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Leonard Cohen: Popular Problems

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Columbia Records
Released: 2014.09.19
Time:
 36:01
Category: Folk
Producer(s): Patrick Leonard
Rating: ********.. (8/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.leonardcohen.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2014
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Slow (L.Cohen/P.Leonard) - 3:25
[2] Almost Like The Blues (L.Cohen/P.Leonard) - 3:28
[3] Samson In New Orleans (L.Cohen/P.Leonard) - 4:39
[4] A Street (L.Cohen/A.Thomas) - 3:33
[5] Did I Ever Love You (L.Cohen/P.Leonard) - 4:11
[6] My Oh My (L.Cohen/P.Leonard) - 3:37
[7] Nevermind (L.Cohen/P.Leonard) - 4:40
[8] Born In Chains (L.Cohen) - 4:56
[9] You Got Me Singing (L.Cohen/P.Leonard) - 3:32

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Leonard Cohen - Vocals
Patrick Leonard - Instrumentation, Keyboards, Producer
Joe Ayoub - Bass
James Hurrah - Guitar
Brian Macleod - Drums
Alkexandru Bublitchi - Violin
Charlean Carmon - Background Vocals
Donna De Lory - Background Vocals
Dana Glover - Background Vocals

Jesse E. String - Engineer, Mixing
Bill Bottrell - Mixing
Stephen Marcussen - Mastering
Michael Petit - Booklet Design
Kezban Özcan - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Popular Problems is the thirteenth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released on 19 September 2014 in Friday-release countries (such as France and Ireland) and on 22 September 2014 elsewhere.

Most of the songs were new, though Cohen did debut "Born In Chains" onstage in 2010 and "My Oh My" was played during a soundcheck the same year.

The 2010 version of "Born In Chains" differs radically in terms of arrangements and singing compared to the 2014 studio version, and the song itself was first performed as early as 1985, during an (unofficially recorded) soundcheck in Europe. The early version used earlier lyrics set to the music which later become the song "I Can't Forget", released on Cohen's 1988 record I'm Your Man. Through the years, Cohen referred to the song as "Taken Out of Egypt", reciting it on show in 1988, and humming it to the new melody in 2005 documentary Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man.

"A Street" was recited by Cohen in 2006, during promotion of his book of poetry Book of Longing, and later printed twice, as "A Street" in March 2, 2009 issue of The New Yorker magazine, and as "Party's Over" in Everyman's Library edition of Cohen's Poems and Songs in 2011. Both versions include a verse referring to 9/11.

"Nevermind" was published as the poem in 2005 on The Leonard Cohen Files website, and in Book of Longing in 2006.

Upon its release the album received uniformly positive reviews from critics, with Metacritic tallying 22 positive reviews for an aggregate score of 86, designated on the site as "Universal acclaim". Thom Jurek of AllMusic wrote that, at 80 years old, "Cohen not only has plenty left in the tank, but is at his most confident and committed" and called it his best album since 1992's The Future. The New York Times gave a moderately positive review, calling Cohen "one of rock’s most profound aphorists" but dismissing the "bouncy country" production of "Did I Ever Love You" as the album's "major misstep". Neil McCormick of The Telegraph called the album "a masterpiece".

The album peaked at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 20,000 copies in its first week. In its second week, the album fell to number two behind Bryan Adams's Tracks of My Years, with sales of 10,500.



At the age of 80, Leonard Cohen has created a masterpiece. It’s a smoky, late-night concoction delivered with a deceptively light touch that masks deep seriousness. Opening track Slow proves a gentle curtain raiser, played out with wry humour over a bluesy electric piano, Cohen taking the opportunity to dismiss notions that advancing years might be responsible for the sedate pace of the music: “It’s not because I’m old/ It’s not what dying does/ I always liked it slow/ Slow is in my blood.”

The band builds throughout the track and those that follow with splashes of organ, the flutter of percussion, the fruity push of horns and harmonic sweetness of female backing vocals, each new element adding warmth and depth. The past few years of constant gigging seem to have emboldened Cohen to let his band have some headway, at long last ditching the constricted keyboard and drum machine sound he has favoured since the late Eighties. And where better singers battle decaying vocal cords and diminishing range, Cohen embraces it all, growly edges fraying his whispery baritone with bluesman gravitas.

