Description
PREMESSA: LA SUPERIORITA’ DELLA MUSICA SU VINILE E’ ANCOR OGGI SANCITA, NOTORIA ED EVIDENTE. NON TANTO DA UN PUNTO DI VISTA DI RESA, QUALITA’ E PULIZIA DEL SUONO, TANTOMENO DA QUELLO DEL RIMPIANTO RETROSPETTIVO E NOSTALGICO , MA SOPRATTUTTO DA QUELLO PIU’ PALPABILE ED INOPPUGNABILE DELL’ ESSENZA, DELL’ ANIMA E DELLA SUBLIMAZIONE CREATIVA. IL DISCO IN VINILE HA PULSAZIONE ARTISTICA, PASSIONE ARMONICA E SPLENDORE GRAFICO , E’ PIACEVOLE DA OSSERVARE E DA TENERE IN MANO, RISPLENDE, PROFUMA E VIBRA DI VITA, DI EMOZIONE E DI SENSIBILITA’. E’ TUTTO QUELLO CHE NON E’ E NON POTRA’ MAI ESSERE IL CD, CHE AL CONTRARIO E’ SOLO UN OGGETTO MERAMENTE COMMERCIALE, POVERO, ARIDO, CINICO, STERILE ED ORWELLIANO, UNA DEGENERAZIONE INDUSTRIALE SCHIZOFRENICA E NECROFILA, LA DESOLANTE SOLUZIONE FINALE DELL’ AVIDITA’ DEL MERCATO E DELL’ ARROGANZA DEI DISCOGRAFICI .
LEONARD COHEN
songs from a room
Disco LP 33 giri , 1969, this is late 70’s reissue, Columbia / CBS , CS 9767 , USA
OTTIME CONDIZIONI, vinyl ex++/NM , cover ex++
Leonard Norman Cohen (Montreal, 21 settembre 1934) è un cantautore e poeta canadese.
Songs from a Room is the second album of Canadian musician Leonard Cohen. It reached #63 on the Billboard list and #2 at UK charts.
Cohen reportedly said he chose producer Bob Johnston to achieve the spartan sound he considered appropriate for his songs, after the disputes he had with John Simon during the mixing sessions of Songs of Leonard Cohen. The album also features some prominent (if strictly ornamental) Jew’s harp. The album’s sound is thus closer to the archetype (or stereotype) of an “early” Leonard Cohen record.
Among uncredited sessions musicians it is known that Ron Cornelius played acoustic and electric guitar, Charlie Daniels played bass, fiddle and acoustic guitar, Elkin «Bubba» Fowler participated on banjo, bass and acoustic guitar, while producer Bob Johnston
played keyboards. Interestingly, Johnston toured with Cohen in 1970 and
1972 (playing keyboards, harmonica and guitar), leading to termination
of his collaboration with Bob Dylan.
In sheet music for the album, a song titled “Priests” was included,
and although reportedly recorded, it didn’t appear on the actual LP or
any other Cohen record. The song was recorded by Judy Collins on her 1967 album Wildflowers, and by Richie Havens on his 1969 album Richard P. Havens, 1983.
- Interprete: Leonard Cohen
- Etichetta: Columbia / CBS
- Catalogo: CS 9767
- Data di pubblicazione: around 1979
- Matrici : XSM 138929 – 2A / XSM 138930 – 2A
- Supporto:vinile 33 giri
- Tipo audio: Stereo
- Dimensioni: 30 cm.
- Facciate: 2
- Red-yellow label , white paper inner sleeve
Songs from a Room è il secondo disco dell’artista canadese Leonard Cohen.
The back cover of Songs From A Room shows Marianne in the home she and Leonard Cohen shared in Hydra
Track listingAll songs written by Leonard Cohen except “The Partisan” by Hy Zaret and Anna Marly Side one
Side two
Personnel
|
Songs
“Bird on the Wire“, described by Cohen as a simple country song, has been covered by many people including his one-time backup singer Jennifer Warnes, by The Neville Brothers on the soundtrack for the 1990 film Bird on a Wire, by Willie Nelson on the Cohen tribute album Tower of Song and by Johnny Cash for his 1994 album American I: American Recordings. It also appeared on the earlier tribute I’m Your Fan, covered by The Lilac Time.
“Story of Isaac” is based on the Old Testament story of God‘s demand that Isaac be sacrificed by his father Abraham.
It ends with an admonishment to fathers to no longer sacrifice their
sons, which was commonly interpreted as criticism of the then-current Vietnam War. Judy Collins‘ 1968 recording, which predated Cohen’s, features slightly different lyrics. Suzanne Vega performed the song on the Tower of Song album. The song was also covered by Pain Teens on their 1993 album Destroy Me, Lover.
“The Partisan” is based on the poem “La complainte du partisan” by “Bernard” (Emmanuel D’Astier), a prominent figure in the French resistance during World War II.
In 2007, “The Butcher” was covered by Milwaukee punk band Crappy Dracula on a split 45 r.p.m. record with Buffalo band Sonorous Gale.
“Seems So Long Ago, Nancy” tells the story of Nancy Challies, a depressed young woman from Montreal, who committed suicide after having been forced by her family to put her son up for adoption. However, in 1979 Cohen (perhaps disingenuously) told the filmmaker Harry Rasky that “Nancy” was only a waitress in an American juke joint with whom he had been slightly acquainted. (The interview is recounted in Rasky’s book, The Song of Leonard Cohen.)
