懷舊音樂專輯：Peter Gabriel─舞動心靈深處的藝術家
認識這位歌手，是在求學中，對於他的音樂取向，不走純流行風，以玩世不恭的態度詮釋他的人生觀，如在Digging In The Dirt 這首曲子中的取向與認知，完全的詮釋他對於自己離婚的態度與觀感。
而前期介紹的Kiss that frog更是緬懷童年的純淨幻想世界，有這第一手的印象。
但他的音樂的曲風，果真如此嗎？
歌手早期在Genesis的演唱風格，雖然是歸類於前衛/流行搖滾的歌手，演唱的方式，有種演譯歌曲的味道，這點在其他歌手非常的不一樣，一般如華麗表演風格的演唱方式（如瑪丹娜的演唱詮釋），在他身上並不適用，歌曲內涵除了旋律優美外，更以豐沛的寓意歌詞，令人一聽再聽，觸動著，聆聽歌曲與他之間的對話，這點屬於"藝術搖滾"的範疇了。
這首Mercy Street，更是從這思維欣賞與品味他的歌曲的另外一個著眼點。
這首旋律優美的歌曲，仁慈街，是Peter Gabriel，86年的作品，收錄在他的So專輯中，講的是懷念離世親人，在空盪空間中，想念著親人的種種。
這首曲子的歌詞優美感人，著墨在日常生活中枝節片刻的時空凝聚，藉著感應親人最真情的一面，懷念真實的永遠。
非常感人的一首歌，也算是這次做Peter Gabriel 的藝術創作這個計畫的意外收穫。
這首曲子的歌詞優美感人，著墨在日常生活中枝節片刻的時空凝聚，藉著感應親人最真情的一面，懷念真實的永遠。這首歌曲，Peter Gabriel 是受到一本由美國詩人：Anne Sexton，這位普立茲獎得主，所寫的劇本（Mercy Street)及詩集，就叫做：45 Mercy Street" 有所感感觸而寫。
值得一提的是：Anne Sexton 堅持不讓這詩集在她有身之年發表，從她的身世文章中得知，她長期的接受心理治療，除了她與父親的關係不好外，深受她得到67年的普立茲獎後所帶來的榮耀與名譽所苦。在74年，在自家的車庫，將自己鎖在車中，排放一氧化碳中而自殺身亡，享年45歲。在就是在她詩集及這首歌曲發表的前十二年就去世了。
歌詞有點長，Peter Gabriel，修改過Anne的詩作，使它更適於演唱。
將歌詞抄錄如下：
Looking down on empty streets, all she cansee
Are the dreams all made solid
Are the dreams all made real
All of the buildings, all of those cars
Were once just a dream
In somebody's head
She pictures the broken glass, she picturesthe steam
She pictures a soul
With no leak at the seam
Let's take the boat out
Wait until darkness
Let's take the boat out
Wait until darkness comes
Nowhere in the corridors of pale green andgrey
Nowhere in the suburbs
In the cold light of day
There in the midst of it so alive and alone
Words support like bone
Dreaming of Mercy Street
Wear your inside out
Looking for mercy
In your daddy's arms again
Dreaming of Mercy Street
'Swear they moved that sign
Looking for mercy
In your daddy's arms
Pulling out the papers from drawers thatslide smooth
Tugging at the darkness, word upon word
Confessing all the secret things in thewarm velvet box
To the priest, he's the doctor
He can handle the shocks
Dreaming of the tenderness, the tremble inthe hips
Of kissing Mary's lips
Dreaming of Mercy Street
Wear your inside out
Dreaming of mercy
In your daddy's arms again
Dreaming of Mercy Street
'Swear they moved that sign
Looking for mercy
In your daddy's arms
Looking for mercy
Looking for mercy
Looking for mercy
Mercy, mercy
Anne, with her father is out in the boat
Riding the water
Riding the waves on the sea
歌詞裡的許多用詞，都有著深厚的意涵，也被全球的許多電影及電視劇集引用，如 Miami Vice，這部當年風靡全美的電視劇集，在86年的第三季中的Killing Shot劇集中引用。91年的巴西電視劇：O Sorriso do Lagarto (The Lizard's Smile)，首集中引用。2002年的電影， Life or Something Like It (2002), starring Angelina Jolie （安潔莉娜裘莉）and Edward Burns（愛德華，伯恩），雖然是喜劇，也引用這首音樂。
在歌詞，在平靜描述生活點滴的平實外表，包裝著著澎湃的內心掙扎與激盪。
如Warm velvet box的含意，這裡有指的是子宮（我的揣測）。
而許多潛意識或幻覺中，對於海、黑暗的意涵是象徵著視而不見，沒有方向。
Priest這個詞，在Peter的歌詞裡，象徵著父親，而從Anne的身世中得知她與她父親的關係並不是很理想。
