坎坷人生:南非鐵窗歌手 我從監獄中走來
South African singer Larry Joe found in solitary confinement the peace of mind he needed to develop his talent. A producer helped him make a CD in a cell-turned-studio.
南非歌手拉里•喬在單獨監禁時通過開發自身才能從而使自己內心得以平靜，而這正是他所需要的。一位音樂製作人把牢房變成錄音棚，幫助他錄製了一張CD。
Joe, 31, can see only seven stars in his small slice of sky. He has spent nearly three years with those stars outside his window in a prison in Douglas, South Africa, counting the days of his sentence for housebreaking.
喬今年31歲，透過南非道格拉斯監獄的窗戶，他只能看到只有7顆星星的狹小天空。他與窗外的星星相伴了近3年，苦捱着因入室盜竊而鋃鐺入獄的日子。
But he has a guitar, his songs and a wild hope.
但伴隨他的還有吉他、歌曲和不滅的希望。
“I want to be a bright, bright star.” His voice is wistful, as soft as velvet. “I want people, when they hear me, to see the darkness a little less.”
“我想變成一顆明亮璀璨的星星。”他的惆悵的聲音如絲絨般溫柔。“我希望人們聽到我的歌，能少看到一些黑暗。”
The first seven months in prison he thought about “everything”: what he’d done, how things had gone so wrong.
入獄後的頭七個月，“每件事情”他都一一考慮過：自己曾做了什麼，爲什麼事情會變得如此糟糕。
Then he asked to be put into solitary confinement, where he spent many months, and he started to write songs.
後來他要求單獨拘禁，在那裏待了幾個月，並開始創作歌曲。
“I started to put my feelings in words,” said Joe. “I wanted my guitar to sound exactly the way I felt.”
喬說：“我把我的真情實感融入歌詞當中，希望我的吉他能恰到好處地傳達出我的感受。”
He strums his guitar and sings, his voice so sweet that it’s heartbreaking.
他漫不經心地邊彈邊唱，聲音如此甜美，令人心碎。
It was December 1, 2008, and one of South Africa’s top musical groups, Freshly Ground, was in Douglas for a concert to mark World AIDS Day.
2008年12月1日那天，南非頂級音樂組合之一Freshly Ground，爲紀念世界艾滋病日在道格拉斯舉辦音樂會。
Joe was also invited to play in the support act, permitted by the government. He stunned the audience.
在政府部門的允許下喬也應邀參演，他的表演令觀衆爲之震驚。
Aron Turest-Swartz, Freshly Ground’s founder, noticed Joe’s music and his crazy fans.“Everyone was totally riveted. I was really blown away because I hadn’t heard a voice like that before,” he recalled.
Freshly Ground創始人阿倫•圖熱斯特•斯瓦茲注意到喬的音樂和他瘋狂的粉絲們，並回應說：“每個人都被深深吸引了，我之前從未聽到過如此曼妙的聲音，真的有點飄飄然了。”
Turest-Swartz visited Joe and listened to some of the 40 songs he had written in prison, and came up with the idea of recording an album there. He worked with Joe all through the freezing winter in a prison cell recording studio.
圖熱斯特•斯瓦茲去看望喬，聆聽了他在獄中寫的40首曲子中的一部分後，萌生了在獄中爲喬錄製專輯的想法。整個寒冷的冬季，圖熱斯特•斯瓦茲都和喬在監獄錄音棚裏工作。
Troubled childhood
喬的悲慘童年
When Joe was 13, his parents moved to a small house in were very poor: his sister would tell him that she had a headache for bread, but there was nothing to give her.
喬13歲時，父母搬到了道格拉斯的一幢小房子裏。父親失業了，母親當老師的收入只夠勉強維持生計。喬的家庭非常貧困。妹妹對他說，她非常想吃麪包，但家裏什麼吃的都沒有。
Joe made bad friends, who were always talking about stealing. Later, Joe slipped into crime to help reduce the burden of family. Finally, he was put behind bars.
喬結交了壞朋友，他們總談論偷搶拐騙的事情。之後，喬也加入了犯罪團伙，想幫助減輕家庭負擔。最後鋃鐺入獄。
Prison could have broken him: he couldn’t even see his family members buried. His father died when he was in prison. So did Joe’s 18-month-old daughter. Before prison, he’d see her in the hospital, medical tubes everywhere. Joe felt broken when she he marks the time of his rebirth – his decision to be a better man – from that moment.
監獄生活本可以毀掉他：甚至連親人下葬他都沒參加。服刑期間，父親和他18個月大的女兒相繼去世。入獄前，喬在醫院看過女兒，她身上插滿了醫用試管。女兒的去世幾乎讓他崩潰。但是這也標誌着他的重生，從那時起，喬決定做一個好人。
He stopped pretending there was an excuse for his crime, that he’d really been a good guy just trying to overcome poverty and stop his sister’s bread headaches.“I decided to be myself. So I started behaving like a gentleman,” he said.
他不再爲自己的罪行找藉口，譬如他原來確實是一個好人，只是爲了脫貧以及想讓妹妹吃上面包才這樣做。喬說：“我決定做回我自己，並且要表現得像個紳士。”
On December 13, 2010, the album he recorded in prison was timed for release. He was paroled for good behavior after two years and 10 afternoon, Joe gave a concert at the prison to celebrate his freedom and his CD, Crazy Life. The first song is called Let You Know.
2010年12月13日，他在監獄裏錄製的專輯正式發行。同時在服刑兩年零十個月後，他也因表現良好假釋出獄。當天下午，喬在監獄舉辦了演唱會，慶祝他重獲自由以及他的CD《瘋狂生活》的發行。唱片的首支單曲叫做《讓你知道》。
Joe launched into a crowd favorite. One group of prisoners was dancing, hands in the air. Beside the stage, officers jumped to their feet, dancing joyfully with the prisoners. The night before, Joe had felt afraid. His dreams were huge. Was he good enough? But it was time to say goodbye to his seven stars. He would see them outside.
喬涌入人羣，一羣獄友們高舉雙手歡歌跳舞。舞臺邊，獄警們邊跳邊與囚犯們載歌載舞。前一晚，喬還是有些擔心。他的夢想太大了。自己夠優秀嗎？但這確實是到了和那7顆星星說再見的時候了，他還會在高牆之外看見它們。