The 'popular problems’ he addresses involve internecine conflict, viewing civil war through the metaphor of human relationships and vice versa, illuminating the macrocosm in the microcosm of troubled times.

Almost Like the Blues frets at the darkness in the human soul, evoking the story of “the gipsies and the Jews”. Genocidal, geopolitical conflict lurks in these grooves but Cohen doesn’t pin his colours to any mast. The epic Born a Slave examines his Judaic roots while the astonishing Nevermind focuses on the plight of other displaced people, an inspirational flourish of Arabic singing implying compassionate identification with Israel’s historic enemies. Samson in New Orleans addresses cultural divides in America while the beautifully ruminative A Street views a battle from the perspective of a divided love affair: “You put on a uniform to fight the civil war/ You looked so good I didn’t care what side you were fighting for”.

Cohen’s couplets are so satisfying, you can’t help but smile when he reaches the inevitable rhyme, even when the underlying message is disturbing. He is not afraid of ambiguity but doesn’t use it to disguise woolly thinking. There is always a sense of deeper layers of meaning, images that linger and ideas to contemplate when the music fades. The album ends, rather wonderfully, with breezy anthem You Got Me Singing, suggesting Cohen is in no hurry to leave the stage: “You got me singing even though the world is gone/ You got me thinking that I’d like to carry on/ You got me singing even though it all looks grim/ You got me singing the Hallelujah hymn.” Hallelujah to that.

Neil McCormick - 23 Sep 2014
© Copyright of Telegraph



Popular Problems is principally concerned with conflict, disaster and the almighty, but the second great gag on Leonard Cohen’s 13th album is to start it with Slow, a fabulously sleazy blues about making the moment last. Ahem.

“Let me catch my breath,” Cohen rumbles, his voice an underground train several feet beneath the soil, “I thought we had all night.” It’s not his age slowing him down, Cohen gargles; he’s always taken his time, in life as in love. Cohen’s biography bears this out. The Canadian – 80 today – didn’t become a recording artist until he was a published poet, a good few years older than his contemporaries (Bob Dylan, Neil Young). Born in Chains – a gospel waltz included here – is a long, sprawling track that has taken Cohen 40 years to get down to his satisfaction.

For a few years, the singer was missing, presumed retired in a Buddhist monastery where he could practice his non-attachment to rushing around. Since 2008, though, Cohen has operated with haste. A tour intended to replenish his embezzled retirement fund turned into years of packed theatres, a 2012 album, Old Ideas, and more touring. Now, there is a brief but satisfying nine-track album which ties up loose ends even as it packs surprises. Mostly, Popular Problems presents Cohen’s wry, wracked recitations against almost ascetic backings overseen by Patrick Leonard, famed for his work with Madonna.

Songs such as Nevermind are built out of a synthetic bassline and simple machine throb. It’s all about the poem, delivered in punchy, jazzy, staccato lines, punctuated by an angelic chorus, so long a foil in Cohen’s songs. A woman sings “salaam”, the Arabic greeting of “peace”. Nevermind seems to be about treachery among soldiers in the aftermath of an Arab-Israeli war. Cohen is in vicious form. “This was your heart/ This swarm of flies,” he accuses. It’s even better than Born in Chains.

Almost Like the Blues, the free download that heralded the album, was an accurate precursor: the mood here is bleak. All organs, choir and an Irish fiddle, Samson in New Orleans concerns the city’s betrayal. The Big Easy was “better than America”. She was brought down, not just by a natural disaster. A Street is set on a corner where there isn’t a street any more, a tale prompted by the atrocity of 9/11.

Two love songs break up the litany. My Oh My is a loose tune cheered by brass. Cohen enjoys the memory of a short love. “Held you for a little while/My oh my” – the “my, oh my” speaking volumes. Did I Ever Love You, meanwhile, finds Cohen interrogating himself, his voice harsh and straining, as a quiet piano plinks away. The chorus comes in and we’re abruptly teleported into a country ditty. The music swaps back and forth between the two – Cohen’s searching existential questions and the county fair – and the disjoint is one of this otherwise fine album’s more puzzling conundrums.

