viernes, 27 de julio de 2012

Songs of love and hate - Leonard Cohen


SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE

Avalanche

Well I stepped into an avalanche,
It covered up my soul;
When I am not this hunchback that you see,   (hunchback: jorobado)
I sleep beneath the golden hill.  (beneath: bajo)
You who wish to conquer pain,
You must learn, learn to serve me well.

You strike my side by accident
As you go down for your gold.
The cripple here that you clothe and feed   (cripple. Lisiado, tullido)
Is neither starved nor cold;
He does not ask for your company,
Not at the centre, the centre of the world.
[: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/leonard+cohen/avalanche_
When I am here on a pedestal,
You did not raise me there.
Your laws do not compel me
To kneel grotesque and bare.
I myself am the pedestal
For this ugly hump at which you stare.  (hump: giba, joroba)

You who wish to conquer pain,
You must learn what makes me kind;
The crumbs of love that you offer me,
They're the crumbs I've left behind.
Your pain is no credential here;
It's just the shadow, shadow of my wound.

I have begun to long for you,  (long for: ansiar, añorar)
I who have no greed;
I have begun to ask for you,
I who have no need.
You say you've gone away from me,
But I can feel you when you breathe.

Do not dress in those rags for me,
I know you are not poor;
You don't love me quite so fiercely now
When you know that you are not sure,
It is your turn, beloved,
It is your flesh that I wear.



"Last Year's Man"

The rain falls down on last year's man,
that's a Jew's harp on the table,  (harp on: insister  harp; arpa)
that's a crayon in his hand.
And the corners of the blueprint (plano arq) are ruined since they rolled
far past the stems of thumbtacks
that still throw shadows on the wood.
And the skylight is like skin for a drum I'll never mend
and all the rain falls down amen
on the works of last year's man.
I met a lady, she was playing with her soldiers in the dark
oh one by one she had to tell them
that her name was Joan of Arc.
I was in that army, yes I stayed a little while;
I want to thank you, Joan of Arc,
for treating me so well.
And though I wear a uniform I was not born to fight;
all these wounded boys you lie beside,
goodnight, my friends, goodnight.

I came upon a wedding that old families had contrived;
Bethlehem the bridegroom,
Babylon the bride.

Great Babylon was naked, oh she stood there trembling for me,
and Bethlehem inflamed us both
like the shy one at some orgy.
And when we fell together all our flesh was like a veil
that I had to draw aside to see
the serpent eat its tail.

Some women wait for Jesus, and some women wait for Cain
so I hang upon my altar
and I voice my acts again.
And I take the one who finds me back to where it all began
when Jesus was the honeymoon
and Cain was just the man.
And we read from pleasant Bibles that are bound in blood and skin
that the wilderness is gathering
all its children back again.

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.
But the skylight is like skin for a drum I'll never mend
and all the rain falls down amen
on the works of last year's man.




"Dress Rehearsal Rag"  ( trapo de vestido de ensayo)

Four o'clock in the afternoon 
and I didn't feel like very much. 
I said to myself, "Where are you golden boy, 
where is your famous golden touch?" 
I thought you knew where 
all of the elephants lie down, 
I thought you were the crown prince 
of all the wheels in Ivory Town. 
Just take a look at your body now, 
there's nothing much to save 
and a bitter voice in the mirror cries, 
"Hey, Prince, you need a shave." 
Now if you can manage to get 
your trembling fingers to behave, 
why don't you try unwrapping 
a stainless steel razor blade? 
That's right,
it's come to this, 
yes it's come to this, 
and wasn't it a long way down, 
wasn't it a strange way down? 
There's no hot water 
and the cold is running thin. 
Well, what do you expect from 
the kind of places you've been living in? 
Don't drink from that cup, 
it's all caked and cracked along the rim.  (rim: llanta, borde)
That's not the electric light, my friend, 
that is your vision growing dim. 
Cover up your face with soap, there, 
now you're Santa Claus. 
And you've got a gift for anyone 
who will give you his applause. 
I thought you were a racing man, 
ah, but you couldn't take the pace. 
That's a funeral in the mirror 
and it's stopping at your face. 
That's right,
it's come to this, 
yes it's come to this, 
and wasn't it a long way down, 
ah wasn't it a strange way down? 

