致后街男孩：你們從未離開

張曉敏

“As Long As You Love Me”“Everybody”“Shape of My Heart”……音樂史上最成功的樂團(tuán)之一后街男孩的這些歌曲大家一定不會感到陌生，它們點(diǎn)亮了我們的青春年華，陪伴我們走過了有歡樂有悲傷、或懵懂或迷茫的青蔥歲月。今年3月1日開始，后街男孩在拉斯維加斯的好萊塢星球酒店開始了為期18天、名為“非同凡響（Larger Than Life）”的駐場演唱會，再度點(diǎn)燃了無數(shù)粉絲的熱情，并勾起了大家的美好回憶……

When the young woman working at the hotel front desk asked me what had brought me to Las Vegas， I told her that I was here to cover the opening night of the Backstreet Boys' residency at Planet Hollywood and was fully prepared for a possibly religious musical experience.

She smiled broadly.

"I knew their lyrics even before I knew English，" she said. "I really didn't know what they were saying， but I loved them."

My own appreciation for the Backstreet Boys started 18 years ago—when I was 11.

Compared to some other fans， I was a little late to the party. By the time I watched their performance at the 1998 VMAs3）， they'd already broken out4） in the United States.

After that night， they added one more huge fan to their ranks5）.

I wallpapered my bedroom with their faces， revolved my life around6） watching and recording （on VHS7）！） their TV performances， scoured8） eBay9） for memorabilia10） from all corners of the globe， and volunteered my services at my parents' restaurant so I could earn tips to fund my obsession. （Teen magazines are deceptively pricey.）

What became a next-level obsession was also a welcomed distraction from the crippling11） shyness that dominated my pre-teen and teen years. At school， I dreaded nothing more than being asked a question in class， and struggled with anxiety every morning， sometimes to the point of tears. Separated from my best （and only） friend by opposite class schedules， I managed to find a small group of girls who shared my passion for BSB.

If it wasn't for them， I wouldn't have had anyone to speak to in middle school.

As I grew up， so did my musical tastes. But I've always had—and always will have—a soft spot for12） the Backstreet Boys. Whenever I cross paths with13） one of their songs while at the grocery store or driving， it's like seeing an old friend. It's familiar and quite lovely.

Weeks before their Vegas debut14）， I created a playlist of my favorite songs to warm up. It had probably been a year since my last deep dive into Backstreet Boys' musical past. What never ceases to surprise me is the little jolt15） of emotions I feel in those .rst chords of my favorite songs.endprint

The opening moments of "Shape of My Heart" take me back to 2001， when my now late father took me four hours north of my Texas hometown to San Antonio to watch BSB a few weeks after my birthday. The image of him awkwardly bobbing his head in attempt to show enthusiasm for my sake is forever burned in my head.

"The One" reminds me of when I begged the manager at the local Burger King to give me the Backstreet Boys banner that was flying outside of the restaurant when the band were spokespeople. （He gave it to me.）

On Wednesday night， as the band took the stage at Planet Hollywood， I wondered who else around me had similar musical memories. How many others in the crowd would hear a song that night that transported them to another time in their lives， good and bad？

The Backstreet Boys performed a 20-song set for nearly two hours， comprised of early hits like "We've Got It Goin' On" to their popular fare16）， like "I Want It That Way" and "Quit Playin' Games". They even busted out17） their old-school18） chair choreography19） for "As Long as You Love Me".

In his speech to the crowd， Brian Littrell20） reminded the audience that the Backstreet Boys are going 24 years strong， and asked if the crowd would support the idea of "another 24".

"We might just have to be like， 'Backstreet's old， okay！21）'" he joked， putting a lyrical twist to the tune of "Everybody".

Did it make me feel old？ Absolutely. But I also felt thankful.

I'm thankful for years of music that got me through some rough times. And thankful that I still experience youthful joy when I hear the lyric "Backstreet's back"—even though for so many fans， like myself， they've never really gone anywhere.

當(dāng)在酒店前臺工作的姑娘問我是什么讓我來到拉斯維加斯時，我告訴她我來這兒是為了報(bào)道后街男孩在好萊塢星球酒店舉辦的駐場演唱會的開幕式之夜，并且已經(jīng)充分準(zhǔn)備好去迎接一場可能會變成朝圣般的音樂體驗(yàn)。

她露出一個大大的笑容。

“我在會說英語之前就知道他們的歌詞了，”她說，“我那時真的不知道他們在唱什么，但我非常喜歡他們。”

我自己對后街男孩的欣賞則要追溯到18年前——當(dāng)時我11歲。

跟其他的一些歌迷相比，我加入這個群體的時間有點(diǎn)晚。等到我在1998年MTV音樂錄影帶大獎頒獎典禮上看到他們的演出時，他們在美國已經(jīng)相當(dāng)紅了。

而在頒獎典禮那晚過后，他們又多了一個超級粉絲。

當(dāng)時，我在臥室墻上貼滿了他們的臉部特寫海報(bào)，我整個生活的中心就是觀看并（用家用錄像機(jī)！）錄制他們的電視表演。我還在eBay上滿世界地尋找他們的紀(jì)念品，并主動請纓去爸媽的餐館里幫忙好賺取一些小費(fèi)來滿足我對他們的迷戀。（青少年雜志其實(shí)并沒有看起來那么便宜。）