也有許多宗教幻覺的用詞也在這裡，如：kissing Mary’s lips, rhyming with “tremble in the hips”的用法，更彰顯出宗教意涵的張力對信仰的影響。
Sexton花了八年在，在心理治療上，她對於突然獲得普立茲獎所來的成功與榮耀，有著不安感，這點在她的詩集中明顯的被放大以及引用。
而兩個版本的最後：
"Anne, with her father is out in the boat
Riding the water
Riding the waves on the sea"
更是Anne Saxton作者本身，以走向父親於茫茫大海中的表徵，將思念之情，推到頂點。
這段意涵說解、分析原文，僅摘錄如下：
Both poems seethe with a boiling darkness just under the surface.
There is plenty of sexual suggestion (warm velvet box), as well as allusions to the unconscious (the sea, darkness, the unseen).
The priest in Gabriel’s song is also a father figure, and biographers know that Anne had a difficult relationship with her own father.
Another religious allusion: kissing Mary’s lips, rhyming with “tremble in the hips”, makes it that much more powerful. Sexton spent eight years in psychotherapy.
She was uneasy with success and winning such honors as the Pulitzer Prize; it didn’t take the dark visions away from her powerful, confessional verse.
Anne Sexton的原詩集摘錄如下：
Looking down on empty streets, all she can see
Are the dreams all made solid
Are the dreams all made real
All of the buildings, all of those cars
Were once just a dream
In somebody’s head
She pictures the broken glass, she pictures the steam
She pictures a soul
With no leak at the seam
Lets take the boat out
Wait until darkness
Let’s take the boat out
Wait until darkness comes
Nowhere in the corridors of pale green and grey
Nowhere in the suburbs
In the cold light of day
There in the midst of it so alive and alone
Words support like bone
Dreaming of mercy st.
Wear your inside out
Dreaming of mercy
In your daddy‘s arms again
Dreaming of mercy st.
‘swear they moved that sign
Dreaming of mercy
In your daddy’s arms
Pulling out the papers from the drawers that slide smooth
Tugging at the darkness, word upon word
Confessing all the secret things in the warm velvet box
To the priest-he’s the doctor
He can handle the shocks
Dreaming of the tenderness-the tremble in the hips
Of kissing Mary’s lips
Dreaming of mercy st.
Wear your insides out
Dreaming of mercy
In your daddy’s arms again
Dreaming of mercy st.
‘swear they moved that sign
Looking for mercy
In your daddy’s arms
Mercy, mercy, looking for mercy
Mercy, mercy, looking for mercy
Anne, with her father is out in the boat
Riding the water
Riding the waves on the sea
非常美的詩句，這裡附錄了兩段她念她發表詩詞的影片，有興趣的讀者，可以自己谷歌，更進一步的瞭解其中的內涵。
這篇有點長，但是人生經歷的許多感受，也許能在這詞曲中找到領略，也算是除了欣賞歌曲/詞優美之外，這篇的用意之一。
剛才看到今天是8/8父親節，也算是遙祭亡父之作吧，也算是"意外之外的意外"。
最後附錄Peter Gabriel 2003年在米蘭現場演唱的版本當作結尾：
參考資料：
http://blogs.kcrw.com/rhythmplanet/anne-sextons-original-poem-45-mercy-street-the-genesis-of-peter-gabriels-mercy-street/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Gabriel