Leonard Cohen’s first album was an unqualified triumph which announced
the arrival of a bold and singular talent, and many who heard it must
have wondered what Cohen could do for an encore. By comparison, Cohen’s
second album, 1969’s Songs from a Room, was something of a letdown. While it’s a fine LP, it ultimately feels neither as striking nor as assured as Songs of Leonard Cohen. Bob Johnston stepped in as producer for Songs from a Room, and his arrangements are simpler than those John Simon
crafted for the debut, but they’re also full of puzzling accents, such
as the jew’s harp that punctuates several tracks, the churchy organ line
in “The Old Revolution,” and the harsh synthesizer flourishes on “A
Bunch of Lonesome Heroes.” Johnston
also had trouble coaxing strong vocal performances from Cohen; his
singing here sounds tentative and his meter is uncertain, which
regardless of how one feels about Cohen’s much-debated vocal prowess is
not the case with his other work. And finally, the quality of the songs
on Songs from a Room is less consistent than on Songs of Leonard Cohen;
as fine as “Bird on a Wire,” “You Know Who I Am,” “The Story of Isaac”
and “Seems So Long Ago, Nancy” may be, “The Butcher” and “A Bunch of
Lonesome Heroes” simply aren’t up to his usual standards. Despite the
album’s flaws, Songs from a Room‘s strongest moments convey a
naked intimacy and fearless emotional honesty that’s every bit as
powerful as the debut, and it left no doubt that Cohen was a major
creative force in contemporary songwriting.
Venne il momento del secondo album e Leonard Cohen
scelse di fuggire: fuggire da New York, la città dei suoi ultimi anni
irrequieti, da Marianne Ihlen, la Musa dei tempi giovani, e da John
Simon, l’ingombrante produttore e “direttore artistico” del primo LP. A
35 anni si era innamorato della giovanissima Suzanne Elrod e con lei
emigrò in campagna, in una bucolica casetta a Franklin, Tennessee. Non
era mai stato un tipo rock, Leonard Cohen, ma quel vivere agreste
ammorbidì ancor più i suoi gusti musicali e il resto lo fecero le
radiazioni soft di quella stagione: il ritorno di Johnny Cash, il Dylan bianco e nero di John Wesley Harding e poi azzurro cielo di Nashville Skyline, i Byrds di Sweetheart Of The Rodeo.
Fu naturale andare a registrare a Nashville e abbandonare gli archi
solenni del primo album per una delicata sinfonia country and folk: le
chitarre di Cohen e Ron Cornelius, il banjo di Bubba Fowler, il basso
chitarra violino di Charlie Daniels, futura superstar sudista. A
dirigere il traffico venne chiamato Bob Johnston, il produttore di Blonde On Blondee dei dischigaleotti
di Cash: un “minimalista” che capì bene come intorno a Cohen dovesse
farsi spazio, così che la sua voce risaltasse “come una montagna”.
L’intimità del disco è riflessa bene dal titolo scelto, Canzoni da una stanza.
La stanza è quella delle emozioni intense e dei ricordi, quella di
Hydra immortalata sul retro di copertina (con una tenera Marianne al
tavolo da lavoro che batte su una mitica Lettera 22) ma anche quella
degli anni adolescenti, in famiglia, da cui viene il lampo di The Partisan,
rara canzone non firmata Cohen. Il tono è pacato, i ritmi lenti, la
voce spacca precisa sillabe ed emozioni. Il poeta canta l’amore e lo
struggimento, il sacrificio e il dolore, riuscendo a raccontare di sè ma
volando anche molto più alto. C’è il mistero dell’uomo e del suo vivere
in Terra dietro la citazione biblica di Abramo e Isacco, c’è la follia
della violenza con le sue molte lingue di fuoco di quegli anni, Medio
Oriente Indocina la Grecia dei colonnelli, che faceva dire a Cohen in
una celebre intervista: “Davanti a simili disastri, massacri e
umiliazioni dell’uomo, che senso ha cantare una canzone? Eppure, più le
cose volgono al peggio più io sento di dover prendere la mia chitarra e
intonare Story Of Isaac. Anche Bird On A Wire è
assolutamente Coheniana e assolutamente universale, canzone degli
spiriti indipendenti e della lotta per tenere accesa la fiamma di
libertà che ognuno porta in sè. “Come un uccello sul filo/ come un
ubriaco in un coro di mezzanotte/ ho cercato a modo mio di essere
libero.” Kris Kristoffersson accusò Cohen di avere plagiato una vecchia
canzone country, Mom And Dad’s Waltz, per svolgere il suo tema:
salvo poi riconoscere, davanti alla bellezza del testo, che
quell’appunto finiva per essere ben poca cosa.
“Il rimpianto delle canzoni sul primo album diventa qui disperazione”, è stato scritto. Vero: le ombre fosche di The Butcher, il conforto effimero della droga, il senso dell’amore imprendibile e vano che aleggia in You Know Who I Am e Nancy
sono colori di tenebra per il pennello di un poeta pessimista. Ma la
grandezza di Cohen sta proprio nel guardare la desolazione e ogni orrore
dritto negli occhi, fino in fondo, accettando stoicamente il fato e non
negandosi alla speranza, per quanto illusoria. “Tonight will be fine”,
“stasera andrà bene, andrà bene, andrà bene”, anche se purtroppo e solo
“per un poco”.
Un disco bellissimo che il tempo non ha guastato.
Oggi vivrebbe di culto intenso e poche copie vendute, ma quelli erano
tempi speciali: così negli USA salì dalle parti del 60° posto in
classifica e in Gran Bretagna arrivò addirittura al n.2, consolidando un
cenacolo di seguaci Coheniani che ancora oggi è numeroso.