The very first gag on this fine record is, of course, the album’s title itself, a little oxymoronic koan. How can a problem (bad) be popular (good)? Really, though, the stuff of Popular Problems is the stuff we all struggle with: the problems of the people. The final laugh comes at the end. “You got me singing,” harrumphs Cohen, not actually singing, “even though it all looks grim.” And he’s “singing that Hallelujah hymn”, having come full circle from the bedroom to God, while mischievously name-checking his most famous song.

Kitty Empire - The Observer
Sunday 21 September 2014   



Popular Problems is Leonard Cohen's thrilling new studio album, where he takes us down into the avenues of our dreams and sets a new tone and speed of hope and despair, grief and joy. Cohen here is an astonished lover rocking to the human condition as "the soul unfolds in the chambers of its longing." His legendary basso resonates as never before with a presence and urgency that arises from the very the depths of the heart. The clarity and strength of these nine hypnotic songs will have us singing them over and over.

Popular Problems is Cohen's 13th studio album, and will be released just two days after his 80th birthday. In collaboration with co-writer Patrick Leonard, Popular Problems is a masterpiece from the ever-fresh imagination of a musical legend whose songs continue to captivate new listeners and devoted fans. Popular Problems was produced by Patrick Leonard, mastered at Marcussen Mastering and was recorded and mixed by Jesse E. String with additional mixing by Bill Bottrell.

Leonard Cohen is a master songwriter, musician, poet, novelist and visual artist whose stunning body of original work has touched the lives of millions with a career spanning six decades. His explorations of spiritual, interpersonal, romantic and political themes have impacted countless contemporary recording artists and writers. He has sold over 23 million albums, worldwide and published 12 books, the most recent of which was 2006's 'Book of Longing', a collection of poetry, prose and drawings, which reached #1 on the Top 10 Hardcover Fiction Books in Canada.

Cohen's influence on musical and theatrical artists the world over is inestimable. In fact, when Cohen was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in March 2008, the revered Lou Reed singled out Leonard as one of the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters." Cohen's songbook has been covered by hundreds of recording artists including Jeff Buckley, Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, Johnny Cash, Lou Reed, Tori Amos, Nick Cave, Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte, Rufus Wainwright and the Civil Wars. Tribute albums have been released in Cohen's honor in France, Norway, Canada, Spain, Swedish, Czech Republic, South Africa and the United States. In 2008 Cohen's "Hallelujah" became the fastest-selling digital single in European history when three separate versions of the song appeared simultaneously on the UK singles chart - Cohen's own original recording, a version from Jeff Buckley and another from X Factor winner Alexandra Burke. Additionally, Leonard's songs have been frequently selected to illustrate the emotion of motion pictures and television programs and have been heard in Watchmen, The Passion of The Christ, Natural Born Killers, The Wonder Boys, Pump Up The Volume, Secretary, The West Wing, The O.C. and many others.

Leonard Cohen has been honored as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient (2010), inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (2008), the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame (2006), the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (2006) and the Songwriters Hall Of Fame (2010). He has received the prestigious Principe de Asturias Prize the highest literary award in Spain (Spain, 2011) as well as the Glenn Gould Prize, awarded to an individual for a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts (Canada, 2011). The Canadian native has earned his country's highest civilian honors - Officer of the Order of Canada (1991), Companion to the Order of Canada (2003), Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec (2008).

Amazon.com



Новый льбом Леонарда Коэна «Popular Problems», приуроченный к восьмидесятилетию музыканта, будет представлен публике 23 сентября 2014.

Предыдущий альбом «Old Ideas» вышел в 2012 году и достиг 3 места в чарте Billboard 200. «Old Ideas» был своеобразным подведением итогов. Сможет ли «Popular Problems» стать новым шагом в музыкальной карьере Коэна и удивить поклонников? Сам певец обещает, что альбом «установит новый тон и скорость надежды и отчаяния, горя и радости».

В создании нового альбома Коэна вновь принял участие музыкант и поэт Леонард Патрик, известный своим длительным сотрудничеством с Мадонной. Патрик также работал над последними альбомами Коэна «Show Me The Place» и «Old Ideas».

