It’s a Riot!
It was 1992 in Los Angeles. I went to the SIR rehearsal space in Hollywood and occupied a small room adjoining a much larger one that I sometimes rented when I was in town. I was there to just play the piano and see what happened.
I was in a particularly good space, as the day before I met Ringo Starr and Joe Walsh, who were rehearsing in the larger room. That was definitely inspiring. Once I calmed down from the rush of chatting with a Beatle and Joe Walsh, it registered that they were both really nice and seemed to know who I was, which shocked me.
But this particular day was just like any other in LA. The room I was in was almost totally dark, and I had rented an old CP70 electric piano. I loved the sound of it. We had one on the road that Frank used to play in the ‘80s, and it always produced a unique sound. I think Peter Gabriel made it famous, as he always used it on the road and still does.
It’s the kind of piano that, for me at least, the less you play, the better it sounds. I played for a few hours, not really trying to compose anything, just enjoying the sound and the emotions that it churned up.
I took a break, walked out to the green room and noticed that it was deathly quiet. There was always someone around to say hello to but not this time. I put myhead in the big room and that was empty, too. I could feel something wasn’t right, but I didn’t know what. I walked outside into the blazing sunlight, feeling a bit like a badger emerging from his tunnel. There weren’t any cars onthe road. Then, I knew that something was wrong. My first thought was an earthquake, but I hadn’t felt any tremors. I called out for the manager, Dave, but no luck (and he was always around!).
Then the strangest thing happened. Instead of panicking and running outside to see what was going on, I had the intenseurge to go back inside and play. The starkness of the moment and the emptiness of the streets really got a hold of me. I knew I would be alright but the not being quite sure felt exciting.
Iimmediately sat down, turned on my recorder and started to play the beginning chords to what was to become “I’ll Be Thinking of You.” I played the whole song from top to bottom. I was also singing lyrics that were so simple with a beautiful message of longing. It felt so right. When these moments happen, it is a state of euphoria, both trance like and empty, yet full at the same time. It’s like the center of the wheel, where everything is still.
The first two lines of the song are two ofmy most treasured lines, so gentle yet full of power: “When the sun sets on the ocean, when the yellow touches the blue…” In spiritual circles, yellow represents the male, the sun, the day. And the blue is his female consort, themoon, the night, the nurturing one.
After checking to see if my recorder had everything I needed, I knew it was time to go. Now I had to leave the wheel’s center, the calm, passionate union of the two lovers in this new song.
I left the room, called for Dave and nothing again! I knew the main door locked behind me, so I left and heard it slam shut. Parked in back, my car was the only one around. I heard what I thought were bombs going off in the distance, along with police sirens and ambulances. I tried to drive my usual route back to the freeway, but I was quickly met with barricades across the road. I was literally blocked in. I put the radio on straightaway and the announcer was hurriedly telling people to get off the streets and that Los Angeles was under siege by rioters. The police had lost control. I had walked right into the Rodney King riots.
After acknowledging the reality of the situation, I circumvented the barricades and found a way onto a deserted freeway (anything to get away from the danger zone that I discovered was veryclose to me).
I feverishly listened to reports coming in of looting and gunfire. It was a nightmare. Ialso knew that pretty soon the police would bring out SWAT teams, and I didn’t want to be around when that happened. I was driving rather fast, as I remember,not worrying about speed at this moment, just wanting to get home. I managed tofind a phone box. (We didn’t have cell phones in those days. Remember that?) Icalled home, and Jodi told me everything very quickly.
After two hours, I finally managed to get to the Pacific Coast Highway where I knew I would be safe. Not long after that, I was driving up Las Flores toward home, not quite believing what had just happened.
After pulling into my driveway, I took a long, deep breath. One moment I was in rapture enjoying the birth of a new song. The next I was in the middle of chaos and could have easily been a victim. Someone must have been watching over me!
