2019年8月8日

No Such Thing – Rock’n Roll 英語教室 Vol.5

Rock’n Roll 英語教室 Vol.5  

John Mayer – No Such Thing (2001)

高校の頃に交換留学生として来日して以来、お忍びでたびたび日本に来ていると言われるジョン・メイヤーのデビューアルバムより。

これはまさに中高生のための曲です。

上から目線で (condescendingly)で安全な道を勧めてくる大人に対して
(They love to tell you stay inside the lines )、その反対側にこそ何か良いものがある(But something’s better on the other side) と信じて、「絶対に何者かになってやるんだ!」と誓う若者の姿が歌われています。

ほとばしるエネルギー、万能感、欲求不満、未熟さ 。。。

3分半のなかに若者のすべてが凝縮されたような歌詞です。

I just can’t wait ‘til my ten year reunion

(10年後の同窓会が待ちきれない)

I’m gonna bust down the double doors

(二重扉だってぶち破ってみせる)

And when I stand on these tables before you

(ぼくがみんなの前に立ったとき)

You will know what all this time was for

(それまでの歳月が何のためにあったのかがわかるだろう)

ジョン・メイヤーが同窓会に出席したかどうかはわかりませんが、その後のキャリアを考えると見事にここで歌われた通りになりました。

こちらはライブバージョン。

“Welcome to the real world”,

she said to me

Condescendingly

Take a seat

Take your life

Plot it out in black and white

Well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings

And the drama queens

I’d like to think the best of me

Is still hiding

Up my sleeve

They love to tell you stay inside the lines

But something’s better on the other side

I want to run through the halls of my high school

I want to scream at the top of my lungs

I just found out there’s no such thing as the real world

Just a lie you’ve got to rise above

So the good boys and girls take the so called right track

Faded white hats

Grabbing credits and maybe transfers

They read all the books but they can’t find the answers

And all of our parents

They’re getting older

I wonder if they’ve wished for anything better

While in their memories

Tiny tragedies

They love to tell you stay inside the lines

But something’s better on the other side

I want to run through the halls of my high school

I want to scream at the top of my lungs

I just found out there’s no such thing as the real world

Just a lie you’ve got to rise above

I am invincible

I am invincible

I am invincible

As long as I’m alive

I want to run through the halls of my high school

I want to scream at the top of my lungs

I just found out there’s no such thing as the real world

Just a lie you’ve got to rise above

I just can’t wait ‘til my ten year reunion

I’m gonna bust down the double doors

And when I stand on these tables before you

You will know what all this time was for