Jimmy: I'm sorry, baby, but when Jimmy's involved, the song got to have some soul! Damn! Lord have mercy! Got to have soul!

Curtis: Soul, gospel, R&B, jazz, blues¹, everything else the man has grabbed from us. Listen, there's got to be a better way for us to get our music to a broader audience, only this time with our artists and our money.

Jimmy: Marty, this man is handing me a line of crap.

Marty: Yeah, I know, baby. 

C. C. : Got me a Cadillac Cadillac, Cadillac
Got me a Cadillac car
Got me a Cadillac Cadillac, Cadillac
Look at me, mister, I'm a star

Marty: I know what you cats are trying to do, and you can forget it. James Early ain't no street-corner punk looking for his first date. He's an established artist with a recording² contract.

Curtis: On a shitty local label that can't get him to the pop charts.

Marty: We can't do nothing about that.

Curtis: All I'm asking is one record, man. One song with a simple hook. "Look at me in my pretty car, makes me feel like a movie star." You know where all the hits happen these days? In cars, man. Songs that make you feel good while you're driving your automobile³.

Marty: Yeah? Jimmy's fans like taking the bus. Let's hit it, Jimmy.

Jimmy: Hey, what do you think about using that bridge there, baby?
Movin' out
Movin' up
Movin' on

Curtis: Sounds a little tick-tock, boys. Let's stay in the pocket.

Man: Going to work! Shut it down! Recording, Cadillac Car. Take nine.

Jimmy: I got me a Cadillac
Cadillac, Cadillac
I got me a Cadillac car
Got me a Cadillac
Cadillac, Cadillac
Look at me, mister, I'm a star
I'm on the move
I'm gettin' on
I'm breakin' out
And it won't take long
Behind the wheel
Got a song
Pedal's down
And I'm gone

Curtis: We've got that coming up in the next hour, but for now, let me get a hold of your ear. It's a different sound for the Thunder Man. And I think you're gonna enjoy it.

妙语佳句，活学活用

1. Hand me a line of crap
Crap 指"无意义的话，大话，废话"，这里hand me a line of crap 指的是 tell a lie。

2. Street-corner punk looking for his first date

This is a sort of euphemism⁴ for being an amateur, it's not a common one, but used in context it means that Marty sees himself as a man with experience because he's an "established artist with a record contract".

3. established artist: 有名望的艺术家

4. hook

Hook 这里指的是一首歌中最容易被人们记住、最能打动人心的地方。

5. All the hits

Hits这里指"流行音乐排行榜中位居榜首的歌曲"。

6. Stay in the pocket

这个片语可能起源于美式足球，本意是"not scramble⁵ around looking for a pass(传球), stay in the pocket is safer"。这个片语在这里的意思是"Let's stay the safer route when making this song."

7. Let me get a hold of your ear
意思是"Let me get you to pay attention to what I'm about to say because I think it's important for you to listen to me. "

Dreamgirls 是一部以上世纪六、七十年代为背景的影片，并且影片的主要内容是黑人音乐的发展，因此在语言上有相当多那个时代的烙印，并混杂了非常多的黑人英语，其中很多已不再使用、或并非标准英语的用法。我们介绍这部影片，希望大家能对那个时代的英语、黑人英语有所了解，对黑人音乐的发展有所了解。