Once there was a path 
and a girl with chestnut hair, 
and you passed the summers 
picking all of the berries that grew there; 
there were times she was a woman, 
oh, there were times she was just a child, 
and you held her in the shadows 
where the raspberries grow wild. 
And you climbed the Twilight Mountains  (twilight: crepúsculo)
and you sang about the view, 
and everywhere that you wandered 
love seemed to go along with you. 
That's a hard one to remember,
yes it makes you clench your fist.   (clench: agarrar / mascullar)
And then the veins stand out like highways, 
all along your wrist. 
And yes it's come to this, 
it's come to this, 
and wasn't it a long way down, 
wasn't it a strange way down? 

You can still find a job, 
go out and talk to a friend. 
On the back of every magazine 
there are those coupons you can send. 
Why don't you join the Rosicrucian’s.
they will give you back your hope, 
you can find your love with diagrams 
on a plain brown envelope. 
But you've used up all your coupons 
except the one that seems 
to be written on your wrist   (wrist : muñeca)
along with several thousand dreams. 
Now Santa Claus comes forward, 
that's a razor in his mit,
and he puts on his dark glasses 
and he shows you where to hit; 
and then the cameras pan, 
the stand in stunt man, 
dress rehearsal rag, 
it's just the dress rehearsal rag, 
you know this dress rehearsal rag, 
it's just a dress rehearsal rag.


DIAMONDS IN THE MINE

The woman in blue, she's asking for revenge, 
the man in white -- that's you -- says he has no friends. 
The river is swollen up with rusty cans   (swoll up: crecido –el río-) (cans: latas)
and the trees are burning in your promised land. 
And there are no letters in the mailbox, 
and there are no grapes upon the vine,  (grape: uva)
and there are no chocolates in the boxes anymore, 
and there are no diamonds in the mine. 

Well, you tell me that your lover has a broken limb; 
you say you're kind of restless now and it's on account of him. 
Well, I saw the man in question, it was just the other night, 
he was eating up a lady where the lions and Christians fight. (eat up: consumir sb )

And there are no letters in the mailbox,
and there are no grapes upon the vine, 
and there are no chocolates in your boxes, anymore, 
and there are no diamonds in the mine. 

(You tell them now) 

Ah, there is no comfort in the covens of the witch,  (coven: aquelarre)
some very clever doctor went and sterilized the bitch, 
and the only man of energy, yes the revolution's pride, 
he trained a hundred women just to kill an unborn child. 

And there are no letters in the mailbox, 
oh no, there are no, no grapes upon your vine, 
and there are, there are no chocolates in your boxes anymore, 
and there are no diamonds in your mine. 
And there are no letters in the mailbox, 
and there are no grapes upon the vine, 
and there are no chocolates in your boxes anymore, 
and there are no diamonds in your mine. 



LOVE CALLS BY YOUR NAME.

You thought that it could never happen 
To all the people that you became, 
Your body lost in legend, the beast so very tame.  (tame: manso,a)
But here, right here, 
Between the birthmark and the stain, 
Between the ocean and your open vein, 
Between the snowman and the rain, 
Once again, once again, 
Love calls you by your name. 
The women in your scrapbook  
scrapbook / ˈskræpbʊk/ sustantivo álbum m de recortes
whom you still praise and blame, 
You say they chained you to your fingernails   
fingernail ['fɪɳgəneɪl] nombre uña
And you climb the halls of fame. 
Oh but here, right here, 
between the peanuts and the cage,   (cage: jaula, caja)
Between the darkness and the stage, 
Between the hour and the age, 
Once again, once again, 
Love calls you by your name. 
: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/leonard+cohen/love+calls+you+by+your+name_2008286] 
Shouldering your loneliness 
like a gun that you will not learn to aim, 
You stumble into this movie house,  (stumble into: trastabillar)
then you climb, you climb into the frame. 
Yes, and here, right here.
Between the moonlight and the lane, 
Between the tunnel and the train, 
Between the victim and his stain,   (stain; mancha)
Once again, once again, 
Love calls you by your name. 

