So Long, Marianne de Balcon Montreal
Let’s sing together! This Tuesday, March 31, at 7 pm EST on our balconies with Martha Wainwright & Clerel*!
*We comply with the sanitary protocol in the event
“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in” – Leonard Cohen
We as Montrealers are proud of our ability to work together through difficult times. We did it during the ice storm and we are ready to do it again. So while there are dark clouds ahead, let us gather together and conjure the spirit, endurance, and wit of our favorite son – Leonard Cohen.
This Tuesday March 31st at 7pm EST, let us gather together again (in our safe distances), on our porches, from our windows to summon our voices in prayer and hope in a rousing collective singalong.
Once again, Martha Wainwright will sing ‘So Long Marianne’ by Leonard Cohen (key of A) and ‘Le coeur est un oiseau’ by Richard Desjardins (key of D). Followed by special guest Clerel who will sing ‘Nothing Can Change This Love’ by Sam Cooke as well as ‘Et Si Tu N’existais Pas’ by Joe Dassin. Martha will close the evening with one of her original songs.
We will be streaming the voice of our virtual choirmasters Martha Wainwright and Clerel to lead the way, but please all join in with your many voices! The live stream link will be posted at 6:55 PM EST in the “Discussion” section of this page and can also be found on URSA mtl’s page.
So Long Marianne by Leonard Cohen
Lyrics:
Come over to the window, my little darling
I’d like to try to read your palm
I used to think I was some kind of Gypsy boy
Before I let you take me home
Now so long, Marianne
It’s time that we began to laugh
And cry and cry and laugh about it all again
Well, you know that I love to live with you
But you make me forget so very much
I forget to pray for the angels
And then the angels forget to pray for us
Now so long, Marianne
It’s time that we began to laugh
And cry and cry and laugh about it all again
We met when we were almost young
Deep in the green lilac park
You held on to me like I was a crucifix
As we went kneeling through the dark
Oh, so long, Marianne
It’s time that we began to laugh
And cry and cry and laugh about it all again
Your letters, they all say that you’re beside me now
Then why do I feel alone?
I’m standing on a ledge and your fine spider web
Is fastening my ankle to a stone
Now so long, Marianne
It’s time that we began to laugh
And cry and cry and laugh about it all again
For now I need your hidden love
I’m cold as a new razorblade
You left when I told you I was curious
I never said that I was brave
Oh, so long, Marianne
It’s time that we began to laugh
And cry and cry and laugh about it all again
Oh, you are really such a pretty one
I see you’ve gone and changed your name again
And just when I climbed this whole mountainside
To wash my eyelids in the rain
Oh, so long, Marianne
It’s time that we began to laugh
And cry and cry and laugh about it all again
––
Le cœur est un oiseau by Richard Desjardins
Lyrics:
Par-delà les frontières
Les prairies et la mer
Dans les grandes noirceurs
Sous le feu des chasseurs
Dans les mains de la mort
Il s’envole encore
Plus haut plus haut
Le cœur est un oiseau
Dans les yeux des miradors
Dans les rues de nulle part
Au milieu des déserts
De froid de faim et de fer
Contre la tyrannie
Il refait son nid
Plus chaud plus chaud
Le cœur est un oiseau
Ce n’était qu’un orage
Ce n’était qu’une cage
Tu reprendras ta course
Tu iras à la source
Tu boiras tout le ciel
Ouvre tes ailes
Liberté, liberté
Liberté
––
Nothing can’t change this love by Sam Cooke
Lyrics:
If I go a million miles away
I’d write a letter each and every day
‘Cause honey, nothin’,
Nothin’ can ever change this love
I have for you
Ooh, make me weep
You can make me cry
See me comin’
And you can pass me by
But honey, nothin’,
Nothin’ can ever change this love
I have for you
Oh, you’re the apple of my eye
You’re cherrie pie
And oh, you’re, you’re cake and ice cream
Oh, you’re sugar and spice
And everything nice
You’re the girl of my, my, my, my dreams
If you wanted to leave me
And roam
When you get back
I’d just say
Welcome home,
‘Cause honey, nothin’
Nothin’, nothin’ can ever change this
Love I have for you
Oh
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know that nothin’
Nothin’, nothin’, can ever change the love I have for you
––
Et si tu n’existais pas by Joe Dassin
Lyrics:
Et si tu n’existais pas
Dis-moi pourquoi j’existerais?
Pour traîner dans un monde sans toi
Sans espoir et sans regrets
Et si tu n’existais pas
J’essaierais d’inventer l’amour
Comme un peintre qui voit sous ses doigts
Naître les couleurs du jour
Et qui n’en revient pas
Et si tu n’existais pas
Dis-moi pour qui j’existerais?
Des passantes endormies dans mes bras
Que je n’aimerai jamais
Et si tu n’existais pas
Je ne serais qu’un point de plus
Dans ce monde qui vient et qui va
Je me sentirais perdu
J’aurais besoin de toi
Et si tu n’existais pas
Dis-moi comment j’existerais?
Je pourrais faire semblant d’être moi
Mais je ne serais pas vrai
Et si tu n’existais pas
Je crois que je l’aurais trouvé
Le secret de la vie, le pourquoi
Simplement pour te créer
Et pour te regarder
Et si tu n’existais pas
Dis-moi pourquoi j’existerais?
Pour traîner dans un monde sans toi
Sans espoir et sans regrets
Et si tu n’existais pas
J’essaierais d’inventer l’amour
Comme un peintre qui voit sous ses doigts
Naître les couleurs du jour