1969’s Songs From a Room is similar to his debut: Just as Songs of Leonard Cohen
replaced original producer John Hammond, who had signed Cohen to
Columbia (as well as Billie Holiday and Bob Dylan) with John Simon (then
just off the Band’s Music From Big Pink and Simon and Garfunkel’s Bookends),
this album was started with the Byrds’ David Crosby and finished with
Dylan producer Bob Johnston. It also contains a number of Cohen’s
signature tunes, including “Story of Isaac”, cover song “The Partisan”,
“Lady Midnight”, and the seminal “Bird on a Wire”, whose iconic opening
lines (“Like a bird on a wire/ Like a drunk in a midnight choir/ I have
tried, in my way, to be free”) were cited by Kris Kristofferson as his
desired epitaph. It seems a direct continuation of his debut, and in
truth, the debut seems superior simply for having come first.
Songs From a Room (1969), il suo secondo disco,
prosegue sulla stessa falsariga del primo, tra arrangiamenti scabri e
claustrofobici, e storie d’ordinaria disperazione. “Seems So Long Ago
Nancy” è una meditazione al ralenti che implode su se stessa in un
vortice di pura angoscia. Le epiche “Story Of Isaac” e “The Partisan”
scavano nel rapporto tra l’uomo e la barbarie della guerra. Ma il
capolavoro assoluto del disco è “Bird On A Wire”, disperato apologo su
libertà e solitudine: “Like a bird on a wire/ Like a drunk in a midnight
choir/ I have tried my way to be free”. Ad aprire uno spiraglio di luce
in tanta oscurità sono le conclusive “Lady Midnight” e “Tonight Will Be
Fine”, declamate da Cohen su toni fiabeschi e trasognati.
Leonard Cohen
Songs from a Room
Originally issued in 1968, Songs from a Room was Leonard Cohen’s
follow-up to Songs of Leonard Cohen, his surprisingly successful debut
from the previous year. Though it lacked a career-defining song such as
Suzanne, it was, in many ways, a better effort because, in crafting the
affair, Cohen took more control of his music and his sound. Still, some of the
credit for its success must be given to Bob Johnson, the legendary Nashville
producer whose previous work with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Simon and
Garfunkel virtually guaranteed a more sympathetic ear and a greater
understanding of Cohen’s musical direction than previously had been afforded by
John Simon, the producer of Cohen’s debut. Johnson’s arrangements and the
excellent stable of musicians upon which he drew — such as ace fiddler Charlie
Daniels, who also had played on the Dylan sessions — elevated and clarified the
stylistic constructs that had been executed rather muddily on Cohen’s prior
endeavor.
Nevertheless, Songs from a Room was almost a very different album than
it turned out to be. Initial recording sessions that had been undertaken with
David Crosby at the producer’s helm didn’t work out well because Cohen had
resisted the former Byrd’s attempts to mold his music until it became a part of
California’s burgeoning hippie-folk scene. Despite his sympathies for many of
the ideas floating around in the aftermath of the summer of love, Cohen’s
musical aesthetics veered more closely to the sounds of country music, which may
seem ironic given it was a collection of songs that celebrated transience and
bohemian lifestyles. Two selections from the original Crosby sessions — a
tentative recording of Bird on a Wire and a demo of Nothing to One
(You Know Who I Am) — are presented for the first time as bonus tracks on
the recently reissued set.
As previously noted, Songs from a Room is more friendly to the ear
than Songs of Leonard Cohen was, and Cohen’s own unique guitar patterns
are featured prominently on each of the record’s compositions. Leonard Cohen is
a good guitarist in the same way that Woody Guthrie and Ani DiFranco are good
guitarists. While none of these composers are technically very accomplished in
musical terms, there is something in the driving, rhythmic thumping that each of
these artists employs that forms the perfect bedrock for their lyrics.
Without question, the best-known track on Songs from a Room is Bird
on a Wire, which opens the set. The tune has been covered by artists as
diverse as The Neville Brothers and Johnny Cash, and for years, Cohen opened his
concerts with it because its lyrics focused the singer and, in his own words,
“returned me to my duties.” Like Suzanne, it is a song that has entered
into the public’s consciousness, and it’s hard to remember a time when it wasn’t
a standard part of many musicians’ repertoires. Right after its release, Kris
Kristofferson famously told Cohen that Bird on a Wire seemed ancient and
that even though he felt the Canadian songwriter had copped the melody from
Lefty Frizell, he was going to have the first three lines — “Like a bird on a
wire/like a drunk in a midnight choir/I have tried in my way to be free” —
carved as an epitaph onto his gravestone.
The rest of the tracks on Songs from a Room hold up just as well.
Somehow, they manage simultaneously to sound contemporary and as if they were
etched on papyrus. The visionary power of the desert-seers of the Old Testament
and the hallucinations of the 1960s psychedelic era have never managed to sit so
comfortably alongside each other, before or since. Lyrically, the tunes in this
collection cover much of the same ground as Cohen’s first record, and
compositions such as The Old Revolution, Tonight Will Be Fine, and
Seems So Long Ago, Nancy easily rank among the best in Cohen’s canon.
Even The Partisan, the lone cover song on the set — with its tale of
alienation and heroic resolve — fits perfectly into the album’s thematic
framework. Songs from a Room is a very strong collection of material, and
it typically has been underappreciated by many of Cohen’s fans. Hopefully, the
reissued rendition of this disc will go a long way toward remedying this
situation. 
Canadian singer, born in Montreal in 1934. His first collection of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies, was published in 1956, followed by The Spice Box of Earth in 1961.
