WDR 3 Kulturfeature … · COHEN: Just fooling around, just remembering. Just remembering. I forget what these songs are, I really got to learn them again. FORTELLER: Leonard Cohen

© Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln 2016 Dieses Manuskript einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt.

Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des WDR unzulässig. Insbesondere darf das Manuskript weder vervielfältigt, verbreitet noch öffentlich wiedergegeben

(z.B. gesendet oder öffentlich zugänglich gemacht) werden.

WDR 3 Kulturfeature

If it be your will – Leonard Cohen erinnert sich

Musikk

COHEN: Just fooling around, just remembering. Just remembering. I forget what

these songs are, I really got to learn them again.

FORTELLER: Leonard Cohen har glemt sine gamle sanger. Han har ikke spilt dem på

12 år. Nå sitter han hjemme i sitt vesle hus og prøver å spille, fordi jeg

så gjerne vil det.

Erzähler: Leonard Cohen hat seine alten Songs vergessen. Er hat sie seit zwölf

Jahren nicht mehr gespielt. Jetzt sitzt er zu Hause und probiert sie , weil

ich es so gerne möchte.

COHEN: Hund bjeffer It’s from ”If it be your will”, but I don’t remember it. I have

to learn it.

Bølgeskvulp

Wellenplätschern

FORTELLER: Det er ingen bølger her. Men hvis du vil, er det det.

Hier gibt es keine Wellen. Aber wenn man will, sind welche da.

COHEN: I’v been blessed with amnesia, I hardly remember anything from the

past. I don’t have any good memories or bad memories.

2/34




FORTELLER: Leonard Cohen sier at han er velsignet med hukommelsestap. At

han husker ingenting.

Leonard Cohen sagt, er sei mit Gedächtnisverlust gesegnet.

Erinnere sich an nichts.

COHEN: Do you want some of this? Shall I cut you a piece?

INTERVJUER: Yes please.

COHEN: What do you feel like, a little bit of everything?

FORTELLER: Jeg ville stille spørsmål og få han til å minnes. Men han hadde

advart meg i en e-post før jeg kom. ”My memory isn’t all that good.”

Ich wollte Fragen stellen und ihn dazu bringen , sich zu erinnern. Er hatte mich

gewarnt, ehe ich kam. „Mein Gedächtnis ist nicht allzu gut.“

COHEN: My life has always felt the same. One day bleeds into another. It’s been

a lot of sunlight. And then just working. It seems to be the… My inner voice seems

to be saying ”make something” !

FORTELLER: Den indre røsten sier ”skap noe”! Noe vakkert eller viktig eller

uviktig. Bare skap noe! Den ene dagen blør inn i den andre, og

livet har alltid føltes likt. Vet ikke når denne morgenen begynner

3/34




eller når denne kvelden vil ende. Bare noen få ting står ut fra

lerretet. Da barna dine ble født, eller den første gangen du gikk på

scenen med gitaren.

Die innere Stimme sagt „Schaffe etwas!“ Etwas Schönes oder

Wichtiges oder Unwichtiges. Aber schaffe etwas! Die Tage

verschwimmen , das Leben fühlte sich immer gleich an. Man weiß

nicht, wie dieser Morgen beginnt oder dieser Abend enden wird.

Nur ein paar Dinge ragen aus dem Bild heraus. Als deine Kinder

geboren wurden, oder als du zum ersten Mal mit einer Gitarre auf

die Bühne gingst.

Abschnitt 1.01

Abschnitt 1.02 Musikk

Abschnitt 1.03 If it be your will From this broken hill

I will sing to you

From this broken hill

All your praises they shall ring

If it be your will

To let me sing

Telefon ringer

Das Telefon klingelt

COHEN: Yes, my daugther, what is it? How are you, sweetheart? Forget it,

darling. Is Daniel here? hund bjeffer He’s at your store? Ok, sweetheart. Thanks a

lot. Speak to you later. Bye. Those aren’t my daughter’s dogs. Those are the

naughty neighbours dogs.

4/34




INTERVJUER: Your dogs are the nice ones?

COHEN: My dogs are the nice ones.

Bølgeskvulp

Wellenplätschern

FORTELLER: Det er ingen strand. Ingen måne over havet. Bare en villaforstad

til Los Angeles. Små hager, lekende hunder. Ei datter i kjellerleiligheten. Og Leonar

Cohen, 71 år gammel og stillfaren. Tynn, litt lavere enn meg. I grå dress og hvit

skjorte.

