Leonard Cohen – The traitor
Now the Swan it floated on the English river
Ah the Rose of High Romance it opened wide
A sun tanned woman yearned me through the summer
and the judges watched us from the other side
I told my mother Mother I must leave you
preserve my room but do not shed a tear
Should rumour of a shabby ending reach you
it was half my fault and half the atmosphere
But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever
and the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame
She said at last I was her finest lover
and if she withered I would be to blame
The judges said you missed it by a fraction
rise up and brace your troops for the attack
Ah the dreamers ride against the men of action
Oh see the men of action falling back
But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment
I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still
My falsity had stung me like a hornet
The poison sank and it paralysed my will
I could not move to warn all the younger soldiers
that they had been deserted from above
So on battlefields from here to Barcelona
I’m listed with the enemies of love
And long ago she said I must be leaving,
Ah but keep my body here to lie upon
You can move it up and down and when I’m sleeping
Run some wire through that Rose and wind the Swan
So daily I renew my idle duty
I touch her here and there — I know my place
I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty
and people call me traitor to my face
Ah the Rose of High Romance it opened wide
A sun tanned woman yearned me through the summer
and the judges watched us from the other side
I told my mother Mother I must leave you
preserve my room but do not shed a tear
Should rumour of a shabby ending reach you
it was half my fault and half the atmosphere
But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever
and the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame
She said at last I was her finest lover
and if she withered I would be to blame
The judges said you missed it by a fraction
rise up and brace your troops for the attack
Ah the dreamers ride against the men of action
Oh see the men of action falling back
But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment
I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still
My falsity had stung me like a hornet
The poison sank and it paralysed my will
I could not move to warn all the younger soldiers
that they had been deserted from above
So on battlefields from here to Barcelona
I’m listed with the enemies of love
And long ago she said I must be leaving,
Ah but keep my body here to lie upon
You can move it up and down and when I’m sleeping
Run some wire through that Rose and wind the Swan
So daily I renew my idle duty
I touch her here and there — I know my place
I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty
and people call me traitor to my face
Este artículo pertenece a las siguientes categorías: 70's - Folk - Leonard Cohen
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Leonard Cohen volvía a encontrarse a sí mismo en este disco editado en 1979 bajo el “original” título de “Recent Songs”. En este álbum Cohen se sacudía de encima toda la superproducción que Phil Spector le había endosado en su disco anterior, y ojo que no estoy diciendo que sea nada malo (somos muy fans aquí del señor Spector y quizá nuestra canción favorita de Cohen sea “Memories” de ese disco), tan sólo me refiero al hecho de que cuando uno piensa en Leonard Cohen le viene a la cabeza una guitarra, una voz grave y quizá un violín…no una orquesta de 40 músicos.
En fin, dentro de “Recent Songs”, encontramos este “The Traitor”, una canción que nos habla de la diferentes dimensiones de una relación sentimental y de cómo uno puede acabar viéndose como un traidor en ciertos aspectos por mucho que intente no serlo. Las letras de este hombre son pura poesía y Barcelona es la única ciudad que nombra en todo el tema así que sólo por eso se merece estar dentro de este blog.
Esta es una de las canciones “perdidas” del álbum que iba a llevar por nombre “Songs for Rebecca” y que hubiese sido publicado más o menos en 1975. La idea del álbum acabó por ser rechazada cuando tenían ya 5 canciones terminadas. Este “The traitor” era una de ellas y acabó publicándose como hemos mencionado 4 años después.
Como dice la canción, desde aquí hasta Barcelona el señor Cohen, el traidor, se encuentra en todos los campos de batalla entre los enemigos del amor…Siempre es interesante escuchar a este hombre.
La mejor manera de viajar a Alicante es con el AVE Barcelona Alicante.