Whymusic?

音樂緣何而起？Biologistsareaddressingoneofhumanity’sstrangestattributes,itsall-singing,all-dancingculture

生物學(xué)家正在對(duì)人類最怪異的特征——載歌載舞的文化——加以解釋

“IFMUSICbethefoodoflove,playon,givemeexcessofit.”Andifnot?Well,whatexactlyisitfor?Theproductionandconsumptionofmusicisabigpartoftheeconomy.Thefirstusetowhichcommercialrecording,intheformofEdison’sphonographs,wastobringmusictothelivingroomsandpicnictablesofthosewhocouldnotaffordtopaylivemusicians.Today,peoplearesosurroundedbyotherpeople’smusicthattheytakeitforgranted,butaslittleas100yearsagosingsongsathome,thechoirinthechurchandfiddlersinthepubwereallthatmostpeopleheard.

“如果音樂是愛的食糧，奏下去，直到漫溢?！比绻皇悄兀烤烤挂魳肥菫榱耸裁?？音樂的生產(chǎn)和消費(fèi)是經(jīng)濟(jì)的重要組成部分。以愛迪生的留聲機(jī)形式首度出現(xiàn)的商業(yè)錄音，就是為了將音樂帶入那些請(qǐng)不起現(xiàn)場樂隊(duì)的家庭，引入他們的客廳和野餐桌上。今天，人們已經(jīng)被音樂層層包圍，覺得不足為奇，但就在100年前，大部分人們聽到的不過是家中的吟唱，教堂的唱詩和酒吧中的小提琴手。

Otherappetites,too,havebeensatedeventoexcessbymodernbusiness.Foodfarbeyondthesimpleneedsofstomachs,andsex(oratleastimagesofit)farbeyondtheneedsofreproduction,bombardthemodernmanandwoman,andareeagerlyconsumed.Buttheseexcessesarebuiltonobviousappetites.WhatappetitedrivestheproliferationofmusictothepointwheretheaverageAmericanteenagerspends1?-2?hoursaday—aneighthofhiswakinglife—listeningtoit?

其他欲望也和音樂一樣，在現(xiàn)代商業(yè)的作用下甚至發(fā)展到閑贅。食物遠(yuǎn)非僅僅填飽肚子，性（至少是與性有關(guān)的畫面）遠(yuǎn)非僅為繁衍，它們都像炮彈一樣轟炸著現(xiàn)代人的頭腦，還十分暢銷。不過這些過度消費(fèi)建立于顯而易見的欲望之上。是什么樣的需求推動(dòng)著音樂的繁榮，讓美國青少年每天平均花1?-2?小時(shí)——即清醒時(shí)間的八分之一——洗耳恭聽呢？

Well,thatfact—thathe,orshe,isateenager—supportsonehypothesisaboutthefunctionofmusic.Around40%ofthelyricsofpopularsongsspeakofromance,sexualrelationshipsandsexualbehaviour.TheShakespeareantheory,thatmusicisatleastoneofthefoodsoflove,hasastrongclaimtobetrue.Themoremellifluousthesinger,themoredexteroustheharpist,themorematesheattracts.

受眾是青少年這一事實(shí)，對(duì)音樂功能假說之一提供了支撐。約40%流行歌曲的作詞都在講述愛情，兩性關(guān)系和性行為。莎翁曰，音樂至少為愛情食糧之一，很大程度上是正確的。歌手聲音愈甜美，豎琴師彈奏越流暢，吸引的異性就越多。

Asecondideathatiswidelytoutedisthatmusicbindsgroupsofpeopletogether.Theresultingsolidarity,itssupporterssuggest,mighthavehelpedbandsofearlyhumanstothriveattheexpenseofthosethatwerelessmusical.

第二種廣泛受到支持的說法是，音樂將人們聯(lián)系到了一起。該理論的支持者認(rèn)為，由此產(chǎn)生的團(tuán)結(jié)可能幫助早期人群變得更加繁榮，音樂細(xì)胞不發(fā)達(dá)的群體則遭到淘汰。

Bothoftheseideasarguethatmusicalabilityevolvedspecifically—thatitis,ifyoulike,avirtualorganaspreciselycraftedtoitspurposeastheheartorthespleen.Thethirdhypothesis,however,isthatmusicisacrossbetweena