世界上最赚钱的歌曲（2012）

By Christmas, sales passed 400,000,
使它登顶散页乐谱音乐排行榜
making it number one in the sheet music hit parade.
当时没办法买♥♥唱片
You didn't have the option then of buying a record
所以就买♥♥散页乐谱
so you buy the sheet music,
等到唱片的价格
and then once we did have records
达到了大众能接受的水平
that were at a price the general public could afford,
散页乐谱就越来越少了
then sheet music becomes less.
就是这样盛衰兴替
And so it goes, really.
随着技术的逐渐进步
Each time the technology moves on a little,
原来的主要收入来源
then you find what was the main source of revenue
就会渐渐消亡
tends to die away.
《圣诞老人要来了》已经录制了
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town has been recorded
二百多次
over 200 different times.
每一次都是给作者的礼物
Each one of those is a bit of a present for the writers,
因为每次翻唱产生的歌♥曲创作版税
cos for every cover version, all the songwriting royalties
都属于这首歌♥的作者
go to the people who wrote the song.
所以两百个版本 我们都来听一听吧
So 200 versions, let's listen to all of them.
不 我们只听其中几首
No, I'll tell you what, let's just listen to a few.
多莉·巴顿 美国著名乡村歌♥手
首先 多莉·巴顿的独特嗓音
First off ,the unmistakable voice of Dolly Parton.
♪你最好小心 你最好别哭 你最好♪
♪You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not...♪
杰克逊五兄弟 美国著名黑人乐队
由迈克尔·杰克逊与四个哥哥组成
然后是杰克逊五兄弟
And the Jackson 5.
♪圣诞老人要来了♪
♪Santa Claus is coming to town...♪
准备好了 贾斯汀·比伯来了
Brace yourselves now. It's Justin Bieber.
♪他在你熟睡时到来♪
♪He sees you when you're sleeping♪
♪他知道你何时醒来♪
♪He knows when you're awake...♪
艾丽斯·库珀
美国著名硬摇滚歌♥手 被誉为休克摇滚教父
最后 艾丽斯·库珀的《圣诞老爪要来了》
And finally, Alice Cooper with Santa Claws Is Coming To Town.
是"爪" 看到谐音了吗 太有才了
As in claws. Do you see what he did there? Brilliant.
♪圣诞老爪要来了♪
♪Santa Claws is coming to town...♪
《圣诞老人要来了》和二十世纪中期的
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, like many seasonal songs
许多季节性歌♥曲一样 避开了宗教引用
from the mid-'20th century, avoids any religious references.
当这些歌♥曲大红大紫
When these songs became popular hits,
它们帮助我们建立了现代世俗圣诞节的概念
they helped create our modern idea of a secular Christmas.
也许这并不令人意外
Perhaps this isn't such a surprise.
其中很多歌♥曲的作者
Many of them were written by songwriters who,
都不言而喻地排除了基♥督♥宗教的内容
for obvious reasons, left Christianity out of it.
犹太人一直都善于创作美国歌♥曲
Jews always excelled at writing American songs.
乔迪·罗森
记者 作家
真正的讽刺之处在于 圣诞歌♥曲
The real irony is that Christmas songs became
变成了犹太作者的专有财产
the special property of Jewish songwriters.
《圣诞之歌♥》《火上烤着栗子》
The Christmas Song, Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire,
《红鼻子驯鹿鲁道夫》《圣诞老人要来了》
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,
《冬季乐园》都是犹太人创作的
Winter Wonderland - these are all written by Jewish songwriters.
没想到吧
So what do you know?
我们以一定的精确度知道
Well, what we know, with some degree of accuracy at least,
《圣诞老人要来了》
is that Santa Claus Is Coming To Town has,
通过各种变体
in its various incarnations,
不管是好的 差的 还是无关紧要的
good, bad and indifferent,
已经赚到了一千六百五十多万英镑
made just over 16.5 million pounds.
假设发行公♥司♥
So if we assume the publishing company
获得了版税的五成
have taken 50% of the royalties,
另外五成分给了黑文·吉莱斯皮
then the other 50% has been split between Haven Gillespie
和J·弗雷德·库茨
and J Fred Coots.
那次激发灵感的1930年代纽约地铁行
Therefore, that inspired 1930s New York subway ride
已经为黑文和他的继承人净赚了四百万英磅
has netted Haven and his heirs four million quid so far.
♪他要来了♪
♪He's coming to town...♪
二号♥录音室
红灯亮时严禁进入
美国依然普遍采用五五分
A 50/50 split is still common in the US,
但如今非常成功的英国作者
but nowadays, a very successful British writer
可以拿到百分之七十五以上
can get 75% or more.
有些歌♥曲作者 不论是否出名
And some songwriters, famous and not,
自己控制发行 以获得最大的回报
are controlling their own publishing to maximise their returns.
在揭晓世界上最赚钱的歌♥曲第六名之前
Before we move on to the sixth richest song in the world,
先给歌♥曲作者新秀们讲个警世寓言
here's a cautionary tale for budding songwriters about a song
这是一首差一点就能上榜的歌♥曲
that just narrowly missed our chart.
