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Dear Leonard...
The vibrational intensity reaches an almost poetic peak in the intertwining of sounds that find their center in the devotional harmony of everything, which in this case reaches the quintessential singer-songwriter quality typical of the Canadian minstrel of yore.
It is here, where Cohen's luminescent poetry is met, fully integrated and returned like an alien (or like the Prodigal Son of Christian reminiscence) from his Eastern worlds, now at the mercy of that incessant turmoil of the soul that, vibrating, submerges the darkest crevices of a consciousness that has never ceased to cry out loudly, until it overwhelms and sublimates the meanings themselves of strong and luminous words like rays of light that irrigate the silent and spectral clouds of their detached pilgrimage through territories now semi-untouched but in some ways still clear and free from blemishes and impurities that only the soul/animal can traverse barefoot at night, to see if it is indeed so difficult to die.
But it is on the musicality that it stands high, sublime and spiritual the great divine sleepiness ecstatic and transcendental, of theological virtues and inexpressible vices, that, beyond words, brings us back to unconscious worlds filled with tired universes now emptied of any meaning, if not the purely literal one, gathering the reins of a discourse started too long ago to come alive and pulsating TODAY that the content has perhaps definitively concluded. What remains of the ancient deeds? What remains of the unconditional cry of protest from the minstrel reluctant to appear who even today refuses to embody himself as the spokesperson of an undifferentiated (and I dare say rampant) discomfort? "Dear Heather" (2004) is now the terminus and the Swan Song itself and it is the very Essence of becoming light, a descending and sublime parable at the same time that, in a few words, borders on tediousness and boredom beyond the incredible with moments of drowsiness that are nothing short of "nirvanic".
Oh there... I couldn't find the words, sorry for the unnecessary but, I would say, necessary preamble.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
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.
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.
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!
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
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?
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Other reviews
By benzo24
"Dear Heather is a formidable album that gradually transfigures, becoming more and more indispensable."
"Cohen has delved even deeper into his poetry, mixing it with music in a way that challenges casual listening."
