한국 대중음악의 경우에 서사가 풍부한 곡들을 찾아보기가 좀 힘듭었습니다. 요즘에는 그래도 서사가 풍부한 곡들이 과거에 비해서 많이 늘어나기는 했더군요. 어째든 음악의 일부 기능중에 하나로 이야기를 전달하는 기능이 있을텐데, 오늘 고른 The Decemberists의 Mariner's Revenge Song은 그런 면에서 돋보이는 곡중에 하나입니다. The Decemberists는 오레곤주주 포틀랜드 출신의 포크록 그룹으로 대중성을 유지하면서도 어느 정도 실험성을 가미한 음악을 들려주고 있습니다.

이 곡의 스토리는 아이를 셋 데리고 있던 과부가 한 청년에게 반해서 그를 받아들였는데, 도박꾼에 난봉꾼이었던 그는 가산을 탕진하고는 사라집니다. 결국 결핵으로 죽게된 과부는 아이에게 복수를 당부합니다. 그 아이가 자랐는데, 어느 배에서 선원으로 있는 그를 발견하고는 같이 배에 타게 됩니다. 이 후 바다에서 고래으 습격을 받고, 둘만 고래 뱃속에서 살아남게되자, 그 아이는 자신의 이야기를 해줍니다.

아래 비디오는 스토리를 만화랑 연결시켜서 스토리가 좀 더 잘 보입니다. 위의 영상에는 잭 블랙의 처제 모습이 보이네요. 흐흐...




We are two mariners
Our ship's sole survivors
In this belly of a whale
It's ribs are ceiling beams
It's guts are carpeting
I guess we have some time to kill

You may not remember me
I was a child of three
And you, a lad of eighteen
But, I remember you
And I will relate to you
How our histories interweave
At the time you were
A rake and a roustabout
Spending all your money
On the whores and hounds
(oh, oh)

You had a charming air
All cheap and debonair
My widowed mother found so sweet
And so she took you in
Her sheets still warm with him
Now filled with filth and foul disease
As time wore on you proved
A debt-ridden drunken mess
Leaving my mother
A poor consumptive wretch
(oh, oh)

And then you disappeared
Your gambling arrears
The only thing you left behind
And then the magistrate
Reclaimed our small estate
And my poor mother lost her mind
Then, one day in spring
My dear sweet mother died
But, before she did
I took her hand as she, dying, cried:
(oh, oh)

"Find him, Bind him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave"

It took me fifteen years
To swallow all my tears
Among the urchins in the street
Until a priory
Took pity and hired me
To keep their vestry nice and neat
But, never once in the employ
Of these holy men
Did I ever, once turn my mind
From the thought of revenge
(oh, oh)

One night I overheard
The prior exchanging words
With a penitent whaler from the sea
The captain of his ship
Who matched you toe to tip
Was known for wanton cruelty
The following day
I shipped to sea
With a privateer
And in the whistle
Of the wind
I could almost hear
(oh, oh)

"Find him, Bind him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave

There is one thing I must say to you
As you sail across the sea
Always, your mother will watch over you
As you avenge this wicked deed"

And then, that fateful night
We had you in our sight
After twenty months at sea
Your starboard flank abeam
I was getting my muskets clean
When came this rumbling from beneath
The ocean shook
The sky went black
And the captain quailed
And before us grew
The angry jaws
Of a giant whale

(oh..)

Don't know how I survived
The crew all was chewed alive
I must have slipped between his teeth
But, oh, what providence
What divine intelligence
That you should survive
As well as me
It gives my heart great joy
To see your eyes fill with fear
So lean in close
And I will whisper
The last words you'll hear
(oh, oh)