Леонард Норман Коэн (Leonard Norman Cohen; 21 сентября 1934, Монреаль, Канада) - канадский поэт, писатель, певец и автор песен. Первый поэтический сборник опубликован в 1956 году, первый роман - в 1963 году.

В ранние годы песни Коэна основывались на фолк-музыке, в 1970-х тяготели к поп-музыке и кабаре. С 1980-х годов Коэн поёт низким голосом под сопровождение музыки с синтезаторами и женским бэк-вокалом. Его песни часто эмоционально тяжёлые и со сложными текстами. Среди тем, о которых поёт Коэн: религия, одиночество, сексуальность, сложные отношения между людьми.

Песни и поэзия Коэна оказали большое влияние на многих поэтов-песенников и музыкантов. Леонард Коэн введён в «Канадский музыкальный зал славы»; с 19 апреля 1991 года является Офицером Ордена Канады, а с 10 октября 2002 года - Компаньоном Ордена Канады, что является высшей наградой для гражданина этой страны. На его песни существует множество кавер-версий. Одна из наиболее часто перепеваемых песен Коэна - Hallelujah («Аллилуйя»). Её исполняли, среди прочих, американский музыкант Джефф Бакли, шведская прогрессив-метал-группа Pain Of Salvation, американская рок-группа Bon Jovi, Боно, Джон Кейл и французская певица Ванесса Паради. Песня звучит в фильмах «Оружейный барон», «Шрек», «Хранители», «Босиком по мостовой» (в последнем - в исполнении Ри Гарви), «Воспитатели» и сериалах «Мыслить как преступник», «Клиника» и «Доктор Хаус». Также эта песня прозвучала на открытии Олимпиады '2010 в Ванкувере в исполнении k.d. lang.



Popular Problems is Leonard Cohen's thrilling new studio album, where he takes us down into the avenues of our dreams and sets a new tone and speed of hope and despair, grief and joy. Cohen here is an astonished lover rocking to the human condition as "the soul unfolds in the chambers of its longing." His legendary basso resonates as never before with a presence and urgency that arises from the very the depths of the heart. The clarity and strength of these nine hypnotic songs will have us singing them over and over.

Popular Problems is Cohen's 13th studio album, and will be released just two days after his 80th birthday. In collaboration with co-writer Patrick Leonard, Popular Problems is a masterpiece from the ever-fresh imagination of a musical legend whose songs continue to captivate new listeners and devoted fans. Popular Problems was produced by Patrick Leonard, mastered at Marcussen Mastering and was recorded and mixed by Jesse E. String with additional mixing by Bill Bottrell.

Leonard Cohen is a master songwriter, musician, poet, novelist and visual artist whose stunning body of original work has touched the lives of millions with a career spanning six decades. His explorations of spiritual, interpersonal, romantic and political themes have impacted countless contemporary recording artists and writers. He has sold over 23 million albums, worldwide and published 12 books, the most recent of which was 2006's 'Book of Longing', a collection of poetry, prose and drawings, which reached #1 on the Top 10 Hardcover Fiction Books in Canada.

Cohen's influence on musical and theatrical artists the world over is inestimable. In fact, when Cohen was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in March 2008, the revered Lou Reed singled out Leonard as one of the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters." Cohen's songbook has been covered by hundreds of recording artists including Jeff Buckley, Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, Johnny Cash, Lou Reed, Tori Amos, Nick Cave, Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte, Rufus Wainwright and the Civil Wars. Tribute albums have been released in Cohen's honor in France, Norway, Canada, Spain, Swedish, Czech Republic, South Africa and the United States. In 2008 Cohen's "Hallelujah" became the fastest-selling digital single in European history when three separate versions of the song appeared simultaneously on the UK singles chart - Cohen's own original recording, a version from Jeff Buckley and another from X Factor winner Alexandra Burke. Additionally, Leonard's songs have been frequently selected to illustrate the emotion of motion pictures and television programs and have been heard in Watchmen, The Passion of The Christ, Natural Born Killers, The Wonder Boys, Pump Up The Volume, Secretary, The West Wing, The O.C. and many others.

