Empire State of Mind

創作背景

Empire State of Mind (Part II)單曲封面

歌曲采樣自1970年The Moments歌曲《Love on a Two-Way Street》   。

2009年，艾麗西亞·凱斯推出了歌曲的個人版本《Empire State Of Mind Part II: Broken Down》，該版被收錄在艾麗西亞·凱斯于2009年12月15日發行的錄音室專輯《Element of Freedom》^[1]。

歌曲歌詞

英文

Yea, yea I'm out that Brooklyn, now I'm down in Tribeca

Right next to DeNiro, but I'll be hood forever

I'm the new Sinatra, and, since I made it here

I can make it anywhere, yea, they love me everywhere I used to cop in Harlem,

All of my Dominicano's right there up on Broadway,

Pull me back to that McDonald's, took it to my stashbox, 560 State St.

Catch me in the kitchen like a Simmons wippin' pastry's

Cruisin' down 8th St., off white Lexus

Drivin' so slow, but BK is from Texas

Me, I'm out that Bed-Stuy, home of that boy Biggie

Now I live on Billboard and I brought my boys with me

Say whattup to Ty-Ty, still sippin' Mai Tai's

Sittin' courtside, Knicks and Nets give me high five

Nigga I be Spike'd out, I could trip a referee

Tell by my attitude that I'm most definitely from

In New York,

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothin' you can't do

Now you're in New York

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York

Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game

Shit, I made the Yankee hat more famous then a Yankee can

You should know I bleed blue, but I ain't a Crip though

But I got a gang of niggas walkin' with my clique though

Welcome to the melting pot, corners where we sellin' rock

Afrika Bambataa shit, home of the hip-hop

Yellow cab, gypsy cab, dollar cab, holla back

For foreigners it ain't for, they act like they forgot how to act

Eight million stories, out there in it naked

City is a pity, half of y'all won't make it

Me, I got a plug, Special Ed "I Got It Made"

