2008年7月29日，我在丽江，正逢纳西族的火把节，虽然丽江这个礼拜一直淅淅沥沥下着冷雨，但是依旧浇不灭人群浮躁喧闹的心，我无处可逃，抬头望星空，想到了Don Mclean那首写给梵高的歌——Vincent：
Starry starry night
paint your palette blue and grey
look out on a summer's day
with eyes that know the darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills
sketch the trees and the daffodils
catch the breeze and the winter chills
in colors on the snowy linen land.
And now I understand
what you tried to say to me
and how you suffered for your sanity
and how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen they did not know how
perhaps they'll listen now.
Starry starry night
字串5
flaming flowers that brightly blaze
swirling clouds in violet haze
reflect in Vincent's eyes of China blue.
Colors changing hue
morning fields of amber grain
weathered faces lined in pain
are smoothed beneath the artist's loving hand.
And now I understand
what you tried to say to me
and how you suffered for your sanity
and how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen they did not know how
perhaps they'll listen now.
For they could not love you
but still your love was true
and when no hope was left in sight on that
starry starry night.
You took your life as lovers often do,
But I could have told you Vincent
this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.
Starry starry night
portraits hung in empty halls
frameless heads on nameless walls
with eyes that watch the world and can't forget. 字串8
Like the stranger that you've met
the ragged men in ragged clothes
the silver thorn of bloddy rose
lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow.
And now I think I know
what you tried to say to me
and how you suffered for your sanity
and how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen they're not listening still
perhaps they never will.
歌词如此优美诗意，千万别尝试用中文词藻去造作的翻译，就保留它英文的单纯张力，静静体会其中的意境——让人遐想沉思，一如Don Mclean清澈纯净的嗓音和吉他，一如梵高的那幅Starry Night ！
第一次看到梵高的这幅画时，我以为我看到的是火，内心炙热迸发的烈火，色彩像是直接从颜料管里挤出来的，无立体感的笔触如同粗糙的草席，却点亮了夜空最深的暗处，with eyes that know the darkness in my soul.
寂寞如梵高，寂寞亦如Don Mclean……
1971年，Don Mclean出版了这首Vincent，从那时候起，它就一直在荷兰梵高纪念馆回响，日日夜夜，至今不休……我第一次无意中听到这首歌仅仅因为我点击错了歌曲链接，原本想打开的是Don Mclean的另一首歌——American Pie.
字串8
这又是另一首歌，长达8分钟的自传体式的史诗，30多年来让无数美国人孜孜不倦的猜测每句歌词，甚至很多人拿此作为论文主题，从历史背景、人物生平各个角度、逐字逐句地详细分析，而Don Mclean的回答总是沉默……人声如此喧嚣，而在他的歌中，我听到的只有寂寞“……while the King was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown, the courtroom was adjourned; no verdict was returned. And while Lennon read a book of Marx, the quartet practiced in the park, and we sang dirges in the dark, the day the music died. Bye-bye, Miss American Pie ……”
寂寞如Don Mclean，寂寞亦如张国荣……
第一次听到这首American Pie，是在张国荣2000年passion热情演唱会上，他盘着长发、穿着长裙、赤着脚、脸上点着黑痣，面庞清秀润滑，身形玲珑性感，神情似孩童，眼神却掺和着骄傲、妩媚、任性、天真、妖惑、野性、慵懒，还有——寂寞！40岁的男人，只有他敢如此恣意汪洋，一如演唱会的主题：天使与魔鬼！也许是巧合，passion如果写成Passion时，意思是耶稣的受难和死亡，冥冥中似乎一切早已注定！ 字串2
张国荣第一次唱这首歌也是在30年前，他自杀后，我在网上看了1977年他参加歌唱比赛时的视频，他那时身颀消瘦，一脸稚气，留着Beatles似的微卷长发，穿着王子似的白色宽袖衬衣，但脚上的大红长靴却让这个英俊少年看起来显得如此叛逆不羁，气质独特！
丽江还是如此浮躁喧嚣，不明白为什么这个西南边陲的纳西小镇短短10年间就成了中国艳遇第一地；束河也没有了几年前的安详，村政府早已无需再焦急地实施免税，号召大家来投资……抬头望，丽江的夜空已明亮似都市，早不见了点点繁星……人群来来往往，我却听见寂寞在歌唱：This'll be the day that I die……This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.
