我是69 我是69

文/陶喆


來到人間

1969年，人類首次登陸月球，尼克森成為美國歷史上的醜聞總統，哈佛跟康乃爾大學的學生組織了大規模的反戰暴動，伍迪艾倫撰寫了一本極富爭議的性愛寶典，男同志開始對警察展開反擊，第一場搖滾音樂祭「胡士托」誕生，披頭四發行經典專輯【艾比路】後便宣布解散，，齊柏林飛船製作了第一張重金屬搖滾專輯，兩起造成社會恐慌的連續殺人密案 – 曼森謀殺集團及極道殺人魔 – 公諸於世，龐克音樂誕生，【午夜牛郎】成為第一部奪下奧斯卡最佳影片獎項的限制級電影，【芝麻街】兒童節目開始在電視播映 …

同年的7月11日，我來到人間。

新時代的開端

1969年代表著一個十年的結束，但也是人類新時代的開端。不同於之前的年代，許多在這一年立下的里程碑與發生的動亂在在定義了我們至今所存有的世界。但是許多人並未意識到這點 …

在1969年之前，這世界依然是非常保守的。然而在1969年，所有的人事物似乎變得都想突破限囿，爭取自由。一切都爆發了 – 思潮的爆發，情感的爆發，道德的爆發，甚至連科技也爆發了。整個世界好像串連起來搞叛變。我們現在所謂的「反文化」於此萌發。我的雙親也是其中的一份子，他們用私奔來對抗傳統與雙方的家庭。他們逃家，私訂終身，最後生下了我。這也造就了我頑皮叛逆的童年性格，我的成長過程便成了現世報的因果輪迴。在那段時光裡，雙親頭上頂著大蓬頭髮型，腿上掛條大喇叭褲，身上穿著鮮豔的大翻領印花襯衫。我老爸甚至會披著粉紅圍巾。在那個嬉皮年代裡，蓄留長髮是最殺的。六0年代中期瀰漫著「愛與和平」，性革命與藥物文化四處散布。那時候的世界似乎比現在更「自由」，相較而言，我們現在的限制比較少。難道真是如此嗎?

山寨與原味

許多現代的藝術與流行文化看起來非常粗糙膚淺。它們只是感官訴求，並沒有真的引起太多的思考與討論。乍看之下，你可能會覺得很「酷」，當你深究其中，卻是言之無物。不過最令我煩擾的是現在的音樂、藝術、流行與美學都是模仿來的。它們都是從六0與七0年代的藝術原型改編複製而來，卻沒有延續其靈魂與意義，一切變得只是「金玉其外，敗絮其中」。從昔日作品中攫取靈感並沒有甚麼不對，但我們應該要如何借屍還魂、除舊立新呢? 比改編更糟糕的是，打造次等山寨的山寨。我們都知道要讓完美變得更完美是困難的，但是我們能不能至少打造一個忠於原味的山寨?

我自己認為了解事物的發生源頭與歷程是很重要的。尤其當你想要自成一派的時候，這便顯得格外重要。這不僅適用於創意領域，也包括商業、科技、政治與社會範疇。如果你是一位汽車設計師，你就必須徹底了解從第一輛福特汽車所開啟的汽車工業世紀以及競爭對手目前的生產重心。如果你是一位搖滾音樂作者，掌握搖滾音樂所蘊含的深度與廣度對你來說便是很重要的，這包括非洲部落音樂史，藍調音樂史及其演變成硬式搖滾的發展過程。萬物皆有所本，能夠了解彼此的關係與根源是有其必要的。

零世代

我們不能忘記六0與七0是個喧囂的年代。整個世界淹沒在人權運動、戰爭、暴動與政變的洪流之中。這也許是讓人們有進一步表達自我的理由與動機 ? 到底是時代決定我們，還是我們決定世代?

我一直認為嘻哈饒舌音樂不可能在中港台三地成氣候，因為我們並沒有相關歷史與環境的孕育。這並不是說我們不喜歡嘻哈饒舌這樣的樂風，而是它欠缺在這裡存在的「理由」。嘻哈饒舌音樂乃是源於非美歷史、族群鎮壓、幫派文化與暴力。它是來自於表達自我的必要，而不只是一種音樂類型或特定聲響。中港台的年輕世代是否像嘻哈饒舌音樂誕生時一樣，因為種族鎮壓、暴力與歧視而受苦? 或者他們只是因為很酷而採用一種音樂與時尚風格? 我經常在台北、香港、北京的街頭上看到一些打扮得很嘻哈的年輕人，但是我總好奇他們真的會「說到做到」嗎? 當然，像他們這樣的穿著並沒有錯，可是難道我們不應該更深一層的探究 : 我們只是流於表面，還是真實活出自我 ? 也許這個世代不只是膚淺與無厘頭的，他們甚至對自己是無知的。有人說上兩個世代是X跟Y，現在這個世代是Z。這是代表「零(Zero)世代」嗎?

你在哪裡 ?

