Born in 1994, Alec Shane Benjamin is an American singer and songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona, who has gained popularity from his pop indie songs that depict descriptive stories from his own personal experiences.
亚历克·沙恩·本杰明（Alec Shane Benjamin）生于1994年，是来自美国亚利桑那州凤凰城的歌手和词曲作者，因其歌曲中所描绘的真实而别具一格的个人故事而大受欢迎。
From an ordinary family where nobody was associated with music,he began his music dream with the inspiration from artists such as Paul Simon, Eminem, and Dr. Dre. By the time he was in high school, he had started practicing singing and picking up his father's old guitar. Apart from learning to play the guitar by regularly watching YouTube videos, he did not attend any guitar classes.
来自于一个没人懂音乐的普通家庭，他在Paul Simon，Eminem和Dr. Dre等艺术家的演奏中获得灵感并开始了自己的音乐梦想。到他上高中时，他已经开始练习唱歌，并拾起父亲的旧吉他，开始学习自己演奏。除了经常会观看“ YouTube”视频来自学弹吉他，他没有参加任何吉他课。
When he was 16, many amateur musicians were moving to ‘YouTube’ to exhibit their skills. While most of them were producing covers of famous tracks, Alec had decided that he would create original music. So he started writing his own songs and composed them by using computer software.By the time he graduated from high school, music had became his career option. Soon, he started writing emails to artists he thought could help him in some way and moving around in search of better opportunities. He made several trips to Los Angeles to meet the right people, but that did not yield much.
当他16岁的时候，许多业余音乐家都转向“ YouTube”展示自己的技能。虽然大多数人都在制作著名曲目的封面，但亚历克（Alec）决定自己创作原创音乐。于是他开始创作自己的歌曲，并使用计算机软件进行创作。当他高中毕业时，他已经决定将音乐作为一种职业选择。不久，他开始给他认为可以在某种程度上帮助他的艺术家写电子邮件并四处寻找更好的机会。他多次去洛杉矶与合适的人会面，但收效甚微。
Alec left his parents and family to pursue his dream in California, but when he arrived in LA, he hit the bottom—got terminated by the record company and spent all his savings. It was against this background that Jesus In LA was born.
Alec离开父母和家人独自去加州追寻自己的梦，到达LA之后却遭遇了人生中第一个低谷，被唱片公司解约，花光了身上所有的积蓄。也就是在这样的背景下，这首Jesus In LA诞生了。
Well,I shook hands with the devil
我与魔鬼握了握手
Down on the south side
在他对面坐了下来
And he bought us both a drink
他请我一同小酌了一杯
With a pad and a pencil sat by his side
身旁还放着本便签与支铅笔
Legend has it that you can have everything you want by giving your soul to the devil, which was described at the beginning of the lyrics. Alec brings the story to life with his vivid imagination, romantic writing and deep metaphors.
传说中将灵魂交予魔鬼撒旦，便可获得自己想要的一切。歌词开篇便描写了这样一个“交易”现场。Alec以他丰富的想象力、极具浪漫色彩的描写、深刻而悠长的隐喻将这个故事娓娓道来。
I’ve been looking for my savior,looking for my truth
我始终深陷困惑，渴求救世主为我揭开真相
I even asked my shrink
我甚至咨询过心理医生
He brought me down to his level
他想让我打消念头，不再困惑
Said:”Son, you’re not special,you won’t find him where you think”
便说‘孩子你只是个凡人，而他也不会出现在你预料的地方。’
You won’t find him down on sunset
日落西下时，他不会出现
Or at a party in the hills
热闹的派对上，他没有在场
At the bottom of the bottle
翻看瓶底时，亦无他身影
Or when you’re tripping on some pills
即使你生病时，他仍未出现
When they sold you the dream you were just 16
当你才十六岁时，他们对你许下了无法兑现的承诺
Packed a bag and ran away
匆匆收拾好行李便转身离开了
And it’s a crying shame you came all this way
真是太遗憾了，你千里迢迢赶来
Cause you won’t find Jesus in LA
耶稣却不在洛城
The next part completely revealed to the listeners his frustration, depression, loss and helplessness of not being understood in the pursuit of his music dream. Jesus isn’t in Los Angeles, and the Saviour has not appeared. Then to whom should he speak about his doubts and pain?
接下来的部分便完整地向听众吐露了自己内心的失意苦闷，在追求音乐梦想道路上不被理解的失落与无助。耶稣不在洛城，救世主没有出现，疑惑和痛苦该向谁诉说？
And that is when I realized that I was alone
正当日薄西山，我打算回家时，我恍悟自己正只身一人在此
And all the vibe and colors from the lights fade away
四周渐静，光色消逝
And I don’t care what they say
而我不在乎他人的看法
This reminds us of Mr. Lu Xun's sentence: "If there is no torch afterwards, I will be the only light" The savior did not appear. I was my own savior.
这让人不禁想起鲁迅先生那句：“如若此后竟没有炬火，我便是唯一的光”救世主没有出现，我便是自己的救世主。
Translator: Yao Jialing
Date: 2020-3-8