Es gibt keinen Strand. Keinen Mond über dem Meer. Nur einen

Villenvorort in Los Angeles. Kleine Gärten, spielende Hunde. Eine

Tochter in der Kellerwohnung. Und Leonard Cohen, 71 Jahre

alt,zurückhaltend. Dünn, ein weniger kleiner als ich. In grauem

Anzug und weißem Hemd.

FORTELLER: Men hvordan var han før, som ung poet?

Aber wie war er früher, als junger Dichter?

COHEN: What was I like as a young man? I had a calling. I wanted to be a writer,

from very very early time I just knew I was going to be a writer. And it was a writer

not in the popular culture, on the contrary, it was a writer whose allegiance was to

writers who were already dead.

5/34




FORTELLER: Å skrive, alltid skrive, født med en tunge av gull. Skrive for de gamle

store poetene. Være en av dem.

Schreiben, immerzu schreiben, geboren mit einer Zunge aus Gold.

Schreiben im Sinne der großen alten Dichter. Einer von ihnen sein.

COHEN: I just wanted to be one of those guys that did that kind of thing. And

my feeling was that if I did those things with the kind of integrity, and

the gift had been given me. I wouldn’t have to worry about my life,

there would be money, there would be women. Not in abundance,

but that there would be enough for me.

Musikk

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

COHEN: I’ve never had much to say. So I just keep working till something

arises that is better than me. Better than my thought.

FORTELLER: Aldri hatt noe valg, aldri tatt et virkelig valg. Livet bare brettet seg

ut på egen hånd.

Es gab niemals eine Wahl, nichts wurde wirklich gewählt.

6/34




Musikk

Tower of Song I was born like this, I had no choice

FORTELLER Alltid det samme. Skrive en side. Gjøre ferdig en sang.

Immer dasselbe. Eine Seite schreiben. Einen Song fertig machen.

COHEN: There is nothing like ending something, like a song, or a book or a

record. There are periods when you don’t believe that you’ re ever going to finish it,

things are just not going well.

INTERVJUER: Do you have any plans of making a new record with your own

voice on it?

COHEN: Oh yes, I’m just starting it now. I have high hopes. ler I don’t know.

I need 10 songs or something like that, you know. I have to fill up

50 minutes, and you want it to be good, you know, so I’m going to

give it a try.

(a) Bølgeskvulp

Wellenplätschern

FORTELLER: Jeg ville ha ham tilbake til en øy i Hellas. Hadde laget en

dokumentar om Cohen sin gamle kjæreste Marianne, hans norske muse. Hun som

han møtte på den greske øye Hydra og ga sangen ”So Long Marianne”. Jeg hadde

tatt med meg programmet på cd og et engelsk manuskript.

7/34




Ich wollte ihn auf eine griechische Insel zurückversetzen. Hatte eine Sendung

über Cohens ehemalige Geliebte Marianne gemacht, seine norwegische Muse. Er

war ihr auf der griechischen Insel Hydra begegnet und für sie schrieb er ”So long,

Marianne”. Ich hatte die Sendung und ein englisches Manuskript mitgebracht.

INTERVJUER: Would you like to listen to the beginning of the documentary?

COHEN: Sure. Let’s here it.

FORTELLER: Jeg ville at han skulle få høre sin store ungdoms kjærlighet fortelle,

og få ham til å minnes.

Ich wollte, dass er hört, wie die große Liebe seiner Jugend erzählt

und sich dabei selbst erinnerte.

INTERVJUER: So that’s the script.

COHEN: Thank you.

Can you put it loud?

Musikk/Marianne synger med på ”So Long, Marianne”

Musik/Marianne singt mit zu „So long,Marianne“

8/34




COHEN: Very good.

Marianne sings along

Marianne singt dazu

MARIANNE: Jeg sto i butikken med kurven min og skulle hente flaskevann og

melk. Og han står i døråpning med solen bak seg. Og da ser du

ikke ansiktet, du ser bare konturene. Og så hører jeg stemmen

som sier: ”Would you like to join us, we’re sitting outside?” Men jeg

husker godt at når øynene mine møtte hans så kjente jeg det

gjennom hele kroppen. trommer med fingrene Det vet du hva er.

