Leonard Cohen - The Partisan

Good evening dear readers, after a week of mediocre posts here at Tune Of The Day, it's time to give you a little more meaty post. Today I intend to summarize the week before we play today's tune.

A week that has been filled with adventure, if one can express it like that in terms of jobs, but I feel that I can do so, because no one really knows in detail what's around the next corner, which makes it very interesting "almost" every day, all with a good mixture of all the genre and impressions.

After 10 days in the forest of Gothenburg and the festival Way Out West, could I feel traces in my body that it is time for some rest, but during the days in the forest did the schedule filled up with new things, and kinda quickly was the calendar for August fully loaded with dates of work.

Way Out West is clearly Sweden's premier festival, then I do not just mean in terms of the lineup, but more the construction, the people behind the scenes, the festival brains, builders and creators. A team that can create a festival like this does not exists anywhere else. The fact that a building of a festival of this size works so nicely, even the show days and then torn down runs so smoothly is quite impressive. That must mean that Way Out West crew is top notch!, right? The fact that it is the nicest festival I've ever seen is probably just a plus, as well all the hard working volunteers that gives their best effort to make this happen, thank you!

Another great thing was that during the closure/thank you dinner for the festival at the restaurant "Miss Sophie" in central Gothenburg, I was told that Way Out West have been certified with the sustainability certificate ISO 20121, as the world’s first music festival to do so. It is an honourable testimony of the time and effort we have put into the subjects of the environment and sustainability.

ISO 20121 Facts: ISO 20121 is an international standard for sustainability at events. It is designed to fit from the smallest conference to the bigger events such as Olympic Games, to comply with the environmental, social and economic aspects that infiltrate the whole event. (ISO 20121)

I only managed to get home before it was time to jump on the "bandwagon" of new adventures. The suitcase is still in the hall, filled with dirty laundry from Gothenburg :)

This week has been filled with lots of music, which includes the performance of Leonard Cohen at the Globe, which in itself was an amazing experience, a man who really should live his life on a South Sea Island rather than touring, but yet the uncle is out on tour, delivering a concert like no other, as a superman in top condition, happy and immortal, he provides Stockholm crowd a show with classics cuts that they will never forget.

That he feels like a king on stage are clearly visible, he is so cheerful and happy that you almost would think he found a new love. Furthermore, he does something he never would have done, gives the audience the three extra tracks that were not part of the normal set list. Even his crew wonder what happens, which is heard on the radio when the last song played (under normal setlist) this is the last song .... what, he is doing another one, what is going on, I do not reckon this tune ... erm, he is doing one more ...... what a 3rd one, this is crazy!

During the same period as the show with Leonard Cohen on the globe, goes the Culture Festival "Kulturfestivalen" here in Stockholm, where most of the artists playing at Gustav Adolf's Torg in central Stockholm. A festival that have a more history touch than a normal pop or rock festival has, this one usually ends with Opera.

I think I can openly say that Thetania had roughly the same schedule as me, she did Getaway festival  in Gävle, during the same period as I did Way Out West. When we both got home it just rolled on, we did Leonard Cohen together. I hope that when it calm down a bit, she will give you one or two posts about Getaway festival, but it remains to be seen.

Yesterday did I jump in as a backup for the TV show "Sommarkrysset". Sommarkrysset is a Swedish television program that is broadcast live from the Gröna Lund amusement park in Stockholm during summer. It was first shown on June 3, 2005. The program consists of live performances by famous artists in front of a live audience while viewers can call in and win a certain amount of money. To have the chance to win this money, the viewer first has to figure out a word which is derived by entering the answers to questions (one letter in each box) on a piece of graph paper with 5x5 squares like a crossword. The program is produced by Baluba Television after a TV-format created by Baluba. The Lotto draw is usually broadcast live with Ulrika Bengtsson as a presenter, although others have presented the draw at times. Over a longer period, Annika Duckmark has been a regular presenter.

During this Saturday the artist roll consits of Amanda Fondell, Brolle, Jonas Gardell and Gospel Choir Immanuel, The Fooo and Yohio. A day with TV production tends to be a somewhat chewy run of all the retakes and all rehearsals. But this time I had really had my hands full. There was also an unusual amount of people that showed up, that I noticed already when I arrived on the early morning that the queue in front of the entrance coiled long, thought it was the new rising star Yohio that attracted all, but there I was completely wrong, I got a slap on my hands that I was not in the game, ie was not updated on the youth new idols, it was namely The Fooo which attracted most of the audience. And who are they??? Well after asking around I found out that these kids was the support act for Justin Bieber at the Globe earlier this year and I already forgot that :), sorry.

But today I am free, slept to lunch, which is not normal, but I had a calm and peaceful day with the family, even had time to listen to some unheard vinyl standing in the pile and are eagerly waiting to be played.

I also had some time to fool around with the blog and can tell you that next week there will be an interesting week for you readers, then we will do something we have not done before, something new and different, something exciting. So hang on the lock to view what happens tomorrow.

Now it's time to put some focus on today's post and present today's tune and artist.

Leonard Cohen (78) is a Canadian Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter, musician, poet, and novelist. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality, and interpersonal relationships. Cohen has been inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. In 2011 Cohen received a Prince of Asturias Award for literature.

As i meant earlier he did a marvellous show at The Globe here in Stockholm and I need to share it, when today's tune was played Live at the Globe I got huge, I mean big goose bumps that you could feel thru the shirt, the sound was amazing and the performance was so touch fully that it really tickled with my heart.

Here are a few pictures from the show, not taken from my camera this time but from Annika Berglund.

Todays tune "The Partisan" is a song performed by Leonard Cohen, taken from his second album "Songs from a Room", released in 1969.

"La Complainte du Partisan" ("The Partisan") is a song about the French Resistance in World War II. The song was written in 1943 in London by Anna Marly and Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie.

Originally written in French, it has been adapted in English with lyrics by Hy Zaret and covered by diverse artists, including Leonard Cohen, Les Compagnons de la chanson, Goteki, Joan Baez, Buffy Sainte-Marie, 16 Horsepower, Po' Girl, Branimir Štulić, Jaromír Nohavica, Electrelane, The Swell Season, and American Steel.

This song has been translated into many languages, particularly after the version by Leonard Cohen.

Todays clip and tune is taken from the Live album "Songs from the road", released 2010 and from the live performance made at Oct 10, 2008, Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland





Setlist from the Globe show:

First Set

Dance Me to the End of Love
The Future
Bird on the Wire
Everybody Knows
Who by Fire
Darkness
Amen
Come Healing
Lover Lover Lover

Second Set

Tower of Song
Suzanne
Chelsea Hotel #2
Sisters of Mercy
The Partisan (Todays Tune Of The Day)
Alexandra Leaving (performed by Sharon Robinson)
I'm Your Man
Hallelujah
Take This Waltz

Encore:
So Long, Marianne
Night Comes On
Going Home
First We Take Manhattan

Encore 2:
Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will (performed by the Webb Sisters)
Closing Time

Encore 3 (Tunes that was not include on the normal setlist):
I Tried to Leave You
Save the Last Dance for Me (The Drifters cover)
I Can't Forget



More info @

Official Leonard Cohen Web

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