After travelling throughout Europe, he settled on the Greek island of Hydra, where he stayed 7 years. There he wrote another collection of poetry, Flowers for Hitler (1964), and two novels, The Favorite Game (1963) and Beautiful Losers (1966).
After returning to America, he began his career as a singer, recording 11 studio albums:
In 1992, a tribute with 18 songs was released, featuring REM, John Cale, Nick Cave, Ian McCulloch, The Pixies, House of Love and Lloyd Cole among others.
After 1993 Leonard Cohen lived several years at the Zen Center on Mount Baldy (a Buddhist monastery) in California.
Leonard Cohen è nato a Montreal nel 1934 da una famiglia ebrea immigrata nel Canada. Suo padre era di origini polacche e sua madre di origini lituane.Non è parente dei registi cinematografici ed è stato un tossico e un ubriacone irriducibile per tutta la vita, in certi momenti magri ha addirittura fatto anche il barbone, scroccando mozziconi di sigaretta e chiedendo le cento lire in stazione nel saskatchewan, ma non ne è pentito, l’ unica cosa che rimpiange della sua esistenza è di essere invecchiato e che non gli tira più bene come prima. Comunque per qualche miracolo della dinamica pur reggendosi ancora in piedi a malapena, a volte fa ancora concerti, ce ne sarà ad esempio uno il primo settembre in piazza santa croce a firenze, ma solo per i ghibellini, i guelfi non potranno entrare.
SO LONG, MARIANNE
MARIANNE: It’s
very quiet on the ocean today, or the sea…is
probably what we call it. Movement
Now let’ see..
Hah, imagine having the stereo deck on so low. Opa,
let’s go!
Leonard
Cohen: So Long, Marianne/Marianne sings along
MARIANNE: You
know, last night… I had a very strange dream last night. During the past 40
years of my life I still dream about
Leonard. Irrespective of whether he is with someone else or what the scene is
around it, it is a positive dream for me. But last night he showed up again in
my dream. And then he says: ”Marianne, you must not talk so much.” And here I
am sitting looking at you, and you make me talk, talk, talk, talk. Yes, yes!
Leonard Cohen: Now
so long, Marianne, it’s time that we began
to laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again
NARRATOR: ”So Long, Marianne.” Leonard
Cohen’s old Norwegian sweetheart. At
last I was to hear the story behind the song.
MARIANNE: All
the weird stuff that is written, which is just wild fantasy. Very well. I have
never had the strength to describe how it was. There are very, very, very many
who have wanted to meet me, but it has sort of not… I have never understood
why. But it is much easier to talk about these things now than it has ever
been. And that is the only reason that I have felt like meeting you.
NARRATOR: I
have seen the picture of her on the back of the record sleeve for “Songs
from a Room”. Marianne in a white, Greek room. Sitting in front of the
typewriter belonging to Leonard Cohen. She looked so incredibly innocent and
young. Cohen said she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met.
MARIANNE: I
never felt that I looked like much at all. I didn’t believe it when Leonard
said ”you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen”. And he has continued
saying that. But what I mean is that… I think I had too round a face. So I
have gone round looking down all my life. But after all I did have… you know
the sun bleached my hair, and after all you were … in Greece you were
so blonde, so blonde, so blonde, because there they were mostly dark. Skinny.
Almost no boobs. laughs To my great
regret.
NARRATOR: Leonard
then, what did he look like?
MARIANNE: Oh,
he was beautiful! Haven’t you seen pictures of Leonard when he was young? Oh
yes, you have. He was marvellous. Neither did he think that he looked like
much. We both had problems. You have no idea. We often stood in front of the
mirror before going out and wondered who we were today and stuff like that. Oh
god, how strange we human beings are, you know… Look, there’s a duck
coming…
NARRATOR: We
are in her little house, at the beachside at Larkollen, where she grew up with
her grandmother during the war.
MARIANNE: I
am so used to this curtain, but for you I actually ought to have raised it. pulls up the French blinds
NARRATOR: She
has been married for 25 years. Is still pretty with grey hair and lines in her
face. Only a few weeks old Marianne was placed on her grandmother’s kitchen
table.
MARIANNE: And
then my grandmother relates: ”And so I lifted you up, and then I looked deep
into your eyes, and I said: Finally you have arrived, my little princess!” And
then she had this kind of thing… ”I see,
and I know, Marianne”. And she said this once when I was little. It was that:
”You are going to meet a man who speaks with a tongue of gold.” And when I sort
of think of the choice of men later, well it has been… I would say… the
most golden tongue of them all has without a doubt been Leonard Cohen, anyway.
Leonard Cohen: ”If it be your will”
If it be your will
That
a voice be true
From
this broken hill
I
will sing to you
From
this broken hill
All
your praises they shall ring
If
it be your will
To
let me sing
MARIANNE: I
had after all a long time ago a great urge to be creative myself. Well, I was
going to try to get into the Theatre
School.
And I was so opposed by my mother and father that I lost all my courage and
didn’t dare. And I believe it was this which in a way made me run away. That
was what made the whole thing collapse.
NARRATOR: It
was the end of the 50s, and she didn’t even know that Leonard Cohen existed.
Marianne was 22 years old, and in love with the author and bohemian Axel Jensen
(well-known Norwegian author).
MARIANNE: He
was going travelling. He was off to a country he had never been to. He had
travelled around the whole world before he met me. He managed to pull me up by
my roots. And so we made our way down to Greece in -58. I
ran away from home.
