我刚刚发布了最新的 WoW 视频，其中的 BGM 叫做 The Poet And The Pendulum，这首长达14分钟的作品来自芬兰的哥特/交响金属乐队 Nightwish 的最新专辑 Dark Passion Play，这个乐队换了主音歌手的第一张录音室专辑——和大部分 Nightwish 迷不一样，我觉得新来的主音 Anette Olzon 也不错，和原来备受推崇的 Tarja Turunen 相比各有特色 -_-bb
The Poet And The Pendulum 是专辑的第一首歌，根据乐队主创兼键盘手 Tuomas Holopainen 的说法，本来专辑也准备叫做这个名字，后来由于几个原因换了——首先这个名字有点长，作为专辑名颇为不便；其次作为一首 Holopainen 带有强烈自省意味的作品（歌中的 Poet 就是 Holopainen 本人），把自己的形象加诸整个专辑之上也不太好，不过话说回来，最后用的名字 Dark Passion Play 还是来自它（歌曲的第四部分，见下），可见这首超级大作在整个专辑中的分量。
要理解这首作品，首先要知道爱伦坡（Edgar Allan Poe）的一部短篇小说 The Pit and the Pendulum，因为这首歌的歌名和某些要素就是受这部小说的启发而来的（嗯，我想你也看出来了）。话说爱伦坡的这部短篇非常有名，它在爱伦坡的作品中属于比较特别的一类，既没有超自然现象，也没有悬疑的案情，重点讲的是人的“恐惧”。故事描述一个人被西班牙宗教法庭抓住判刑，关在一个黑暗的房间里，房间里有个大坑，坑上面是一个钟摆式的利刃（专辑封面就是这个东西的CG），一边摆动一边慢慢的下降，而我们的主人公就被限制在这个坑里，看着那个“钟摆”一步步的把他推向死亡。Holopainen 从这个意念出发，把自己虚拟化为一个死于这种“钟摆”的诗人，再融合进 Nightwish 一贯以死亡为中心的众多宗教意念，形成这部结合了神秘主义和磅礴气势的摇滚音乐剧。
整首歌分为5个部分，每个部分就好像剧作的一幕，都有自己的名字，分别是：”White Lands Of Empathica”，”Home”，”The Pacific”，”Dark Passion Play” 和 “Mother & Father”。
第一部分 “White Lands Of Empathica”，Empathica 的意思大致相当于我们说的显灵，就是一个人进入另一个人的精神世界，帮助他表达感受的一种状态。这部分是一个唱诗班的男孩讲述了主人公的死（”The songwriter’s dead / The blade fell upon him / Taking him to the white lands / Of Empathica”）。
第二部分 “Home” 以主人公自己的角度表达了一些自我的观点，包括对于死亡的看法（”One last perfect verse”），也包括了对纯真童年的向往，这里用了 “meadows of heaven”（天堂牧场）来指童年，这个说法来自专辑的最后一首歌。
第三部分 “The Pacific” 描述了自知将死的主人公的一连串意念，包括对于自己一生的回忆，以及面对死亡的态度。
第四部分 “Dark Passion Play” 是整个歌曲中最愤怒的部分，包括了主人公的宣泄和旁白对他死后情形的描述（”He was found naked and dead / With a smile in his face / a pen and 1000 pages of erased text”），这里干脆就把Holopainen的名字直接搬出来了（”Today / in the year of our Lord 2005 / Tuomas was called from the cares of the world”）。
最后一部分 “Mother & Father” 是向父母致敬的片段，这一段是以母亲的角度发出的倾诉，配合如安魂曲般平静的背景音乐，把音乐的意境送向了仿如天国的彼方。
作为一支年轻的乐队，能够把这样的作品驾驭到这样的水准，应该说是相当不容易的，无论是歌词意境的营造、恢宏复杂的配器还是主唱的表现力，都相当的出色，值得一再的玩味。
最后，很多朋友可能都知道的，魔兽世界里最具神秘色彩的武器之一，奥达曼随机掉落的 BOE 双手斧，Pendulum of Doom（厄运钟摆）就是 Blizzard 从爱伦坡的小说得到的灵感，那个斧子的图标就和专辑封面上的斧子很像（斧子本身倒是不大，显得气势不足），这也算是 WoW、这个视频、这首歌、这篇小说之间的一个花絮吧。
The Poet And The Pendulum
“WHITE LANDS OF EMPATHICA”
The end.
The songwriter’s dead.
The blade fell upon him
Taking him to the white lands
Of Empathica
Of Innocence
Empathica
Innocence“HOME”
The dreamer and the wine
Poet without a rhyme
A widowed writer torn apart by chains of hellOne last perfect verse
Is still the same old song
Oh Christ how I hate what I have becomeTake me home
Getaway, runaway, fly away
Lead me astray to dreamer’s hideaway
I cannot cry ’cause the shoulder cries more
I cannot die, I, a whore for the cold world
Forgive me
I have but two faces
One for the world
One for God
Save me
I cannot cry ’cause the shoulder cries more
I cannot die, I, a whore for the cold worldMy home was there ‘n then
Those meadows of heaven
Adventure-filled days
One with every smiling facePlease, no more words
Thoughts from a severed head
No more praise
Tell me once my heart goes rightTake me home
Getaway, runaway, fly away
Lead me astray to dreamer’s hideaway
I cannot cry ’cause the shoulder cries more
I cannot die, I, a whore for the cold world
Forgive me
I have but two faces
One for the world
One for God
Save me
I cannot cry ’cause the shoulder cries more
I cannot die, I, a whore for the cold world“THE PACIFIC”
Sparkle my scenery
With turquoise waterfall
With beauty underneath
The Ever FreeTuck me in beneath the blue
Beneath the pain, beneath the rain
Goodnight kiss for a child in time
Swaying blade my lullabyOn the shore we sat and hoped
Under the same pale moon
Whose guiding light chose you
Chose you all“I’m afraid. I’m so afraid.
Being raped again, and again, and again
I know I will die alone.
But loved.You live long enough to hear the sound of guns,
long enough to find yourself screaming every night,
long enough to see your friends betray you.For years I’ve been strapped unto this altar.
Now I only have 3 minutes and counting.
I just wish the tide would catch me first and give me a death I always longed for.”“DARK PASSION PLAY”
2nd robber to the right of Christ
Cut in half – infanticide
The world will rejoice today
As the crows feast on the rotting poetEveryone must bury their own
No pack to bury the heart of stone
Now he’s home in hell, serves him well
Slain by the bell, tolling for his farewellThe morning dawned, upon his altar
Remains of the dark passion play
Performed by his friends without shame
Spitting on his grave as they cameGetaway, runaway, fly away
Lead me astray to dreamer’s hideaway
I cannot cry ’cause the shoulder cries more
I cannot die, I, a whore for the cold world
Forgive me
I have but two faces
One for the world
One for God
Save me
I cannot cry ’cause the shoulder cries more
I cannot die, I, a whore for the cold world“Today, in the year of our Lord 2005,
Tuomas was called from the cares of the world.
He stopped crying at the end of each beautiful day.
The music he wrote had too long been without silence.He was found naked and dead,
With a smile in his face, a pen and 1000 pages of erased text.”Save me
“MOTHER & FATHER”
Be still, my son
You’re home
Oh when did you become so cold?
The blade will keep on descending
All you need is to feel my loveSearch for beauty, find your shore
Try to save them all, bleed no more
You have such oceans within
In the end
I will always love youThe beginning.