Det er helt utrolig. Hvisker

Ich stand mit meinem Korb im Geschäft und wollte Wasser und

Milch holen. Und er stand in der Türöffnung mit der Sonne im

Rücken. Ich sah das Gesicht nicht, nur die Konturen. Dann hörte

ich die Stimme, die sagte „Would you like to join us, we´re sitting

outside?“ Aber ich erinnere mich gut, als meine und seine Augen

sich trafen, spürte ich das durch den ganzen Körper. Trommelt mit

den Fingern Da weißt du, was los ist. Es war unglaublich.

COHEN: She’s terrific. It is her way of telling a story. It’s just delightful.

There wasn’t a man who wasn’t interested in Marianne. And there

wasn’t no one who wasn’t interested in approaching that beauty

and that generousity. She was a traditional nordic beauty, that was

indesputeably. But she was also very kind, and she was one of the

most modest people about her beauty. You know, looking at her

from a distance of 40, 45 years almost, I see how very rare those

qualities are. And she just knew things about the moment, abour

graciousness, about service, about hospitality, about generousity.

And she had that other side too, where she drank wine and

9/34




danced and became wild and beautiful and threatening and

dangerous, you know, if you were a man with her.

Bevegelse

Bewegung

You’re hungry now, darling?

INTERVJUER: We’ve been talking so much, so I just grabbed the opportunity to

finish my cake..

COHEN: Yeah, have a little.

Marianne doesn’t know, but this is her corkscrewer. And we got

this one together.

INTERJVUER: Where is it from?

Woher ist der?

COHEN: I think it’s… I don’t know, but it looks Norwegian to me. skrur opp

kork This isn’t a very good wine, but it is ok. skjenker vin Skål!

Cheers!

INTERVJUER: Skål! There you see, you have a good memory, you can recall.

COHEN: I could come up with this stuff if you ask me specifically.

10/34




INTERVJUER: You’ve given many interviews during the years…

COHEN: Not for a long time. I haven’t given any interviews for a long time.

FORTELLER: Ikke gitt intervju på lenge. Sier han ikke husker noe, at fortiden

ikke interesserer ham. Men de minnene som er noe verdt lagrer en

vel, for å kunne ta dem fram og se på dem av og til? Jeg var på

jakt etter fortida. Han tror på øyeblikkets kraft.

Er hat lange kein Interview gegeben. Und er sagt, dass er sich an

nichts erinnert, dass die Vergangenheit ihn nicht interessiert. Aber

die Erinnerungen, die einem etwas wert sind, hebt man gut auf,

um sie hervorzuholen und ab und zu anzusehen? Ich war auf der

Jagd nach der Vergangenheit. Er glaubt an die Kraft des

Augenblicks.

COHEN: The cordiality of the moment is much more important than the

content. But, you know, I accept that I can’t really rise to the

occasion, it’s just the way it is. It’s not exactly a lie what I’m saying,

it’s just not deep enough.

FORTELLER: Syns det er vanskelig å formulere en sannhet om det som er og

har vært, men gjør så godt han k

Er findet es schwierig, die Wahrheit über das, was ist und war, zu

formulieren, aber er versucht es, so gut er kann.

11/34




COHEN: We’re in this together, I want to make this as good as we can.

slår et telefonnummer I’ll just invite Daniel.

-Daniel, do you have any wood? Listen, this is Leonard in case you

haven’t noticed. How are you, man? Good. If you’d like to come up

for shabbas dinner tonight you’re most welcome, there’s a few

poeple coming up.

FORTELLER: Cohen inviterer gjester til sin faste fredagsmiddag.

Cohen lädt – wie jeden Freitag – Gäste zum Abendessen ein..

COHEN: So come up around 6.30. You can make yourself a drink.

FORTELLER: Familie. Venner.

COHEN: You know what to do.

FORTELLER: Tradisjonell jødisk mat.

Traditionelles jüdisches Essen.

COHEN: Ok, man. Later.

12/34




Musikk.

Leonard Cohen improviserer på gitar

Musik.

Leonard Cohen improvisiert auf der Gitarre.

I don’t know what I could play for you.

Abschnitt 1.04 Improvises

Improvisiert

Well, I must have been in my late twenties, or beginning 30, and I

had just come to the realisation that I couldn’t make a living. I had

expected that money would come, just ordinarily. Not great

amounts of it, but I thought that if I wrote well and books were

published, and they were, that would be enough to finance my next

book. I had always played songs, I had always been interested in

music and played music. But never professionaly, so I was

beginning a musical career for which I though I was totally

unsuted. I didn’t play guitar well, I didn’t sing well. I thought my

lyrics were ok, my tunes were good. I thought I had a voice, but I

thought it was a written voice. So I never thought of presenting that

voice on the stage.

