英國92歲女歌手精選碟成銷量冠軍
Dame Vera Lynn beat The Beatles and other artists to top the British charts on Sunday, and become the oldest living singer to have a number one hit album, at the age of 92.
Lynn's album outsold recent chart toppers Arctic Monkeys and Jamie T, which reached number two, as the 70th anniversary earlier this month of the outbreak of World War II revived memories of her heyday.
"We'll Meet Again -- The Very Best Of Vera Lynn", a compilation of 24 of her best-loved recordings, has been rising through the charts, 70 years on since she recorded the title track.
Lynn was dubbed the "Forces' Sweetheart" during the 1939-1945 conflict, bolstering spirits with optimistic songs such as "We'll Meet Again", which struck a chord with soldiers heading to war and the families they left behind.
The album was released to coincide with the 70-year anniversary of Britain's declaration of war on Nazi Germany on September 3.
Lynn trumped The Beatles' 12 remastered editions, plus its box sets, released to great fanfare on Wednesday, and four of which are in the top 10.
"I'm so surprised, I can't quite believe it. It really is amazing that this has happened after all these years," she said.
Asked why the album had become popular again, Lynn told the BBC: "I think it's because of the problems that are going on in various parts, and a bit of nostalgia, but I don't know, I'd like somebody to tell me."
Gennaro Castaldo, from music store HMV, said the album had been growing consistently in popularity in recent weeks.
"It's a really lovely surprise, that nobody could have imagined a few weeks ago, and it's ironic that it's taken one revered British icon to block the historic return of another to the top of the charts," he said.
Her album features songs such as "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs Of Dover", and "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart", which was a number one hit in the United States in 1952.
Lynn was born on March 20, 1917 in east London and her singing career was already flourishing when war broke out in 1939.
上週日，（英國92歲高齡的女歌手）薇拉•林恩爵士擊敗披頭士樂隊和其他藝人，登上英國音樂大碟排行榜冠軍寶座，同時成爲史上擁有冠軍大碟的最年長的在世歌手。
本月早些時候的“二戰” 爆發70週年紀念喚起了人們對林恩演唱生涯全盛時期的記憶，她的唱片銷量超過了新近的排行榜冠軍“北極猴子”和傑米•T。傑米•T目前排在第二位。
這張名爲《我們會重逢——薇拉•林恩精選集》的專輯收錄了薇拉最喜愛的24首金曲。這張專輯在排行榜上一路上升，儘管如今距她錄製那首專輯同名曲已有七十年的歷史。
在1939年到1945年的戰爭期間，林恩被人們稱爲“戰地甜心”，她所唱的一些樂觀向上的歌曲如《我們會重逢》鼓舞人心，給那些遠赴戰場的士兵和他們留在後方的家人帶去了安慰。
這張專輯於9月3日發佈，當天正好是英國向納粹德國宣戰70週年的紀念日。
披頭士樂隊則於上週三大張旗鼓地發佈了最新灌製的唱片兼盒裝全集，但最終還是不敵林恩。
林恩說：“我真的很驚訝，我簡直不敢相信。沒想到過了這麼多年我的唱片還能成爲銷量冠軍，真是不可思議。”
在接受英國廣播公司採訪被問及爲什麼她的唱片能再次流行時，林恩回答說：“我想是因爲現在各個領域發生的事情讓人們產生了一些懷舊情緒，不過我也不清楚，我倒希望有人告訴我爲什麼。”
HMV音像店的格納羅•卡斯塔爾多說，最近幾周林恩這張唱片的人氣一直呈上升趨勢。
他說：“這實在是個驚喜，幾周前誰也不會想到會這樣，而且一個受人尊敬的英國昔日偶像擋住了另一個老牌偶像的歷史性的迴歸之路，真有點諷刺的意味。”
林恩這張專輯中的主打歌曲包括《多佛白崖上的知更鳥》和《別了，心上人》，後者曾於1952年成爲美國音樂排行榜上的冠軍單曲。
林恩於1917年3月20日出生於倫敦東部，她的演唱生涯在1939年二戰爆發之前就已經有相當的發展了。
Vocabulary:
Vera Lynn: 英籍女歌手，7歲時就開始在工人俱樂部唱歌，15歲時參加了一個舞蹈團。1935年她在Joe Loss樂隊中第一次在電臺亮相，1940年開始她的個人演唱生涯。曾主持過BBC電臺的“Sincerely Yours”節目，並在節目中演唱她的抒情名曲《你的》（Yours）、《我們會再相逢》（We'll meet again）等，被當時英國海外部隊稱爲“部隊情人”。林恩還拍過三部電影。她的多首歌曲進入英國和美國排行榜前30位，其中歌曲《別了，心上人》（Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart）於榜首停留達9周，爲1952年第四最佳歌曲。林恩於1975年被授予大英女爵士的頭銜，在英國公衆眼中，她一直都是一位傳奇性的人物。
charts: the weekly lists of the bestselling pop records or the most popular videos （一週一度的）流行音樂排行榜
Arctic Monkeys: “北極猴子”，正火速走紅的英國搖滾樂隊。2002年底，四個十多歲的英國少年組成了一支名叫北極猴子的樂隊，他們在互聯網上創建了自己的網站，把樂隊錄製的歌曲放到網站上，供網友免費下載。沒過多久，他們便成爲了互聯網上風頭最勁的網絡樂隊。唱片公司發現了這支頗具市場潛力的樂隊，並與之簽約。北極猴子樂隊與唱片公司簽約後發行的第一支單曲《I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor》剛一面世，便力壓衆多樂壇老將的得意力作，登上了英國單曲暢銷金榜的榜首。這樣的成就使北極猴樂隊成爲了英國迄今爲止最成功的網絡樂隊。
Jamie T: 2007年NME音樂大獎“最佳歌手”得主，樂評一致認爲他是繼Mike Skinner後，最具天份的英國饒舌樂手。他獨特的腔調與鬼靈精怪的念唱，還有他的創作模式與搞怪天才，讓他在英國樂壇一鳴驚人。
heyday: the period of greatest popularity, success, or power; prime 全盛期
title track: 專輯同名歌曲
dub: to give a name to facetiously or playfully 授予……稱號；把……叫做；給……取綽號（He was dubbed Shorty because of his size. 他因身材短小被人取了個矮子的綽號。）
trump: to outdo or surpass 勝過，打敗，贏（As for physique, nature did not deal her an ideal hand, but she trumped every disadvantage.至於體格，她長得並不理想，但她能克服一切缺憾。）
box set: a compilation of various musical recordings, films, television programs, or other collection of related things that are contained in a box 盒裝全集
fanfare: 誇耀，鼓吹