If Jesus payin' Lebron, I'm payin' Dwayne Wade

Three dice cee-lo, three card monte

Labor Day Parade, rest in peace Bob Marley

Statue of Liberty, long live the World Trade

Long live the King yo, I'm from the Empire St. that's

In New York,

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothin' you can't do

Now you're in New York

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York

Lights is blinding, girls need blinders

So they can step out of bounds quick, the sidelines is

Lined with casualties, who sip to life casually

Then gradually become worse, don't bite the apple, Eve

Caught up in the in-crowd, now you're in style

End of the winter gets cold, en vogue, with your skin out

City of sin, it's a pity on the whim

Good girls gone bad, the city's filled with them

Mommy took a bus trip, now she got her bust out

Everybody ride her, just like a bus route

Hail Mary to the city, you're a virgin

And Jesus can't save you, life starts when the church end

Came here for school, graduated to the high life

Ball players, rap stars, addicted to the limelight

MDMA got you feelin' like a champion

The city never sleeps, better slip you an Ambien

In New York,

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothin' you can't do

Now you're in New York

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York

One hand in the air for the big city

Street lights, big dreams, all lookin' pretty

No place in the world that could compare

Put your lighters in the air everybody say yeah, yeah,

Yea, yea

In New York,

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothin' you can't do

Now you're in New York

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York

譯文

我成長于布魯克林區，現在信步于翠貝卡街

雖然和羅伯特德尼羅做了鄰居，但我永遠是那個嘻哈仔

我是新一代的弗蘭克辛納屈，因為我成名于紐約，我成功于世界

沒錯，我成功于世界，到處都有人歡迎我

我曾在哈林區販毒，和多米尼加兄弟們厮混

比鄰着百老彙的燈紅酒綠，我想起那家麥記快餐店

我在那裡藏我的粉，當然還有560号大街

我調我的粉就像西蒙斯姐妹做她們的蛋糕一樣純熟

現在我駕駛着我的白色雷克薩斯，悠遊第八大道

行車悠閑，帶着來自德州的碧昂斯

當年我起步于The Notorious B.I.G的地盤Bed-Stuy

現在我是公告牌常客，我的小夥伴們也和我一起走上人生巅峰

Tyran Smith怎麼了，再續一杯Mai-Tai如何

坐在陸航和麥迪遜廣場花園的場邊，尼克斯球員和籃網球員都和我擊掌

嚯，我現在也和斯派克李那家夥一樣可以耍一耍裁判

沒錯這就是我的态度，因為我來自

紐約，摩天大樓堆砌築成的夢想

現在你身處紐約，你已經無所不能

紐約街區讓你浴火重生

紐約霓虹燈讓你熱血沸騰，來吧，聆聽紐約的聲音

聆聽紐約的聲音

聆聽紐約的聲音

在Bronx，我和Juan Perez一起看洋基隊的比賽

我讓洋基隊棒球帽比洋基隊球員更出名

想必你知道我是藍血貴族而不是Crip幫派成員

雖然如此，我也有很多在道上混的朋友

歡迎來到紐約大熔爐，來到我們販毒的街角

這裡是嘻哈文化的聖殿，也是Afrika Bambaataa的地盤

出租車和地下黑車的喇叭聲此起彼伏

司機們裝作忘記打表坑死外國人

紐約，有八百萬個故事

它們大多籍籍無名

而我，卻是Special Ed那首“我成功了”的真實寫照

傑伊·詹金斯能為勒布朗買單，我當然也出得起韋德的身價

擲骰玩牌

勞動節嘉年華，安息于鮑勃馬利

自由女神像和世貿大廈永存于世

流行之王The Notorious B.I.G雖死不朽，我來自帝國之州，也就是

紐約，摩天大樓堆砌築成的夢想

現在你身處紐約，你已經無所不能

紐約街區讓你浴火重生

紐約霓虹燈讓你熱血沸騰，來吧，聆聽紐約的聲音

聆聽紐約的聲音

繁燈誘惑掩人心智，女孩們應該遮蔽雙眼

這樣才能走出紙醉金迷

盲目的犧牲者遍布于道

稍有放松便會劃入萬丈深淵

夏娃，别輕易品嘗罪惡蘋果，步入那個虛僞天堂

現在你為了追趕潮流

在寒冬之季穿着大膽好似Vogue女郎，罪惡之城隻能滿足讓人惋惜的一時幻想

曾經是好女孩的她們，遍布大街小巷

她們曾經來到紐約，耗盡生計

淪落風塵，千人枕遍

贊美聖母瑪利亞，你尚純真

但你若自甘堕落，耶稣也無能為力

帶着夢想來到這裡求學

卻沉迷于聚光燈帶來的滿足，像球星們和說唱大佬

搖頭丸讓你感覺自己像一時帝王

不眠之都，讓你借助藥物才能沉沉睡去

紐約，摩天大樓堆砌築成的夢想

現在你身處紐約，你已經無所不能

紐約街區讓你浴火重生

紐約霓虹燈讓你熱血沸騰，來吧，聆聽紐約的聲音

聆聽紐約的聲音

為這座巨城揮舞興奮的手

迷蒙中初上的華燈看上去有着夢幻般的绮麗

這座舉世無處可比的帝國之都

在空中放飛焰火，所有人都陷入了瘋狂

來吧，來吧，來這座夢想之都

紐約，摩天大樓堆砌築成的夢想

現在你身處紐約，你已經無所不能

紐約街區讓你浴火重生

紐約霓虹燈讓你熱血沸騰，來吧，聆聽紐約的聲音

聆聽紐約的聲音^[2]

歌曲鑒賞

《Empire State of Mind》是缺乏生機的紐約市的呐喊之聲。整首歌曲有着振奮人心的力量，在制作上将古典與現代元素無縫隙地結合在了一起，而歌曲中铿锵有力的鋼琴和弦聲則被艾麗西亞·凱斯強勁有力的吼叫聲所潤色。在歌曲中Jay-Z緻敬了從勞動節遊行到《Vogue》雜志美國版的主編安娜·溫圖爾，并提及了紐約的地标性景觀，在不經意間擔當了導遊。

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重要演出

參考資料

[1] Song You Need To Know: Alicia Keys, ‘Empire State · MTV[引用日期2016-03-20]

[2] Empire State Of Mind · 網易雲音樂[引用日期2016-03-20]