Leonard Cohen has been honored as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient (2010), inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (2008), the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame (2006), the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (2006) and the Songwriters Hall Of Fame (2010). He has received the prestigious Principe de Asturias Prize the highest literary award in Spain (Spain, 2011) as well as the Glenn Gould Prize, awarded to an individual for a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts (Canada, 2011). The Canadian native has earned his country's highest civilian honors - Officer of the Order of Canada (1991), Companion to the Order of Canada (2003), Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec (2008).

Cohen's recent return to live performance was met with extraordinary and unanimous accolades as he performed around the world from 2008 through 2013. Cohen's mesmerizing recent performances, deemed "a spiritual experience" by all accounts, totaled 470 shows in 31 countries attended by four million fans.



Leonard Cohen begeht mit dem neuen Album »Popular Problems« seinen 80. Geburtstag

Happy Birthday, Lenny. Pünktlich zu seinem 80. Geburtstag (genau genommen zwei Tage vorher) veröffentlicht Leonard Cohen mit »Popular Problems« sein 13. Studioalbum, für das ihm beim Songwriting und als Produzent erneut Patrick Leonard zur Seite stand. Aufgenommen und abgemischt wurde die neue Platte von Jesse E. String.

Wie auf »Old Ideas« ist auf der neuen CD »Popular Problems« ein gesetzter, resümierender Leonard Cohen zu hören, der mit tiefsinnigen Texten und einfallsreich instrumentierten, musikalisch abwechslungsreichen Songs überzeugt. Der Opener »Slow«, dessen Name Programm ist, setzt von Anbeginn des Albums den Duktus: Leonard Cohen wird es langsam angehen lassen (»I’m slowing down my tune …«). Viele der Songs sind eher gesprochen als gesungen. Die immer tiefer werdende Stimme von Cohen geht aufgrund der hervorragend abgemischten Platte gefühlt auf direktem Wege vom Ohr ins Herz.

Leonard Cohen hat auf »Popular Problems« noch immer viel zu sagen. Nicht immer ist sein Fazit positiv, vielmehr durchweht eine lakonisch-melancholische Stimmung das Album, das neun Songs umfasst. Im langsamen Countrysong »You got me singing« wirft Cohen den Sprechgesang über Bord, und resümiert singend »Even though it all looks grim, You got me singing the Hallelujah Hymn« – in Anspielung auf seinen so häufig gecoverten Song. Vermutlich wundert es ihn sehr, dass angesichts der Welt um uns herum so viele Menschen gerne Hallelujah singen.

Musik ist der Rettungsanker für Leonard Cohen in einer Welt, die er kritisch wie eh und je betrachtet. Er schenkt sich und uns mit »Popular Problems« ein klangvolles Album, das trotz aller Melancholie der Texte musikalisch Trost spendet.

jpc.de



»Musikalisch setzt der Altmeister des sonoren Sprechgesangs dabei ganz auf Entschleunigung, wie gleich die erste Textzeile des Openers ›Slow‹ unterstreicht, die da lautet: ›I’m slowing down my tune.‹«

(Good Times, Dezember 2014 / Januar 2015)



»War schon ›Old Ideas‹ vor zwei Jahren ein Meisterstück, so legt Cohen noch einmal eins drauf, glasklar im Sound, unheimlich authentisch in der musikalischen Wirkung.«

(stereoplay, November 2014)



»So viel Wellness-Gefühl verströmte kein Cohen-Album zuvor.«

(Stereo, Dezember 2014)



»Existenzialismus pur: sinister, melancholisch, vermeintlich beschaulich in der Musiksprache zwischen Blues und Folk, knallhart in der philosophischen Aussage: ein Griff tief in die Seele des Hörers.«

(Audio, Dezember 2014)
 

 L y r i c s


Slow

I’m slowing down the tune
I never liked it fast
You want to get there soon
I want to get there last

It’s not because I’m old
It’s not the life I led
I always liked it slow
That’s what my momma said

I’m lacing up my shoe
But I don’t want to run
I’ll get here when I do
Don’t need no starting gun

It’s not because I’m old
It’s not what dying does
I always liked it slow
Slow is in my blood

I always liked it slow:
I never liked it fast
With you it’s got to go:
With me it’s got to last

It’s not because I’m old
It’s not because I’m dead
I always liked it slow
That’s what my momma said

All your moves are swift
All your turns are tight
Let me catch my breath
I thought we had all night

I like to take my time
I like to linger as it flies
A weekend on your lips
A lifetime in your eyes

I always liked it slow...

