Sunday 22 March 2009

Song for a Spring Sunday Morning (Leonard Cohen - Dance Me to the End of Love)

Edited extract from Juan Antonio Pesetas' diary written during his recent trip to Havana, Cuba. Please, be aware that this post contains adult material.

Sunday 22nd February, 8.04am. The thermometre inside the car tells me it's 21 degrees Celsius outside. It still feels a bit nippy, though. In spite of the morning chill, I roll down the windows after I start the car's engine. I stare out into the distance through the windshield. The city still sleeps. As the sun rubs its eyes and lazily puts its sheets away, thus, making space for the moon to have a lie-down now, the first line of my chosen musical companion on this journey stumbles out of the car speakers: 'Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin'. The verses roll out inebriatedly, tasting of last night's excess; the voice is husky and breathy. One by one each line sheds its clothes unashamedly revealing their bare harmonic bodies, relishing their shameless, narcissistic pleasure.

Some songs are inconsolable pieces of music. Think Radiohead's 'Creep'. Some other tunes are an exercise in introspection. Think Tori Amos' 'Cornflake Girl'. And then, we have the songs that seduce us. The tracks that turn us all into versions of Michelle Pfeiffer's Madame Marie de Tourvel, the famous character from 'Dangerous Liaisons'. We become those flustered and willing beings, prudish on the outside whilst slowly burning with desire inside. Leonard Cohen's 'Dance Me To The End Of Love' is one of those songs. The next two lines are the sweet, ripe plum in whose flesh we sink our teeth slowly, scooping the meaty bit with our tongues, darting it playfully side to side, moving it around, sometimes vertically, sometimes horizontally: 'Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in/Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove '. Mr Cohen is a shameless man and I for one don't care one bit. And I bet you don't, either.

Calmly the car dances down Malecon Avenue whilst Cohen's voice dances in my ears. My pulse quickens, the car speed fluctuates between 40 and 50. On my left there's the sea, the bluegreen sea, the feminine sea. Is it any wonder that female orgasm has often been compared to the crashing of waves against the shore? The undertow as powerful a ripple as the initial impact? And just as my X-rated thoughts are about to give my brain a coup d'état Leonard sings: 'Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone/Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon/Show me slowly what I only know the limits of ' And I hold on to the steering wheel as hard as I can whilst an image flashes up in front of my eyes: the contours of my wife's naked body being caressed by the ruffled sheets of the bed in our hotel room. Ah, Mr Cohen, you give marital debauchery a perfect excuse! And you have given me more than enough reasons to post a song for every spring sunday morning from now until June. I tip my hat to you, sir and I am sure that my readers and fellow bloggers will appreciate your talent and that of the artists to come. In the meantime I make a U-turn at the roundabout of G Street and Malecon Avenue. My consort awaits.

Copyright 2009

28 comments:

  1. Oh lovely lovely, I am so partial to a bit of Leonard Cohen...
    Thank you very much...

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  2. Leonard has been the beginning of more than one sort of folly...why not spring?...so talented...you know he was off on a Buddhist's retreat for a number of years? Imagine him trying to control passion? He has such a powerful presence...I enjoy his live performance (recordings of)...magnetic.

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  3. I like Delwyn have always been a little partial to a bit of Cohen. Prince and I love to have a dance to some of his beautiful songs.
    Thank you for the wonderful clip and a great start to the day my friend.
    Take good care and......

    Steady On
    Reggie Girl

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  4. Brother,

    You write passion so beautifully...

    I love this song too...

    Theres a jazz version of it too...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsK40HcxxsE

    Peace and passion my brother,

    M

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  5. More than the words to Cohen's song were the words from the writer. This was so erotic and poetic at the same time.

    Love Renee xoxoxo

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  6. Such a beautiful blending of memoir and music. I can hear someone else singing that song, but I just can't catch it. Diana Krall, maybe? (BTW, am also intrigued by your awareness of Tori Amos.)

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  7. I have noticed your comments on Every Photo Tells A Story and thought I would come visit. And so glad I did. What fascinating writing..I joined your follower list and will be back often to browse. I invite you to stop by an visit me some time. The coffee's on.

