Bob Dylan 之所以为最伟大的民谣歌手之一在于他将世间的种种苦难、社会的种种不公、人的种种卑劣同时用文学和音乐的方式表现出来。Bob是位诗人，也是位音乐家，多数人只能善之其一。而在他的歌中，Bob则同时作为顶级的诗人和音乐家存在。音乐是具有文学性的，同样，文学的最深处，也有音韵的根。人们钟爱诗便是因为其有格，也有律。
在Bob最家喻户晓的这些歌里面，我最钟爱这首歌 — a hard rain’s a-gonna fall。Bob不乏抨击社会丑态的歌，例如批评美国对黑人的种族歧视的“Hurricane”、批评美国残留的等级奴役思想的“Maggie’s farm”等。他也不乏吟诵人的深度精神与欢欣惆怅的歌，多收录于他的第一张专辑—— “the freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”，例如描绘人在极度的孤独中徘徊于希望与绝望之间的“Mr. Tambourine man” 和 “Desolation Row”。而我之所以钟爱这首歌的原因便是Bob在这首歌里说了一切他想说的东西。
Bob在这首歌中吟唱了一切：全部的人和整个的世界。他提到了战争、歧视、饥饿、毁坏、杀掠、酷刑、成堆的坟墓、无奈的防卫、监囚、讥笑、反抗、镇压、发声、麻木、颤抖、哀嚎、绝望、对生命的放弃、孩童、坚守、希望、毁灭、自尽、重生。这世间全部的悲伤和绝望，Bob都唱了出来。而在这首歌中，Bob不是敦促者，不是治理者，而只是一个观察者。为何？若是世界上还有善存在，则还有被拯救的希望。若是世界已教恶给吞噬，只得将其全权毁灭，等待着再次重生，就像受了耶和华的命令，降了七天七夜，将在方舟外世间的一切的恶，包括所多姆城（Sodom），都淹没于水中的大雨。
这里选择的Joan的版本，她的声线很好地表述了Bob想表达的东西。若是喜爱Bob的版本也可以自行搜索。
A hard rain’s a-gonna fall Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?Oh, where have you been, my darling young one?I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountainsI’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highwaysI’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forestsI’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceansI’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyardAnd it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hardAnd it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall啊，一场滂沱的、悲伤的、凶猛的、无情的大雨将落于此地。Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?Oh, what did you see, my darling young one?I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around itI saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on itI saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin’I saw a white ladder all covered with waterI saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all brokenI saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young childrenAnd it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hardAnd it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall啊，一场滂沱的、悲伤的、凶猛的、无情的大雨将倾覆于此，情面不留。And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?And what did you hear, my darling young one?I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin’Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole worldHeard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin’Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutterHeard the sound of a clown who cried in the alleyAnd it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hardAnd it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall啊，一场滂沱的、悲伤的、凶猛的、无情的大雨将落于此地。Oh, who did you meet, my blue-eyed son?Who did you meet, my darling young one?I met a young child beside a dead ponyI met a white man who walked a black dogI met a young woman whose body was burningI met a young girl, she gave me a rainbowI met one man who was wounded in loveI met another man who was wounded with hatredAnd it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hardIt’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall啊，一场滂沱的、悲伤的、凶猛的、无情的大雨将倾覆于此，情面不留。Oh, what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son?Oh, what’ll you do now, my darling young one?I’m a-goin’ back out ’fore the rain starts a-fallin’I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forestWhere the people are many and their hands are all emptyWhere the pellets of poison are flooding their watersWhere the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prisonWhere the executioner’s face is always well hiddenWhere hunger is ugly, where souls are forgottenWhere black is the color, where none is the numberAnd I’ll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe itAnd reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see itThen I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hardIt’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall我将讲述那里的故事，不竭地发声、思量、大患若身地呼吸其中的悲怆。关于此版翻译：
Bob的这首歌吟唱起来很有诗的韵味在，所以翻译采用了诗体，这样读起来琅琅上口，不至于使原文和译文的意境差太远。但弊端就是有时为了合辙押韵，不得不牺牲文句的通畅性和对原文的忠诚。在译文上，我选择了意译，则是相比于字字相应的方法，我选择优先表述句子和段落的大意。一来是为了更好地配适译文的诗体，二来是为了使原文的意思更通达。这首歌的歌词中隐喻众多，若是不适当地点明或增加一些细节，读者可能会难以理解。为此原因，也是出于我对这首的喜爱，我会再另发一篇对它的赏析文章。译文大部分是字数韵脚工整的诗句，不过有些部分会有韵脚上的转变，字数上的偏差，这些大多是出于对反映原文的精炼与保持诗体之间平衡的考量。虽然是诗，但词与词、字与字之间并不那么工整。若是要将其归类于诗的话，只能说是介于欧诗与现代诗之间的体裁。不过，本就是歌词的翻译，也不必硬要归类。其本质还是属于歌词，不过有些诗韵罢了。小家拙译，请多指正。
