Leonard Cohen

I går var jeg inde og se "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man". Den var ok, men absolut heller ikke mere end det. Jeg fatter ikke, hvorfor man har lavet en film ud af det materiale? Det burde ligge som ekstramateriale på en dvd med en rigtig dokumentarfilm om Leonard Cohen.

Han er så begavet og cool. Og han er så meget mere interessant at høre på, end den endeløse række af musikere, der lovpriser ham og synger hans sange i filmen. Synes jeg. Men jeg er jo også en af dem, der mener, at alle der rører ved Leonard Cohens materiale burde tampes hårdt og længe med en våd søndagsberlinger. Den eneste udholdelige undtagelse er Jeff Buckleys udgave af "Hallelujah". Alt andet er helligbrøde.

Mit forhold til Leonard Cohen startede allerede, da jeg var en lille pige, hvis forældre elskede hans plader og spillede dem ofte. En dag tog jeg dem ud af indercoverne og brugte dem som skøjter. Bagefter lagde jeg dem i forlængelse af hinanden, så de lavede jeg en "vej", jeg kunne køre henover på min plastictraktor.

Siden da har jeg fået uendelig meget større respekt for Leonard Cohen. Hans tekster... nej, jeg kan ikke forklare hvor fantastiske, jeg synes, de er, uden at komme til at lyde som Bono og de andre i den film, jeg så i går.

“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

I choose the rooms that I live in with care
the windows are small and the walls almost bare
there's only one bed and there's only one prayer
I listen all night for your step on the stair”

Åh, det er så fint, så fint. Det er fra “Tonight Will Be Fine”, som er en af mine yndlingssange med ham.

Det bedste øjeblik i filmen, var da han sang “Tower of Song” til slut. Selv om han er 72 år gammel, kan han sgu stadig give de fleste baghjul. Jeg mener, hvem andre skriver så bittersøde tekster, der får én til at skrige af grin? Ja, jeg spør bare.

Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day
Oh in the Tower of Song

I said to Hank Williams: how lonely does it get?
Hank Williams hasn't answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
A hundred floors above me
In the Tower of Song

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
And twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond
They tied me to this table right here
In the Tower of Song

So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll
I'm very sorry, baby, doesn't look like me at all
I'm standing by the window where the light is strong
Ah they don't let a woman kill you
Not in the Tower of Song

Now you can say that I've grown bitter but of this you may be sure
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there's a mighty judgement coming, but I may be wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices
In the Tower of Song

I see you standing on the other side
I don't know how the river got so wide
I loved you baby, way back when
And all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed
But I feel so close to everything that we lost
We'll never have to lose it again

Now I bid you farewell, I don't know when I'll be back
There moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you'll be hearing from me baby, long after I'm gone
I'll be speaking to you sweetly
From a window in the Tower of Song

Yeah my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day
Oh in the Tower of Song