I leave the lady meditating 
on the very love which I, I do not wish to claim, 
I journey down the hundred steps, 
but the street is still the very same. 
And here, right here, 
Between the dancer and his cane,   (cane: caña, bastón)
Between the sailboat and the drain,  (drain: resumidero)
Between the newsreel and your tiny pain, 
Once again, once again, 
Love calls you by your name. 

Where are you, Judy, where are you, Anne? 
Where are the paths your heroes came? 
Wondering out loud as the bandage pulls away, 
Was I, was I only limping, was I really lame?  Lame: rengo to be lame: ser convincente
                                                                   Limp (renguear)
Oh here, come over here, 
Between the windmill and the grain, (windmill: Molino)
Between the sundial and the chain, (sundial: reloj de sol)
Between the traitor and her pain,  (traitor: traidor)
Once again, once again, 
Love calls you by your name.



FAMOUS BLUE RAINCOAT

It's four in the morning, the end of December
I'm writing you now just to see if you're better
New York is cold, but I like where I'm living
There's music on Clinton street all through the evening.

I hear that you're building your little house deep in the desert
You're living for nothing now, I hope you're keeping some kind of record.

Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair   (come by: pasar por casualidad)
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You'd been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without Lily Marlene
[: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/leonard+cohen/famous+blue+raincoat_
And you treated my woman to a flake of your life    (bicho raro)
And when she came back she was nobody's wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane’s awake.

She sends her regards.
And what can I tell you my brother, my killer,
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
But your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And Jane came by with a lock of your hair  (mechón)
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear 
-- sincerely, L. Cohen





SING ANOTHER SONG, BOYS.

(Let's sing another song, boys, this one has grown old and bitter.) 

Ah his fingernails, I see they're broken, 
his ships they're all on fire. 
The moneylender's lovely little daughter 
ah, she's eaten, she's eaten with desire. 
She spies him through the glasses 
from the pawnshops of her wicked father.  ( wicked : perverso)
pawnshop  casa de empeños, monte de piedad
She hails him with a microphone  (hail: llamar)
that some poor singer, just like me, had to leave her. 
She tempts him with a clarinet, 
she waves a Nazi dagger.  (dagger: puñal)
She finds him lying in a heap; (heap: desplomar)
she wants to be his woman. 
He says, "Yes, I just might go to sleep 
but kindly leave, leave the future, 
leave it open." 

He stands where it is steep, (steep: estipulado)
oh I guess he thinks that he's the very first one, 
his hand upon his leather belt now 
like it was the wheel of some big ocean liner. 
And she will learn to touch herself so well 
as all the sails burn down like paper. 
And he has lit the chain 
of his famous cigarillo. 
Ah, they'll never, they'll never ever reach the moon, 
at least not the one that we're after; 
it's floating broken on the open sea, look out there, my friends, 
and it carries no survivors. 
But lets leave these lovers wondering 
why they cannot have each other, 
and let's sing another song, boys, 
this one has grown old and bitter.




Joan of Arc

 

Now the flames they followed Joan of Arc
As she came riding through the dark;
No moon to keep her armor bright,
no man to get her through this very smoky night.
She said, I’m tired of the war,
I want the kind of work I had before,
a wedding dress or something white
to wear upon my swollen appetite.

Well, I’m glad to hear you talk this way,
You know I’ve watched you riding every day
and something in me yearns to win
such a cold and lonesome heroine.
And who are you? She sternly spoke
To the one beneath the smoke.
Why, I’m fire, he replied,
And I love your solitude, I love your pride.

Then fire, make your body cold,
I’m going to give you mine to hold,
saying this she climbed inside
to be his one, to be his only bride.
And deep into his fiery heart
He took the dust of Joan of Arc,
And high above the wedding guests
He hung the ashes of her wedding dress.

It was deep into his fiery heart
He took the dust of Joan of Arc,
And then she clearly understood
If he was fire, oh then she must be wood..
I saw her wince, I saw her cry,  (wince: estremecerse)
I saw the glory in her eye.
Myself I long for love and light,
But must it come so cruel, and also bright?




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