I’m slowing down the tune
I never liked it fast
You want to get there soon
I want to get there last

So baby let me go
You’re wanted back in town
In case they want to know
I’m just trying to slow it down


Almost Like The Blues

I saw some people starving
There was murder, there was rape
Their villages were burning
They were trying to escape
I couldn't meet their glances
I was staring at my shoes
It was acid, it was tragic
It was almost like the blues

I have to die a little
Between each murderous thought
And when I'm finished thinking
I have to die a lot
There's torture and there's killing
And there's all my bad reviews
The war, the children missing
Lord, it's almost like the blues

So I let my heart get frozen
To keep away the rot
My father said I'm chosen
My mother said I'm not
I listened to their story
Of the Gypsies and the Jews
It was good, it wasn't boring
It was almost like the blues

There is no G-d in Heaven
And there is no Hell below
So says the great professor
Of all there is to know
But I've had the invitation
That a sinner can't refuse
And it's almost like salvation
It's almost like the blues


Samson In New Orleans

You said that you were with me
You said you were my friend
Did you really love the city
Or did you just pretend

You said you loved her secrets
And her freedoms hid away
She was better than America
That’s what I heard you say

You said how could this happen
You said how can this be
The remnant all dishonored
On the bridge of misery

And we who cried for mercy
From the bottom of the pit
Was our prayer so damn unworthy
The Son rejected it?

So gather up the killers
Get everyone in town
Stand me by those pillars
Let me take this temple down

The king so kind and solemn
He wears a bloody crown
So stand me by that column
Let me take this temple down

You said how could this happen
You said how can this be
The chains are gone from heaven
The storms are wild and free

There’s other ways to answer
That certainly is true
Me, I’m blind with death and anger
And that’s no place for you

There’s a woman in the window
And a bed in Tinsel Town
I’ll write you when it’s over
Let me take this temple down

A Street
I used to be your favorite drunk
Good for one more laugh
Then we both ran out of luck
Luck was all we ever had
You put on a uniform
To fight the Civil War
You looked so good I didn’t care
What side you’re fighting for

It wasn’t all that easy
When you up and walked away
But I’ll save that little story
For another rainy day
I know the burden’s heavy
As you wheel it through the night
Some people say it’s empty
But that don’t mean it’s light

You left me with the dishes
And a baby in the bath
You’re tight with the militias
You wear their camouflage
You always said we’re equal
So let me march with you
Just an extra in the sequel
To the old red white and blue

Baby don’t ignore me
We were smokers we were friends
Forget that tired story
Of betrayal and revenge
I see the Ghost of Culture
With numbers on his wrist
Salute some new conclusion
Which all of us have missed

I cried for you this morning
And I’ll cry for you again
But I’m not in charge of sorrow
So please don’t ask me when
There may be wine and roses
And magnums of champagne
But we’ll never no we’ll never
Ever be that drunk again

The party’s over
But I’ve landed on my feet
I’ll be standing on this corner
Where there used to be a street


Did I Ever Love You

Did I ever love you
Did I ever need you
Did I ever fight you
Did I ever want to

Did I ever leave you
Was I ever able
Are we still leaning
Across the old table

Did I ever love you...

Was it ever settled
Was it ever over
And is it still raining
Back in November

The lemon trees blossom
The almond trees whither
Was I ever someone
Who could love you forever

Was it ever settled
Was it ever over
And is it still raining
Back in November

The lemon trees blossom
The almond trees whither
It’s Spring and it’s Summer
And it’s Winter forever

Did I ever love you
Does it really matter
Did I ever fight you
You don’t need to answer

Did I ever leave you
Was I ever able
Are we still leaning
Across the old table

Did I ever love you...


