如果有心，會發現Lori Mckenna和很多鄉村音樂大咖的名字聯係在一起，比如大名鼎鼎的Tom McGraw和Faith Hill 夫婦，Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban，Taylor Swift, Little Big Town 組合等。2016年，她近48歲，歌曲創作生涯達到頂峰時期，獲格萊美最佳鄉村歌曲《Girl Crush》創作獎（和Liz Rose和Hillary Lindsey合作），2017年再次獲得格萊美最佳鄉村歌曲創作獎，即Tom McGraw的《Humble and kind》（謙卑和善良）(2016) ，格萊美提名多次，今年提名歌曲（五位合作之一） 《A Beautiful Noise》（美麗的噪音）。她被讚譽為“鄉村音樂界最炙手可熱的寫歌者”，實至名歸。 如果感興趣，不妨關注一下音樂評論人推薦她寫的10首歌曲【1】。
這裏首先分享她為鄉村歌手David Nail 寫的歌《Home》（ft.Lori Mckenna) ，正如“Your Life In A Song ”網站【2】介紹： “要從一張專輯裏選擇一首出眾的單曲非常難，但《Home》除外，它無疑帶有Lori McKenna鮮明獨特的風格，讓人陶醉，至今仍然是我們最常聽（播放）的歌曲之一。” 在自己看來，此歌如山間清澈的小溪，她心目中的“家”娓娓道來。
來自馬薩諸塞-斯托頓（Stoughton），她近期歌曲與中年女性的生活有關，比如《The Bird & The Rifle》（鳥與來複槍）（2016），它把深陷瑣碎日常生活中的家庭主婦的“籠中鳥”心態表達了出來。還有歌曲《People Get Old》（老了）（來自她為父親寫的專輯《Tree》2018），第一句歌詞就這樣: Someone said, ‘Youth is wasted on the young.’（曾經有人說過：“青春消耗在孩子身上”），生活細節在她眼睛裏既樸素又生動，充滿溫馨，父愛有加，如歌中唱道：“你總覺得他隻有45歲（不會老），他待你如花兒（孩子）”。盡管她自認為嗓音聽起來天然憂傷，但創作的大多數歌曲是歡樂的，而且她希望聽者能夠有所思、有所想。
或許因為她是五個孩子的母親，Lori Mckenna更願意用自己的歌聲和後生、包括自己的孩子分享她的人生感悟，比如那首《Humble and kind》（2016），表達了簡單而永恒的做人之道，這不是我們的父母常常教導我們的？再比如《Old Men Young Women》（老男人年輕女人）（2016），能夠感受到一位母親的擔憂，並試圖諄諄教導那些女孩，不過，她關閉2016年上傳YouTube視頻評論，或許話題比較敏感，難以評說，2017年又再次上傳YouTube一次，視頻信息中包括了她個人網站鏈接，YouTube頻道鏈接，而且打開了評論區，上傳兩次比較少見，一種糾結或者風格？不管歌唱的內容如何，這首歌的曲調非常優美大氣。 她在《When you’re my age》（當你到我這個年紀）（2020）中同樣含蓄表達了母親對孩子未來特有的擔憂，以至於她自己無法說清楚其中的五味雜陳，於是，隻有讓好朋友Liz Rose 和 Hillary Lindsey 幫助完成了這首歌，我們可以從音樂視頻（YouTube）中看到三個合作者的身影。當然，生活裏總會有矛盾衝突，在她看來，隻不過是一次《Good Fight》（2020）…
作為一位卓有成就的歌曲創作者，一次媒體視頻采訪她並問了一個有趣的問題【4】，我自己也非常想知道答案，“如果世界上有一首歌，你最希望是自己寫的，會是哪一首？” 她毫不猶豫地回答道：“有很多歌曲，如果要從中選一首，那就是Mike Reed 和Alan Shambling 寫的《I can’t make you love me》（1991）”（非常經典的歌曲），由此可見，“愛”就是她歌曲創作的主題，從1999年專輯《Paper Wings & Halo》（紙翼和光環）開始，至今她已經發布了數張專輯，她如鄉村音樂裏樸素又親切的“博客”寫作者，充滿著對生活的愛和一位母親的智慧。
最後，用Lori McKenna自己的一句話【3】恰如其分地評價了她本人的音樂旅程：“我喜歡慢慢變老，年輕時我不知道這是怎樣一回事，它其實是一個不斷求索、不停自我成長進步的過程，身在其中非常受用。” 人到中年，認識這一點難能可貴。其實，當心裏有愛，生活必然帶來滿足。
祝天下父親節日快樂！（06/19/2022）
圖2，商場看到這個漂亮的《Humble and Kind》咖啡杯.
