高的销量纪录，超出了约20万张。

和很多美国当代乡村组合一样，Rascal Flatts的音乐中并没有传统乡村音乐的感觉，使用的传统乡村乐器也并不是很多，甚至有很多老牌乡村音乐人还批评Rascal Flatts的音乐太过流行化，就连组合成员Jay DeMarcus也笑称Rascal Flatts其实就是当代乡村音乐届的后街男孩（Backstreet Boys）和超级男孩（N Sync）。不过，Rascal Flatts就是以这种略带乡村感觉的情歌路线获得了电台和歌迷的青睐。在本张专辑中，Rascal Flatts仍旧延用了这种成功模式，其中较为出色的歌曲包括：首支打榜单曲《What Hurts The Most》，《I Feel Bad》以及《Yes I Do》等

1 throttle   

n.节流阀，节气阀，喉咙；v.扼喉咙，使窒息，压

参考例句：

• These government restrictions are going to throttle our trade.这些政府的限制将要扼杀我们的贸易。
• High tariffs throttle trade between countries.高的关税抑制了国与国之间的贸易。

2 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。