Abschnitt 1.05 Spiller gitar

Spielt Gitarre

You can fit it in somewhere, right?

13/34




INTERVJUER: Yeah.

(a) Musikk

FORTELLER: Toner fra den siste plata Leonard Cohen har produsert strømmer

ut i stua hans. Toner så ferske at de ennå ikke er utgitt.

Klänge der letzten von Leonard Cohen produzierten Platte erfüllen

den Raum. Ganz neue Töne, die bisher noch nicht veröffentlicht

wurden.

COHEN: You tell me when you’ve had enough, otherwise we’ll just sit and

listen to it.

FORTELLER: Cohen sine tekster om livet og kjærligheten. Anjanai Thomas’

myke stemme.

Cohens Texte über das Leben und die Liebe. Anjanai Thomas´

weiche Stimme.

(b) Musikk

Abschnitt 1.06 ”San Fransisco” fra plata ”Blu alert”

„San Francisco“ von der Platte „Blue Alert“

14/34




INTERVJUER: How has love changed throughout the years?

FORTELLER: Har kjærligheten forandret seg gjennom livet?

Hat sich die Liebe verändert im Laufe des Lebens?

COHEN: I never though I was very good at it, you know. I had a great

appetite for the company of women, and for the sexual expression

of friendship. You know, I wasn’t vey good at the things that a

woman wanted, which I don’t know if any man are.

I wanted that immediate affirmation of the.., what can I call it, just

of the possibility of escaping from the sexual loneliness. The pure

loneliness of living with an appetite that you couldn’t ever satisfy.

So that nearly drives everybody crazy, that drives all men crazy.

So, of course, it drove me crazy too. So, you know, that’s what I

wanted. So it seemed to be that’s all that I wanted. Anything after

that I was ready to negociate.

And I was very fortunate because it was the 60ies, and that

possibility was very very present. And for a tiny moment in social

history there was a tremendous cooperation between men and

women about that particual item. So I was very lucky that my

appetite coincidented with this very rare what… religious social, I

don’t know what you call it, some kind of phenomen, but that

allowed men and women, boys and girls we were, to come

together in that kind of union that satisfied both the appetites.

musikk

It’s so soft and deep, you just live in it.

15/34




INTERVJUER: But your lyrics about love have changed from the 60ies till the

80ies till…

COHEN: …till tonight

INTERVJUER: ..today?

COHEN: Yeah, well, yes. But, as I say, I don’t know what the changes are, and I

don’t know what they signifie. I don’t know what is happening. I’m trying to find out,

and I don’t care what is happening, to tell you the truth. So something is happening,

as Dylan says, but you don’t know what it is, do you, Mr Jones?

Eh, so that’s the way I feel. I’m not interested in the explanation, even my own. I

know that the past produces the present, and the present produces the future, but I

have no interest in the past and I have very little interest in the man I was then. It

doesn’ present a mystery to me, it doesn’t present a puzzle to be solved. I just feel

that I embody it.

Do you want something to drink? Some wine, some aquavit?

MARIANNE: Nå må vi ha litt te.

Marianne: Jetzt müssen wir einen Tee trinken.

(a) Musikk

”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,

16/34




MARIANNE: Mmm. Det er helt utrolig hvisker på musikken

Marianne: Mmm. Das ist ganz unglaublich flüstert zur Musik.

COHEN: Marianne and I were in a hotel in Pyreus.

FORTELLER: Tilbake på 60-tallet. Marianne og Leonard på et enkelt hotell i

Pyreus.

Zurück in den 60er Jahren. Marianne und Leonard in einem

einfachen Hotel in Piräus.

COHEN: And we were both about 25.

Musikk 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.

And we had to catch the boat back to Hydra. And we got up and got a taxi. And I’ve

never forgotten this. Nothing happend, just sitting in the back of the taxi with

Marianne, lit a cigarett, and thinking: I’m an adult. I’m with this beautiful woman, we

have a little money in our pocket. That feeling, I think, I’ve tried to recreate it

hundreds of times unsuccessfully. Just that feeling of being grown up, with

somebody beautiful that you’re happy to be beside, and all the world is in front of

you. You’re body is suntanned, and you’re going to get on a boat.