中文译文：
那是发生在1992年的洛杉矶。当时，只要我进城，我就会到好莱坞的一个专业排练中心租一个小录音棚，这个小房间挨着一个大很多的录音棚。我只是在那儿弹弹钢琴，看看会有什么灵感涌现。
那可是个独一无二的好地方，因为就在一天前，我遇见Ringo Starr和Joe Walsh就在我旁边的大房间录音。那对我来说绝对是莫大的鼓舞。我有过一次与披头士和Joe Walsh的匆忙对话，当我冷静下来时，我才意识到其实他们都非常的平易近人，而且竟然知道我是谁，这令我感动。
这天和往常我在LA一样的平常。我待在非常黑暗的房间里，弹着我租来的CP70电钢琴。我非常喜欢它的音色。我们曾经也有过一台CP70，Frank一直弹它。在80年代，它带给我们独一无二的音色。我想，是Peter Gabriel使之闻名，因为他总是弹奏他，直到现在依然如此。
这架琴之于我的感受是，你弹得越纯粹，它给你的带来的乐感更好。我就这样弹了几小时，并没有真的想要谱些什么，只是享受着这美妙的琴音以及感受它带给我情绪的波动。
我休息了一会，走到外面的休息区才发现周围死寂一片。平时，总是可以遇到人和你打招呼但是今天没有。我隔着门听了听大录音室，里面也没有人。我觉得有点不对劲，但我不知道为什么。我走出大楼来到阳光炽热的室外，我感觉外面乱糟糟如同地鼠在挖洞。路上一辆车都没有，接着我知道出事了。当时，我第一个念头是地震，但是我却完全没有感觉到一点点震动。我打电话给我经理人Dave，但是没有打通。（通常，他不会不接电话的）
接着怪事发生了。我听到外面随之而来的恐慌，奔跑，呼救。我非常紧张，赶紧回去躲进我的小房间。这一连串实实在在的片段以及空荡荡的街道给我非常大的震憾。我知道我应该没事，但是又不能很肯定，甚至心里感到一丝丝兴奋。
我立即坐下，打开我的录音机录音。我开始弹奏和弦，这条和弦就变成了后来的“I’ll Be Thinking of You”. 我一气呵成从头弹到尾。 同时，我张口就唱出那美丽又充满渴望的歌词。感觉太对了。这一切发生时，我充满了愉悦，整个人都进入了忘我的境地，同时也全情投入在此。就像你正站在轮子的中心，周遭再变化，你却始终不变。
这首歌的前两条歌词是我个人最珍爱的。非常的温和但同时充满了力量：“当太阳从海上升起，当黄色触碰到蓝色……“在精神层面理解，黄色代表着男性，太阳，白天。而蓝色代表着女性，月亮，夜晚，两者相互影响，互相滋养。
检查完我的录音完全没问题以后，我知道我时候离开这里了。现在，我要带着这首温和与激情完美融合的新歌，离开这个轮子的中心。
我离开房间，又打了遍电话给Dave，但是依然没有打通。我离开时听到砰的关门声，我想大门已落锁。我绕到后门停车场，那里只剩我一辆车了。我听见远处有类似炸弹的爆炸声，夹杂着警车和救护车的鸣笛声。我想要开我常走的那条路去高速公路，但是没开出多远，街道上的路障就阻止了我的前行，我被困了。我打开了收音机，听到播音员急切的发布告诫人们离开街道，LA正在被暴徒围攻。警察已经失去控制。这是一场由一名黑人Rodney King遭受白人警察暴力执法而引发的暴动。
在我确认了我当时的处境之后，我果断绕过路障发现了一条废弃的高速公路（这是我能发现的离我最近的能让我离开危险区域的途径）。
我持续关注收听暴动的新闻，各种打砸抢烧和交火冲突。这真的是个噩梦。我还知道过不了多久，警察将出动防暴部队，我绝对不想在那个时候还在附近。我把车开得飞快，我知道这个时候不用计较超不超速了，我只想马上回家。沿途，我发现了一个公用电话（还记得吗，那会儿我们还没有手机）我打电话回家，Jodi迅速地告诉了我一切。
2小时后，我终于开到了沿海高速。我知道，我现在应该安全了。要不了多久，我就能开上Las Flores回家啦。真不敢相信刚刚发生的一切。
把车停进自家车道时，我长舒了一口气。刚刚我还沉浸于一首新歌诞生的愉悦中，下一刻我就置身于骚乱之中，而且很有可能成为一个受害者被人家照看着呢。
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