Non avrei mai pensato di essere in grado di vedere una cosa del genere. A nemmeno vent’anni, uno dei più grandi cantautori della storia dal vivo.
L’arena è abbastanza piena, età medio-alta. I ragazzi più giovani si contano sulle dita di una mano ma questa, con un artista con alle spalle cinquantasei anni di carriera, è una cosa abbastanza ovvia.
Alle nove e quindici – orari mediterranei – lo spettacolo comincia. Entrano gli strumentisti e le coriste ed alla fine, piccolo e magro, ma con un carisma irresistibile lui, il timidissimo Leonard Cohen.
Neanche il tempo per parlare e si parte con la canzone più adatta ad un qualunque matrimonio, una dissezione dell’amore nel tempo, la meravigliosa Dance me to the end of love. La band procede affiatatissima, le coriste supportano benissimo la voce profondissima e biblica di Cohen il quale, nonostante la veneranda età di settantotto anni da poco compiuti, si inginocchia e letteralmente si trascina per il palco chiedendo amore, perdono o morte, a seconda delle circostanze.
Alla terza canzone, “Like a bird on a wire/Like a drunk on a midnight choir/I have tried in my way to be free”, esplode il palazzetto. Cohen canta ciò che fu definite il suo epitaffio con una quieta intensità che scuote l’anima. Il primo set continua con canzoni recenti, sulle quali spiccano la delicatissima Come healing, con un duetto tra l’abissale canadese e le celestiali coriste, la sardonica Going home e la rullata Anthem. Dopo di ciò, Cohen saluta il pubblico per un momento di riposo, dopo un’ora e mezzo circa di performance.
La cosa che più colpisce è l’umiltà di Cohen. Lascia spesso lo spazio agli strumentisti per dei lunghi assoli, fa cantare spesso le coriste – ma qui, forse è anche per riprendere fiato. D’altronde, non ha il tipo di spettacolo esplosivo che caratterizza altri grandissimi che ho visto dal vivo: non c’è un’energia esplosiva che ti schiaccia, ma un’implosione che ti trasporta verso di lui, ti fa sentire ogni singola sfumatura della sua voce e delle vicende raccontate nelle sue poesie.
Dopo venti minuti, lui e la band tornano in scena. La seconda parte del set ricomincia più in maniera più movimentata della prima, con Tower of song, seguita poi da una trascinata Suzanne, cantata in coro da tutto il pubblico. Ma il momento migliore della serata arriva poco dopo, con The partisan. La canzone, sofferente ed emotiva, si svolge nel silenzio quasi totale del pubblico, ed è impreziosita da un rullo marziale di tamburo durante i versi in francese, rullo di tamburo che si ritrova subito dopo nella marziale Democracy. Dopo due canzoni concesse ad Sharon Robinson prima ed alle Webb Sisters poi, arriva la sensualissima (come si poteva notare dalle espressioni estasiate di tutte le donne attorno a me) I’m your man.
Dopo arriva il momento che tutti stavamo aspettando, l’unica canzone di Cohen conosciuta a livello mondiale – anche se spesso attribuita ad artisti di caratura inferiore –: Hallelujah. La canzone non ha bisogno di descrizioni o di presentazioni, e l’esecuzione non ne ha la possibilità.
Dopo la poesia di Lorca, Take this waltz, la band se ne va. Per poi tornare – ovviamente – per un primo encore: il pubblico che può si accalca attorno al palco e canta la bellissima So long, Maryanne, per poi gridare, dopo un concerto sussurrato, sulle note di First we take Manhattan, dove la voce di Cohen raggiunge una potenza ed una cattiveria inaspettata. La seconda encore si apre con la dolente Famous blue raincoat, in un’atmosfera semireligiosa: dopo di ciò, sembra che Cohen voglia dare l’addio con la solita Closing time. Il pubblico comincia ad uscire dalla sala, ma si torna con “I tried to leave you/I don’t deny” e la sala che si sganascia di risate. Tempo per un’inaspettata cover dei Drifters con Save the last dance for me e, all’una e dieci, il concerto si chiude definitivamente.
Non male per uno che ha cominciato a cantare ed ha ricominciato a fare concerti per necessità economiche.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Dance Me to the End of Love (06:20)
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
02 The Future (07:20)
Give me back my broken night,
my mirrored room, my secret life
it's lonely here, there's no one left to torture.
Give me absolute control
over every living soul
And lie beside me, baby, that's an order!
Give me crack and anal sex
Take the only tree that's left
and stuff it up the hole in your culture.
Give me back the Berlin Wall
give me Stalin and St Paul
I've seen the future, brother: it is murder.
''(chorus)
Things are going to slide,
slide in all directions
Won't be nothing
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
has crossed the threshold
and it's overturned the order of the soul.
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant…''
You don't know me from the wind
You never will. You never did.
I'm the little jew, who wrote the bible.
I've seen the nations rise and fall
I've heard their stories, heard them all,
but love's the only engine of survival.
Your servant here, he has been told
to say it clear, to say it cold:
It's over, it aint' goin' any further
And now the wheels of heaven stop
You feel the Devil's riding crop
get ready for the future, it is murder.
''(Chorus)''
There'll be the breaking of the ancient western code
Your private life will suddenly explode!
There'll be phantoms, there'll be fires on the road.