NARRATOR: And
because the boat from Athens
happened to stop there, they landed on Hydra, where a lot of other artists had
already settled.
MARIANNE: This
isn’t just something I am making up. Not because it was my island, but it is
the prettiest island in the Aegean.
Anyhow, first of all the harbour is formed like a horseshoe. And then the
little white-washed town just crawls up along the mountain all around the
place. And there are no cars. There are only stairways.
And the boat stops far from shore. And so you were
ferried in by smaller craft. And I arrived in mid December. And there was
storm, there was rain, and it was so cold. And then there was only electricity
one hour in the evening, and one hour in the morning. And paraffin lamps.
Music
To
begin with we found a very small house that we rented, with an outdoor loo and
everything. And so Axel received an advance for
”Line”, or was it ”Ikaros”…? (well-known Norwegian novels)
And we went round searching for a house. And so we
found one that was magnificent. With a huge hole in the floor and whatever. I
mean, it was mostly ruins, but it cost 13 000 Norwegian kroner, so we couldn’t
afford it. And again we rushed off. Onward. And we found one that cost 11 000.
And it looked like an eagle’s nest. You know ”stuck in the mountain”. Now that
house is a … yes, it’s owned by one of the biggest shipping magnates in Athens. And so now it is … it has
a swimming pool… It is situated so… You have it there! It hangs up there! Here
is the port down here. Then we had a dog and a pussycat.
INTERVIEWER: How
beautiful. Is that you?
MARIANNE: Yes,
that’s me. That’s the way up to the house. Then you climb the stairs there.
That was the good time. But at a very early stage there was something that came
amiss.
Leonard Cohen: ”Tonight will be fine”
Sometimes I find I get to thinking of the past
We
swore to each other then that our love
would surely last
You kept right on loving, I went on a fast
Now I am too thin and your love is too vast
MARIANNE: You
see, Axel and I we walked barefoot. We had two clean T-shirts and two pairs of
trousers each, and were poor. But we were clean. The first prominent man we met
was Onassis.
You
see, the island consisted of some enormously rich families, who no longer lived
there permanently. They came down on weekends, with baskets of flowers, and a
cook’s maid and servant and all that. So we were invited to these cocktail
parties, as they were then called, six
o’clock, ”for drinks”. ”Before dinner.” And we landed in
that… and there we met Onassis.
Jacqueline Kennedy was there, and Princess Margareth
and… And then all the famous artists arrived.
Music
So
you see, the first year on Hydra was fantastic, because he wrote and he wrote
and he wrote. And I ran down and shopped and bought food and … Yes, I was his
Greek Muse, who sat at his feet. And he was the creative one.
But then all these other women entered
our life. First time it was one with dark hair, and then… What did Marianne
do, then? Yes, she dyed her hair. Jet black. Woke up in the morning and sort of
saw black hair on the pillow and wondered “god, who is this?” laughs It was damned tough. It sure
was.
And
also Axel had to go to Norway
all the time. Yes, for the publishing of books and god knows what. Oh, it’s
such a long story that it can hardly be made all that short, but…
NARRATOR: The
story I have always heard is that Leonard Cohen stole Marianne from Axel
Jensen. In reality it was always new women who were taking her place. Finally
she decided to leave Axel and Hydra.
MARIANNE: I
was strong enough to say: ”All right, now I’ll travel home to my father, and
he’ll be proven right.” It wasn’t Axel I was going to marry.
INTERVIEWER: So
then you returned to Norway,
is that it?
MARIANNE: Yes,
but before that I had to pass by my best friends in Athens. And who but Axel Jensen
comes visiting. At that point he’d been boozing for 6 weeks. The woman who was
to come didn’t show up. Sold the ticket, pocketed the cash. And that evening he
said he wanted to marry me. And so I said yes, because that was what I really
wanted. That was after all what I wished to do. It was what I had hoped would
happen. I do not regret it…
Leonard Cohen: ”Stranger Song”
It’s true that all the men you knew were dealers
who said they were through with dealing
Every time you gave them shelter
MARIANNE:
I love this song.
I know that
kind of man
It’s hard to hold the hand of anyone
who is reaching for the sky just to surrender
NARRATOR: It
was the summer of 1958, and Marianne and Axel were married in the English
church in Athens.
who is reaching to the sky just to surrender.
NARRATOR: A
year later Marianne was expecting a
child. Little Axel was underway.
An then sweeping up the jokers that he left behind
you find he did not leave you very much
not even laughter
Like any dealer he was watching for the card
that is so high and wild
he’ ll never need to deal another
MARIANNE: But
what happened afterwards was just sad, because I went home, had my baby. By
then Axel had published a new novel, and couldn’t stay in Norway very long
at a time because he would then have to pay taxes to Norway. So I
didn’t come down with my baby before … Little Axel was just over 4 months, 4 ½
months. And by then Axel was way over the hills again. In the meantime he had
found yet another woman. And in the middle of all this commotion Leonard Cohen
shows up.
Music
I
was standing in the shop with my basket waiting to pick up bottled water and
milk. And he is standing in the door way with the sun behind him. And then you
don’t see the face, you just see the contours. And so I hear his voice, saying:
”Would you like to join us, we’re sitting outside?”
And
I reply thank you, and I finish my shopping. Then I go outside. And I sit down
at this table where there were 3-4 people sitting, who lived in Hydra at the
time.
INTERVIEWER: Can
you remember what he looked like?
MARIANNE: He
was wearing khaki trousers, which were a shade more green. And also he had his
beloved… what we in the old days called tennis shoes. And he also always wore shirts with rolled up sleeves. In
addition he had a beautiful little sixpence cap.
