Leonard Cohen – Take This Waltz (Live in London)

Now in Vienna there’s ten pretty women
There’s a shoulder where Death comes to cry
There’s a lobby with nine hundred windows
There’s a tree where the doves go to die
There’s a piece that was torn from the morning
And it hangs in the Gallery of Frost

Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz with the clamp on it’s jaws

Oh I want you, I want you, I want you
On a chair with a dead magazine
In the cave at the tip of the lily
In some hallway where love’s never been
On a bed where the moon has been sweating
In a cry filled with footsteps and sand

Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take its broken waist in your hand

This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz
With it’s very own breath of brandy and Death
Dragging it’s tail in the sea

There’s a concert hall in Vienna
Where your mouth had a thousand reviews
There’s a bar where the boys have stopped talking
They’ve been sentenced to death by the blues
Ah, but who is it climbs to your picture
With a garland of freshly cut tears?

Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz it’s been dying for years

There’s an attic where children are playing
Where I’ve got to lie down with you soon
In a dream of Hungarian lanterns
In the mist of some sweet afternoon
And I’ll see what you’ve chained to your sorrow
All your sheep and your lilies of snow

Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
With its “I’ll never forget you, you know!”

This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz …
With its very own breath of brandy and death
Dragging its tail in the sea

And I’ll dance with you in Vienna
I’ll be wearing a river’s disguise
The hyacinth wild on my shoulder
My mouth on the dew of your thighs
And I’ll bury my soul in a scrapbook
With the photographs there, and the moss
And I’ll yield to the flood of your beauty
My cheap violin and my cross
And you’ll carry me down on your dancing
To the pools that you lift on your wrist

Oh my love, Oh my love
Take this waltz, take this waltz
It’s yours now. It’s all that there is

{Instrumental}

(Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay)

~ Leonard Cohen

Happens to the Heart (Leonard Cohen)

I was always working steady
But I never called it art
I got my shit together
Meeting Christ and reading Marx
It failed, my little fire
But it spread the dying spark
Go tell the young messiah
What happens to the heart
There’s a mist of summer kisses
Where I tried to double-park
The rivalry was vicious
The women were in charge
It was nothing, it was business
But it left an ugly mark
I’ve come here to revisit
What happens to the heart
I was selling holy trinkets
I was dressing kind of sharp
Had a pussy in the kitchen
And a panther in the yard
In the prison of the gifted
I was friendly with the guards
So I never had to witness
What happens to the heart
I should have seen it coming
After all, I knew the chart
Just to look at her was trouble
It was trouble from the start
Sure, we played a stunning couple
But I never liked the part
It ain’t pretty, it ain’t subtle
What happens to the heart
Now the angel’s got a fiddle
The devil’s got a harp
Every soul is like a minnow
Every mind is like a shark
Me, I’ve broken every window
But the house, the house is dark
I care, but very little
What happens to the heart
Then I studied with this beggar
He was filthy, he was scarred
By the claws of many women
He had failed to disregard
No fable here, no lesson
No singing meadowlark
Just a filthy beggar guessing
What happens to the heart
I was always working steady
But I never called it art
It was just some old convention
Like the horse before the cart
I had no trouble betting
On the flood, against the ark
You see, I knew about the ending
What happens to the heart
I was handy with a rifle
My father’s .303
I fought for something final
Not the right to disagree

~ Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen – Anthem

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.

Yeah, 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, 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
They’re gonna hear from me.

Ring the bells that still can ring …

You can add up the parts
You won’t have the sum
You can strike up the march
There is no drum
Every heart, every heart
To love, will come
But like a refugee.

Ring the bells that still can ring…

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in
That’s how the light gets in
That’s how the light gets in.

~ Leonard Cohen

Alles gaat voorbij

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Alles gaat over de dagen, de nachten
Anderen dorst zo’n onnoemelijk verdriet
De wind en de wolken alles vervluchtigd
Gelijk je dromen als je wakker schiet
Alles gaat over het geraakt al vergeten
Onze kindertijd die nooit wederkeert
Dienen oorlog nachtenlang in de kelder
Bommen en granaten
Alles passeert

Waar is mijn schooltje
Waar is min kerke
Dat eeuwige leven in’t lang en in’t breed
Waar zijn de meesters die alles wisten
En de pasters en paterkes bij de vleet
Waar is dat werkkot van vader zaliger
Die planken en balken
Die boeren en knechten en paarden en karren
En waar is dat vlassersvolk in hemelsnaam

