IRC-Galleria

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
you were talking so brave and so sweet,
giving me head on the unmade bed,
while the limousines wait in the street.
Those were the reasons and that was New York,
we were running for the money and the flesh.
And that was called love for the workers in song
probably still is for those of them left.

Ah but you got away, didn't you babe,
you just turned your back on the crowd,
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don't need you,
I need you, I don't need you
and all of that jiving around.

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
you were famous, your heart was a legend.
You told me again you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception.
And clenching your fist for the ones like us
who are oppressed by the figures of beauty,
you fixed yourself, you said, "Well never mind,
we are ugly but we have the music."

Ah but you got away, didn't you babe,
you just turned your back on the crowd,
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don't need you,
I need you, I don't need you
and all of that jiving around.

I don't mean to suggest that I loved you the best,
I can't keep track of each fallen robin.
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
that's all, I don't even think of you that often.

Leonard Cohen - Chelsea hotel #2

Good night, sweet princess.

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.

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 has overturned
the order of the soul
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant
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 ain't going
any further
And now the wheels of heaven stop
you feel the devil's riding crop
Get ready for the future:
it is murder

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 has overturned
the order of the soul
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant

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 the white man dancing
You'll see a woman
hanging upside down
her features covered by her fallen gown
and all the lousy little poets
coming round
trying 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

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 has overturned
the order of the soul
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant

Leonard Cohen - The Future

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

Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat

Hallelujah, hallelujah...


Day 01 - Your favorite song
Day 02 - Your least favorite song
Day 03 - A song that makes you happy
Day 04 - A song that makes you sad
Day 05 - A song that reminds you of someone
Day 06 - A song that reminds of you of somewhere
Day 07 - A song that reminds you of a certain event
Day 08 - A song that you know all the words to
Day 09 - A song that you can dance to
Day 10 - A song that makes you fall asleep
Day 11 - A song from your favorite band
Day 12 - A song from a band you hate
Day 13 - A song that is a guilty pleasure
Day 14 - A song that no one would expect you to love
Day 15 - A song that describes you
Day 16 - A song that you used to love but now hate
Day 17 - A song that you hear often on the radio
Day 18 - A song that you wish you heard on the radio
Day 19 - A song from your favorite album
Day 20 - A song that you listen to when youÂ’re angry
Day 21 - A song that you listen to when youÂ’re happy
Day 22 - A song that you listen to when youÂ’re sad
Day 23 - A song that you want to play at your wedding
Day 24 - A song that you want to play at your funeral
Day 25 - A song that makes you laugh
Day 26 - A song that you can play on an instrument
Day 27 - A song that you wish you could play
Day 28 - A song that makes you feel guilty
Day 29 - A song from your childhood
Day 30 - Your favorite song at this time last year

Viuluniekat soittavat joen kuohuvalla virralla
verhoutuneena levään ja lumpeenlehviin.
Käyräkärkitöppöset aaltojen huteralla sillalla
kostuvat kiihkeän tangon tahtiin.
Viulut vinkuvat yöhön kesäkuun tuoksuvaa huumaa
halki suloisen keveän ilman
sävel vallaton kiusoittelee tuulta kuumaa
jouset tanssivat sormissa viikarin kahdeksan.

Viuluniekkojen soitto kantaa yli tummana virtaavan veden
joen pientareen yli varjoisaan koivupuulaaksoon
luokse alakuloisen leiritulen,
matkamiehen matkalla perikatoon.
Viulut vaikertavat valituslauluin kesäpäivälle katoavaisuutta
kulkurin korvissa soimaava sointi
vain ennustaa lopun tulista kiivautta.
Voi matkamies, miksi niin synkeä onkaan levottoman mielesi vointi!


Viuluniekkojen riemuinen soitanta surumielisen haikeuden saa
levälautat ja lumpeenlehdykät kuuma tuuli pyörteisiinsä pyyhkii
soittajain alastomuuden paljastaa
matkamies rannalla tulituskaansa nyyhkii.
Oi, iskeytyy tikari nuoreen rintaan!
Kun kaukana kivillä kosken otso lohia rannalle lyö,
vaipuu viulujen vaikerrus väristen virtaan
ja hiljalleen ohenee kesäkuun yö.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUjVhQc1aIY


I canÂ’t brave the cold
of our frozen love.
ItÂ’s too late to know
what the password was.
If your heart is torn,
I donÂ’t wonder why.
If the night is long,
hereÂ’s my lullaby.
HereÂ’s my lullaby.

Though they twist the news
and the world believes,
we will live our truth,
be it on our knees.
If your heart is torn,
I donÂ’t wonder why.
If the night is long,
hereÂ’s my lullaby.
HereÂ’s my lullaby.

Through a net of lies,
oh, I will come to you.
When our dead arrive,
I will salute them too.
If your heart is torn,
I donÂ’t wonder why.
If the night is long,
hereÂ’s my lullaby.
HereÂ’s my lullaby.

Though itÂ’s much too late,
and weÂ’ve taken our stand.
And they call up your name,
weÂ’ll go hand in hand.
If your heart is torn,
I donÂ’t wonder why.
If the night is long,
hereÂ’s my lullaby.
HereÂ’s my lullaby.

