Le cose si sono sparse dappertutto il giorno in cui sono nato. C'era vento. Foglie secche sbattevano contro i muri dell'ospedale omeopatico. Ero vivo. Ero vivo in mezzo all'orrore. I donatori si accalcavano sopra di me come una squadra di rugby. Cominciarono a darmi delle cose e poi a togliermele. Le cose che non andavano bene le ributtavano nel tubo del vuoto. I doni erano molti e molti erano gli avvertimenti che arrivavano insieme a loro. Ti diamo un cuore grande ma se ti metti a bere vino comincerai a odiare il mondo. La luna è tua sorella ma se prendi delle pillole per dormire ti troverai in compagnia di donne infelici. Ogni volta che cerchi di afferrare l'amore perderai un fiocco di neve dalla tua memoria
Quando si parla di artisti del calibro di Leonard Cohen non ci si può non vergognare della propria inutilità, della propria imbarazzante infruttuosità. Ci tengo a dire che mi sorprende non poco il fatto che nessuno abbia recensito prima di me questa ragguardevole uscita. Io infatti ho atteso impazientemente per mesi la sua pubblicazione e appena ho acquistato la mia copia ero pronto a inchinarmi rispettosamente dinanzi ad essa.
Il 31 Agosto 1970 Leonard Cohen, allora 35enne, venne svegliato alle 2 di notte mentre si trovava nella sua roulotte. Salito sul palco con il suo gruppo, regalò ai 600.000 presenti un concerto squisitamente irreale, immerso nell'atmosfera irripetibile di quella notte estiva. Barba di qualche giorno, capelli lunghi che avvolgono pigramente il suo volto. Così si presenta sul palco il poeta canadese, avvolto da un insolito impermeabile beige, con tanto di cintura. Si avvicina timidamente al microfono, accarezzandolo leggermente con la punta della mano, sconcertato dal brusio della folla. Saluta prudentemente e comincia a raccontare:
Quando avevo sette anni mio padre mi portava al circo. Aveva baffi neri, un vestito grigio e una viola del pensiero sul risvolto della sua giacca. A lui il circo piaceva molto più di quanto non piacesse a me. Ma c’era un momento che aspettavo con ansia quando mi trovavo al circo. Non voglio imporre niente a nessuno. Ma c’era un momento in cui un uomo si alzava in piedi e diceva: “Vi dispiacerebbe accendere un fiammifero, per poterci ritrovare a vicenda?”. Posso chiedere a ciascuno di voi di accendere un fiammifero, ovunque voi siate, così che io possa vedervi tutti ovunque siate accampati?
Lentamente le piccole luci incerte si accendono per la gioia di Cohen. Ora può cominciare. Pizzica delicatamente le corde della chitarra e lentamente, molto lentamente, pronuncia i primi versi di “Bird On The Wire”:
Come un uccello posato sopra un filo, come un ubriaco in un coro di mezzanotte, ho provato a mio modo a essere libero
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Il concerto inizia così, in un’atmosfera di delicata magia, e proseguirà con i tanti capolavori di Cohen, che ci presenta i suoi “gioielli” in delle versioni squisite, affiancato in maniera impeccabile dai musicisti che lo accompagnano. Oltre ai brani dei primi due dischi (“Songs Of Leonard Cohen” e “Songs From A Room”) ci sono “Diamonds In The Mine”, “Famous Blue Raincoat” e “Sing Another Song Boys” che vengono presentate al pubblico per la prima volta e che andranno a far parte del suo terzo disco “Songs Of Love And Hate”. Sono interpretazioni assolutamente perfette e ascoltando questo disco non si possono avere dubbi: Cohen è un performer eccezionale, capace di raggiungere la perfezione tecnica e stilistica anche dal vivo.
Molte delle prime canzoni di Cohen vengono presentate durante il concerto con una veste del tutto nuova; rifinite e impreziosite con un eleganza e una delicatezza fuori dal comune. Ad esempio “One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong” e “The Stranger Song”, incluse nel primo disco di Cohen, vengono qui perfezionate e rivisitate splendidamente e hanno quel tocco di perfezione in più che le rende impeccabili, grazie anche agli arrangiamenti più polposi, ma mai eccessivi, che le contraddistinguono dalle originali.
Il Cofanetto racchiude il disco audio e il Dvd del concerto che è stato ripreso e diretto da Murray Lerner in condizioni non facili, dopo 5 giorni di tumulti e incendi, con molte apparecchiature fuori uso e dopo che il palco era passato tra le mani di gente come Hendrix. E’ un concerto assolutamente memorabile ed è una fortuna poterlo apprezzare anche in dvd. Quindi, credetemi, ne vale veramente la pena. Non ci sono alti e bassi. E’ un gioiellino da godere in tutta la sua completezza.
