來自Ålesund 的Tellef Raabe推出最新單曲EP《The Smith’s Friend》，顧名思義，就是一首向The Smiths致敬的作品。單聽音樂，很容易誤會這是瑞典indie pop ，因為這種淸爽的電結他風格的indie pop 明明就是更瑞典，挪威較少出產的；加上Tellef Raabe的發音咬字很較瑞典，怎知道，原來是挪威啊。

當然，作為一個heavy the smiths’ listener，我當然知道這首歌詞中的所有references 吧（不如你都試試找？有The Smiths的九首作品，十個references，大部份都很易找的，或者b side 的兩首會較難)。Tellef Raabe被問及對Morrissey有什麼意見，他說「he has beautiful hair」，去幽Morrissey一默，哈哈，可見他真的是The Smiths’s friend，沒有呃人。

當然這首由Young Dreams的Njål Paulsberg 製作的單曲，既well-produced、good mixing and well layered，而且那個結他與及那個電子聲，再加上Tellef Raabe的沉實低音，很難不喜歡的；不過，更令這作品有趣的是Kim Fjeldberg執導的MV，找了三個「Normcore(其實很討厭)」女生－其實想起Haim－來上演了一個Oslo 版本的Skins，這種青春這種反叛這種壞，確實在奥斯陸不易看見，這個MV卻呈現了這個不真實面貌，蠻有趣的。

Tellef Raabe – of Smith’s Friends (Official Music Video) from Tellef Raabe on Vimeo.

I’m of Smith’s friends
A charming man, well that depends
On a bicycle with blindfolded eyes
The smart dress was, all a disguise

How soon is now? I really can’t say
but I like it here, can I stay?

Heaven knows I’m indifferent now
But my mother told me you reap what you sow
The headmasters ritual was the anthem of the tall
But frankly, it meant nothing at all

How soon is now? I really can’t say
but I like it here, can I stay?

You told me to never forget
the songs that make me smile
But the songs that make me cry
are more of my style

半杯水，大家就講得多；半個人，其實亦係一樣成日講。「找生命的另一半」不知從何處源起，其實諗返轉頭，好羅命。結婚就是找另一半，然後你才是一個人，才是「完整」。倒是在想，離婚又點計？結過幾次婚的，又怎麼計？香港人還是在一個很感情用事的氣氛裏頭，將很多事情都變得很神聖很浪漫——當然，我不否定這世界很多東西都是很神聖亦很浪漫，但是，過份浪漫只會令很多事變得不設實際，亦變得自我澎漲得令人噁心，做什麼都好像為著全世界而做，唱歌如是寫文字如是，在香港，光環真是處處有。

像林夕為梁漢文寫的《半邊生命》，就是一貫林夕填寫的那種完美美麗的浪漫結合，有趣地呢首歌搵左楊千嬅來做旁白，成件事就好配合，因為近年楊千嬅的歌完全都係呢種意識形態。像楊千嬅那首A MUSIC黑歴史年代的《原來過得很快樂》，亦是在寫這種廢話，是《再見二丁目》甚至是楊千嬅一直音樂persona的一個極具腐蝕性的徹底失敗延續——講到尾，原來一個人總是要靠另一個人來證明她或他的存在價值，很婦嬬好婆媽；同時亦製造那種找唔到「另一半」就係失敗者，唔夠有「另一半」的完整完美，hey, come on。呢個世界乜都係比賽，夠了吧？這亦令我諗起Bridget Jones’s Diary 她被同枱朋友取笑的一幕，「結了婚的人」就直接在整個意識形態裏頭成為勝利者，自以為自己已經抵岸，可以站在高處望遍還在沼澤掙扎的那些「半個人」。

這種主流主導的價值不是香港獨有，但是在香港主流社會卻是只有一種聲音，一種可能。當然，這讓我想起The Smiths 的歌曲Half a Person。同樣寫「半個人」，Morrissey就寫出了另一個故事，另一個人生觀。

十六歲，笨拙，怕醜，就是我的人生故事。六年人生，換來是五秒的乞求；苦苦追求，只不過想做你的狗。

Half a Person

Call me morbid, call me pale
I’ve spent six years on your trail
Six long years
On your trail

Call me morbid, call me pale
I’ve spent six years on your trail
Six full years of my life on your trail

And if you have five seconds to spare
Then I’ll tell you the story of my life :
Sixteen, clumsy and shy
I went to London and I
I booked myself in at the why…W.C.A.
I said : “I like it here – can I stay ?
I like it here – can I stay ?
Do you have a vacancy
For a back-scrubber?”

She was left behind, and sour
And she wrote to me, equally dour
She said : “In the days when you were
Hopelessly poor
I just liked you more…”

And if you have five seconds to spare
Then I’ll tell you the story of my life :
Sixteen, clumsy and shy
I went to London and I
I booked myself in at the why…W.C.A.
I said : “I like it here – can I stay ?
I like it here – can I stay ?
And do you have a vacancy
For a back-scrubber ?”

Call me morbid, call me pale
I’ve spent too long on your trail
Far too long
Chasing your tail
Oh…

And if you have five seconds to spare
Then I’ll tell you the story of my life :
Sixteen, clumsy and shy
That’s the story of my life
Sixteen, clumsy and shy
The story of my life
That’s the story of my life
That’s the story of my life
That’s the story of my life
The story of my life
That’s the story of my life
That’s the story of my life
That’s the story of my life
That’s the story of my life
That’s the story of my life
That’s the story…

同場加演，笑一下。