Ons vaders en moeders ze moeten al sterven
De schrokkerige dood kent geen ontzag
Waar zijn de geuren uit groodmoeders keuken
En hoe klonken de liedjes op nieuwjaardag
waar zijn de vrienden gebleven
En al de schoon muziek van de dorpsharmonie
De dronkaards en de kaarters Eugene en Daniel
En de dansende meiskjes Marjanne en Sofie

Maar we wilden liever al de zwartjes bekeren
En de wilde indianen van Noord Canada
Ter ere Gods ons jong leven ons leden
Zogezeid dat majoren in de gloria
Maar we maakten een vust naar regels en wetten
En we vloekten opstandig om dat al te zwaar juk
En we bekeerden ons gretig naar het volle leven
Naar vrouwen en kinders
Ons groot geluk

We vechten nu al jaren met witte woede
Van vriendschap en vrede in een groen paradijs
En toch wordt de wereld niet beter en niet schoonder
En we worden intussen ook zelf oud en grijs
En dan worden we op ’t einde ook nog ziek en gebrekkig
Gelijk dolende zielen in nevel en mist
Gelijk wattige wolken in een eindeloze hemel
Zo worden we zelf tenslotte uitgewist

Alles gaat over
Den hemel en helle
Die bange verzinsels zijn nu opgelost
Weerwolf en boeman
Spoken en heksen
We zijn nu voorgoed van den duvel verlost
En toch lees ik nog altijd sprookjes en fabels
Ik ga door mijn knieën voor een schoon verhaal
Ik vaar met Odysseus naar het eiland Itaca
En met Lancelot zoek ik naar de heilige graal

En ’s winters zette ik hier liedjes te schrijven
En haring te eten en karnemelkpap
Maar in de lente wacht me santieago
Te voete naar Compostella op stap
Om goed te begrijpen waarom dat alles alles veranderd
En toch blijft bestaan
Dat alles sterft en opnieuw wordt geboren
Maar dat is een raadsel dat is ik nooit ga verstaan
Dat alles sterft en opnieuw wordt geboren
Dat is een raadsel dat we nooit gaan verstaan

Willem Vermandere

Amo, amas, I love a lass

For those who remember their Latin classes.

Amo, Amas, I Love a Lass – Anonymous, Published in London, 1764, arr. Marshall Bartholomew; Wheaton College Men’s Glee Club; Mary Hopper, director

Amo, amas, I love a lass
As a cedar tall and slender;
Sweet cowslip’s grace is her nominative case,
And she’s of the feminine gender.

Rorum, corum, sunt divorum,
Harum, scarum divo;
Tag-rag, merry-derry, periwig and hat-band
Hic hoc horum genitivo.

Can I decline a nymph divine?
Her voice as a flute is dulcis.
Her oculus bright, her manus white,
And soft, when I tacto, her pulse is.

Rorum, corum, sunt divorum,
Harum, scarum divo;
Tag-rag, merry-derry, periwig and hat-band
Hic hoc horum genitivo.

Oh, how bella my puella,
I’ll kiss secula seculorum.
If I’ve luck, sir, she’s my uxor,
O dies benedictorum.

Rorum, corum, sunt divorum,
Harum, scarum divo;
Tag-rag, merry-derry, periwig and hat-band
Hic hoc horum genitivo.

 

 

Józef Świder, Jan Kochanowski – What do you want from us, Lord

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Józef Świder, Jan Kochanowski – Wat wilt u van ons, Heer: “Czego chcesz od nas Panie”
Agata Galik – harfa/harp
Henryk Wojnarowski – dyrygent/conductor
Chór Filharmonii Narodowej w Warszawie
Warsaw Philharmonic Choir
koncert zarejestrowano 1 kwietnia 2016 w sali koncertowej Filharmonii Narodowej
recorded at Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, April 01, 2016
Realizacja Telewizja Polska S.A.

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What do you want from us, Lord, for your generous gifts?
What are the benefits that you have not measured?
The Church will not embrace you, everywhere you are full,
And in the abyss and in the sea, on earth, in the sky.

I also don’t want gold, because it’s all yours,
Whatever is changing in this world.
Lord with grateful heart, we confess
Because we don’t have a more handsome victim.

You are the Lord of all the world, You have built the sky
And he embroidered beautifully with golden stars;
You founded the unearthed ground
And you covered her nakedness with various herbs.

At your command the sea stands in the shores
And the intended borders jump over afraid;
Rivers of uncounted waters have great generosity.
White day and dark night know their times.

You will see many flowers Spring gives birth,
You are in a wreath of flowers Summer is here.
Autumn wine and various apples,
Then lazy Winter gets up.