17/34




(b) Bølgeskvulp

(c) Wellenplätschern

MARIANNE: Vi satt i solen, vi lå i solen, vi gikk i solen, vi lyttet til musikk, vi

badet, vi lekte, vi drakk, vi diskuterte. Det ble skrevet og elsket og… Det var ganske

flott, vet du, å kunne ha det sånn. I fem år hadde jeg ikke sko på bena, ikke sant.

Da han reiste tilbake til Montreal så gikk det ikke lange tiden før jeg fikk et telegram.

”Have house, all I need is my woman and her son. Love Leonard.” Sånn var det.

liten latter

Marianne: Wir saßen in der Sonne, wir lagen in der Sonne, wir gingen in der

Sonne spazieren, wir hörten Musik, wir badeten, wir spielten, wir

tranken, wir diskutierten. Es wurde geschrieben und geliebt und...

Es war phantastisch, dass es einem so gut gehen konnte. Fünf

Jahre lang hatte ich keine Schuhe an den Füßen.

Als er nach Montreal zurück fuhr, dauerte es nicht lange, bis ein

Telegramm kam. „Have house, all I need is my woman and her

son. Love Leonard.“ So war das. Kleines Lachen.

COHEN: I remember her arriving at the airport in her furcoat. And she had

two heavy valises in each hand. And I was prevented from

entering that area, but I could see her through the glass, and she

couldn’t wave to me because she couldn’t lift the suitcases up, and

she didn’t want to drop them because she was moving, you know,

18/34




so she waved to me with her foot. I remember that very very

clearly. ler

Telefonen ringer Excuse me. Hey, sweetheart. What are you

doing? … Oh, listen darling, I’m just in the middle of an interview.

…Yeah, I speak to you later on tonight. Bye.

INTERVJUER: Do you feel that love was risky sometimes?

Hast du das Gefühl, dass die Liebe manchmal riskant war?

COHEN: Risky? It’s dangerous, it’s fatal. It’s a risky business. piano ”I had

to go crazy to love you, I had to go down to the pit, I had to go

crazy to love you, I had to let everything fall…” musikk ”I had to

be people I hated, I had to be noone at all. Tired of choosing

desire, I’ve been saved by a blessed fatigue, the gates of

commitment unwired, and nobody trying to leave.”

That’s the way I describe certain moments in a process. ”Thanks

for the dance, thanks for all the dances, it’s been hell, it’s been

swell, it’s been fun. Thanks for the dance, thanks for all the

dances.” One, two, three, one, two, three, one.

Musikk

”Thank’s for the dance” fra plata ”Blue Alert!

19/34




Musik

„Thanks for the dance“ von der Platte „Blue alert“

(d) Kjøkkenlyder

Geräusche aus der Küche

COHEN: This is brisket, a friend made it for me.

FORTELLER: Det lukter middag på det gamle hvitmalte kjøkkenet til Leonard

Cohen. Han steller i stand mat til kveldens fast. Gjestene

kommer om et par timer.

Es riecht nach Essen in Leonard Cohens alter weiß gestrichener

Küche. Er bereitet das Essen für das Fest am Abend vor. In ein

paar Stunden kommen die Gäste.

COHEN: It’s kind of traditional.

FORTELLER: Cohens gamle venn Eric stikker en tur innom og snuser i grytene.

Cohens alter Freund Eric kommt rein und schnuppert in den

Töpfen.

ERIC: Hey, how are you?

20/34




COHEN: How are you doing, bro?

Trekker opp vin

Öffnet den Wein

COHEN: That’s Mariannes.

ERIC: Oh, my God…

COHEN: It’s the beste opener I ever…

ERIC: Yeah.

Setter ned glass

Setzt das Glas ab.

COHEN: I’m very grateful when the kids and my friends come the Friday night,

and I know what the form is. You know, what the form of the meal is going to be,

and what the tone is going to be, so for that reason it’s very relaxing.

Musikk

”Closing time”

21/34




FORTELLER: Leonard Cohen trives best hjemme. Liker at det skjer lite. Han

har ikke turnert på 13 år, var vrak etter den siste runden, med

over 100 konserter.

Leonard Cohen fühlt sich zu Hause am wohlsten. Er mag es,

wenn wenig passiert. Seit 13 Jahren keine Tournee mehr, nach

der letzten mit über 100 Konzerten fühlte er sich wie ein Wrack.