My Oh My

Wasn’t hard to love you
Didn’t have to try
Wasn’t hard to love you
Didn’t have to try
Held you for a little while
My Oh My Oh My

Drove you to the station
Never asked you why
Drove you to the station
Never asked you why
Held you for a little while
My Oh My Oh My

All the boys are waving
Trying to catch your eye
All the boys are waving
Trying to catch your eye
Held you for a little while
My Oh My Oh My

Wasn’t hard to love you
Didn’t have to try
Wasn’t hard to love you
Didn’t have to try
Held you for a little while
My Oh My Oh My


Nevermind

The war was lost
The treaty signed
I was not caught
I crossed the line

I was not caught
Though many tried
I live among you
Well disguised

I had to leave
My life behind
I dug some graves
You’ll never find

The story’s told
With facts and lies
I had a name
But never mind

Never mind
Never mind
The war was lost
The treaty signed

There’s truth that lives
And truth that dies
I don’t know which
So never mind

Your victory
Was so complete
That some among you
Thought to keep

A record of
Our little lives
The clothes we wore
Our spoons our knives

The games of luck
Our soldiers played
The stones we cut
The songs we made

Our law of peace
Which understands
A husband leads
A wife commands

And all of this
Expressions of
The Sweet Indifference
Some call Love

The High Indifference
Some call Fate
But we had Names
More intimate

Names so deep and
Names so true
They’re blood to me
They’re dust to you

There is no need
That this survive
There’s truth that lives
And truth that dies

Never mind
Never mind
I live the life
I left behind

There’s truth that lives...

I could not kill
The way you kill
I could not hate
I tried I failed

You turned me in
At least you tried
You side with them
Whom you despise

This was your heart
This swarm of flies
This was once your mouth
This bowl of lies

You serve them well
I’m not surprised
You’re of their kin
You’re of their kind

Never mind
Never mind
The story’s told
With facts and lies
You own the world
So never mind

Never mind
Never mind
I live the life
I left behind

I live it full
I live it wide
Through layers of time
You can’t divide

My woman’s here
My children too
Their graves are safe
From ghosts like you

In places deep
With roots entwined
I live the life I left behind


Born In Chains

[SHARON, HATTIE AND CHARLEY]
I was born...

[LEONARD]
I was born in chains but I was taken out of Egypt
I was bound to a burden, but the burden it was raised
Oh Lord I can no longer keep this secret
Blessed is the name, the name be praised.

[SHARON]
I fled to the edge of a mighty sea of sorrow
Pursued by the armies of a cruel and dark regime
But the waters parted and my soul crossed over
Out of Egypt, out of Pharaoh’s dream.

[LEONARD]
Word of words and the measure of all measures
Blessed is the name, the name be blessed
Written on my heart in burning letters
That’s all I know, I do not know the rest

[HATTIE]
I was idled with my soul, when I heard that you could use me
I followed very closely, but my life remained the same
But then you showed me where you had been wounded
In every atom spoken is the name

[CHARLEY]
I was lost on the road, your love was so confusing
And all the teachers told me that I had myself to blame
But in the arms? stands? the? illusion
The sweet unknowing unifies the name

[LEONARD]
Word of words, and the measure of all measures
Blessed is the name, the name be blessed
Written on my heart in burning letters
That’s all I know, I cannot read the rest

[LEONARD]
I heard the soul unfolds in the chambers of this longing
As the bitter liquor sweetens in the amber cup
Ah but all the ladders of the night have fallen
Just darkness now, to lift the longing up.

[LEONARD]
Word of words and measure of all measures
Blessed is the name, the name be blessed
Written on my heart in burning letters
That’s all I know, I cannot read the rest

[SHARON, HATTIE AND CHARLEY]
Just darkness now, to lift the spirit up


You Got Me Singing

You got me singing
Even tho’ the news is bad
You got me singing
The only song I ever had

You got me singing
Ever since the river died
You got me thinking
Of the places we could hide

You got me singing
Even though the world is gone
You got me thinking
I’d like to carry on

You got me singing
Even tho’ it all looks grim
You got me singing
The Hallelujah hymn

You got me singing
Like a prisoner in a jail
You got me singing
Like my pardon’s in the mail

You got me wishing
Our little love would last
You got me thinking
Like those people of the past

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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