1969年9月26日，披頭四發表了最後一張專輯【艾比路】 (正式的「讓它去吧」)沒多久，他們便散團了。這張專輯跟他們多數的作品一樣，叫好又叫座。披頭四的音樂總是融合了藍調、古典、爵士、鄉村及許多其他類型。然而它並不是山寨版。它是正宗原創。它也是創意十足、情感豐富與誠實直率的。我認為這些因素讓披頭四成為了歷史上最具影響力的偉大樂團之一。

但是那是屬於六0年代與七0年代的精神。老鷹合唱團在他們的經典名曲 “加州旅店”中寫得最貼切 :「自從1969年以後，我們就沒有那種精神了…」

1969年，你在哪裡? 如今，你又在哪裡?


I Am 69
By David Tao

In 1969, the first man landed on the moon, Nixon became one of most infamous presidents in US history, students from Harvard and Cornell began mass anti-war riots, Woody Allen wrote his controversial book about sex, gays fought back for the first time against police, the first Rock music festival (Woodstock) was born, the Beatles released one of their most famous records (Abbey Road) and then broke up, Led Zeppelin produced the first heavy metal album, two disturbing and mysterious killing sprees (the Manson family murders and Zodiac killer) unfolded, Punk music was born, Midnight Cowboy became the first X-rated movie to win an Oscar for Best Picture, Sesame Street aired its first show and…

In that same year, on July 11th, I was born.

1969 may have been the end of a decade but it was, in fact, the birth of a new era for mankind. This year was somehow different than previous and was filled with landmark achievements events and cataclysmic episodes that to this day define who we are as a world. But many of us are not aware of this…

The world before 1969 was still a very conservative place. However, in 1969, it seemed that everything and everybody needed to break free. There was an explosion…an explosion of thought, expression, morality and even technology. It seemed like the world as a whole united to rebel. It was the birth of counter-culture as we know it today. My parents, for one, decided to rebel as they acted against tradition and their families by eloping. They ran off, got married, and had me. I, in turn, grew up as a very mischievous and rebellious child which could have been a case of instant karma. In those days, my parents had big hair, wore bell-bottoms and bright, flowered-print shirts with huge collars. My dad even wore a pink scarf. It was the hippie-era and it was cool to wear your hair long. The mid 60’s was all about “peace and love”, embracing a sexual revolution and drug sub-culture. The world seemed so much more “free” than the world we live in today though, comparatively speaking, we now have less restrictions. Or is it really so?

A lot of art and pop culture from today seems very cursory and superficial. It’s meant to appeal only to our senses but doesn’t really generate much thought or discussion. It may seem “cool” at first but when you dig deeper to find a meaning, you find nothing. However, what disturbs me the most is that much of today’s music, art, fashion and esthetic sense is very derivative. It is derived and “copied” from original art forms of the 60’s and 70’s without retaining its soul or meaning. It’s nothing but a shell that looks good from the outside but is empty within. There’s nothing wrong with drawing on inspiration from the past but how can we create something new and original with it? What’s worse than creating something derivative is creating an inferior copy of a copy. We all know it’s difficult to improve upon something that’s already perfect but can we at least copy it faithfully?

I personally feel that understanding the history and origin of things is very important. It is absolutely important if you are trying to create something original yourself. This pertains not only to the creative field but also to the business, technological, political and sociological realms. If you are a car designer, it’s imperative to thoroughly understand the genesis of the automobile from the first Ford to what your competitors are building now. If you write rock songs, then it’s important to understand the depth and width of how rock music evolved, from the history of African tribal music, to the Blues, and to how it evolved into Hard Rock. All things are born out of other things so it’s important to know how they evolved and what their root are.

We must not forget that the 60’s and 70’s were a tumultuous time. The world was engulfed in human rights movements, wars, riots and political upheaval. Perhaps this gave people a reason and motivation to express themselves? Is it that the age defined us and not us that defined our generation?

I’ve always argued that real hip-hop and rap music cannot grow in Taiwan, HK, or China because we don’t have the history and environment to nurture it. It’s not that we don’t like hip-hop and rap as a style of music but that it doesn’t have a “reason” to exist here. Hip-hop and rap’s origins lie in African-American history, repression, gang culture and violence. It is born out of a necessity to speak out and express one’s self and not merely just a genre of music or a particular sound. Do the young generation of Taiwan, HK and China suffer from a repression, violence and discrimination that hip-hop and rap was born out of? Or are they merely adopting a style of music and dress because it’s cool? I frequently see on the streets of Taipei, HK and Beijing kids who are dressed like rappers and hip-hop artists but I always wonder if they really “walk the talk”? Of course, there’s no crime in dressing the way they do but isn’t it important to go deeper and find out if we are merely adopting an appearance or really living true to ourselves? Perhaps this generation is not only one that is superficial and doesn’t have meaning, it doesn’t even know itself anymore. They say the last two generations are named X and Y. This current one is named Z. Does it stand for Generation Zero?

On September 26, 1969, the Beatles released their last album (officially it was Let It Be), Abbey Road. Soon after, they broke up. The album, like the majority of their albums, was a great success. The Beatles’ music always had many traces of blues, classical, jazz, country and a host of other genres. However, it was NOT derivative. It was very original. It was also very creative, expressive and honest. That, in my opinion, is one of the reasons why the Beatles are one of the most influential and greatest bands in history.

But that was the spirit of the 60’s and 70’s. The Eagles’ said it best in their hit song, “Hotel California” with the lyric, ”we haven’t had that spirit here since 1969…

Where were you in 1969? Where are you, today?

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