”Closing time” Ah we're drinking and we're dancing

and the band is really happening

and the Johnny Walker wisdom running high

COHEN: I was wrecked at the end of it, because I started to drink an

enormous amount of red wint just to get on the stage. It wasn’t

that I wanted to get drunk, but it was this particular wine and the

music that went together perfectly. And after that I had a bottle or

two. I really wanted to sing. So I started with a few glasses. Then

it was a bottle, then it was two bottles, and in the end I would

drink three bottles before I went on the stage. I don’t think

anybody knew that I was drunk. I don’t think I was drunk. In fact I

know I wasn’t drunk, because I can’t play when I’m drunk.

At the end of a tour your being dumped into the desert and you

don’t remember, you know, where your house is or what you

would do with your drivers lisence, or if you still have a car or a

girlfriend or a wife or children. You know, your’re just lost.

22/34




Musikk It’s closing time…

FORTELLER: Sliten etter turneen, over 100 konserter, så stopp. Som å bli

dumpet i ørkenen uten å vite hvor en gjorde av førerkortet, eller

om en har bil eller kjæreste eller hus. Ingenting føltes viktigere

enn å trekke seg tilbake. Leonard Cohen gikk i kloster.

Erschöpft nach der Tournee mit über 100 Konzerten - dann

plötzlich Schluß: Als würde man in der Wüste ausgesetzt, ohne

zu wissen, ob man den Führerschein hat, oder ein Auto oder eine

Freundin oder ein Haus. Nichts war wichtiger als sich

zurückzuziehen. Leonard Cohen ging ins Kloster.

COHEN: I didn’t know what else to do, and nothing seemed to be as

urgent as studying these matters.

FORTELLER: Ble ordinert til munk og tjente for sin buddistiske lærer Roshi,

som han møtte og ble så fascinert av for nesten 40 år siden.

Er wurde zum Mönch geweiht und diente seinem buddhistischen

Lehrer Roshi, den er vor 40 Jahren getroffen hatte und der ihn

faszinierte.

COHEN: So I moved up to the mountain. And after a while I became

ordeaned as a munk. I mean, you’re doing it for a reason. It’s not

just to build up your muscles, it’s not just a macho exercise, it’s to

23/34




kind of cook your mind so that you can hear what you’re saying.

Because you can’t hear what you’re saying if you’re full of

yourself. So there you get so tired that you can’t pretend, and

that’s all that a monastery is. It’s a place were they make you so

tired that you give up pretending. Musikk

I never stayed in show business. I guess I should have, if I had

wanted to eally establish a certain kind of career. But I didn’t

have any appetite for that. I always wanted to og back to a little

room in Montreal, or og back to my house on Hydra. Or just stay

in that corner where you are sitting.

FORTELLER: Plateutgivelser. Turneer. Så tilbake til et stille rom. Tilbake til et

lite rom.

Platten produzieren. Auf Tournee gehen. Dann zurück in einen

stillen Raum. Zurück in ein kleines Zimmer.

Musikk

”Love itself” The light came through the window,

Straight from the sun above,

And so inside my little room

There plunged the rays of Love.

COHEN: But you know then you run into your life, and it shipwrecks like

everyone elses life. And you mess up, and it collapses, whether it

is the woman or yourself or your own mind or your own

confidence. Whatever it is, it just goes and it happens to

everybody.

24/34




FORTELLER: Men så kolliderer en med sitt eget liv. Og det havarerer for deg,

som for alle andre. For dette livet er skapt for å slå deg over

ende. Ingen mestrer det.

Aber dann kollidiert man mit dem eigenen Leben, und es geht zu

Bruch. Das passiert dir wie allen anderen. Dieses Leben haut

dich einfach um. Keiner meistert das.

COHEN: So, you know, that happens to you, and then it gets kind of tricky,

because sometimes it collapses so thorough that it… it destroys

your capasity to work so you really be in trouble. If you’r lucky

you can somehow protect just that tiny little corner of your life

from complete destruction. And everybody experiences this,

because this life is designed to overthrow you. Nobody masters

it.

Musikk

Love itself I’ll try to say a little more:

Love went on and on

Until it reached an open door –

Then Love Itself

Love Itself was gone.

COHEN: I’m very happy when my life is uneventful, and I don’t have strong

feelings about one thing or another.

25/34




INTERVJUER: But it didn’t use to be like that?