我的少年和青少年時期都被極其嚴(yán)重的害羞心理所困擾，而對后街男孩迷戀的進(jìn)一步加深也讓我不再那么在意我的這種害羞，這無疑是件好事。在學(xué)校，我最怕上課時被叫起來回答問題，而且每天早上都要與焦慮感做斗爭，有時甚至?xí)降粞蹨I的地步。由于課表完全不同，我與最好的（也是唯一的）朋友分開了，在這種情況下，我設(shè)法找到了一群和我一樣熱愛后街男孩的女孩子。

要不是因?yàn)橛兴齻冊冢疑现袑W(xué)那會兒會連一個可以說話的人都沒有。

隨著我不斷長大，我的音樂品味也不斷提升，但我一直都——以后也將永遠(yuǎn)都會——喜歡后街男孩。每當(dāng)我在雜貨店或是開車時偶然聽到他們的某一首歌，我都覺得像是見到了一位老朋友，既熟悉又特別親切。endprint

在他們拉斯維加斯首演開始的幾周前，我挑選了一些我最喜歡的歌曲創(chuàng)建了一個歌單，為接下來的演唱會熱身。從我上次全情投入地回顧后街男孩的音樂至今已經(jīng)大概有一年的時間了。每當(dāng)我最喜歡的那些歌的前奏一響起，我都會感到一陣小小的激動，這總會讓我感到驚訝。

“Shape of My Heart”的開場旋律將我?guī)Щ氐?001年，當(dāng)時我剛過完生日沒幾周，我父親（現(xiàn)已過世）帶我北上，到離我們老家得克薩斯四個小時車程的圣安東尼奧去看后街男孩。他為了我而笨拙地?fù)u頭晃腦以示熱情，這一幕深深地刻在了我的腦海里。

“The One”讓我想起了在后街男孩還是漢堡王代言人時，我有一次懇求本地漢堡王的經(jīng)理把餐廳外飄揚(yáng)著的后街男孩的宣傳橫幅送給我。（他真的把橫幅送給我了。）

周三晚上，隨著后街男孩在好萊塢星球登臺表演，我想知道周圍還有誰和我有著相似的音樂記憶。那天晚上的人群中，還有多少人會在聽到一首歌后被帶往他們?nèi)松械牧硪粋€時刻，無論悲喜？

后街男孩表演了近兩個小時，一共唱了20首歌，包括早期風(fēng)靡一時的曲目（如“We've Got it Goin' On”），還有他們大受歡迎的歌曲（如“I Want It That Way”和“Quit Playin' Games”）。他們演唱“As Long as You Love Me”這首歌時甚至還表演了經(jīng)典的椅子舞。

在對觀眾講話時，布萊恩·利特爾提醒大家后街男孩已經(jīng)流行了24年，并問大家是否會支持后街男孩再來“24年”的這個想法。

“到時候我們可能就得唱‘Backstreet's old， okay！（后街男孩都老了，好吧！）了。”他模仿著“Everybody”的曲調(diào)改編了這么一句，開玩笑道。

這一切有沒有讓我覺得自己老了？毫無疑問。但我同時也覺得非常感激。

我很感激他們的音樂陪伴了我那么多年，幫我度過了一些艱難的時刻。我很感激自己在聽到“后街男孩回來了”的時候仍然能感受到年輕時的喜悅——雖然對于像我這樣的無數(shù)歌迷而言，他們真的從未離開過。

掃碼聽音頻

1. nostalgia [n..st.ld..] n. 懷舊之情；對過去美好時光的留戀

2. residency [.rez.d.nsi] n. （藝術(shù)家、作家、音樂家等為機(jī)構(gòu)工作的）駐留時間，駐留期

3. VMA： （= Video Music Award）即MTV音樂錄影帶大獎，是美國的一個音樂獎項(xiàng)，由美國有線電視頻道MTV主辦，旨在表彰那些最優(yōu)秀的音樂MV。每年，其頒獎盛典都能吸引上百萬年輕人的關(guān)注。

4. break out： 一炮打響，非常走紅

5. one's/the ranks： （團(tuán)體或組織的）成員

6. revolve around： 圍繞；以……為中心；將……作為主要興趣

7. VHS： （= video home system）家用錄像系統(tǒng)

8. scour [.ska..（r）] vt. （徹底地）搜尋，翻找

9. eBay： 全球線上拍賣及購物網(wǎng)站，創(chuàng)立于1995年。

10. memorabilia [.mem.r..b.li.] n. [復(fù)]值得紀(jì)念的事物；紀(jì)念品

11. crippling [.kr.pl..] adj. 極有害的；造成嚴(yán)重?fù)p害的

12. have a soft spot for （sb./sth.）： 喜歡（某人或某物）

13. cross paths with： 與……偶然遇見

14. debut [.de.bju.] n. （演員或運(yùn)動員等的）首次登臺，初次亮相

15. jolt [d...lt] n. 一陣強(qiáng)烈的感情（尤指震驚或驚訝）

16. fare [fe.（r）] n. （尤指娛樂等方面的）精神食糧

17. bust out： <美口>突然開始

18. old-school： 傳統(tǒng)的

19. choreography [.k.ri..ɡr.fi] n. 編舞；舞蹈設(shè)計(jì)

20. Brian Littrell： 布萊恩·利特爾（1975～），后街男孩樂隊(duì)的成員之一，被譽(yù)為“擁有天籟之音的男人”以及“男孩團(tuán)體第一主唱”。

21. 由后街男孩“Everybody”這首歌中的“Backstreet's back， alright！ （后街男孩回來了！）”這句歌詞化用而來。endprint