「英语文化」英语学习者必听的英文歌（7）Yesterday
歌曲背景
"Yesterday" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first released on the album Help! in August 1965, except in the United States, where it was issued as a single in September. The song reached number one on the US charts. It subsequently appeared on the UK EP Yesterday in March 1966 and made its US album debut on Yesterday and Today, in June 1966.
McCartney's vocal and acoustic guitar, together with a string quartet, essentially made for the first solo performance of the band. It remains popular today and, with more than 2,200 cover versions,[2] is one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded music.[note 1] "Yesterday" was voted the best song of the 20th century in a 1999 BBC Radio 2 poll of music experts and listeners and was also voted the No. 1 pop song of all time by MTV and Rolling Stone magazine the following year. In 1997, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) asserts that it was performed over seven million times in the 20th century.[4]
披头士/甲壳虫乐队（1960-1970）
“昨日”（英语：Yesterday）是一首披头士乐队的歌曲，原本为1965年的专辑《Help!》所作。虽然署名为列侬-麦卡特尼，该曲是由保罗·麦卡特尼独自创作。麦卡特尼的声乐和原声吉他，加上一个弦乐四重奏，基本上是为乐队的第一次独奏演出。它现在仍然很流行，有2200多个翻唱版本，是唱片音乐史上翻唱次数最多的歌曲之一。《昨日》在1999年英国广播公司第二广播电台（BBC Radio 2）对音乐专家和听众进行的民意调查中被评为20世纪最佳歌曲，次年还被MTV和《滚石》杂志评为有史以来第一流行歌曲。1997年，这首歌被列入格莱美名人堂，音乐公司BMI声称，这首歌在20世纪被演奏了700多万次。
据麦卡特尼忆述，歌曲旋律的灵感来自梦中，一觉醒来后他立即走到钢琴前弹奏出来，并以录音机记录下来。他询问音乐界人士，确定旋律是原创的，并非他不经意抄袭他人，之后他便着手填词；他曾以"Scrambled eggs, Oh, baby how I love your legs."（炒蛋，噢，宝贝我爱煞你的腿。）作为非正式歌词。
英文歌词
Yesterday
All my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Suddenly
I'm not half the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly
Why she had to go, I don't know
She wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday
Yesterday
Love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Why she had to go, I don't know
She wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday
Yesterday
Love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday
歌词译文
译者：中英双语语言和文化
《昨天》
昨天
所有的烦忧似乎还远在天边
如今它们却仿佛挥之不去
哦，我好怀念昨天
突然
我已不再年轻
有一个阴影笼罩着我
哦，昨天突然就来了
我不知道当初她为什么要走
我始终没明白，她也不说
也许我说错了什么
现在我好怀念昨天
昨天
爱情就是一场纯真的游戏
现在我却唯恐避之不及
哦，我好怀念昨天
语言点备注
long
verb formal
UK /lɒŋ/ US /lɑːŋ/
long for sth; long to do sth
to want something very much
渴望…；渴望做…
She longed to see him again.
她很想再见到他。
I'm longing for news of him.
我正在盼望着得到他的消息。