COHEN: No, it didn’t use to be like that. It was very much a sense of

struggle and of, not defeat actually, but wearyness. Wearyness of

the struggle. After a while you just get tired of your own ler …of

your own drama.

FORTELLER: Lei av sitt eget drama, lei av alt var en kamp. Alltid på vei. Hvordan

var det å turnere da sønnen og datteren var små?

Müde vom eigenen Drama, dem ständigen Kampf. Immer

unterwegs. Wie war das, auf Tournee zu gehen, als die Kinder

klein waren?

INTERVJUER: How was it to go on tours when they were small?

COHEN: There was no problem. I always knew that they were well taken

care of. I was always escaping anyways. A large part of my life

was escaping. Whatever it was, even if the situation looked good, I

had to escape, because it didn’t look good to me. So it was a

selfish life, but it didn’t seem so at the time, it just seemed a matter

of survival. You know, I guess kids and people close to me

26/34




suffered because I was always leaving. Not for very long, but I was

always trying to get away.

(e) Musikk

Abschnitt 1.07 ”Minute Prologue” I've been listening

to all the dissention.

I've been listening

to all the pain.

And I feel that no matter

what I do for you,

it's going to come back again.

But I think that I can heal it,

but I think that I can heal it,

I'm a fool, but I think I can heal it

with this song.

INTERVJUER: What makes you really happy today?

COHEN: Well, I have a little drying here. It says… it says: Only one thing

made him happy, and now that it was gone, everything made him

happy. So that’s pretty close.

I feel tremendously relieved that I’m not worried about my

happiness. There are things, of course, that make me happy, when

I see my children well, when I see my daughter’s dogs, a glass of

wine… But what I am so happy about is that the backgroundof

discomfort or distress has evaported. It’s not that the emotions

27/34




don’t come, it’s just that the background is clear. Before it was all

one piece, it was very dark.

A sense of things being deeply not right, and, you know, by the

grace of God, that feeling has evaported, so I can feel real sorrow

now. It’s not the sorrow that emerges from the sorrow, it’s not just

the melancholy that emerges from the melancholy. So when things

touch me in a sorrowful way I can speak about them, and, more

important, I can feel them.

FORTELLER: Før var alt svart. En følelse av at ting dypest sett ikke var riktige.

Nå har den mørke bakgrunnen lettet. Kan føle ekte sorg nå. Ikke

bare sorgen fra sorgen, eller melankolien fra melankolien. Årene i

kloster på et fjell i California gjorde det kanskje litt lysere?

Früher war alles schwarz. Ein Gefühl, dass die Dinge auf tiefe

Weise nicht richtig waren. Jetzt hat sich dieser dunkle Hintergrund

gehoben. Er kann echten Kummer empfinden. Nicht nur Trauer

über die Trauer, Melancholie aus der Melancholie heraus. Die

Jahre in einem Kloster in den kalifornischen Bergen haben das

Leben vielleicht etwas heller gemacht?

COHEN: That was connected with it, but I don’t know what it was. I honestly

don’t know. The religious life generally strengthens the ego, and

make people really misearable. Because the religious promise is

so cruel. The promise that you will live a life free from pain. If you

get enlightened you will never suffer again. It’s a very cruel

promise. Because nobody can live without suffering. It doesn’t

matter how advanced or fulfilled or enlightened an individual is, he

will never be free from the sorrows and the pains of the moment. If

28/34




someone steps on his toe he’s going to cry out. And if someone

steps on his heart he’s going to cry out.

INTERVJUER: Is life easier now than before?

COHEN: Oh yeah, much easier.

INTERVJUER: Why is that? Wisdom?

COHEN: No, I told you, the brain cells with anxciety begin to die. It just feels

better. It doesn’t depend on meditation or whether you brush your

teeth in the morning.

(a) Bølgeskvulp

Wellenplätschern

FORTELLER: Det er ingen bølger her. Men hvis du vil er det det. Bølger som

de som skyller opp på strendene på Hydra.

Hier gibt es keine Wellen. Aber wenn man will, gibt es welche. Wellen wie die

am Strand von Hydra.