Leonard Cohen, Lullaby

On kello neljä aamulla joulukuun lopussa,
mutta en usko että on sama yö kuin se,
jolloin Clinton Streetillä kirjoitettiin eräs kuuluisa kirje.
Avaan kotini oven
kahdelle
matkalaiselle,
profeetalle Armanin puvussa
ja
pitkäsääriselle miehelle Mikki Hiiri t-paidassa
valo pyyhkii heidän kasvonsa
kuin tuulenhenkäys
ja
minä huudahdan:
Väinämöinen, miksi olet ajellut partasi?
Ja:
Nice to meet you, Walt Disney!

- Vestige 12.4.09

When Leonard Cohen Sings
I'm sitting in a coffee shop one ordinary day
the radio is blaring out some ordinary tune
ah but then a Leonard Cohen song comes on and right away
the sun sets and the sky turns dark, save for a mournful moon
and the customers start waltzing in a slow and dreamy fashion
while the cashier weeps remembering some ancient crime of passion
and yet I'm not surprised -- I know these are the kinds of things
that happen when Leonard Cohen sings

It's 4.a.m. on Clinton street, I'm feeling pretty low
so I put Leonard on the tape deck and I haven't long to wait
till the sky fills up with fireworks or bombs for all I know
and Joan of Arc comes riding by and stops before my gate
and her soldiers fill the streets and now they're bursting through my doorway
and Joan just shrugs when I demand the reason for this foray
and yet I'm not afraid -- I know these are the kinds of things
that happen when Leonard Cohen sings

ah when Leonard Cohen sings
the broken dove flies up on mended wings
and I become a child again and yet I'm as old as time
I am the song of Solomon, I am a nursery rhyme
I sit here in the dark regretting all my hopeless flings
(I yearn for pure and burning love detached from all its strings)
when Leonard Cohen sings

when he sings "show me slowly what I only know the limits of,
dance me to the end of love," it takes my breath away
for those lines I'll forgive his tinny synthesizer solos
I'll even forgive him Rebecca de Mornay!

I'm in a huge cathedral now and Leonard's standing near
my hands are gnarled and spotted, my hair is thin and grey
and I don't know how this came about, I don't know why I'm here
but I was humming "Closing Time" when I woke up today
and saints above and fiends below are battling to possess me
till Leonard smiles and tenderly commences to caress me
he is my Prince of darkness and he is my King of kings
and I die happy, while Leonard Cohen sings

ah when Leonard Cohen sings
the broken dove flies up on mended wings
and I become a child again and yet I'm as old as time
I am the song of Solomon, I am a nursey rhyme
I yearn for pure and burning love detached from all its strings
when Leonard Cohen sings
when Leonard Cohen sings


Music and lyrics 1994 Marie-Lynn Hammond

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZybvKVy2o&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u23KksKM45U&feature=related
Nöyrä Cohen viettää 74:ttä syntymäpäiväänsä konserttiyleisön juhlimana.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmL_Tpajdn8
Mr. Cohenin hypnoottinen Gypsy Wife Helsingin konsertissa 10.10.2008.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EidJV2mb9h8
Intensiivinen Hallelujah myöskin Helsingistä. Cohenin eläytyminen on kerrassaan ylimaallista!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTqDszgL48M&feature=related
Mustan huumorin sävyttämä intro kappaleelle Anthem kirvoittaa yleisöstä naurunpyrskähdyksiä Beacon Theaternissa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxxY5RvkoPI&feature=related
Tämä on kenties henkilökohtainen suosikkipätkäni. Surumielisen vahvaa Anthemia seuraa herkän humoristinen hetki, kun Cohen esittelee yhtyeensä. Ottaapa lapsensieluinen Maestro vielä muutaman iloisen hyppyaskeleenkin poistuessaan lavalta.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD_qR7mw0Bk&feature=related
Lumoava Take This Waltz ja muusikoiden esittely Cohenin hurmaavaan tyyliin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfNXB6LGHuY&feature=related
Cohen lausuu runonsa A Thousand Kisses Deep soljuvasti ja tunteikkaasti.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmCpOHDldhQ&feature=related
"And the white man dancing..." ja Webbin siskokset heittävät kärrynpyörää, kyseessä tietenkin The Future.

Now the courtroom is quiet, but who will confess.
Is it true you betrayed us? The answer is Yes.
Then read me the list of the crimes that are mine,
I will ask for the mercy that you love to decline.
And all the ladies go moist, and the judge has no choice,
a singer must die for the lie in his voice.
And I thank you, I thank you for doing your duty,
you keepers of truth, you guardians of beauty.
Your vision is right, my vision is wrong,
I'm sorry for smudging the air with my song.

Oh, the night it is thick, my defences are hid
in the clothes of a woman I would like to forgive,
in the rings of her silk, in the hinge of her thighs,
where I have to go begging in beauty's disguise.
Oh goodnight, goodnight, my night after night,
my night after night, after night, after night, after night, after night.

I am so afraid that I listen to you,
your sun glassed protectors they do that to you.
It's their ways to detain, their ways to disgrace,
their knee in your balls and their fist in your face.
Yes and long live the state by whoever it's made,
sir, I didn't see nothing, I was just getting home late.


Leonard Cohen, A Singer Must Die