What I didn’t know when I met him was that he knew
everything about what had happened before I returned. Because after all he had
been there, and realised what was going on. So I think that already when he saw
me he had enormous compassion for me and my child. But I remember well that
when my eyes met his eyes I felt it throughout my body. You know what that
is. Drums
her fingers It is utterly incredible.
So
then I was on my way up Kala Pegadia, to my little house. And the last hump is
very, very steep, so you are completely drenched in sweat when you reach the
house. And the basket was very heavy. And there she was, that sweet little
Eveganina, who had been with Axel and played with him. And so she left. And
then I was very… I was almost a bit intoxicated. Right away I put on some
music, I remember. Danced around a bit, and thought it all of a sudden was such
fun to be with my son and… felt it was simple and fine and… And even if he
wasn’t put to bed at once it was all
right. A lightness had come over me.
Leonard
Cohen: ”I’m Your Man”
If you want a lover
I’ll
do anything you ask me to
And
if you want another kind of love
I’ll
wear a mask for you
If
you want a partner
Take
my hand
Or
if you want to strike me down in anger
Here
I stand
I’m
your man
NARRATOR: This
was May 1960, and Marianne was 25 years old. But even though she danced herself
home after her first meeting with Leonard Cohen, it was still Axel Jensen she
was waiting for. He had set off on a boating trip to find out if he ought to
choose Marianne or his American
mistress.
MARIANNE: So
I remember when we were saying goodbye to him and seeing him sail off I
actually was a bit happy, because I felt that after all perhaps there was still
hope. Therefore I invited some friends up to my little house, since I couldn’t
go out all that much, as I had the baby. And I can remember it was the
blossoming season. It was the end of May, and the whole veranda was full of
these flowers which are white in the middle and yellow all round. So I’d pinch
the flowers off, and put them in an envelope with a small note on which I
wrote: ”I love you.”
NARRATOR: A
young American, who was visiting Marianne, noticed her putting the flowers in
the letter. Next day he continued his journey to Athens. Marianne’s letter was sent
with the same ship.
MARIANNE: And
that was a strange story, because Axel Jensen hadn’t intended to go off on that
boat and find out whom he really loved. He voyaged to the next island and met
this woman, and then the two of them sailed together to Athens. And at American Express,
next day, there they both were, and Axel picked up his mail, opened that letter
and these flowers fell out. As it happened this American was queuing beside
them waiting for his mail, and he thought: ”This must be the letter from
Marianne. This must be Axel.” After all he didn’t know him. So he took the ship
back to Hydra. And he came up to me, and he says: ”I just had to tell you,
Marianne, that they are together.” ”He’s not out yachting to sound out his
feelings.” At that I understood now it’s all over. sighs
No,
ouff, I can’t relate all of this here. There has been so much. There’s been so
much. I don’t know how I have taken it, when I think about it. music Now we need some tea..
Leonard
Cohen: ”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,
MARIANNE: Mmm.
It’s quite incredible. sings
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.
Great heavens, what an uproar all the time…
So Leonard and I began to meet. Early in the day we
would maybe go down to the beach. Sometimes little Axel and I would accompany
him up to the small house he had rented, for it wasn’t so high up. And we’d prepare lunch. And then little Axel
would fall asleep, and then he’d read poems for me, and then… So we started
seeing each other during the days.
But that story that Axel all the time… ”Leonard Cohen
took my wife or whatever he calls it” No, it was… that wasn’t how it was. He
even drove me all the way home to Norway in this
car that Axel had brought with him down there. I wasn’t exactly pampered in
being used to meeting a man who behaved the way he did. I have to say that. He
in fact reminded me very much of grandma. Her energy, her enormous presence.
You could really trust in him. It was like… is it really possible to be so
fond of me as he says he is? You know?! I can impossibly be all that much.
He then drove me all the way home to Norway in this
car. That was when I understood this was something more than friendship. But at
that point I was knocked out. I was very… that’s when reactions set in. One
after the other. But when he went back to Montreal it didn’t
take long before I received a telegram: ”Have house, all I need is my woman and
her son. Love Leonard.” That’s how it was.
NARRATOR: And
Marianne emigrated from Oslo
to Montreal
with tiny Axel and a couple of suitcases of clothes.
MARIANNE: Imagine,
I emigrated. And I remember little Axel and Leonard sat in the bathtub writing
on a typewriter under water. laughs
It’s really weird to think about, but when I saw
Leonard’s hands for the first time, it was like seeing my father’s hands.
Slightly stubby. But he could type fast on a machine. laughter
There
is a very beautiful poem which is unpublished. And I have to show it to you. I
really am not much at reading, but I can try.
Music (Leonard Cohen: ”Undertow”)
MARIANNE: This is for you
It is my
full heart
LEONARD COHEN:
It is the
book I meant to read you when we were old
Now I am a
shadow
I’m restless
as an empire
You are the
woman who released me
I saw you
watching the moon
You did not
hesitate to love me with it
At night I
saw you dance alone on the small wet pebbles of the shore line
And you
welcomed me into the circle
More than a
guest
All this
happened in the truth of time
In the truth
of flesh
I saw you
with a child
You brought
me to his perfume and his visions
Without
demand of blood
Leonard Cohen: ”Undertow”
With a child in my arms
And a chill in my soul
And my heart the shape
Of a begging bowl
NARRATOR: Marianne,
little Axel and Leonard remained living in Montreal for a year
before they returned to Hydra.
MARIANNE. Mmm,
how strange. That’s on Leonard’s terrace. February –63. When Axel was three.