Probabilmente il miglior concerto di Cohen. Da avere assolutamente.
Elenco tracce e testi
02 Bird on the Wire (04:15)
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 the hook
like a knight from some old-fashioned book
I have saved all my ribbons for thee
and if I have been unkind
I hope that you will just let it go by
and if I have been untrue
I hope you know it was never to you
like a babe 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 the pretty woman leaning in her darkened door
she cried to me "hey, why not ask for more?"
like a bird on the wire
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free
04 So Long, Marianne (07:07)
Come over to the window, my little darling,
I'd like to try to read your palm.
I used to think I was some kind of Gypsy boy
before I let you take me home.
Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we began
to laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again.
Well you know that I love to live with you,
but you make me forget so very much.
I forget to pray for the angels
and then the angels forget to pray for us.
Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...
We met when we were almost young
deep in the green lilac park.
You held on to me like I was a crucifix,
as we went kneeling through the dark.
Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...
Your letters they all say that you're beside me now.
Then why do I feel alone?
I'm standing on a ledge and your fine spider web
is fastening my ankle to a stone.
Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...
For now I need your hidden love.
I'm cold as a new razor blade.
You left when I told you I was curious,
I never said that I was brave.
Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...
Oh, you are really such a pretty one.
I see you've gone and changed your name again.
And just when I climbed this whole mountainside,
to wash my eyelids in the rain!
Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...
13 Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye (03:34)
I loved you in the morning
Our kisses deep and warm
Your hair upon the pillow
Like a sleepy golden storm.
Yes, many loved before us
I know that we are not new,
In city and in forest
They smiled like me and you,
But now it's come to distances
And both of us must try,
Your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.
I'm not looking for another
As I wander in my time,
Walk me to the corner
Our steps will always rhyme,
You know my love goes with you
As your love stays with me,
It's just the way it changes
Like the shoreline and the sea,
But let's not talk of love or chains
And things we can't untie,
Your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.
I loved you in the morning
Our kisses deep and warm,
Your hair upon the pillow
Like a sleepy golden storm.
Yes, many loved before us
I know that we are not new,
In city and in forest
They smiled like me and you
But let's not talk of love or chains
And things we can't untie,
Your eyes are soft with sorrow
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.
15 Suzanne (04:26)
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 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 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,
Foresaken, 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's wearing rags and feathers from Salvation Army counters.
And the sun pours down like honey on our Lady of the Harbor.
And she shows you where to look, among the garbage and the flowers.
There are heros in the seaweed,
There are children in the morning,
They are leaning out for love,
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 you can trust her
For she's touched your perfect body with her mind.
17 The Partisan (05:13)
When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender,
this I could not do;
I took my gun and vanished.
I have changed my name so often,
I have lost my wife and children
but I have many friends,
and some of them are with me.
An old woman gave us shelter,
kept us hidden in the garret,
then the soldiers came;
she died without a whisper.
There were three of us this morning
I'm the only one this evening
but I must go on;
the frontiers are my prison.
Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we'll come from the shadows.
Les Allemands étaient chez moi, (The Germans were at my home)
ils me dirent, "Signe toi," (They said, "Sign yourself,")
mais je n'ai pas peur; (But I am not afraid)
j'ai repris mon arme. (I have retaken my weapon.)
J'ai changé cent fois de nom, (I have changed names a hundred times)
j'ai perdu femme et enfants (I have lost wife and children)
mais j'ai tant d'amis; (But I have so many friends)
j'ai la France entière. (I have all of France)
Un vieil homme dans un grenier (An old man, in an attic)
pour la nuit nous a caché, (Hid us for the night)
les Allemands l'ont pris; (The Germans captured him)
il est mort sans surprise. (He died without surprise.)
Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we'll come from the shadows.
18 Famous Blue Raincoat (06:15)
It's four in the morning, the end of December
I'm writing you now just to see if you're better
New York is cold, but I like where I'm living
There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening.
I hear that you're building your little house deep in the desert
You're living for nothing now, I hope you're keeping some kind of record.
Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?
Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You'd been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without Lili Marlene
And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody's wife.
Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane's awake --
She sends her regards.
And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way.
If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.
Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.
And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Sincerely L. Cohen
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Altre recensioni
Di Flo
“May you be surrounded by friends and family, and if this is not your lot, may the blessings find you in your solitude.”
“Il suo fascino e la sua capacità di incantare il pubblico sono direttamente proporzionali alla sua età.”
