domingo, 13 de novembro de 2016

Leonard Cohen (1934-2016)





A despedida de um grande artista


Leonard Cohen no Festival Internacional de Benicàsim (Valência, Espanha), 20 de Julho de 2008. Fotografia de Diego Tuson/AFP.


        Humilde, de uma generosidade de espírito imensa, Leonard Cohen deixou-nos. E a sua partida deixou-nos uma grande saudade. Felizmente, uma saudade que podemos enganar ouvindo a sua música, a sua poesia. Melhor, graças à tecnologia podemos ouvir a sua voz quente, muito grave, quase mística.


     Muito foi dito sobre este grande artista. Portanto, não vou alongar-me. Quero apenas prestar-lhe a minha homenagem, o meu profundo agradecimento por ter sido uma inspiração na minha vida.


     Num artigo publicado neste blogue, no ano de 2013, por altura das Grandes Festas (Yamim Noraim), apresentei a versão de Leonard Cohen do poema litúrgico Unetaneh Tokef – Who by Fire. Em Who by Fire, composto em 1973 em resposta à Guerra do Yom Kippur, Cohen debate-se com a nossa mortalidade e com o conceito de Deus, a quem dirige, num misto de devoção e de fúria, estas palavras: «And who, shall I say is calling?».


     No tema The Captain, de 1984, Cohen atreve-se a tocar num assunto tabu, quando diz: «Complain, complain, that’s all you’ve done ever since we lost. If it’s not the Crucifixion, then it’s the Holocaust. »






“The Captain”

Now the Captain called me to his bed
He fumbled for my hand
"Take these silver bars," he said
"I'm giving you command."
"Command of what, there's no one here
There's only you and me --
All the rest are dead or in retreat
Or with the enemy."
"Complain, complain, that's all you've done
Ever since we lost
If it's not the Crucifixion
Then it's the Holocaust."
"May Christ have mercy on your soul
For making such a joke
Amid these hearts that burn like coal
And the flesh that rose like smoke."
"I know that you have suffered, lad,
But suffer this awhile:
Whatever makes a soldier sad
Will make a killer smile."
"I'm leaving, Captain, I must go
There's blood upon your hand
But tell me, Captain, if you know
Of a decent place to stand."
"There is no decent place to stand
In a massacre;
But if a woman take your hand
Go and stand with her."
"I left a wife in Tennessee
And a baby in Saigon --
I risked my life, but not to hear
Some country-western song."
"Ah but if you cannot raise your love
To a very high degree,
Then you're just the man I've been thinking of --
So come and stand with me."
"Your standing days are done," I cried,
"You'll rally me no more.
I don't even know what side
We fought on, or what for."
"I'm on the side that's always lost
Against the side of Heaven
I'm on the side of Snake-eyes tossed
Against the side of Seven.
And I've read the Bill of Human Rights
And some of it was true
But there wasn't any burden left
So I'm laying it on you."
Now the Captain he was dying
But the Captain wasn't hurt
The silver bars were in my hand
I pinned them to my shirt.


     Em Outubro de 2016, Leonard Cohen editou o seu último álbum. Intitulado You Want It Darker, afinal uma despedida, é uma longa reflexão sobre a sua própria mortalidade. O álbum, visto como um retorno de Cohen às suas raízes judaicas, apresenta o Cantor Gideon Zelermyer e o Coro da Sinagoga Shaar Hashomayim, da sua cidade natal, Montreal.

     O tema You Want It Darker, que dá o nome ao álbum, inclui passagens da liturgia hebraica, como por exemplo versos do Kaddish - «Magnified and sanctified be Thy holy name»; Cohen, cita também, em hebraico e em inglês, passagens do Livro de Génesis, da história do Sacrifício de Isaac (Gen. 22:1 - E foi depois destas palavras que Deus experimentou a Abraão. E disse-lhe: «Abraão!» E disse: Eis-me aqui.) – «Hineni, 

hineni, I’m ready my Lord» - «Eis-me aqui, estou pronto meu Senhor».








“You Want It Darker”

If you are the dealer, I’m out of the game
If you are the healer, it means I’m broken and lame
If thine is the glory then mine must be the shame
You want it darker
We kill the flame
Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name
Vilified, crucified, in the human frame
A million candles burning for the help that never came
You want it darker
Hineni, hineni
I’m ready, my lord
There’s a lover in the story
But the story’s still the same
There’s a lullaby for suffering
And a paradox to blame
But it’s written in the scriptures
And it’s not some idle claim
You want it darker
We kill the flame
They’re lining up the prisoners
And the guards are taking aim
I struggled with some demons
They were middle class and tame
I didn’t know I had permission to murder and to maim
You want it darker
Hineni, hineni
I’m ready, my lord
Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name
Vilified, crucified, in the human frame
A million candles burning for the love that never came
You want it darker
We kill the flame
If you are the dealer, let me out of the game
If you are the healer, I’m broken and lame
If thine is the glory, mine must be the shame
You want it darker
Hineni, hineni
Hineni, hineni
I’m ready, my lord
Hineni
Hineni, hineni
Hineni


Shalom, Leonard!


Artigo de Sónia Craveiro

Numa homenagem muito merecida


Obrigada


Fontes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okaqXB6Ns5s

http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/leonard_cohen/the_captain.html
http://observador.pt/2016/11/11/10-poemas-10-cancoes-palavra-de-cohen/
http://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/leonard-cohen-says-hineni
http://www.timesofisrael.com/leonard-cohen-donald-trump-and-their-songs-of-love-and-hate/?utm_source=The+Times+of+Israel+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=c73ca6b3da-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_11_11&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_adb46cec92-c73ca6b3da-55377193

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