翻譯：出自微信公眾號(hào)【RollingStone大水花】（若有侵權(quán)自刪）https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/RCj9sNRNJRc8fsfBQ01vxQ

Every decade should kick off with a Paul McCartney one-man-band album — and this one needs it more than most. McCartney III carries on his tradition of homemade solo records, in the mode of his acoustic 1970 debut and his 1980 synth-pop oddity McCartney II. Like its two predecessors, it’s Macca at his most playful. He’s not sweating about being a legend, a genius, or a Beatle — just a family man kicking back in quarantine, writing a few songs to keep his juices flowing. Like the rest of us, he’s been in lockdown, hanging out on his daughter’s farm, grandchildren on his knee, strumming his acoustic guitar in the English summer sun. It’s the warmest and friendliest of quarantine albums — it’s basically Ram meets Folklore.

保羅·麥卡特尼一個(gè)人當(dāng)一支樂(lè)隊(duì)的專(zhuān)輯，應(yīng)該成為每個(gè)十年的開(kāi)端——這個(gè)十年尤其需要?！禡cCartney III》延續(xù)了他在家錄制個(gè)人專(zhuān)輯的傳統(tǒng)，他70年代原聲樂(lè)器伴奏的首張專(zhuān)輯和80年代合成器流行的《McCartney II》同樣是在家完成了錄制。一如前兩張專(zhuān)輯，這是“麥卡”最輕松活潑的模樣。他不再想著當(dāng)一個(gè)傳奇，一個(gè)天才，一個(gè)披頭士——他只想當(dāng)一個(gè)居家男人，在隔離期放放松，寫(xiě)寫(xiě)歌，迸發(fā)一點(diǎn)靈感。和我們一樣，他也經(jīng)歷了封鎖，在他女兒的農(nóng)場(chǎng)，在英格蘭的夏日陽(yáng)光下，抱著孫子彈吉他。這是隔離期間發(fā)行的最溫暖，最親切的專(zhuān)輯——是《Ram》遇上《Folklore》。

Macca wrote, played and produced McCartney III himself, with plenty of his folksy finger-picking. Back in the Seventies, one of his Wings bandmates called him “just a farmer who plays guitar,” and that’s the vibe he’s going for here. Paul hasn’t sounded so rustic since his earliest solo days, from “Mary’s Got a Little Lamb” to “Junior’s Farm” to “Mull of Kintyre.” When he sings about sheep and chickens, you know he means actual sheep and chickens, not metaphors.?

麥卡自寫(xiě)自彈，還自己制作了這張指彈隨性的《McCartney III》。70年代，有位Wings團(tuán)員說(shuō)他“不過(guò)是個(gè)彈吉他的農(nóng)民”，很好地描述了這張專(zhuān)輯想走的風(fēng)格。除了單飛后最早的歌曲，包括“Mary’s Got a Little Lamb”，“Junior’s Farm”，“Mull of Kintyre”，保羅的音樂(lè)從未如此鄉(xiāng)村。當(dāng)他唱到羊和雞，你知道他說(shuō)的是真實(shí)的羊和雞，不是比喻。

McCartney III works best when he leans all the way into the solo acoustic concept. He starts off strong with the marvelous “Long Tailed Winter Bird,” which has a couple minutes of frenzied folk guitar before he even begins to sing. There’s also witty moments like the London Town-style yacht-rock ballad “Women and Wives” or the Abbey Road-style goof “Lavatory Lil.”?

《McCartney III》最出彩的部分是他用原聲樂(lè)器伴奏的獨(dú)唱。專(zhuān)輯以“Long Tailed Winter Bird”高開(kāi)，他在開(kāi)口唱前先來(lái)了段激情的民謠吉他。專(zhuān)輯里也有一些諧趣時(shí)刻，例如《London Town》風(fēng)格的游艇搖滾情歌“Women and Wives” 或《Abbey Road》風(fēng)格的搞怪單曲 “Lavatory Lil”。

McCartney’s been on a songwriting roll in recent years. It’s just been two years since the excellent Egypt Station, one of his finest solo records ever, with the Alex Chilton-style guitar meditation “Dominoes,” definitely an all-time top ten Paul solo classic. Egypt Station was also a Number One hit, and never think for a moment Macca doesn’t take that to heart. It was his first chart-topper since Tug of War in 1982, setting a new record for the longest stretch between Number One albums.?

麥卡特尼近年來(lái)創(chuàng)作不斷。兩年前，他才發(fā)行了他的史上最佳個(gè)人專(zhuān)輯之一《Egypt Station》，其中，Alex Chilton風(fēng)格的吉他悠思“Dominoes”無(wú)疑是保羅個(gè)人單曲排名前十的作品。以及，永遠(yuǎn)不要以為麥卡已經(jīng)不在乎排名了，《Egypt Station》登上了專(zhuān)輯排行榜第一，那是1982年的專(zhuān)輯《Tug of War》后他的首次登頂，創(chuàng)下了兩次登頂?shù)拈g隔記錄。

His current hot streak began with Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, his 2005 Nigel Godrich collabo, which slipped between the cracks at the time but now stands as a major turning point in his story. He’s never wanted to settle for being a nostalgia artist — that’s always set him apart from his generational peers. He takes pride in moving forward. Until the pandemic slowed his roll touring-wise, he was slaying live crowds every night with his best band since the Fab Four. And ever since Chaos and Creation, he’s been writing brilliant songs to match.