范·莫里森
英国著名词曲作家 歌♥手 演奏家
范·莫里森小的时候很活泼
When Van Morrison was a little boy he was a cheery soul.
他乖乖睡觉 圣诞节过得很好
He was good. He did go to sleep. He had marvellous Christmases.
但现在 他却以好斗
And yet these days, he has something of a truculent
暴躁而著称
and grumpy reputation.
是什么让快乐的小范
What could have happened to change cheery little Van
变成了我们今天认识的这个人呢
into the person we think we know today?
也许歌♥曲作者范与他的唱片公♥司♥
Perhaps this story of the relationship between Van the songwriter
之间的关系能给我们答案
and his record company holds the answer.
也许吧
Maybe.
1967年 二十一岁的范在纽约与乐队指挥
In 1967, 21-year-old Van the young man recorded in New York
Bang唱片老板伯特·伯恩斯一起录歌♥
with Burt Burns, pop impresario and owner of Bang Records.
其中一首就是《棕眼女孩》
One of the songs recorded was Brown Eyed Girl,
后来成为了莫里森最成功的歌♥曲之一
which would become Morrison's most successful ever song.
♪嘿 我们去哪里了♪
♪Hey, where did we go♪
♪下雨那天♪
♪Days when the rains came♪
♪内心空虚♪
♪Down in the hollow...♪
它在美国电台的播放量已经达到一千万
It has been played 10 million times on American radio.
巴尼·霍斯金斯
《摇滚副刊》编辑主任
一千万次
10 million times.
连我都目瞪口呆
I mean, even I was flabbergasted by that.
♪你是我的 你是我的棕眼女孩♪
♪You my, you my brown eyed girl...♪
但这首极其流行的歌♥曲
But this incredibly popular song
绝对不是范·莫里森本人的最爱
is certainly not one of Van Morrison's personal favourites.
而且理由很充足
And with good reason.
莫里森对《棕眼女孩》的不满之一
One of Morrison's problems with Brown Eyed Girl
就是他几乎从未获得
is that he has hardly ever
皮特·米尔斯博士
《沉默颂歌♥ 深入范·莫里森的文字与音乐》作者
这首歌♥的任何版税
received any royalties for it.
部分原因是当他与伯特·伯恩斯签约时
Partly because when he signed up with Burt Burns,
和任何二十一岁的年轻人一样 急于加入
like any 21-year-old, you're keen to just get in there
给你什么你都会签
and you'll sign whatever is put under your nose.
而他的版税率极低
And his royalty rate was extremely low.
这首歌♥的收入是在极低
Well, it varied between extremely low
到根本没有之间
to nonexistent on this material.
我们认为《棕眼女孩》赚了一千二百多万磅
We reckon that Brown Eyed Girl has earned just over 12 million.
非常感谢 谢谢
Thank you very much, thank you.
就是这样 一个小小的警世寓言
So there you go, bit of a cautionary tale.
当然 范作为范
Of course, Van the man being Van the man,
用自己习惯的方式进行了报复
he got his revenge in his customary way.
他故意给Bang公♥司♥写了一些烂歌♥
He wrote some deliberately bad songs for the Bang label,
那段时间他写了一首歌♥
and around that time he wrote a song called
名为《大版税支票》
The Big Royalty Check,
歌♥词差不多是这样
the words to which go something like,
"我在等待我的版税支票
"I'm waiting for my royalty check to come in,
它还没有来
it still hasn't come yet,
已经超过一年了 哦哦哦哦"
"It's about a year overdue, oh, oh, oh, oh."
我想说 如果《棕眼女孩》的故事
I would say, if there is a moral,
对年轻的歌♥曲创作者
if there is a lesson in the story of Brown Eyed Girl
有什么寓意和教训
for the young songwriter,
那就是如果可以 一定要掌握歌♥曲的
it's hold on to the production,
制♥作♥ 发行和音乐
the publishing and the sound of it, if you can.
确保歌♥曲属于你 而且一直属于你
And make sure it's your song, make sure that it stays your song.
很棒的贝斯乐句 经典歌♥曲的经典序曲
Brilliant bass-line. Classic intro to a classic song.
美国歌♥曲创作绝无仅有的伟人之一
Unmistakeable and one of the greats of American songwriting.
由本·E·金与
Co-written by Ben E King
杰瑞·雷伯和麦克·斯托勒组成的
and the legendary songwriting team
传奇创作团队共同创作
of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
目前为止 好几首歌♥都伴随着失落 遗憾
Some of our tunes so far have had a sense of loss, of regret,
内疚的感觉
of guilt about them.
但这首歌♥绝对是积极向上的
But this one, a resolutely upbeat message,
背后有一个很美好的故事
really lovely story behind it.
本·E·金这首歌♥是写给童年甜心贝蒂的
Ben E King wrote it for his childhood sweetheart, Betty.
有一天我坐在家里
I was sitting at home one day,