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Things spread everywhere the day I was born. There was wind. Dry leaves banged against the walls of the homeopathic hospital. I was alive. I was alive amidst the horror. Donors crowded over me like a rugby team. They began to give me things and then take them away. The things that weren't suitable were thrown back into the vacuum tube. Many were the gifts and many were the warnings that came with them. We give you a big heart but if you start drinking wine you will begin to hate the world. The moon is your sister but if you take sleeping pills you will find yourself in the company of unhappy women. Every time you try to grasp love, you will lose a snowflake from your memory
When talking about artists like Leonard Cohen, one cannot help but feel ashamed of one's own uselessness, one's own embarrassing fruitlessness. I must say that I am quite surprised that no one reviewed this remarkable release before me. In fact, I impatiently awaited its publication for months and as soon as I purchased my copy, I was ready to bow down respectfully before it.
On August 31, 1970, Leonard Cohen, then 35 years old, was awakened at 2 a.m. while in his trailer. He got on stage with his group and offered a deliciously unreal concert to the 600,000 present, immersed in the unrepeatable atmosphere of that summer night. A few days’ beard, long hair lazily enveloping his face. That is how the Canadian poet presents himself on stage, clad in an unusual beige raincoat, complete with a belt. He timidly approaches the microphone, lightly touching it with the tip of his hand, disconcerted by the crowd's noise. He prudently greets and begins to tell:
When I was seven, my father used to take me to the circus. He had black mustache, a gray suit, and a pansy on the lapel of his jacket. He liked the circus much more than I did. But there was a moment I eagerly awaited when I was at the circus. I don't want to impose anything on anyone. But there was a moment when a man would stand up and say: "Would you kindly light a match so we can find each other?" May I ask each of you to light a match, wherever you are, so I can see you all wherever you are camped?
Slowly, the small uncertain lights light up to the joy of Cohen. Now he can begin. He gently plucks the guitar strings and slowly, very slowly, pronounces the first verses of "Bird On The Wire":
Like a bird on a wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir, I have tried in my way to be free
.
The concert begins in a delicate magic atmosphere, and it continues with many of Cohen's masterpieces, who presents his "jewels" in exquisite versions, impeccably accompanied by the musicians who join him. Besides the tracks from the first two albums ("Songs Of Leonard Cohen" and "Songs From A Room"), there are "Diamonds In The Mine", "Famous Blue Raincoat", and "Sing Another Song Boys", which are presented to the public for the first time and will become part of his third album "Songs Of Love And Hate". These are absolutely perfect interpretations and listening to this album leaves no doubt: Cohen is an exceptional performer, capable of achieving technical and stylistic perfection even live.
Many of Cohen's early songs are presented during the concert with a completely new look; refined and enriched with uncommon elegance and delicacy. For example, "One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong" and "The Stranger Song", included in Cohen's first album, are spectacularly refined and revisited here, and they have that additional touch of perfection that makes them impeccable, thanks in part to the richer but never excessive arrangements that distinguish them from the originals.
The Box Set includes the audio disc and the DVD of the concert which was filmed and directed by Murray Lerner under difficult conditions, after 5 days of turmoil and fires, with many pieces of equipment out of order and after the stage had been in the hands of people like Hendrix. It is an absolutely memorable concert, and it is a fortune to be able to enjoy it on DVD as well. So, believe me, it is truly worth it. There are no ups and downs. It is a little gem to be enjoyed in all its completeness.
Probably the best Cohen concert. A must-have.
Tracklist and Lyrics
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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Other reviews
By Flo
The hoarse and enviable “golden voice”, the old and knobby hands gripping the microphone, some human uncertainties, the smiles and bows directed at the audience, the immense humility and respect Cohen shows towards the musicians accompanying him are the indelible trademark of the evening.
Cohen’s last words are a blessing for his audience, the audience he loves and respects, before whom he kneels and removes his hat several times during the evening.