By your grace, the night dew on bland herbs will fall,
And the die-hard grain rain comes alive;
At your hands every animal looks at its food,
And you feed everyone on your generosity.

Be praised forever, immortal Lord!
Your grace, Your goodness will never cease.
Hide us while you deign in this low land;
Let me be one under Your wings!

[Jan Kochanowski, XXV Song from the Second Books, published in 1562. A masterpiece of Polish poetry.]

Jan Kochanowski, (born 1530, Sycyna, Poland—died August 22, 1584, Lublin), humanist poet who dominated the culture of Renaissance Poland.

Born into the country nobility, Kochanowski studied at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and later, between 1552 and 1559, at the University of Padua in Italy. On his return to Poland in 1559, he served as a secretary at the royal court in Kraków. He married about 1575 and retired to his family estate at Czarnolas, in central Poland.

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie: Józef Świder, Jan Kochanowski – Wat wilt u van ons, Heer

Józef Świder, Jan Kochanowski – Wat wilt u van ons, Heer

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Józef Świder, Jan Kochanowski – Wat wilt u van ons, Heer: “Czego chcesz od nas Panie”
Agata Galik – harfa/harp
Henryk Wojnarowski – dyrygent/conductor
Chór Filharmonii Narodowej w Warszawie
Warsaw Philharmonic Choir
koncert zarejestrowano 1 kwietnia 2016 w sali koncertowej Filharmonii Narodowej
recorded at Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, April 01, 2016
Realizacja Telewizja Polska S.A.

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Wat wilt u van ons, Heer, voor uw gulle gaven?
Wat zijn de voordelen die u niet hebt gemeten?
De kerk zal je niet omarmen, overal waar je vol bent,
En in de afgrond en in de zee, op aarde, in de lucht.

Ik wil ook geen goud, want het is allemaal van jou,
Wat er in deze wereld verandert.
Heer met dankbaar hart, we bekennen
Omdat we geen knapper slachtoffer hebben.

Je bent de Heer van de hele wereld, je hebt de hemel gebouwd
En hij borduurde prachtig met gouden sterren;
Je hebt de opgegraven grond gesticht
En je bedekte haar naaktheid met verschillende kruiden.

Op uw bevel staat de zee in de oevers
En de beoogde grenzen springen bang over;
Rivieren van ontelbare wateren zijn grootmoedig.
Witte dag en donkere nacht kennen hun tijden.

Je zult veel bloemen zien De lente baart,
Je bent in een bloemenkrans. De zomer is hier.
Herfstwijn en verschillende appels,
Dan staat de luie Winter op.

Bij uw gratie zal de nachtdauw op zachte kruiden vallen,
En de die-hard graanregen komt tot leven;
Naar je handen kijkt elk dier naar zijn voedsel,
En u voedt iedereen met uw vrijgevigheid.

Wees voor altijd geprezen, onsterfelijke Heer!
Je genade, je goedheid zal nooit ophouden.
Verberg ons terwijl u zich verwaardigt in dit lage land;
Laat mij er een onder uw vleugels zijn!

[Jan Kochanowski, XXV lied uit de tweede boeken, gepubliceerd in 1562. Een meesterwerk van Poolse poëzie.]

Jan Kochanowski, (geboren 1530, Sycyna, Polen – stierf op 22 augustus 1584, Lublin), humanistische dichter die de cultuur van het Renaissance-Polen domineerde.

Kochanowski, geboren in de adel van het land, studeerde aan de Jagiellonische Universiteit in Krakau en later, tussen 1552 en 1559, aan de Universiteit van Padua in Italië. Bij zijn terugkeer naar Polen in 1559, diende hij als secretaris aan het koninklijk hof in Krakau. Hij trouwde omstreeks 1575 en trok zich terug in zijn familiebezit in Czarnolas, in centraal Polen.

Engelse versie / English version: Józef Świder, Jan Kochanowski – What do you want from us, Lord

Unedited Thoughts

We all have to choose between life and work, words between people or words on paper, white screens or social and other media.

Everything around us may inspire us and bring us further “on route”, so let the words, be it vocally or on paper or in books, always bring life into us and spread life to others.

Chai & Biscuits

The following is the unedited thoughts; inspired from the quote below.

Books

Because they don’t leave us,

Yes some of them may break our heart

But they never leave you, no matter what.

Some of them become a part of you

Some keep you in the bench

Like those benches at the railway stations

At the wintry or that rainy nights

The benches which had witnessed

The silent departures,

The happiest reunion

When you complete a book

It imbibe your soul,

It trades your heart

For the secret it had shared with you.

