南非铁窗歌手 我从监狱中走来

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•乔在单独监禁时通过开发自身才能从而使自己内心得以平静，而这正是他所需要的。一位音乐制作人把牢房变成录音棚，帮助他录制了一张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.
乔今年31岁，透过南非道格拉斯监狱的窗户，他只能看到只有7颗星星的狭小天空。他与窗外的星星相伴了近3年，苦捱着因入室盗窃而锒铛入狱的日子。

But he has a guitar, his songs and a wild hope.
但伴随他的还有吉他、歌曲和不灭的希望。

“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.”
“我想变成一颗明亮璀璨的星星。”他的惆怅的声音如丝绒般温柔。“我希望人们听到我的歌，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.
入狱后的头七个月，“每件事情”他都一一考虑过：自己曾做了什么，为什么事情会变得如此糟糕。

Then he asked to be put into solitary confinement, where he spent many months, and he started to write songs.
后来他要求单独拘禁，在那里待了几个月，并开始创作歌曲。

“I started to put my feelings in words,” said Joe. “I wanted my guitar to sound exactly the way I felt.”
乔说：“我把我的真情实感融入歌词当中，希望我的吉他能恰到好处地传达出我的感受。”

He strums his guitar and sings, his voice so sweet that it’s heartbreaking.
他漫不经心地边弹边唱，声音如此甜美，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，南非顶级音乐组合之一Freshly Ground，为纪念世界艾滋病日在道格拉斯举办音乐会。

Joe was also invited to play in the support act, permitted by the government. He stunned the audience.
在政府部门的允许下乔也应邀参演，他的表演令观众为之震惊。

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创始人阿伦•图热斯特•斯瓦兹注意到乔的音乐和他疯狂的粉丝们，并回应说：“每个人都被深深吸引了，我之前从未听到过如此曼妙的声音，真的有点飘飘然了。”

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.
图热斯特•斯瓦兹去看望乔，聆听了他在狱中写的40首曲子中的一部分后，萌生了在狱中为乔录制专辑的想法。整个寒冷的冬季，图热斯特•斯瓦兹都和乔在监狱录音棚里工作。Troubled childhood
乔的悲惨童年

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.
乔13岁时，父母搬到了道格拉斯的一幢小房子里。父亲失业了，母亲当老师的收入只够勉强维持生计。乔的家庭非常贫困。妹妹对他说，她非常想吃面包，但家里什么吃的都没有。

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.
乔结交了坏朋友，他们总谈论偷抢拐骗的事情。之后，乔也加入了犯罪团伙，想帮助减轻家庭负担。最后锒铛入狱。

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.
监狱生活本可以毁掉他：甚至连亲人下葬他都没参加。服刑期间，父亲和他18个月大的女儿相继去世。入狱前，乔在医院看过女儿，她身上插满了医用试管。女儿的去世几乎让他崩溃。但是这也标志着他的重生，从那时起，乔决定做一个好人。

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.
他不再为自己的罪行找借口，譬如他原来确实是一个好人，只是为了脱贫以及想让妹妹吃上面包才这样做。乔说：“我决定做回我自己，并且要表现得像个绅士。”

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，他在监狱里录制的专辑正式发行。同时在服刑两年零十个月后，他也因表现良好假释出狱。当天下午，乔在监狱举办了演唱会，庆祝他重获自由以及他的CD《疯狂生活》的发行。唱片的首支单曲叫做《让你知道》。

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.
乔涌入人群，一群狱友们高举双手欢歌跳舞。舞台边，狱警们边跳边与囚犯们载歌载舞。前一晚，乔还是有些担心。他的梦想太大了。自己够优秀吗？但这确实是到了和那7颗星星说再见的时候了，他还会在高墙之外看见它们。