"I Sing the Body Electric" 是一首詩,也是一首歌;雖然,歌的內容不是取材自詩,但歌名是從詩名而來,這是無庸置疑的。
歌,是 亞倫.派克(Alan Parker)執導,1980 年電影《名揚四海》(Fame)的最終畢業演出曲,這段歌、舞表演,是整部電影的最高潮:
I Sing the Body Electric
(Music: Michael Gore, Lyrics: Dean Pitchford)
I sing the body electric
I celebrate the me yet to come
I toast to my own reunion
When I become one with the sunAnd I'll look back on Venus
I'll look back on Mars
And I'll burn with the fire of ten million stars
And in time
And in time
We will all be starsI sing the body electric
I glory in the glow of rebirth
Creating my own tomorrow
When I shall embody the earthAnd I'll serenade Venus
I'll serenade Mars
And I'll burn with the fire of ten million stars
And in time
And in time
We will all be starsWe are the emperors now
And we are the czars
And in time
And in time
We will all be starsI sing the body Electric
I celebrate the me yet to come
I toast to my own reunion (my own reunion)
When I become one with the starsAnd I'll Look back on Venus
(I'll look back on vanity)
I'll look back on Mars
(Ill at this path)
I'll burn with the fire
(burn)
Of 10 million stars
(fire inside)
And in time (And in time)
And in time
And in time (and in time)
And in time
And in time (and in time)
And in time
WE WILL ALL BE STARS
而詩,則出自美國詩人惠特曼(Walt Whitman)的詩集《草葉集》(Leaves of Grass)。"I Sing the Body Electric" 原詩在初版時沒有標題,故一般皆以詩的起首句稱之;直到稍後再版的版本,才列為正式詩名。
這首詩頗長,歌頌的是人類的肉體之美。我會介紹這首詩,乃是因為在著名的棒球電影《百萬金臂》( Bull Durham)裡,女主角 Annie 把年輕的投手 Nuke 綁在床上,就是唸著這一首詩給他聽。