George Bernard Shaw once said: "Music is the brandy of the damned"
I think it's not true, because music can be all and anything, holy & spiritual, pathetic, dreamy, hot, nasty, bad, primitive, anthemic, tame, patriotic, vain, intense, flat, deep, blues, bizarre, strange, noisy, loud, disturbing, soulful, crazy, modest, stiff, relaxed, witty, wild & druggish - yes for sure - music is also the brandy of the damned.
I have just heard this sentence in a concert taking place in Cape Town with a lot of musicians from all over the world and Nelson Mandela also present, which I am presently watching on tv - can you hear the music? - "Wake up, stand up Africa! etc." It's a concert against AIDS - website www.46664.com - this number used to be Nelson Mandela's prison number under the white racist regime before his liberation - there's a petition on this site, where you can sign for getting more aid (funds) against aids in South Africa - I didn't mean to write this in my today's entry, but it's just on tv & I'm presently in a very responding state of mind.
Some minutes ago Peter Gabriel together with some african singers, musicians, an african choir & Yussuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) were on stage.
Now Nelson Mandela is walking on stage - he is using a "Stock" (stick) - he seems to be fragile & old, but is still charismatic - he is now takling about this 46664 campaign. There must be a very high number of aids victims in South Africa.
I think, later this evening I will visit this site & sign there - it takes a million of drops to fill a barrel, but I'm conscious that my little drop, my vote, my little contribute also counts..
Now there is Queen on stage - without Freddy Mercury of course - I didn't know that they still exist without Freddy (yes you all know, that he died of aids in the early 90ies).
These days after a long time I have started listening again to some old Leonard Cohen songs. I have all his records & his newer ones on CD, but wanted to buy the 'Recent Songs' LP as CD as a present for a friend in Paris. But this Recent Songs weren't available, so I bought a mixture of L. Cohen's music called "The Essential". Of course I listened to it before giving it away - But I didn't like the combination of songs - there's too much of his very late songs, very slow, heavy & melancholic - That's not the way I wanted to introduce him to someone who doesn't know him already. You know it's always very important how you introduce a new piece of culture to the unknowing one. It should not shock, nor drive away the apprentice.
Anyway - while listening to that mix of Cohen songs - I came to the song "The night goes on" - I sat down & turned the tuner a bit louder & listened to it carefully. It's the world's most touching & saddest song, but it also has a tender & comforting touch - I hadn't heard that song for years & it gave me the creeps - I sat there overwhelmed by that voice, tune & text - & some view tears left steathily my eye - the melody is a bit similar to that of 'Suzanne' - but darker, more blues & night born - it involves you in it's pattern of longing for comfort of death, longing for lost love etc. - but with that positive aspect in the end 'go back to the world'
I've been now on the internet to download the lyrics of that song for you - it was easy to find (took only 4 minutes) - you can read the lyrics - but the real charisma of that song you'll only understand if you hear it & listen to it intensely.
Night Comes On - by Leonard Cohen
I went down to the place
Where I knew she lay waiting
Under the marble and the snow
I said, Mother I'm frightened
The thunder and the lightning
I'll never come through this alone
She said, I'll be with you
My shawl wrapped around you
My hand on your head when you go
And the night came on
It was very calm
I wanted the night to go on and on
But she said, Go back to the World
We were fighting in Egypt
When they signed this agreement
That nobody else had to die
There was this terrible sound
And my father went down
With a terrible wound in his side
He said, Try to go on
Take my books, take my gun
Remember, my son, how they lied
And the night comes on
It's very calm
I'd like to pretend that my father was wrong
But you don't want to lie, not to the young
We were locked in this kitchen
I took to religion
And I wondered how long she would stay
I needed so much
To have nothing to touch
I've always been greedy that way
But my son and my daughter
Climbed out of the water
Crying, Papa, you promised to play
And they lead me away
To the great surprise
It's Papa, don't peek, Papa, cover your eyes
And they hide, they hide in the World
Now I look for her always
I'm lost in this calling
I'm tied to the threads of some prayer
Saying, When will she summon me
When will she come to me
What must I do to prepare
When she bends to my longing
Like a willow, like a fountain
She stands in the luminous air
And the night comes on
And it's very calm
I lie in her arms and says, When I'm gone
I'll be yours, yours for a song
Now the crickets are singing
The vesper bells ringing
The cat's curled asleep in his chair
I'll go down to Bill's Bar
I can make it that far
And I'll see if my friends are still there
Yes, and here's to the few
Who forgive what you do
And the fewer who don't even care
And the night comes on
It's very calm
I want to cross over, I want to go home
But she says, Go back, go back to the World