COHEN leser dikt:

29/34




Days of Kindness

Greece is a good place

To look at the moon, isn’t it

You can read by the moonlight

You can read on the terrace

You can see a face

As you saw it when you were young

There was good light then

Oil lamps and candles

And those little flames

That floated on a cork in olive oil

What I loved in my old life

I haven’t forgotten

It lives in my spine

Marianne and the child

The days of kindness

It rises in my spine

And it manifests as tears

I pray that a loving memory

Exists for them too

The precious ones I overthrew

For an education in the world

30/34




(i) Middagsselskap

Abendgesellschaft

GJESTER: Alright, alright, applaus sweet, sweet. Something silly about that

song…

FORTELLER: Fredag kveld og middagsselskap.

Freitag Abend und Gäste zum Essen.

GJESTER: Applaus Sweet, sweet… Oh man, 1967 coming back on us, hvao.

Beautiful

Applaus

FORTELLER: Gamle venner er samlet rundt spisebordet i stua. Tøyservietter på

tallerknene. Sølvbestikk. Gammeldagse stetteglass med gullrand.

Alte Freunde sind um den Eßtisch im Wohnzimmer versammelt.

Stoffservietten auf den Tellern. Silberbesteck. Altmodische Gläser

mit Goldrand.

GUESTS: What a great song. Always been one of my favourites.

Noone has ever really…

Well, Rod Stewart…

Hvao.

31/34




It’s beautiful. Let’s play it one more time.It’s incredible.

FORTELLER: Cohen henter munnharpa si, og lydmannen hans gjør klar gitaren.

GUEST: Are you getting the “Jew’s” harp? I knew it.

Musikk

COHEN: What do you want? Where do you find your real pleasure? What

kind of table do you have to sit at? Who does you company have

to be, to satisfy the same criteria that you had when you were

young? I mean, does everybody have to be beautiful? Does

everybody have to be rich and smart? Do all places have to be

well appointed? Does your own life have to be yealding applause

and admiration? If you’re lucky, the scale get reduced, but you still

want those things.

(ii) Musikk/sang

Musik/Gesang

FORTELLER: Cohen går på kjøkkenet og tar oppvasken. Klokka 10 står han i

boksershorts og genser og sier god natt. Gjestene fortsetter.

Resten er fest og neste morgen.

32/34




Cohen geht in die Küche und macht den Abwasch. Um zehn

steht er in Boxershorts und Pullover da und sagt Gute Nacht. Die

Gäste feiern weiter..

(iii) Musikk

(iv) Fuglekvitter

Vogelzwitschern

FORTELLER: Det er morgen i en forstad til Los Angeles. Leonard Cohen har

ryddet etter gårsdagens selskap. Han sitter i sin blå sofa med bena

på salongbordet. På bordet ligger det et utkast til den nye

diktboken han skal publisere til høsten.

Morgens in einem Vorort von Los Angeles. Leonard Cohen hat

nach dem gestrigen Fest aufgeräumt. Er sitzt auf seinem blauen

Sofa mit den Füßen auf dem Tisch. Auf dem Tisch liegt ein

Entwurf des neuen Gedichtbandes, den er im Herbst

veröffentlichen wird.

INTERVJUER: What’s your favourite?

COHEN: In the book? There are some nice drawings. I don’t know if I have

a favourite… What I like about the book is that… it doesn’t try to be

important. I think that is what I like about it, it pretends to be

modest.

33/34




INTERVJUER: Pretends to be?

COHEN: Yeah it pretends to be modest. Well, how modest can it be,

actually, when, you know, it’s going to be published and I’m going

to be asking people to pay money for it.

INTERVJUER: Would you read me something?

COHEN: Ok. I’ll try to read you something… blar i boka I can’t really find

anything that…

INTERVJUER: …that you like?

COHEN: … that I could stand reading. Eh…There must be something, eh?

Well, let’s read a little later.

(v) Musikk

INTERVJUER: ”If it be your will.” Leonard Cohen som ikke vil huske spiller sine

gamle sanger. Bikkjegnelder

„If it be your will“. Leonard Cohen, der sich nicht erinnern will,

spielt seine alten Songs. Hundegebell

34/34




If it be your will

If there is a choice

Let the rivers fill

Let the hills rejoice

Let your mercy spill

On all these burning hearts in hell

If it be your will

To make us well

and draw us near

Oh bind us tight

All your children here

In their rags of light

In our rags of light

All dressed to kill

And end this night

If it be your will

If it be your will.

COHEN: I remembered that one. Well, they gave me that one song, you

know.

Documents

WDR 3 Kulturfeature … · COHEN: Just fooling around, just remembering. Just remembering. I forget what these songs are, I really got to learn them again. FORTELLER: Leonard Cohen