ものの本によるとこの聖書のことばを、獄中のマイラ・ヒンドリーが唱えたそうです。マイラ・ヒンドリーは共犯者イアン・ブレイディと共に1960年代のイギリスでムーアズ殺人事件と呼ばれる最悪の児童連続殺人を行いました。凶行の現場となったマンチェスターで、被害児童らと同じく幼少期を過ごしたモリッシーは、のちにThe Smithsでこの事件を題材にとって書いた曲を発表していて、そのタイトルを “Suffer little children“としました。モリッシーはこの本の読者だったそうです。
That’s how it starts We go back to your house You check the charts And start to figure it out And if it’s crowded, all the better Because we know we’re gonna be up late But if you’re worried about the weather Then you picked the wrong place to stay That’s how it starts
And so it starts You switch the engine on We set controls for the heart of the sun One of the ways that we show our age And if the sun comes up, if the sun comes up If the sun comes up and I still don’t wanna stagger home Then it’s the memory of our betters That are keeping us on our feet You spent the first five years trying to get with the plan And the next five years trying to be with your friends again Oh, you’re talking forty-five turns just as fast as you can Yeah, I know it gets tired, but it’s better when we pretend
It comes apart The way it does in bad films Except the part Where the moral kicks in Though when we’re running out of the drugs And the conversation’s grinding away I wouldn’t trade one stupid decision For another five years of life You drop the first ten years just as fast as you can And the next ten people who are trying to be polite When you’re blowing eighty-five days in the middle of France Yeah, I know it gets tired, only where are your friends tonight?
And to tell the truth Oh, this could be the last time So here we go Like a sales force into the night And if I made a fool, if I made a fool If I made a fool on the road, there’s always this And if I’m sued into submission I can still come home to this And with a face like a dad and a laughable stand You can sleep on the plane or review what you said When you’re drunk and the kids look impossibly tanned You think over and over, “Hey, I’m finally dead” Oh, if the trip and the plan come apart in your hand You can turn it on yourself, you ridiculous clown You forgot what you meant when you read what you said And you always knew you were tired, but then
Where are your friends tonight? Where are your friends tonight? Where are your friends tonight? If I could see all my friends tonight If I could see all my friends tonight If I could see all my friends tonight If I could see all my friends tonight
“a murder of crows”＝「カラスの群れ」辞書ではmurder＝殺人なのにカラスの時だけは群れという意味になるそうです。カラスは烏合の衆なため基本単独行動であり、たまにめずらしく群れてる時はその中心にかならず腐乱死体がある。そんな由来かなと想像しましたが、本当の由来は知らないです。ところでカラスの群れは日本語で群烏（むらがらす）という言い方もあるそうです。ここで本題に入りたいのですが、響きが似てないですか？ むらがらす、むぁらぉぐぉらぉす、murder of crows。どうでしょうか。似てるっちゃ似てますよね。英語と日本語で意味も音も似てる言葉となると、つまり、信号とsignal、設定とsetting、道路とroad、坊やとboy、とかの仲間っちゃ仲間ですよね。以上です。読んでくださりありがとうございました。
Cause the man from the bank, he won’t give you a loan Without putting a mortgage on all that you own A tit for a tat, that’s how it is It’s as simple as that