Then with that infected thought

You look for someone to share,

To explode. Peace.

You look at the book

Then at the clock

You make up your mind

To let the words conjure you

You pick the book

Books

Are better than people

And those who argue

Validate the statement

They are better than people.

Okay! Now…

View original post 75 more words

Continued nostalgic Christmas memories

In Christmas in the 1950s we looked a first time at the way we and Equipping The Saints experienced the Winter holidays and enjoyed watching the movies.

When Equipping The Saints had started sixth grade in Gretna, Louisiana to spend the next three years at the same “Grammar School” his life was common to those of his school mates.

Cover of one of the books of the Robert L. May story by Maxton Publishers, Inc. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Like in our country he had also real Christmas holidays, and had real Christmas programs at school. When we do hear our grand children and see what is done at schools for the Christmas holiday we do not see such nice activities like we had in school. Though, Today there are more people stressing that this is the Season of the Year, and several Christians are shouting that Christmas should be the Reason of the Season. But when they want to celebrate the birth of Christ, not much seems to remind people to that birth of the Jewish rabbi who is our saviour. On the streets and in the shops the so called Christmas songs do not really mention Jesus Christ but go on about reindeer, Santa(s), jingle bells and present, though not that special present or precious gift you could call Jesus Christ. The winter-related songs celebrate the climatic season, with all its snow, dressing up for the cold, sleighing, etc. and with the years all the pagan elements came more and more to the forefront, new mythical characters created, defined, and popularised by these songs; “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman” both introduced by Gene Autry a year apart (1949 and 1950 respectively).

In the previous century we gathered and special presentations were offered to sing carols.

Equipping The Saints remembers

We would sing Christmas carols, which included biblical songs. The school would give the children song sheets that showed the words to those biblical songs. Teachers were free to talk to their classes about their church lives. {120714 – Christmas Of Simpler Times}

Today lots of teachers are not allowed to speak about their religious life. They are not allowed to talk about Jesus Christ being the saviour. church live and talks about God are in many schools not authorised any more.

The kids have also nothing to share about church life, because most of them never go to church or just have some periods of church activity to prepare them for the first and/or second communion. they are not really interested in anything to do with church or with religion. The talk of the day is the new smartphone or any other new electronic gadget, plus laughing with one or the other posting on Facebook. Television lost grace in the hand of our grandchildren. The present generation does not watch so much television as we did or do, but have their eyes focused on the computer screen, watching al sorts of postings or games.

Most of my friends watched the same television programs. {120714 – Christmas Of Simpler Times}

writes Equipping The Saints

We didn’t have cable tv or dish types, so our selection was limited to traditional network programming. The programs were family oriented and were not restricted to “church and state” limitations.The Cleaver family went to church and Sunday School. Andy, Barney, Aunt Bea, Opie, and Gomer were shown in their church, even when Gomer might fall asleep and snore during the “Reverend’s” sermons.
The Christmas programs that were produced and shown by ABC, NBC, and CBS did not hide the fact that “Jesus was the reason for the season.” Television hosts did not omit “Jesus” from their discussions when they were talking about Christmas. Jesus was truly “God with us” during those programs. {120714 – Christmas Of Simpler Times}

Jesus nor God are the subject of this season. It is time that those who call themselves Christian and find that this should be a time to think about Christ Jesus, perhaps should do better to have others thinking about that special man who was sent by God for a specific reason.

In Belgium we listened, behind frosted windows, to songs like the one of Frank Sinatra who sung about the songs for you and me, but were told that this was all about that heathen character the Americans loved so much, because their country had become slave of consumption. Today we in Europe are not better off. Most people are slave of money and consumption. As in the previous article told, they even get so much stress that we have already time spend in the media about that ‘Christmas stress‘.

Of the time when every one falls in love there is not so much to see. In some American writings we hear that it is now fashionable to have a divorce around Christmas. Many have new years dreams of having some extramarital adventures with some delicious unknown and some even think it can be good fun to have some extra sex with somebody of their own gender. Those same gender relations are also promoted extra in this time of year. This week for example we had on television some gays who prepared meals for each other and talked every episode about the ‘Christmas kitsch’.

Merry Christmas (Bing Crosby album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the 1950ies and 1960ies from the States we got Andy Williams and Bing Crosby who be the must haves and must hears at the Winter holiday season. You may wonder what glow it is when snow would appear these days. But even the snow has given it up and Winter does not want to let see her face. Bing Crosby reminded people about what happened in Bethlehem and asked people to remember it not just in this particular season but the whole year through.