【1】TOP 10 SONGS BY LORI MCKENNA
https://theboot.com/top-lori-mckenna-songs/
【2】Song Of The Day: David Nail – ‘Home’ (feat. Lori McKenna）https://yourlifeinasong.com/song-day-david-nail-home-feat-lori-mckenna?amp=1
【3】http://www.lorimckenna.com/bio
【4】https://youtu.be/aGBEnq0iohA
歌詞來自網絡
Home — Lyrics
Got the window rolled down
Hand in the air
Ain't a much better feeling
Then the feeling of the freedom there
Mississippi River
Start singing to me
I got the window rolled down
I was always a dreamer
Misunderstood
Guess I would have been different
If I could
But who I've been
And who I'm trying to be
Always a dreamer
It's where you're from
It's your oldest friend
And you think it will forget you
When you go
But you know it'll take you back in
It won't fade away
It'll watch you leave
Stay sitting there waiting in the fields
In the sky in a storm
In your blood and your bones
Home
We were just babies
Thinking love was a race
Always taking it further
Than everybody else our age
We were grain in the gravel
We were still green
Yeah we were just babies
It's where you're from
It's your oldest friend
And you think it will forget you
When you go
But you know it'll take you back in
It won't fade away
It'll watch you leave
Stay sitting there waiting in the fields
In the sky in a storm
In your blood and your bones
Home
If you were just driving through town, you'd be telling yourself
This is just nowhere, somewhere, bypass, don't care, on your way to somewhere else
Bu damn that ain't the way it felt
It's where you're from
It's your oldest friend
And you think it will forget you
When you go
But you know it'll take you back in
It won't fade away
It'll watch you leave
Stay sitting there waiting in the fields
In the sky in a storm
In your blood and your bones
Home
Home
Home
Home
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Sylvian
Home lyrics © Scrambler Music, Pulse Nation, Hoodie Songs, These Are Pulse Songs, Creative Pulse Music, Be Barry Quiet, Songs Of Universal Inc.
When You're My Age
When you're my age
I hope the world is kinder
Than it seems to be right now
And I hope the front page isn't just a reminder
Of how we keep letting each other down
When I was your age
Things didn't seem to be this hard
Riding bikes out on the street
Playing tag in the back yard
You'll outgrow your shoes
You'll outgrow your bed
You'll outgrow this house
Just don't forget
When you're all grown up
But you don't feel that way
You're still gonna be my baby
Even when you're my age
When you're my age
You'll still be full of questions
That I wish I had the answers to right now
And those dark times might make you second guess it
But I bet love will still be making the world go round
When I was your age
I didn't worry like I think you do
Back then innocence was something
You could hold onto
You'll outgrow your shoes
You'll outgrow your bed
You'll outgrow this house
Just don't forget
When you're all grown up
But you don't feel that way
You're still gonna be my baby
Even when you're my age
When you have kids someday
I hope you teach them the Lord's Prayer
Before they go to bed at night
Like my daddy did for me and his mother before him
Well something about it just keeps you right
And I hope you don't work too much overtime
So you can be right there beside them
When they close their little eyes
'Cause they'll outgrow their shoes
They'll outgrow their beds
They'll outgrow that house
And you can't stop it
Life will line your face
Time will turn the page
But they're still gonna be your babies
Just like you're still gonna be my baby
Even when you're my age
Even when you're my age
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Liz Rose / Hillary Lee Lindsey / Lori Mc Kenna
When You're My Age lyrics © Songs Of Crazy Girl Music, Creative Pulse Music, Maps And Records Music, Concord Sounds
People Get Old
Someone said, "Youth is wasted on the young"
I spilled every last drop of time that summer in the sun
My daddy had a Timex watch
Cigarette in his hand and a mouthful of scotch
Spinnin' me around like a tilt-a-whirl on his arm
Houses need paint, winters bring snow
Kids, come on in before your supper gets cold
Collection plates and daddy's billfold
And that's how it goes
You live long enough, people get old
I sat up right beside him in the cabin of that truck
Goin' thirty miles-an-hour down a side road talkin' 'bout the fish we caught
And I'm older now than he was then
If I could go back in time, I would in a second
To his beat-up blue jeans and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off
Houses need paint, winters bring snow
Kids growin' up and seekin' out the window
Hittin' every small-town dirt road
And that's how it goes
You live long enough and people get old
Yeah, people get old
Daddy keeps busy in the aftenoons playin' cards by himself
And he shouldn't be shovelin' that first snow, but you know he won't take the help
Full of pride and love, he don't say too much but hell, he never did
And you still think he's forty-five and he still thinks that you're a kid
One day you'll find yourself sayin' the things that he said
You'll be walkin' down the hallway, turnin' off every light switch
When you twirl your kids in your arms
Before you know it, it won't take too long
They'll be runnin' off makin' a life just like you did
Houses need paint, winters bring snow
Nothin' says "love" like a band of gold
Babies grow up and houses get sold
And that's how it goes
Time is a thief, pain is a gift
The past is the past, it is what it is
Every line on your face tells a story somebody knows
That's just how it goes
You live long enough and the people you love get old
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Lori Mckenna
People Get Old lyrics © Concord Music Publishing LLC
