2007年VOA标准英语-Bob Seger Returns After 11-year Absence

By Larry London
Washington
02 April 2007
 
watch Bob Seger report

"Rock and roll never forgets" is one of the lines from a 1977 hit song sung by rock icon¹ Bob Seger.  His fans have never forgotten.  Seger is touring for the first time in over a decade promoting his newest album, Face The Promise.   The singer sat down recently with VOA's Larry London to discuss the new album and current tour.

Bob Seger

It has been 11 years since Bob Seger left his family and his home in suburban² Detroit for the roar³ of a sold out arena⁴.

"The kids on the last tour were one and 3.5," said Bob Seger. "I had kids really late in life, at age 47, and I just wanted to watch them grow up.  It was as simple as that.  I'd been doing it [music] for 31 years straight, and maybe I needed a break.  I don't know, but really it was more that than anything else. I went into the [Rock and Roll] Hall of Fame about three or four years ago.  They [his family] came to the show, and said, 'Dad, you can do a full-on tour!'  So that's when I started getting real serious about finishing the album [and] here we are."

Although he is successful at songwriting, Seger does not understand how he does it.

"The first 12 years of my career, we basically⁵ were a road band.  I didn't have much time to really write music," he said. "The beauty now is that I have a lot of time to write.  And I find that that's really my favorite thing to do."

It's very mysterious writing songs.  You never know where the influence comes from.  You're just kind of a conduit to whatever's out there. 

Seger talks about one of his musical influences, one he paid homage⁶ to in the lyrics⁷ to his hit song, Night Moves.

"I was a big Phil Spector fan when I was in high school.  I was a junior in high school in 1962, so it was Be My Baby by The Ronettes," he said. "All those Spector things [songs] with the big drums and the big productions. I love the way Ronnie [Ronettes' lead singer Ronnie Spector] sang too."

Seger recently released⁸ his first recording⁹ of original songs in 10 years, titled Face The Promise, an album inspired by his children.

"The whole album is really about the future and their future [his children]," said Bob Seger. "And when you become a parent, as you know, you start thinking about their future and it becomes more important."  

The new single is Wait For Me.

"In the case of Wait for Me, originally my thought was 'give your children enough space and wait for them to try things and be patient,'" he said. "Let them make their mistakes'."

The inspiration¹⁰ for the title cut to Seger's new recording was an album by one of his favorite songwriters.  The title came to mean even more after raising a family.

"I saw an album in a Nashville record store years ago by Leonard Cohen, who is one of my favorite songwriters.  It was called The Future," said Bob Seger. " I just thought to myself, 'What a great album title!'  Then later, I had my kids, and suddenly I was writing this riff [repeated chord¹¹ progression].  It ended up being the song Face The Promise.  It started out with just a riff.  I was trying to figure out where that came from and I think that's where it came from.  I've always been a huge Leonard Cohen fan, and I thought the title was so big, 'face the promise to the promised land', and I could write about things that were present and in the future."

The future is now for Bob Seger.  He plans to take the middle of 2007 off and do some sailing, but leaves open the possibility of more tour dates later in the year.

"Right now I'm having a lot of fun touring.  I hadn't toured in so long, and I didn't think I missed it.  But boy, I did!"

1 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

2 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

3 roar   

n.吼，咆哮，轰鸣，喧闹；vi.吼叫，大声说出，喧闹；vt.呼喊，使轰鸣

参考例句：

• He began to roar when I took the chocolate away. 当我把巧克力拿走时，他大哭起来。
• The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight.机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。

4 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

5 basically   

adv.基本上，从根本上说

参考例句：

• His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
• Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。

6 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。

7 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

8 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

9 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

10 inspiration   

n.灵感，鼓励者，吸气

参考例句：

• These events provided the inspiration for his first novel.这些事件给了他创作第一部小说的灵感。
• What an inspiration she was to all around her!她对于她周围所有的人是一种多么大的鼓舞！

11 chord   

n.和弦，和音，弦，心弦

参考例句：

• Her speech struck a deep chord in my heart.她的话深深地拨动了我的心弦。
• This is a chord of a circle.这是个圆的弦。