Judi Harbin remarked

Just as we cannot benefit from a wrapped gift under the Christmas tree until we open it, so gratitude can be seen as our way of opening the gift of God’s love intended by all the small and big positive events of our lives

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One of the Biggest Christmas hits in several families for years

“White christmas” by Bing Crosby (1942) Original

Later he made a more fluent, faster version, which I like more

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O Little Town Of Bethlehem – Bing Crosby

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Bing Crosby “The Secret Of Christmas”

“The Secret Of Christmas” was written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn for Bing Crosby, and was first performed by Bing in the 1959 film, ‘Say One For Me’. Bing recorded “The Secret Of Christmas” with an arrangement by Frank DeVol for a single that year released by Columbia Records. Bing recorded the song again in 1964 for the album 12 Songs Of Christmas with Fred Waring and His Orchestra.

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It may well be that after World War II our families had to overcome the shocks of the Great War and the last atrocity which showed the cruelty of man and made it so much more important to focus on the better soul of mankind. Perhaps it was truly a much simpler time of Christmas in our nation’s not too distant history.

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Preceding articles

Solstice, Saturnalia and Christmas-stress

Christmas in the 1950s

The Proper Place of Excess

Looking for the consummation of presents

One can buy a lot in the supermarket, but not hope

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Additional reading

1. Creator and Blogger God 11 Old and New Blog 1 Aimed at one man
2. Objects around the birth and death of Jesus
3. Our love for Jesus – A Christian Science perspective
4. Isaiah 55-56, Revelation 11
5. God’s wrath and sanctification

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Further reading and listening

1. Celebrating 365 Days of Legends, Folklore & Spirituality for December 17 – 23 – Saturnalia
2. Countdown to Christmas 17: Saturnalia
3. War On Christmas Memes: Saturnalia
4. Christmas: it’s all about money, not messiahs.
5. Why Did He Come?
6. What Really Happened?
7. He Loves You So
8. 10 Tips for Maintaining a Healthy, Happy, Glow Over Christmas and Into the New Year
9. Cancer survivor supports others battling the disease with massive Christmas light display
10. Giving money for Christmas: When and how to do it right
11. Carols by Candlelight
12. “Hush, now listen…”
13. Hymn, ‘Mary, Did You Know?’
14. Carol, ‘I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing on Christmas Day’
15. Joy to the World, Not Just Another Christmas Carol
16. Christmas Carol Day 17
17. Jubilation
18. Manifestation
19. “For hate is strong and mocks the song”–A Civil war Christmas carol
20. Celebrating Christmas as a Family
21. Holiday Decoration: Celebrate Christmas in Style
22. Dec 18: My somewhere peaceful is Christmas magic
23. New trending GIF tagged 80s christmas vhs 1987…

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Related articles

• Bring Crosby and David Bowie Sing ‘The Little Drummer Boy’… Together
• Countdown to Christmas: Little Saint Nick Plus the 1957 Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby Christmas Special
• Yello80s Advent Countdown day 19: G-d Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
• When Hollywood Celebrated Christmas And Marriage
• Christmas Home Tour {Part One} – and a $500 Giveaway!
• Movie Review – White Christmas with Bing Crosby (1954)
• Unkind not to point
• You’re a good show, Charlie Brown Christmas!
• You need God
• How the world looked when Jesus was born, according to Roman geographers…

The Memory Of You

In the Lifestyle Magazine ‘Stepping Toes‘ attention is given to the different festivals or celebrations human beings want to celebrate in autumn time. The time when the days shorten and people look for the cosiness at home. But also many people want to go out into the stormy weather and love the spookiness of it. Others can not avoid to think about the deceased and hope they can talk to them. Many do feel guilty because the rest of the year they had totally forgotten those who had left the living. By placing chrysanthemums on their graves they do hope to soothe their anger. But like snow, shall be white when it is pure and clean, the flowers shall give colour to places where there shall only be a deteriorating body, left to decay until it shall be dust.

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Find also to read:

1. Autumn traditions for 2014 – 1: Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet
2. Autumn traditions for 2014 – 2 Summersend and mansend
3. Autumn traditions for 2014 – 3 Black Mass, Horror spectacles and pure puritans
4. Autumn traditions for 2014 – 4 Blasphemy and ridiculing faith in God
5. All Saints’ Day
6. What happens when we die?
7. Fear and protection
8. Sheol, Sheool, Sjeool, Hades, Hell, Grave, Tomb, Sepulchre
9. Decomposition, decay – vergaan, afsterven, ontbinding