«I smile when I'm angry.
I cheat and I lie.
I do what I have to do To get by.
But I know what is wrong.
And I know what is right.
And I'd die for the truth
In My Secret Life»

«Nobody cares if the people Live or die.
And the dealer wants you thinking
That it's either black or white.
Thank God it's not that simple
In My Secret Life»

«Ring the bell that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in»

Ieri sera la Cavea era stracolma, c'era gente persino in piedi. Leonard Cohen ha iniziato puntualissimo e ha tirato avanti di filato per tre ore. TRE ORE, con un'interruzione di soli venti minuti. Una band di altissimo livello, fiati, tastiere, batteria, chitarra (uno Javier Mas impareggiabile, formidabile il multistrumentista Dino Soldo: sax, clarino, Ewi; il bassista Roscoe Beck, "art director"): tutti hanno fatto venire giù il teatro dagli applausi. Tre "coriste" che definire tali è poco (le Webb Sisters, una delle quali suona anche l'arpa irlandese!): infatti, Cohen, si è rivolto alla celebre Sharon Robinson (una voce con pochi pari) chiamandola "my incomparable collaborator". Cornice stupenda, clima perfetto. Stranieri, italiani.
I ragazzi della security che mi si sono avvicinati parlandomi in inglese. A Roma.
Ho fatto un po' di foto, appena avrò il tempo le metterò on line: non garantisco sulla qualità, e comunque la distanza c'era. Ma. In alcune lui è inconfondibile.
Leonard Cohen fa il suo ingresso in giacca, gilet, camicia bianca. A ogni applauso si toglie il cappello e se lo mette sul cuore: «Thank you for your kind attention». Un signore dai capelli bianchi, dall'energia inesauribile e dal sorriso ammaliatore. Una voce STRE-PI-TO-SA. Limpida, potente, a quasi settantaquattro anni.
Si mette in ginocchio cantando "Hallelujah" (di cui avevo postato il video, ora sostituito con Tower of Song, cantata nel 2008 a Glastonbury: esibizione molto simile a quella di ieri sera). Ascoltarlo dal vivo ha dato un nuovo senso a molte canzoni che in genere trascuravo. "In My Secret Life" e "Anthem", per esempio. Un vero signore, niente sprechi di parole, niente battute inutili. Sobrio e ironico. Ovazioni a scena aperta in più di un'occasione: "I'm Your Man", "First We Take Manhattan", e al verso "I was born like this, I had no choice, I was born with the gift of a golden voice..." Per non parlare degli applausi all'esecuzione di "Democracy": «Democracy is coming to the U.S.A."
Il suo saluto è stato: «Grazie per la vostra attenzione, e non solo quella che mi avete riservato stasera. Ma quella che mi dedicate da decenni».

Un mazzo di rose buttato sul palco da una donna ha suggellato la fine.

«And if you wanna walk the streets alone,
I'll disappear for you
If you want a partner take my hand,
or if you wanna strike me down in anger
Here I stand, I'm your man».

Oggi ho poca voce, ma sono molto felice di esserci stata.
Per niente e nessun altro l'avrei fatto.
E ho fatto bene.

Ho comprato, credo, l'ultimo biglietto disponibile in ogni ordine di posti.
120 euro, parterre centrale.
Ci sarò.
Faccio fatica a esprimere cosa significhi per me: ho conosciuto Cohen durante uno dei miei viaggi in Irlanda e non sono più riuscita a separarmene.
È la mia Musica.

«Like a bird on a wire
like a drunken in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free».

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 ...

[Un'altra canzone del cantautore-poeta che accompagna la mia vita da anni, ormai. Quello a cui torno sempre. Everybody Knows è un concentrato di - amare - verità. Un vero gioiello. Se non la conoscete, ascoltatela. «Tutti sanno che la guerra è finita Tutti sanno che i buoni hanno perso [...] i poveri rimangono poveri, i ricchi diventano sempre più ricchi. [...] Tutti sanno che è ora o mai più Tutti sanno che ce la giochiamo io e te E tutti sanno che si può vivere per sempre, basta aver scritto un paio di righe...» Everybody knows that the dice are loaded Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed Everybody knows that the war is over Everybody knows the good guys lost Everybody knows the fight was fixed The poor stay poor, the rich get rich That's how it goes Everybody knows Everybody knows that the boat is leaking Everybody knows that the captain lied Everybody got this broken feeling Like their father or their dog just died Everybody talking to their pockets Everybody wants a box of chocolates And a long stem rose Everybody knows Everybody knows that you love me baby Everybody knows that you really do Everybody knows that you've been faithful Ah give or take a night or two Everybody knows you've been discreet But there were so many people you just had to meet Without your clothes And everybody knows Everybody knows, everybody knows That's how it goes Everybody knows Everybody knows, everybody knows That's how it goes Everybody knows And everybody knows that it's now or never Everybody knows that it's me or you And everybody knows that you live forever Ah when you've done a line or two Everybody knows the deal is rotten Old Black Joe's still pickin' cotton For your ribbons and bows And everybody knows And everybody knows that the Plague is coming Everybody knows that it's moving fast Everybody knows that the naked man and woman Are just a shining artifact of the past Everybody knows the scene is dead But there's gonna be a meter on your bed That will disclose What everybody knows And everybody knows that you're in trouble Everybody knows what you've been through From the bloody cross on top of Calvary To the beach of Malibu Everybody knows it's coming apart Take one last look at this Sacred Heart Before it blows And everybody knows Everybody knows, everybody knows That's how it goes Everybody knows Oh everybody knows, everybody knows That's how it goes Everybody knows Everybody knows

[Finiti i baccanali per il quarto anniversario del mio decimo compleanno, come dice Arti, si torna alle cose serie. Leonard Cohen, per esempio. Che sa leggere nelle infinite sfaccettature dell'animo umano come pochi altri hanno fatto e fanno tuttora. Oggi ho scelto questa canzone perché mi pare un ottimo modo per iniziare la mia vita da quarantenne. Soprattutto: «Confined to sex, we pressed against/The limits of the sea:/I saw there were no oceans left/For scavengers like me./I made it to the forward deck./I blessed our remnant fleet –/And then consented to be wrecked,/A Thousand Kisses Deep.» «And quiet is the thought of you,/The file on you complete,/Except what we forgot to do,/A Thousand Kisses Deep». No, non la tradurrò. Ma se volete ascoltarla in forma di poesia, in versione ampliata, recitata da Cohen - che voce, che voce! - in persona, cliccate qui o sulla seconda immagine a sinistra]


The ponies run, the girls are young, The odds are there to beat. You win a while, and then it’s done – Your little winning streak. And summoned now to deal With your invincible defeat, You live your life as if it’s real, A Thousand Kisses Deep.
I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed, I’m back on Boogie Street. You lose your grip, and then you slip Into the Masterpiece. And maybe I had miles to drive, And promises to keep: You ditch it all to stay alive, A Thousand Kisses Deep.
And sometimes when the night is slow, The wretched and the meek, We gather up our hearts and go, A Thousand Kisses Deep.
Confined to sex, we pressed against The limits of the sea: I saw there were no oceans left For scavengers like me. I made it to the forward deck. I blessed our remnant fleet – And then consented to be wrecked, A Thousand Kisses Deep.
I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed, I’m back on Boogie Street. I guess they won’t exchange the gifts That you were meant to keep. And quiet is the thought of you, The file on you complete, Except what we forgot to do, A Thousand Kisses Deep.
And sometimes when the night is slow, The wretched and the meek, We gather up our hearts and go, A Thousand Kisses Deep.
The ponies run, the girls are young, The odds are there to beat...