他的創(chuàng)作迸發(fā)，始于2005年和Nigel Godrich合作的《Chaos and Creation in the Backyard》，當(dāng)時(shí)未受關(guān)注，但如今再看，是他重要的轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)。他從來(lái)不想成為一個(gè)懷舊藝人——這也讓他區(qū)別于同時(shí)代的其他藝人。他驕傲于自己的進(jìn)步。在疫情叫停他的巡演前，他每晚都和他的樂(lè)隊(duì)一起現(xiàn)場(chǎng)表演，那是披頭士生涯后他最好的搭檔?！禖haos and Creation in the Backyard》后，他也一直創(chuàng)作出堪比披頭士時(shí)期的佳作。

McCartney III isn’t ambitious like Egypt Station — like his first two self-titled solo statements, it’s a spontaneous palate-cleanser after a labored studio project. McCartney came right after Abbey Road, as he shrugged off the Beatles with acoustic ditties like “Every Night” and “The Lovely Linda,” recorded at home on his spiffy new tape machine. McCartney II came right after the final Wings album, the underrated Back to the Egg; it had a genuinely nutty Number One hit with “Coming Up” and the lost gem “Temporary Secretary,” which sat unnoticed for decades until the world suddenly decided it was brilliant.

《McCartney III 》不像《Egypt Station》具有野心——就像他最初兩張自命名的單飛宣言一樣，這張專(zhuān)輯是精工打磨的錄音室專(zhuān)輯后隨意的清口小菜。在《Abby Road》后不久發(fā)行的《McCartney》里，他在家里用自己簇新的錄音機(jī)錄制了 “Every Night” 和 “The Lovely Linda”等原聲樂(lè)器伴奏的小曲，卸下了披頭士的光環(huán)。

McCartney III has that same stripped-down touch — the only duds come when he turns up the synths and tries to rock out. It peaks high with “The Kiss of Venus,” a pastoral romance that floats like an updated “Mother Nature’s Son,” as he hits poignant high notes in his superbly weathered voice. He ends with “When Winter Comes,” a hard-bitten tale of farm life. At first, it sounds like a farmer’s almanac of chores, like “Must dig a drain by the carrot patch.” But it’s also a portrait of late-life domestic bliss, with two elderly lovers warming their toes by the fire, forced by winter to stay indoors and delight in each other. The song has a surprising emotional power—like a flip side to “When I’m 64,” with Paul looking back from the edge of 78.?

《McCartney III》有著同樣洗去鉛華的質(zhì)感——僅有的幾首稍遜之作是他開(kāi)了合成，試圖搖滾的結(jié)果。專(zhuān)輯的高潮“The Kiss of Venus”是宛如“Mother Nature’s Son”更新版的田園戀曲，他滄桑的嗓音悲愴高歌。他以“When Winter Comes”結(jié)尾，講述一段農(nóng)場(chǎng)艱辛生活。乍聽(tīng)之下，這首歌聽(tīng)來(lái)像是農(nóng)活的流水賬，“要在蘿卜地邊上挖一個(gè)排水溝。”但其實(shí)述說(shuō)的是晚年幸福，兩個(gè)老伴烤火取暖，寒冷冬季相伴家中。這首歌帶來(lái)意想不到的情感沖擊——仿佛是“When I’m 64”的反面，是保羅在78歲時(shí)的回首。

When Paul was making his 1970s farm-core statements like Ram and Red Rose Speedway, the albums got attacked. But he’s lived long enough to see a new generation rightly prize these albums as cult classics — much to his amusement. As he told Rolling Stone in 2016, “One of my nephews, Jay, said, “Ram’s my all-time favorite album.’ I thought it was dead and gone, stinking over there in the dung pit. So I listened to it. ‘Wow, I get what I was doing.’ ” The vindication has to be sweet. That’s part of the charm of McCartney III. He’s not raging against the winter — it’s just a chance for the master to kick back and smile away.

當(dāng)保羅在70年代發(fā)出他的田園宣言時(shí)，包括《Ram》《Red Rose Speedway》等專(zhuān)輯都不受好評(píng)。但他終于等到了懂得欣賞那些專(zhuān)輯的新一代，這讓他欣喜不已。就像他2016年對(duì)Rolling Stone說(shuō)的那樣，“我的侄子Jay說(shuō)，’《Ram》是他最喜歡的專(zhuān)輯?！冶緛?lái)以為這張專(zhuān)輯已經(jīng)蓋棺定論，遺臭萬(wàn)年了，但當(dāng)我重聽(tīng)之后，我居然能夠欣賞我當(dāng)時(shí)的作品?！?保羅終于被肯定的心情一定很好，他的好心情也讓《McCartney III》更添魅力。他沒(méi)有怒叱冬季——有的只是音樂(lè)大師一笑而過(guò)的輕松時(shí)刻。