John Brown
John Brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore
His mama sure was proud of him!
He stood straight and tall in his uniform and all
His mama’s face broke out all in a grin
“Oh son, you look so fine, I’m glad you’re a son of mine
You make me proud to know you hold a gun
Do what the captain says, lots of medals you will get
And we’ll put them on the wall when you come home”
As that old train pulled out, John’s ma began to shout
Tellin’ ev’ryone in the neighborhood:
“That’s my son that’s about to go, he’s a soldier now, you know”
She made well sure her neighbors understood
She got a letter once in a while and her face broke into a smile
As she showed them to the people from next door
And she bragged about her son with his uniform and gun
And these things you called a good old-fashioned war
Oh! Good old-fashioned war!
Then the letters ceased to come, for a long time they did not come
They ceased to come for about ten months or more
Then a letter finally came saying, “Go down and meet the train
Your son’s a-coming home from the war”
She smiled and went right down, she looked everywhere around
But she could not see her soldier son in sight
But as all the people passed, she saw her son at last
When she did she could hardly believe her eyes
Oh his face was all shot up and his hand was all blown off
And he wore a metal brace around his waist
He whispered kind of slow, in a voice she did not know
While she couldn’t even recognize his face!
Oh! Lord! Not even recognize his face
“Oh tell me, my darling son, pray tell me what they done
How is it you come to be this way?”
He tried his best to talk but his mouth could hardly move
And the mother had to turn her face away
“Don’t you remember, Ma, when I went off to war
You thought it was the best thing I could do?
I was on the battleground, you were home . . . acting proud
You wasn’t there standing in my shoes”
“Oh, and I thought when I was there, God, what am I doing here?
I’m a-tryin’ to kill somebody or die tryin’
But the thing that scared me most was when my enemy came close
And I saw that his face looked just like mine”
Oh! Lord! Just like mine!
“And I couldn’t help but think, through the thunder rolling and stink
That I was just a puppet in a play
And through the roar and smoke, this string is finally broke
And a cannonball blew my eyes away”
As he turned away to walk, his Ma was still in shock
At seein’ the metal brace that helped him stand
But as he turned to go, he called his mother close
And he dropped his medals down into her hand
约翰·布朗
约翰·布朗从军到外国去打仗
他的母亲真以他为傲！
穿着军服他看上去高大又挺拔
母亲看了眉开又眼笑
“哦儿子，你好帅，真高兴你是我的儿子
知道你手握长枪，我觉得好骄傲
要听队长的话，你就会得到好多勋章
等你回家后我们把它们挂在墙上”
当老火车缓缓驶出站，约翰的母亲开始叫
她要告诉所有的邻居：
“那出发的是我的儿子，他是军人，你们知道”
她务使所有的邻居都晓得
每隔一阵子她会接到来信她笑开颜
她把信拿给隔壁的邻居看
一面夸耀她的儿子穿着制服佩着枪
还有那些你们称之为老式战争的东西
哦！老式战争！
然后信不再来，隔了好久都没一封信
至少有十个月都没有信
然后终于来了一封信：“去车站迎接火车
你的儿子从战场回来了”
带微笑她立刻起身，到了那儿她四处张望
但是看不到她从军的儿子
等所有人都走了，她终于看见她的儿子
但是她不敢相信她的眼睛
哦他脸上布满了伤疤一只手也给炸没了
他的腰部还围着一道金属支架
他低声慢慢说话，她听不出他的声音
连他的脸她都认不出来！
哦！主啊！连脸都认不出来！
“哦告诉我，我亲爱的儿子，求你告诉我他们做了什么
你怎么会落到这般光景？”
他挣扎着想说话，但是他的嘴巴动不了
母亲难过得把脸转过去
“妈，你还记得当初我去从军的时候
你认为那是我能做的最好的事？
我在战场，你在家里……以我为傲
你不会了解我的处境”
“哦，在战场上我想，上帝，我在这儿做什么？
我努力杀人或为了杀人而死
最让我最害怕的是，当敌人和我靠近时
我看见他的脸和我的没两样”
哦！主啊！和我的没两样！
“而且我无法不想，在炮火雷鸣腥臭的战场上
我不过是戏里的一个傀儡
在轰隆隆声和战火硝烟中，这根线终于断了
一枚加农炮弹炸瞎了我的双眼”
当他转身走开，他的母亲仍然处在惊吓中
看着那帮助他站立的金属支架
但是当他转身要走，他呼唤母亲到身边
他将他的勋章放在她手中
专辑《鲍勃·迪伦》附加歌词，为迪伦60年代初作品
《鲍勃·迪伦诗歌集/暴雨将至1961－1963》
广西师范大学出版社
2017年6月第1版
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