恋人ふたりの間で股割き Torn Between Two Lovers

ふたつ前の記事で、ウォルター・クレインが挿絵を書いたギリシア神話の物語の著者の名前がメアリー・マグレガーといいました。アレッ?　メアリー・マグレガーって・・・・・・と思ったひとは自分を入れて1・2名でしょうけれど、はい、1976年暮れのデビュー曲 "Torn Between Two Lovers" が翌1977年にビルボード誌で1位に輝くヒットとなった、アメリカの女性シンガーです。

　　つぎの記事に恋多き（複雑な相愛関係の）ラファエロ前派のひとびとを書いたのもあって、なんとなく書き留めておきたくなりました。

　　Mary MacGregor はミネソタ州セントポールに1948年に生まれています（St. Paul, Minnesota というと作家のフィッツジェラルドの生まれた都市です）。十代でバンドを組み、ミネソタ大学卒業後にPP&M (Peter, Paul and Mary) のメンバーだった Peter Yarrow に認められ、バックコーラスに参加、そしてピーター・ヤーローの作詞・プロデュースで歌われたのがこの曲でした（邦題はなぜか「過ぎし日の想い出」）。

　　もともとは『ドクトル・ジバゴ』にヤーローが触発されて、ふたりの女性への恋心に引き裂かれる野郎の（男の）歌として作詞したのだそうだけれど、メアリーさんに歌わせるということで女歌にしたのだそうです。

There are times when a woman has to say what's on her mind, even though she knows how much it's gonna hurt.  Before I say another word, let me tell you, "I love you."  Let me hold you close, and say these words as gently as I can: "There's been another man that I've needed and I've loved, but that doesn't mean I love you less.  And he knows he can't possess me, and he knows he never will.  There's just this empty place inside of me that only he can fill."
（どれだけ傷つけることになるかわかっていても、心の中にあることを言わなければいけないときが女にもあるわ。その前に、あなたに「アイ・ラブ・ユー」と言わせて。ぎゅっと抱きしめさせて、そしてできるだけおだやかに話させて。――「わたしに必要な、わたしが愛してきた別の男のひとがいます。でもだからそのぶんあなたのことを愛していないということにはならない。彼はわたしが彼のものになれないことを知っているし、将来も決してそうはならないことを知っている。ただ、彼だけが埋められる空っぽの場所がわたしのなかにはあるの。」

[refrain]
Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool　ふたりの恋人に引き裂かれて道化者みたいな気分
Loving both of you is breaking all the rules　あなたたち両方を愛するのは完全ルール違反
Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool
Loving you both is breaking all the rules

You mustn't think you failed me just because there's someone else.  You were the first real love I ever had.  And all the things I ever said, I swear, they still are true.  For no one else can have the part of me I gave to you.（誰か別のひとがいるからわたしとうまくいかなかったって考えるのはまちがい。あなたはわたしの初めてほんとうに愛したひとだった。わたしがこれまで言ったことはみな、誓って、いまでも真実よ。わたしがあなたに捧げたわたしの一部を他の誰も得ることはできないのだから。）

[refrain]

 

I couldn't really blame you if you turned and walked away.  But with everything I feel inside, I'm asking you to stay.（わなたが背を向けて去っていってもあなたを責めることなどできないでしょう。それでも、わたしの中の思いのすべてで、願っているの、どうか行かないでと。）

　　ま、原詞をよく読んでもよくわからん歌です。クリスタル・ゲイルの「瞳のささやき Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue」に通じるものがあるかもｗ。

　　ところで、不意に思い出したのですけど、この曲は、木之内みどりの昔のLPアルバムに、日本語の詞で入っていました。（さっき探そうとしたけれど、本箱の高いところにあるので見えなかった。）　♪誰にもきっと一度や二度の～あやまちがきっとあるはず～♪　とかなんとかが出だしで、「今はぁ、この愛、すべてなの～♪」みたいなサビ。なつかしぃ～。

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"Mary MacGregor" http://www.artinbase.com/artist/19080/Mary_Macgregor/ 〔ArtInBase.com 内。リンク切れ〕のキャッシュ。バスルームというのはオフィーリアのモデルとしてバスタブにつかって肺炎になりかけたエリザベス・シッダルとは違って、トイレのことですかね。それにしても歌を否定的にコメントしていておもしろい。――

Mary was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she studied classical piano from the age of six. Within eight years, she was singing professionally with a local big band. After attending the University of Minnesota, where she continued singing with Minneapolis and St. Paul groups, Mary began touring the rest of the country with various folk, R&B, and rock bands.

It was during one of these national tours that she caught the attention of Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. Impressed with her double-octave range, Yarrow invited her to join him on a national tour as a backup vocalist. His next step was putting her voice on vinyl: Mary was heard singing backup on Yarrow's Love Songs album. Her blossoming vocal talent led to her first solo endeavor, produced by Yarrow, the fateful "Torn Between Two Lovers."

"I never liked the song too much, and I still don't," said Mary. "There are just some songs I like, and some I don't, and this is one of them. Peter and I had a very long relationship. We're both very emotional people, and whenever we got together it was a very volatile experience. Sometimes it was positive, sometimes negative, and on this particular song we had a lot of fights. Was it really good? Was it going to make it? We had a lot of discussions about this song.

"For me to sing anything, I have to get emotionally involved. That's what really makes it for me. I didn't like 'Torn' mostly because it was boring to sing. It's a real 'sleeper' kind of ballad. Peter thought it was a real statement, and he wanted it to happen. He wanted a woman to sing it, and he wanted that woman to be me.

"I recorded the song in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, while standing in a bathroom. It was a room that was actually part of the studio, just sort of built-in there. They had a boom stand with a microphone on the end of it. The boom was in the studio, and the mike kind of stuck in through the door, hanging over the mirror. It was a tiny little room, but I finally worked things around so I didn't have to stare at myself singing. It's a great place. You get a lot of natural echo in bathrooms."

Mary was trembling when she recorded her big song, and not from the studio air conditioning. At the time, she'd been happily married for five years, and just the thought of being unfaithful to her husband, Don, was traumatic. But then came stardom, and the hopes, pressures, fears, and disappointments that come with it. On May 25, 1978, Mary filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences." Her next release -- a flop -- was called "Memories."

"A lot of people are torn between two lovers," said Mary, "or have been, or will be. The single itself must have touched a lot of them, because it sold more than two million copies worldwide."

"Torn Between Two Lovers" began its rise in November 1976, finally peaking at number one in February 1977. It put Mary in the spotlight -- for the moment -- but ruined her career singing advertising jingles.

Living on her central California ranch where she raises horses and writes songs, Mary looked back at her moment in the spotlight. She says the song ultimately proved to be a strain -- "not because I was sleeping with someone else, but because I was living with my career instead of with him. But those things happen."

"Now I'm in a dilemma because I'm too well known to return to being an anonymous singer for a bank, but I'm not well known enough to get bookings. I never thought about being a success until 'Torn.' I was trying to make a career out of doing commercials. Now I can't.

"Success is so fickle," she warned. "You're only as good as you're next hit."

Mary would never repeat the commercial success of "Torn," however she did crack the Top 40 one more time before the end of the decade with "Good Friend," which was featured on the soundtrack of the Bill Murray comedy Meatballs. 

image via demotivational poster <http://www.motifake.com/80010>

 

タグ："Torn Between Two Lovers" Mary Macgregor メアリー・マグレガー