Solitaire

別誤會了是那個電腦遊戲，這其實一首由 Neil Sedaka 所創作，而極受歡迎的當代流行曲，Sedaka 是地道的美國人，但自 1960 年代中期開始隨著以 Beatles、Rolling Stone 等為代表的英國搖滾流行樂隊的大舉入侵 (史上稱之為 "British Invasion") ，包括 Neil Sedaka 在內的許許多多的美國本土歌星的事業都一落千丈。Sedaka 的歌曲不再像往昔一樣叱吒排行榜，他說他自己有 10 年的時間沒有發行過任何唱片，徹底從樂壇銷聲匿跡，他還說在最失落的日子裡有一次他走在街上，有人甚至這麼問他， "Are you used to be Neil Sedaka?" ^____^

直到 1972 年，他帶著這首著名的歌曲 Solitaire 重返樂壇，Elvis Presley (貓王)，Carpenters (木匠樂隊)，Frank Sinatra (法蘭·仙納杜拉) 等等都唱過這首歌，2003 年『美國偶像』大賽的亞軍 Clay Aiken (他也是該賽事迄今為止，推出的最成功男歌星) 在晉級賽中也演唱了此曲，當時的特邀嘉賓裁判正是 Neil Sedaka！但此後 Sedaka 的工作主要還是轉為幕後創作 (他是一個優秀的鋼琴手，1965 年曾準備代表美國去蘇聯，參加柴可夫斯基鋼琴比賽，但後來被主辦方，以他是流行歌星為由，取消了參賽資格)。他為 1970 年代的美國流行組合 The Captain and Tennille 創作了，他們一炮而紅的排行榜冠軍歌曲 "Love Will Keep Us Together" (他們另一首冠軍歌曲 "Do that to me one more time" 更為香港聽眾所熟悉)，還為許多大牌歌星寫過歌，他為英國老牌歌星 Tony Christie 寫的 "Is This The Way to Amarillo" 在時隔 34 年之後的 2005 年再度發行時居然拿下了全年唱片銷量總冠軍，為此 2006 年 4 月 7 日在英國皇家阿爾伯特音樂廳，舉辦的一場音樂會當中，Neil Sedaka 本人還以這首歌作者的身份，被基尼斯紀錄組織特別授予一項 "21 世紀最佳唱片銷量大獎"。

而這首歌如此受歡迎，皆因它唱出了真男人的心聲。



Solitaire
(Lyric & music by Neil Sedaka)

There was a man, a lonely man
Who lost his love, thru his indifference
A heart that cared that went unshared
Until it died within his silence

And solitaire is the only game in town
And every road that takes him, takes him down
While life goes on around him everywhere
He's playing solitaire

And keeping to himself, begins to deal
And still the king of hearts is well concealed
Another losing games comes to an end
And deals them out again

A little hope goes up in smoke
Just how it goes, goes without saying
There was a man, a lonely man
Who would command the hand he's playing

And solitaire is the only game in town
And every road that takes him, takes him down
While life goes on around him everywhere
He's playing solitaire

And keeping to himself, begins to deal
And still the king of hearts is well concealed
Another losing games comes to an end
And deals them out again

And solitaire is the only game in town
And every road that takes him, takes him down
While life goes on around him everywhere
He's playing solitaire