FourSeasons' Capriccio

擁有「玫瑰歌手」封號的Amanda，出身加州洛杉磯，集詞曲創作、演唱於一身，其中讓她響譽盛名的單曲「The Rose」，國內外的翻唱版本數十種，但我最喜歡的還是Amanda自己詮釋的版本。

Amanda 的歌聲充滿磁性，寬容又溫暖、溫潤醇厚的詮釋人世間種種感情，尤其是愛情。她的歌聲不是少女未經世事的天真，而是成熟女人經歷滄桑後萃煉而出的感動和韻味，加上專輯錄音效果奇佳，幾乎是發燒友的必定收藏的女聲名盤。

關於Amanda的介紹，有興趣的人可以參考銀河網路「蔣爸推薦曲」。如果以前未曾接觸她的歌聲，現在想收藏她的ＣＤ又受限於預算，那麼建議考慮1999年發行的「Portraits」，這張精選集共有18首，包含「Amanda McBroom Live from Rainbow & Stars」、「Growing Up In Hollywood Town」、「A Waiting Heart」、「Midnight Matinee」及「Dreaming」專輯的代表作，另外還有4首全新創作歌曲。

雖然「The Rose」是她的成名曲，在這裡想介紹幾首其他的作品，你可想像自己正身處如歌廳般的空間，啜飲醇酒、享受咖啡，聆聽著聚光燈下的歌者，一首首鋪陳出人世間的浪漫繾綣、喜怒哀樂，將你的情緒帶到心靈最深處 ～～～～

"Crimes Of The Heart" 敘述愛上29歲男子的42歲女子，充滿愛慾想望與現實無奈的複雜心態

"Ghost In This House" 當愛人遠離，生命變得似幽魂的女子，以中提琴與吉他、鋼琴合奏出的幽然氣氛，別忽略阿曼達好友，也是名歌者Lori Liberman的襯底合音

"The Portait" 述說女兒對未謀面母親的孺慕相思，悲淒動人。

《 Crimes Of The Heart 》
We were drinking whiskey
We were talking men
She'd never see the sunny side of
Forty-two again
She was in love with a boy of twenty-nine
This was something new
What should she do?
What could she do?

He made her burn like fire
Made her drunk like wine
No one else had loved her, Oh
For such a long, long time
She was afraid. It was moving way too fast
The dye was cast
How could this last?

It was a crime of the heart
We all know that love's insane from the start
Where there's passion, there is pain
What do we gain
Committing crimes of the heart?

He was crazy jealous of everyone she met
Suspicious of the little things
That hadn't happened yet
He devoured every minute of her time
She didn't mind
After all, young love's always blind

It's a crime of the heart
We all know that love's insane from the start
Where there's passion there is pain
What do we gain
Committing crimes of the heart

Funny, how tomorrow turns into yesterday
Funny, how a mirror never lies
Somehow, the hands of time turn back the other way
Everytime I look into your eyes

The night was half-past over
Time for going home
She said she'd rather walk
She needed time to be alone
When you're living your love from day to day
Sometimes tomorrow is the price you have to pay
For these crimes of the heart
We all know that love's insane from the start
Where there's passion, there is pain
And love is what we gain
Committing crimes of the heart
Crimes of the heart
Of the heart

《 Ghost In This House 》
I don't pick up the mail
I don't pick up the phone
I don't answer the door
I'd as soon be alone
I don't keep this place up
I just keep the lights down
I don't live in these rooms
I just rattle around

I'm just a ghost in this house
I'm just a shadow upon these walls
As quietly as a mouse I haunt these halls
I'm just a whisper of smoke
I'm all that's left of two hearts on fire
That once burned out of control
And took my body and soul
I'm just a ghost in this house

I don't mind if it rains
I don't care if it's clear
I don't mind staying in
There's another ghost here
He sits down in your chair
And he shines with your light
And he lays down his head
On your pillow at night

I'm just a ghost in this house
I'm just a shell of the one I was
A living proof of the
Damage heartbreak does
I'm just a whisper of smoke
I'm all that's left of two hearts on fire
That once burned out of control
And took my body and soul
I'm just a ghost in this house
I'm just a shadow upon these walls
As quietly as a mouse I haunt these halls
I'm just a whisper of smoke
I'm all that's left of two hearts on fire
That once burned out of control
And took my body and soul
I'm just a ghost in this house
I'm just a ghost in this house

《 The Portrait 》
There's a picture in a silver frame
Hanging dusty on my wall
And two people with their eyes the same
Holding daisies I recall
And the baby in the sailor dress
And the pigtails that was me
And the other was my mother
On our Easter by the sea

People tell me that I'm just like her
And I wonder what they see
She was a lade lace and cameo
Not the gypsy that is me
She spent her evenings making poetry
I spend my nights making time
And I wonder am I living
Partly her dreams partly mine

What would she think of the too many men
The lies I get lost in again and again
The tears in the morning
The booze and the blues in the night

It's been years now since I've seen her face
Heard her footsteps on the stair
But just lately in my dreams at night
I will call her and she's there
Looking pretty like she used to
Before time and tears tore her apart
And she tells me that she loves me
Then she leaves me in the dark

Mama don't leave me Mama don't go
You know the answers to all I don't know
My dreams come up empty and my heart's
Lying dead on the floor

Mama don't leave me Mama please stay
Mama I need you to show me the way
I'm lost and I'm lonely and
I can't find my way anymore
Mama