Dear Leonard...

L’intensità vibrazionale raggiunge il limite aulico nell’intersecarsi proprio di sonorità che trovano il loro centro nella dovozionale armonia del tutto che mai come in questo caso raggiunge la summa cantautorale tipica del menestrello canadese dei bei tempi che fu.

E’ qui, dove si incontrano la luminescente poesia di Cohen, ormai integrato e ritornato come un alieno (o come il Figliol Prodigo di Cristiana reminescenza) dai suoi mondi orientali, ormai in balia a quell’incessante tumulto dell’anima che, vibrando, sommerge gli anfratti più bui di una coscienza che non ha mai smesso di gridare forte, fino a sovrastare e subliminare i significati stessi di parole forti e luminose come raggi di luce che irrorano le nubi silenziose e spettrali del loro pellegrinar avulso per territori ormai semi incontaminati ma per certi versi ancora limpidi e scevri da sfregi e impurità che solo l’anima/animale può percorrere a piedi scalzi nella notte, per vedere, se poi è così difficile morire.

Ma è sulla musicalità che si erge alto, sublime e spirituale la grande sonnolenza divina estatica e trascendentale, di teologiche virtù e innominabili vizi, che, al di là delle parole, ci riporta a mondi inconsci pregni di stanchi universi ormai svuotati di qualsivoglia significato se non quello prettamente letterale, riunendo le redini di un discorso iniziato ormai troppo tempo fa per farsi vivo e pulsante OGGI che il contenuto si è forse definitivamente concluso. Che resta delle antiche gesta? Che resta dell’incondizionato urlo di protesta del menestrello restìo all’apparire che ancor oggi si nega nel suo incarnarsi a portavoce di un disagio ormai indifferenziato (e oserei dire dilagante)?: "Dear Heather" (2004) è ormai il capolinea e il Canto del Cigno stesso ed è l’Essenza stessa di un divenir leggero, parabola discendente e sublime al tempo stesso che, in poche parole, rasenta la rottura di palle e la noia oltre l’inverosimile con attimi di sonnecchiamento a dir poco “nirvanici”.

Oh ecco… non mi venivano le parole, scusate il preambolo inutile ma necessario direi.

Elenco tracce testi samples e video

01   Go No More A-Roving (03:47)

[Dedicated to Irving Layton]

So we'll go no more a-roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still as bright.
For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul outwears the breast,
And the heart must pause to breathe,
And love itself have rest.
Though the night was made for loving,
And the day returns too soon,
Yet we'll go no more a-roving
By the light of the moon.

02   Because Of (03:07)

03   The Letters (04:52)

Words and music by Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson

You never liked to get
The letters that I sent.
But now you've got the gist
Of what my letters meant.
You're reading them again,
The ones you didn't burn.
You press them to your lips,
My pages of concern.
I said there'd been a flood.
I said there's nothing left.
I hoped that you would come.
I gave you my address.
Your story was so long,
The plot was so intense,
It took you years to cross
The lines of self-defense.
The wounded forms appear:
The loss, the full extent;
And simple kindness here,
The solitude of strength.
You walk into my room.
You stand there at my desk,
Begin your letter to
The one who's coming next.

04   Undertow (04:26)

05   Morning Glory (03:36)

No words this time? No words. No, there are times when nothing can be done. Not this time. Is it censorship? Is it censorship? No, it's evaporation. No, it's evaporation. Is this leading somewhere? Yes. We're going down the lane. Is this going somewhere? Into the garden. Into the backyard. We're walking down the driveway. Are we moving towards.... We're in the backyard. ...some transcendental moment? It's almost light. That's right. That's it. Are we moving towards some transcendental moment? That's right. That's it. Do you think you'll be able to pull it off? Yes. Do you think you can pull it off? Yes, it might happen. I'm all ears. I'm all ears. Oh the morning glory!

06   On That Day (02:10)

07   Villanelle for Our Time (06:01)

08   There for You (04:43)

09   Dear Heather (03:47)

Words and music by Leonard Cohen

Dear Heather
Please walk by me again
With a drink in your hand
And your legs all white
From the winter

10   Nightingale (02:34)

[Dedicated to Carl Anderson (1945-2004)]

I built my house beside the wood
So I could hear you singing
And it was sweet and it was good
And love was all beginning
Fare thee well my nightingale
'Twas long ago I found you
Now all your songs of beauty fail
The forest closes 'round you
The sun goes down behind a veil
'Tis now that you would call me
So rest in peace my nightingale
Beneath your branch of holly
Fare thee well my nightingale
I lived but to be near you
Tho' you are singing somewhere still
I can no longer hear you

11   To a Teacher (02:39)

12   The Faith (04:24)

(Based on a Québecois folk song)
Words and music by Leonard Cohen

The sea so deep and blind
The sun, the wild regret
The club, the wheel, the mind,
O love, aren't you tired yet?
The club, the wheel, the mind
O love, aren't you tired yet?
The blood, the soil, the faith
These words you can't forget
Your vow, your holy place
O love, aren't you tired yet?
The blood, the soil, the faith
O love, aren't you tired yet?
A cross on every hill
A star, a minaret
So many graves to fill
O love, aren't you tired yet?
So many graves to fill
O love, aren't you tired yet?
The sea so deep and blind
Where still the sun must set
And time itself unwind
O love, aren't you tired yet?
And time itself unwind
O love, aren't you tired yet?

13   Tennessee Waltz (live) (04:05)

Carico i commenti...  con calma

Altre recensioni

Di  benzo24

 Cohen ci delizia anche con delle canzoni old-fashion come le stupende "Nightingale" e "The Faith".

 "Dear Heather è un disco formidabile che alla lunga si trasfigura diventando sempre più indispensabile".