He’s been wearing a T-shirt you see, he is black and brown on his arms and
legs, but not on his tummy.
INTERVIEWER:
So how was Leonard as a father?
MARIANNE: Well,
actually, he… I was terrified that Axel was going to disturb him, because he
had to write. But what happened was that Axel would be lying prone on the floor
drawing. And didn’t say a word. He was a nightmare with me. Then he would…
uhuhuhu. You know what kids are like with mother. And so then Leonard would
elegantly open the door into his tiny atelier, and say: ”Axel, I need your
help.” And then it would be deadly silent in there for two hours. And little
Axel drew and Leonard wrote. That’s how I experienced it. And little Axel was enormously
proud. He called him Cohne.
Oh, those years were really good. Very
good. We sat in the sun and we lay in the sun, we walked in the sun, we
listened to music, we bathed, we played, we drank, we discussed. There was
writing and lovemaking and… It was absolutely fabulous, you know, to have it
like that. During five years I didn’t have shoes on my feet, you know. Sure,
sure, in the wintertime I had something on my feet, but… And I met many
beautiful people. Now they are cast to the winds. Some are dead. Many are dead…
Now I have to put the rolls in the oven.
Leonard Cohen: ”Dance Me to the End of Love”
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
Papers rustling
MARIANNE: More letters from Leonard. Would
you say there are many love letters, then? I’m quite sure. And there’s
Leonard’s Russian bed. Iron bed. Isn’t it great?
INTERVIEWER: It’s awesome..
And then
that’s you?
MARIANNE: Yes, that’s me. In my… my Mari
Mekko dress. I have been a model a lot.
INTERVIEWER: I must say you have really especially beautiful
pictures. This isn’t one of those usual average family albums you have here.
MARIANNE: laughs No, it isn’t. But then again I have never
lived one of those average family lives either, I have to honestly admit. After
all that was what I was trying to escape from.
NARRATOR: Marianne
and Leonard were lovers into their second year. However the break-up with Axel
still smarted.
MARIANNE: I
had suffered such a big shock that I was in a state of shock in which I sort of
wasn’t neither here nor there. I didn’t have a foothold. And at the same time
having a child and all. It was really tough. I think that in many ways I maybe
was able to float a bit above the difficulties which I found myself in the
middle of. I was not much present in myself. But I didn’t know that at the
time. So if he hadn’t been so patient then I don’t know if we would have been
together. For when I was dancing Greek dances and drinking retsina he would sit
there waiting for me till I was finished dancing and drinking my retsina. And
then we went home together. And then it would be so incredibly peaceful and so
harmonious to be with him, because there was such tranquillity. One could in a
way say that it was a bit old-fashioned. The way you in many ways would think
it would be fantastic that a young boy can be, right? And it made a strong
impression on me.
Leonard
Cohen: ”Because of”
Look at me, Leonard
Look at me one last time.
MARIANNE: laughter.
Yes…
then they bend over the bed
and
cover me up like a baby
that is shivering
Like a baby
Like a baby….
MARIANNE: Yes,
I guess I was seen for the first time, perhaps. That is very important. Later
in life I have realised that Leonard saw something in me that I wasn’t aware of
at the time. So I don’t know if you remember some lines from his latest CD.
”Look at me one more time, Leonard.” And that… Then I thought: ”Why is he still
writing songs that I actually have noted down the first line of or a part of
the chorus, in jest to myself?” Because very often I have said when I have met
friends and acquaintances: ”Oh, I would have loved to have met him now, so he
could see me now.” Know what I mean? And then along comes that song.
Marianne reads
Oh, look at me, Leonard
Look
at me one last time
Leonard
Cohen: Look at me , Leonard
Marianne reads then
they bend over te bed
Leonard Cohen: look
at me one last time
then
they bend over the bed
Marianne reads and
cover me up like a baby
Leonard Cohen: …cover
me up like a baby
that is shivering
Like
a baby
Llike a baby…
NARRATOR: But
it wasn’t only Marianne who wanted to be seen by Leonard Cohen.
MARIANNE: laughs Most of all I wanted to cage him
in and lock him up. Swallow the key. No, I was jealous. Because he was so
incredibly sought after. And also he was a … he was so entertaining and so
courteous and so… All the time… He was equally compassionate towards
everyone, in a sense. For example, if he had finished working he would go down
to the port earlier, for example. Then we would eat dinner later, and then I
would wait for the babysitter and perhaps I would come down an hour or two
after him. And every time he would be sitting at the table with some or other
fantastic woman. laughs And… like Helen who stands up and says: ”Now
I have conquered your man!” You know.
But I mean, it was all a joke, and it was just good
friendship. But it riled me each and every time. laughs It was like being stabbed, you know. That’s the way it goes
when you choose those kind of strong, handsome, tall and dark, handsome men,
right? Good gracious. All the girls were panting for him. You have no idea how
hurt I felt. And that destroyed so much. But after all it was my own
insecurity. I should have just held my head high and thought: ”But it is me he is living with. It is me he has chosen.” And then… Yes, I
would dare go as far as to say that I was on the verge of killing myself due to
it. I just wanted to die.
There was this fabulous young model from New
York, who came to Hydra. And they disappeared for an entire day. And so I
imagined all kinds of things. I curled up like a small foetus, and built a
large wooden coffin around me, an imaginary one, of course. People who passed
by actually thought I was dead.
INTERVIEWER: What
do you mean “people who passed by actually thought you were dead”?
MARIANNE: Well
no, but I actually remained lying on the floor there, so I did. 24 hours. I
refused to communicate with the outside world.
