Leonard Cohen - Anthem - Julie Christensen Perla Batalla

Dalla Colonna sonora del film documentario "I'm your man", diretto dall’australiana Lian Lunson e coprodotto da Mel Gibson, a sua volta basato su uno show andato in scena a Brighton e poi a Sydney tra il 2004 e il 2005 (“Came so far for beauty: an evening of Leonard Cohen songs”), il tributo live orchestrato da Hal Willner riunisce un gruppo di artisti dichiaratamente in sintonia con il mondo poetico e musicale del grande canadese: sono della partita, tra gli altri, Nick Cave, Beth Orton, Jarvis Cocker, Teddy Thompson, Antony e la famiglia Wainwright/McGarrigle quasi al completo, impegnati a rileggere pagine celebri (“Suzanne”, “Bird on a wire”, “Chelsea hotel no.2”) ma anche meno note del songbook di Cohen con adesione allo spirito originale ma anche con qualche libertà interpretativa. In fondo alla scaletta compare l’inconfondibile voce dell’autore, accompagnato (in studio) dagli U2 per una nuova versione di “Tower of song”.

"The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be.
Ah the wars they will
be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
bought and sold
and bought again
the dove is never free.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
We asked for signs
the signs were sent:
the birth betrayed
the marriage spent
Yeah the widowhood
of every government --
signs for all to see.
I can't run no more
with that lawless crowd
while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud.
But they've summoned, they've summoned up
a thundercloud
and they're going to hear from me.
Ring the bells that still can ring ...
You can…"