Leonard Norman Cohen, nació un 21 de septiembre de 1934 en Montreal. A principios de los 70 nos llegó a España su voz, recitativa, salmódica, suave, grave... y nos atrapó. Un fácil acceso al inglés, el canadiense, y una letras cargadas de misterio, dulzura y fuerza, que nos llevaban a traducirlas y memorizarlas.
En un momento de ruptura Leonard se retira, buscando el silencio, a un monasterio budista en Mount Baldy, allí conoce a un maestro zen con el que inicia una relación como discípulo, pero un día el maestro le dice: “Bien, ahora olvídate de que yo soy un maestro zen y de que tu eres un judio”; fueron estas palabras las que abrieron la mente de Leonard, rompiendo las barreras y las que le permitieron iniciar una verdadera relación de tú a tú con su maestro. Para poder seguir en el monasterio Leonard se ordenó monje budista, le otorgaron el nombre de “El silencioso” y, es cierto, sus canciones son como ese sonido del silencio que siempre está relleno de meditaciones.
Ayer Leonard Cohen cumplió 75 años y lo hizo en Barcelona, de nuevo en la escena, el público no sólo era el que disfrutó de sus canciones en los 70 si no, también, el que las disfruta hoy en día. Canciones que acompañan muchos recuerdos como las de su primer album de vinilo: Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967), donde estaba grabada Suzanne,
Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she’s half crazy
But that’s why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you’ve always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you’ve touched her perfect body with your mind.
And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them"
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you’ll trust him
For he’s touched your perfect body with his mind.
Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she’s touched your perfect body with her mind.
Suzanne:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFDynsY9_tQ
Canciones de: Songs From A Room (1969), donde estaba Bird On The Wire
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
Like a worm on a hook,
like a knight from some old fashioned book
I have saved all my ribbons for thee.
If I, if I have been unkind,
I hope that you can just let it go by.
If I, if I have been untrue
I hope you know it was never to you.
Like a baby, stillborn,
like a beast with his horn
I have torn everyone who reached out for me.
But I swear by this song
and by all that I have done wrong
I will make it all up to thee.
I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch,
he said to me, "You must not ask for so much."
And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door,
she cried to me, "Hey, why not ask for more?"
Oh like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choirhave tried in my way to be free.
Bird on the wire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iuTiHhIKnY
Canciones de aquel álbum, diferente, que arrancaba con una guitarra que rasgaba tu alma y se acompañaba con una orquesta de cuerda, con violonchelos que la arrasaban por completo: Songs Of Love and Hate (1970), Canciones de Amor y Odio, donde estaba Avalanche.
Avalanche
Well I stepped into an avalanche,
it covered up my soul;
when I am not this hunchback that you see,
I sleep beneath the golden hill.
You who wish to conquer pain,
you must learn, learn to serve me well.
You strike my side by accident
as you go down for your gold.
The cripple here that you clothe and feed
is neither starved nor cold;
he does not ask for your company,
not at the centre, the centre of the world.
When I am on a pedestal,
you did not raise me there.
Your laws do not compel me
to kneel grotesque and bare.
I myself am the pedestal
for this ugly hump at which you stare.
You who wish to conquer pain,
you must learn what makes me kind;
the crumbs of love that you offer me,
they’re the crumbs I’ve left behind.
Your pain is no credential here,
it’s just the shadow, shadow of my wound.
I have begun to long for you,
I who have no greed;
I have begun to ask for you,
I who have no need.
You say you’ve gone away from me,
but I can feel you when you breathe.
Do not dress in those rags for me,
I know you are not poor;
you don’t love me quite so fiercely now
when you know that you are not sure,
it is your turn, beloved,
it is your flesh that I wear.
Avalanche:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-oLmOm9vk0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGCRaf-pQ0I
O albums como New Skin For The Old Ceremony (1974) con temas como Lover, lover, lover.
I asked my father,
I said, "Father change my name."
The one I’m using now it’s covered up
with fear and filth and cowardice and shame.
Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me,
yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me.
He said, "I locked you in this body,
I meant it as a kind of trial.
You can use it for a weapon,
or to make some woman smile."
Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me,
yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me.
"Then let me start again," I cried,
"please let me start again,
I want a face that’s fair this time,
I want a spirit that is calm."
Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me,
yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me.
"I never never turned aside," he said,
"I never walked away.
It was you who built the temple,
it was you who covered up my face."
Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me,
yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me.
And may the spirit of this song,
may it rise up pure and free.
May it be a shield for you,
a shield against the enemy.
Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me,
yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me.
Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me,
yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me.
Lover, lover, lover:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVURkMTDr3E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0G1l7s8A7M
Su web:
http://www.leonard-cohen.com/
http://amediavoz.com/cohen.htm
Letras en castellano:
http://www.margencero.com/articulos/articulos3/letras_cohen.htm
http://www.taringa.net/posts/info/1318033/Letras-de-Leonard-Cohen.html
Videos:
De lo último:
http://www.youtube.com/user/leonardcohen?blend=1&ob=4
The Partisan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2I5UYkcPAY
Y, en Valencia, hace dos días, tras interpretar Bird on the wire de rodillas,El Silencioso, en silencio, se nos desmayó:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3upf6BdRXk
¡Gracias Leonard Cohen por tu música, por tus poemas y por ser!
There for you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFb_eeJSFX4
There For You
When it all went down
And the pain came through
I get it now
I was there for you
Don’t ask me how
I know it’s true
I get it now
I was there for you
I make my plans
Like I always do
But when I look back
I was there for you
I walk the streets
Like I used to do
And I freeze with fear
But I’m there for you
I see my life
In full review
It was never me
It was always you
You sent me here
You sent me there
Breaking things
I can’t repair
Making objects
Out of thoughts
Making more
By thinking not
Eating food
And drinking wine
A body that
I thought was mine
Dressed as Arab
Dressed as Jew
O mask of iron
I was there for you
Moods of glory
Moods so foul
The world comes through
A bloody towel
And death is old
But it’s always new
I freeze with fear
And I’m there for you
I see it clear
I always knew
It was never me
I was there for you
I was there for you
My darling one
And by your law
It all was done
Hey, thats no way to say goodbye:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jexNsBjz1r8