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  8. Mesmerizing voice, mesmerizing words…. Thank you

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  9. friends who have recently seen him live in concert say he is still wowing his audiences at 70 or so...what a role model for the music world...

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  10. Man! I'm thinking I like this Juan Antonio Pesetas dude. A lot. I absolutely love that line 'As the sun rubs its eyes and lazily puts its sheets away, thus, making space for the moon to have a lie-down now...'

    And if Leonard Cohen can't move us to dance to the end of love, I don't know who can. Superb, thanks Cuban, for making Sunday morning so harmoniously perfect!

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  11. Many thanks to you all for your kind comments. Rest assured, James, I peered into your blog this morning and liked what I saw, but kids and household duties have limited my time today. I will definitely pop by.

    Greetings from London.

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  12. Salut Mr Cuban...!
    Merci, je ne connaissais pas cette chanson de Leonard Cohen et j'adore le texte de Mr Juan Antonio Pesetas...!
    Salutations à vous et à Señor Pesetas...!
    Miren
    PS : Who by Fire?
    See you soon pronto!!!

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  13. Leonard Cohen is HOT.

    Check out, "I'm Your Man" and Everybody Knows.

    Very nicely written. Beautiful.

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  14. I am learning new things by visiting you, Cuban. First a new (for me) writer, and now another new writer and new music, as well.

    Long live the restless sea.

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  15. I love Leonard Cohen's songs & voice. This is a great video. Tickets for a Cohen concert just recently went on sale here, but I declined to purchase since the available seats were $500 U.S. I just couldn't believe it! I'll bet they sold out.

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  16. Beautiful


    Your words...and the music

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  17. Beautiful post! It’s full of passion. I adore Leonard Cohen. He has a World Tour 2009. I was very excited about this because he will be here in Montréal to perform in June, during International Jazz festival. But now, I'm really disappointed because I can't buy a ticket. Just check this!:

    hhttp://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2008/03/11/cohen-concert.html

    http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/03/03/cohen-ticketmaster.html?ref=rss

    By the way, he will be performing in London too. Maybe you could be luckier than I ;-)

    Talking about Cohen and I almost forget this, your last post inspired me. I let you a comment in my blog. Many thanks & greetings from Montréal!

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  18. I adore this song!! Leonard Cohen is such a poet and then add that deep, earthy voice. Sigh. Thanks for some great Monday morning dance music.

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  19. the words make me smile. an think. and imagine. :-)

    and i like the song too.

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  20. ok, this reminds me of dancing literally in the Etherdome,one of the first OR's in the USA, at Harvard's Mass General Hospital- something about it was deliriously incongruent...it was at odds to what I had anticipated from the conservative Bostonian medical academics... weird, what triggers our interpretations of such music and images. Passions, losses, death and of course love.
    Thanks for the song and video. Have a great week.
    Salut,

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  21. Many thanks to all for your lovely comments. Indeed, Leonard Cohen performed in London last year and I could not make it because of the ticket prices. Even though he is in his 70s now and getting on a bit most of the music critics gave him the thumbs up and five-star reviews.

    Greetings from London.

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  22. What a Russian lullaby this is...it's funny what one hears... Love to dance, to fall in love, even out of love...see what you did?
    Thank you Cuban, thank you Leonard.
    Lyn

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  23. Leonard looks so cool in the video. I love Leonard Cohen music. thank you!

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  24. Never seen Mr Cohen singing before. A marvelous song writer. Thanks for showing.

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  25. After that post Mr.Cuban I need a fan! Love Mr.Cohen but I am right now flustered by your words. Great job!

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  26. Many thanks for your kind words.

    Greetings from London.

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  27. pues gracias por pasar a leerme :) creo que eres el unico que lo hace hahaha, pero aun asi gracias :D, y bueno, respecto a "EL", digamosle asi... siempre alguien se enamora mas que la otra persona... bueeeno... y si me leyo el :) y me llamo hahahaha... solo para preguntar si tenia algo hahahahaha, ni modo dejare de escribir para el y comenzar a buscar algo mas :) un beso desde este lado, cuida tu mitad del mundo que yo me encargo de esta ok ;) besos ciao

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  28. Gracias a ti, nadie.

    Saludos desde Londres.

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