And a white man dancing
You'll see a woman hanging upsidedown
Her features covered by her fallen gown
And all the lousy little poets come around
Tryin' to sound like, Charlie Manson
And the white man dancing.
Give me back the Berlin Wall
Give me Stalin and St. Paul
Give me Christ or give me Hiroshima
Destroy another fetus now
We don't like children anyhow
I've seen the future, baby, it is murder.
''(Chorus)''
04 Bird on the Wire (06:14)
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
05 Everybody Knows (05:52)
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you've been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
And everybody knows that it's now or never
Everybody knows that it's me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when you've done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old Black Joe's still pickin' cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows
And everybody knows that the Plague is coming
Everybody knows that it's moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But there's gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows
And everybody knows that you're in trouble
Everybody knows what you've been through
From the bloody cross on top of Calvary
To the beach of Malibu
Everybody knows it's coming apart
Take one last look at this Sacred Heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Oh everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
06 In My Secret Life (05:02)
I saw you this morning.
You were moving so fast.
Can’t seem to loosen my grip
On the past.
And I miss you so much.
There’s no one in sight.
And we’re still making love
In My Secret Life.
I smile when I’m angry.
I cheat and I lie.
I do what I have to do
To get by.
But I know what is wrong,
And I know what is right.
And I’d die for the truth
In My Secret Life.
Hold on, hold on, my brother.
My sister, hold on tight.
I finally got my orders.
I’ll be marching through the morning,
Marching through the night,
Moving cross the borders
Of My Secret Life.
Looked through the paper.
Makes you want to cry.
Nobody cares if the people
Live or die.
And the dealer wants you thinking
That it’s either black or white.
Thank G-d it’s not that simple
In My Secret Life.
I bite my lip.
I buy what I’m told:
From the latest hit,
To the wisdom of old.
But I’m always alone.
And my heart is like ice.
And it’s crowded and cold
In My Secret Life.
07 Who by Fire (06:35)
And who by fire, who by water,
who in the sunshine, who in the night time,
who by high ordeal, who by common trial,
who in your merry merry month of may,
who by very slow decay,
and who shall I say is calling?
And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,
who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,
and who by avalanche, who by powder,
who for his greed, who for his hunger,
and who shall I say is calling?
And who by brave assent, who by accident,
who in solitude, who in this mirror,
who by his lady's command, who by his own hand,
who in mortal chains, who in power,
and who shall I say is calling?
08 Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye (03:47)
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.
09 Anthem (07:20)
The birds they sang
At the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
Has passed away
Or what is yet to be
Ah the wars they will
Be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
Bought and sold
And bought again
The dove is never free
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
We asked for signs
The signs were sent
The birth betrayed
The marriage spent
Yeah the widowhood
Of every government
Signs for all to see
I can't run no more
With that lawless crowd
While the killers in high places
Say their prayers out loud
But they've summoned, they've summoned up
A thundercloud
And they're going to hear from me
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
You can add up the parts
But you won't have the sum
You can strike up the march
There is no drum
Every heart, every heart
To love will come
But like a refugee
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
That's how the light gets in
That's how the light gets in
11 Tower of Song (07:07)
Well, my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not comin' on.
I'm just payin' my rent everyday in the Tower of Song.
I said to Hank Williams "How lonely does it get?"
Hank Williams hasn't answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
Oh, a hundred floors above me in the Tower of Song.
I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
And twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond,
They tied me to this table right here in the Tower of Song.
So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll
I'm very sorry, baby, it doesn't look like me at all
I'm standin' by the window where the light is strong
Ah, they don't let a woman kill you, not in the Tower of Song.
Now, you can say that I've grown bitter but of this you may be sure:
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there's a mighty Judgement comin' but I may be wrong
You see, I hear these funny voices in the Tower of Song.
I see you standin' on the other side
I don't know how the river got so wide
I loved you, baby, way back when...
And all the bridges are burnin' that we might've crossed
But I feel so close to everything that we lost
We'll never, we'll never have to lose it again.
Now, I bid you farewell, I don't know when I'll be back
They're movin' us tomorrow to the tower down the track
But you'll be hearin' from me, baby, long after I'm gone
I'll be speakin' to you sweetly from a window in the Tower of Song.
Yeah, my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not comin' on.
I'm just payin' my rent everyday in the Tower of Song.
12 Suzanne (03:46)
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.
13 The Gypsy's Wife (06:42)
And where, where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight
I've heard all the wild reports, they can't be right
But whose head is this she's dancing with on the threshing floor
whose darkness deepens in her arms a little more
And where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight?
Where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight?
Ah the silver knives are flashing in the tired old cafe
A ghost climbs on the table in a bridal negligee
She says, "My body is the light, my body is the way"
I raise my arm against it all and I catch the bride's bouquet
And where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight?...
Too early for the rainbow, too early for the dove
These are the final days, this is the darkness, this is the flood
And there is no man or woman who can't be touched
But you who come between them will be judged
And where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight?...
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Altre recensioni
Di primiballi
Il disco è, ripeto, semplicemente perfetto. Cantato e interpretato da Lui in maniera magistrale.
Leonard Cohen è una persona stupenda, ed un poeta e musicista inarrivabile. È la speranza che non sappiamo confessare.