I don’t want to stir up more sorrow. Oh!
God,
how much pain one can suffer!
Leonard
Cohen: ”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
Footsteps
outside
MARIANNE: It’s
quiet today.
Yes, it’s Tarjei there. Come on. Yes, come on then.
You’ll get lunch today as well, you lucky devil. Yes, come here, you, Tarjei
Vesaas (a swan, named after a famous
Norwegian author). Powerful fine bird. He has survived, he has. Yes, you’re
fine aren’t you. It’s a lonely life, isn’t it?
If I, if I have
been unkind
I hope that you can just let it go by
”Like a bird on the wire
I
have tried in my way to be free”
It
is great to write songs, for you can actually manage to say a lot which you at
the moment maybe aren’t able to carry out. But by and by that’s what you have
to do to survive.
”Bird
on the Wire”… That was when electricity came to Hydra, you know, and they would land on these strange wires
that suddenly cut right in front of the window. Just like notes.
Magnificent.
Therefore I felt that it was also my song. But of course everyone refers to ”So
long Marianne”.
INTERVIEWER: Well
but you have always been her that got that fantastic song…
MARIANNE: Yes.
Yes… But he has written a lot of other good stuff too. My goodness. I have
started to read some of his poems again. I sat here yesterday reading many
poems. For I think the poems he has written to me … I feel more at home there.
Then it’s about us. Much more than in
”So Long, Marianne”. This little one here, for example.
I
sort of feel.., I have participated in that book, in many ways.
INTERVIEWER:
In addition it is dedicated to you.
MARIANNE: Is
it? Yes, perhaps it is. Is it? I haven’t even considered that. Are you sure?
No. leafs Oh, there its says so, yes!
Discretely out on the left side.
Well,
I didn’t know that. But that was nice. Yes, but I was a part of it. We have
written it together.
NARRATOR: More
than five years had passed since Marianne and Leonard met for the first time.
Leonard wrote poems and songs, and eventually commuted more and more between
Greece, Montreal and New York. Marianne and tiny Axel remained alone on Hydra.
MARIANNE: He
often had to cross the great dam, as we said. Both in search of inspiration,
and for to, as he said: ”… become a little more miserable again.” And then we
couldn’t afford to travel all of us. Therefore I was often alone on Hydra. I
was. And it came to the point where I didn’t want to be alone anymore. I felt
it was awfully sad. It wasn’t enough to play home and castle and all that
stuff. It therefore resulted in me asking to come along. And that period there,
it… it was dramatic, on very many levels.
NARRATOR: Leonard’s
career was accelerating, and after about three years on Hydra the small family
again moved back to Montreal.
MARIANNE: That
was when ”Sisters of Mercy” was written. Leonard travelled a lot. It began to
dawn on me that something was about to happen. Yes, how long at a time does one
remain in love before one has to renew oneself? I can exactly recognise the
situation in our lives we were in then, where you suddenly find that you cannot
communicate properly together. We couldn’t get anywhere. I didn’t understand
what he was saying, he didn’t understand what I was saying. I could not put
into words how I felt. Leonard naturally immersed himself in his writing, and
continued with his songs.
And in order to try to alleviate
everything I left for Mexico, to visit my old friend. I took little Axel with
me. And it was a very strong experience. Among the indians. In those mountains.
Well, it was absolutely incredible. At that point I had a feeling that I in a
sense was very close to God. I was almost convinced that I would never come
down off that mountain.
So
that was my sojourn from Montreal, when the world was in danger of falling
apart. When I returned I brought back a woven Mexican blanket. And it was the
man and the woman. So when I came home to Montreal Leonard and I sat under that
blanket a while. Then we actually began sitting still both of us and letting
everything settle down.
We
had had so many retreats, and we tried and we tried. Neither of us really felt
like giving up completely.
Now I just have to sit and become warm again
inside…
NARRATOR: Marianne
wasn’t permanently back in Norway again until 1973. 38 years old.
MARIANNE: Would
you like to hear my singing bowl?
INTERVIEWER: Yes.
Hum of the
singing bowl
Music ”I tried to leave You”
LEONARD COHEN:
 |
Days Greece is a good place |
Music
MARIANNE: This relationship was a gift to me. And a
gift for Leonard, I might
also add, not to
underestimate myself completely. And that’s what it was. However, I think it
has been sort of an opener for the rest of life for us both, for better or
worse. Just this morning I was reading, a few short lines, you know, which you
can read a couple of every day, where I repeat and repeat this about it being
through the hardest blows in life that you really have the chance to move on,
as it were. Out of the sorrow, you know.
What is the distance between weeping and laughter? I
mean, it is the whole of that… It’s good on one side, and it’s bad on the other
side. I mean, when it’s dark it’s dark because light is gone. And when it’s
light then darkness is gone. But it is the same thing.
Leonard
Cohen:
I
tried to leave you, I don’t deny
I
closed the book on us, at least a hundred times.
I’d
wake up in the morning by your side.
MARIANNE: My
life resides in my body. You carry your entire past in your body. It is the one
who remembers when there was pain. When there was joy. When there were difficulties
and when you were afraid. And a couple of times today I have felt that I have
held my breath. Memories stirred and woke, sort of.
And then I feel like saying like Leonard, but this is
coming from me: ”Don’t believe a word
I’ve said. Don’t believe a word I’ve said. It’s all a dream.”
 |
© 2005, 2006 Kari Hesthamar, Norway
Special thanks to Kari for the translation Listen to the interview (in Norwegian) More about Hydra on this website Visit the website of Axel Jensen |
