Leonard Cohen ist tot. Der große kanadische Poet und Songwriter starb am 7. November im Alter von 82 Jahren. Er hinterlässt ein Werk, in dem Lyrik und Musik eine einzigartige Symbiose eingehen. Ein Gastbeitrag von Daniel Reviol.
Schon seine Gedichte und Romane aus den 60ern sind brillant. Cohen war ein hochtalentierter Schriftsteller, als er sich der Musik zuwandte. Allerdings hörte er niemals auf, Dichter zu sein; er fand nur eine neue Form für seine Texte, die ihm zu Recht Weltruhm einbrachte.
Hunderte Beschreibungen seiner Musik böten sich an dieser Stelle an – doch Leonard Cohen selbst hatte immer die besseren Worte. Seine 15 besten Stücke:
15. „Paper Thin Hotel“
Album: „Death of a Ladies Man“ (1977)
Beste Zeile: „And I can’t wait to tell you to your face / And I can’t wait for you to take my place / You are the naked angel in my heart / You are the woman with her legs apart“
14. „Diamonds in the Mine“
Album: „Songs of Love and Hate“ (1971)
Beste Zeile: „The river is swollen up with rusty cans / And the trees are burning in your promised land“
13. „The Stranger Song“
Album: „Songs of Leonard Cohen“ (1967)
Beste Zeile: „It’s hard to hold the hand of anyone / Who is reaching for the sky just to surrender“
12. „The Future“
Album: „The Future“ (1992)
Beste Zeile: „I’ve seen the future, baby / It is murder“
11. „A Singer Must Die“
Album: „New Skin for the Old Ceremony“ (1974)
Beste Zeile: „Then read me the list of the crimes that are mine / I will ask for the mercy that you love to decline / And all the ladies go moist, and the judge has no choice / A singer must die for the lie in his voice“
10. „Tower of Song“
Album: „I’m Your Man“ (1988)
Beste Zeile: „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“
9. „Famous Blue Raincoat“
Album: „Songs of Love and Hate“ (1971)
Beste Zeile: „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“
8. „True Love Leaves No Traces“
Album: „Death of a Ladies Man“ (1977)
Beste Zeile: „True love leaves no traces / If you and I are one / It’s lost in our embraces / Like stars against the sun“
7. „Chelsea Hotel #2“
Album: „New Skin for the Old Ceremony“ (1974)
Beste Zeile: „You got away, I never once heard you say / I need you, I don’t need you / I need you, I don’t need you / And all of that jiving around“
6. „Suzanne“
Album: „Songs of Leonard Cohen“ (1967)
Beste Zeile: „But he himself was broken / Long before the sky would open / Forsaken, almost human / He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone“
5. „One of Us Cannot Be Wrong“
Album: „Songs of Leonard Cohen“ (1967)
Beste Zeile: „You stand there so nice in your blizzard of ice / Oh please let me come into the storm“
4. „Avalanche“
Album: „Songs of Love and Hate“ (1971)
Beste Zeile: „Well I stepped into an avalanche / It covered up my soul“
3. „The Partisan“
Album: „Songs from a Room“ (1969); besser sind Live-Aufnahmen des Songs, zum Beispiel auf „Live at The Isle of Wight“ (1970)
Beste Zeile: „Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing / Through the graves the wind is blowing / Freedom soon will come / Then we’ll come from the shadow“
2. „Last Year’s Man“
Album: „Songs of Love and Hate“ (1971)
Beste Zeile: „The rain falls down on last year’s man / An hour has gone by and he has not moved his hand / But everything will happen if he only gives the word / The lovers will rise up and the mountains touch the ground“
1. „Dress Rehearsal Rag“
Album: „Songs of Love and Hate“ (1971)
Beste Zeile: alle