Thanks again for your interest.
Jack, I don't know about the whole squared, by the power of 2 type of discussion. My daughter Emily's best friend in school was also named Emily and we called them Emily squared-but they could have been a tetrahedron or whatever it was that you called it.
I’ve come home a bit earlly today since we’ve had a major snow storm. It’s given me a little time to continue this.
The poem, “Don’t Have The Proof” is a continuation of many of Leonard’s themes. The flood, itself, is finally dedicated to an entire song on “Dear Heather,“ but there are references previous to that. I tend to think of it through the imagery of some of the earlier songs such as “Suzanne” where the sailor, Jesus, is able to walk on water and the notion of the saint who is able to ride freely like a ski over frozen water. The crucial reference is, of course, to the story of Noah who, along with his family and all the animals are able to survive by floating above with the help of the Ark.
Every valley and every roof adds the notion of Frye’s, Axis Mundi along with the association of the words regarding the work of John the Baptist, “Every Valley Shall Be Exalted.”. And the roof, of course, brings to mind that he “saw her bathing on the roof.”
This is an old poem from 1973 and the associations are more recent. The musical treatment seems very Jazz like-a saxophone line-that could be Charlie “Bird” Parker, and those Jazz moments when Leonard recited his poetry in his youth in Montreal.
The next song, “The Night of Santiago” is a re-working of Lorca’s, “The Faithless Wife.”
Leonard has re-written it in strict rhyme and meter. Here is a usual translation:
The Faithless Wife
So I took her to the river
believing she was a maiden,
but she already had a husband.
It was on St. James night
and almost as if I was obliged to.
The lanterns went out
and the crickets lighted up.
In the farthest street corners
I touched her sleeping breasts
and they opened to me suddenly
like spikes of hyacinth.
The starch of her petticoat
sounded in my ears
like a piece of silk
rent by ten knives.
Without silver light on their foliage
the trees had grown larger
and a horizon of dogs
barked very far from the river.
s and the hawthorne
underneath her cluster of hair
I made a hollow in the earth
I took off my tie,
she too off her dress.
I, my belt with the revolver,
She, her four bodices.
Nor nard nor mother-o’-pearl
have skin so fine,
nor does glass with silver
shine with such brilliance.
Her thighs slipped away from me
like startled fish,
half full of fire,
half full of cold.
That night I ran
on the best of roads
mounted on a nacre mare
without bridle stirrups.
As a man, I won’t repeat
the things she said to me.
The light of understanding
has made me more discreet.
Smeared with sand and kisses
I took her away from the river.
The swords of the lilies
battled with the air.
I behaved like what I am,
like a proper gypsy.
I gave her a large sewing basket,
of straw-colored satin,
but I did not fall in love
for although she had a husband
she told me she was a maiden
when I took her to the river.
I would also like to suggest you look at this version by Langston Hughes, the poet-you can get the link here: http://www.bpj.org/PDF/V02N1.pdf#zoom=100&page=16
The song is in triple time-much like Leonard’s version of “Take This Waltz.” There is a strict rhyme and meter pattern that aren’t apparent in the other translations.
Before I talk about the song musically, I have to mention a couple of observations. Some of the rhymes are just outstanding-for example,
Reading these doesn’t do them the justice that hearing them brings.And yes she lied about it all
Her children and her husband
You were meant to judge the world
Forgive me but I wasn’t.
And yes she lied about her life
Her children and her husband
You were born to get it right
Forgive me but I wasn’t.
There is also the line, “Her thighs they slipped away from me/
LIke schools of startled fish.”
I’m not positive, but I think that this is one of the lines that Leonard learned from his early encounter with Lorca’s poems.
If so, then the following line: “Though I’ve forgotten half my life
I still remember this.” becomes even more powerful in the revelation of the raw honesty that Leonard reveals here. I don’t see any correlation to these particular lines in the other translations.
The musical introduction to the song is a very standard 3/4 or 6/8 accompaniment with strings and a round arpeggio figure.
The songs starts out with the bass and soprano singing the first verse with the same accompaniment:
Here I would like to point out that the usual translations of the second line of verse 4, “The fireflies undressed” is generally rendered as the “crickets lit up.” Leonard seems to create a negative image (in the photographic sense) of this line.The Night of Santiago
And I was passing through
So I took her to the river
As any man would do
She said she was a virgin
That wasn’t what I heard
But I’m not the inquisition
I took her at her word
And yes she lied about it all
Her children and her husband
You were meant to judge the world
Forgive me but I wasn’t
The lights went out behind us
The fireflies undressed
The broken sidewalk ended
I touched her sleeping breasts
Musically, the first two stanzas have the round, arpeggio pattern that is so characteristic of this music. As we move into the the 3rd and 4th stanzas, the accompaniment changes to a more regular, rhythmic pattern of 8th notes keeping the constant time, with the triple beat still discernable underneath the music.
The next two stanza’s (5 & 6) are song by the soprano:
The next two verses are choral with round, arpeggio patterns again. Very beautiful, I think.They opened to me urgently
Like lilies from the dead
Behind a fine embroidery
Her nipples rose like bread
Her petticoat was starched and loud
And crushed beneather her thighs
It thundered like a living cloud
Beset by razor blades
Then, the bass/baritone begins his solo:No silver light to plate their leaves
The trees grew wild and high
A file of dogs patrolled the beach
To keep the night alive
We passed the thorns and berry bush
The reeds and prickly pear
I made a hollow of the earth
To nest her dampened hair
The accompaniment here is quiet and secondary to the soloists.Then I took off my necktie
And she took off her dress
My belt and pistol set aside
We tore away the rest
Her skin was oil and ointments
And brighter than a shell
Your gold and glass appointments
Will never shine so well
I don’t know if the significance of these lines is apparent to the singers, but the intensity seems to ratchet up here. On the next choral verse, the same resolve seems to affect the performance:Her thighs they slipped away from me
Like schools of startled fish
Though I’ve forgotten half my life
I still remember this
There is an instrumental break here, with swooping arpeggios and a kind of round intensity that emphasizes the total continuity of the work. The music slows and a descending pattern takes over and keeps going into the depths of the lowest bass notes. Then suddenly, it begins to accelerate again over the beginning of the next stanza: The tenor and the soprano sing together.That night I ran the best of roads
Upon a mighty charger
But very soon I’m overthrown
And she’s become the rider
The bass/baritone begins another passage here: The music becomes insistent again-almost a 4/4 pattern but it is simply a disguise for the triple time that lurks underneath.Now as a man I won’t repeat
The things she said aloud
Except for this my lips are sealed
Forever and for now
And soon there’s sand in every kiss
And soon the dawn is ready
And soon the night surrenders
To a daffodil machete
The soprano and tenor sing together on the next stanza:I gave her something pretty
And I waited ‘til she laughed
I wasn’t born a gypsy
To make a woman sad
I didn’t fall in love. Of course
It’s never up to you
But she was walking back and forth
And I was passing through
When I took her to the river
In her virginal apparel
When I took her to the river
On the night of Santiago
The whole chorus comes together on the final stanza with a gradually slowing tempo and bring a careful finish to this great song.And yes she lied about her life
Her children and her husband
You were born to get it right
Forgive me but I wasn’t
This is as traditional a song as any work on the album. I don’t know if Leonard has written his own musical accompaniment or plans to, but this would be a great version to include on a future album or concert. I think that it would be in his vocal range and would be wonderful to hear in his style.The night of Santiago
And I was passing through
And I took her to the river
As any man would do
The next song, “Mother, Mother” is again one of my favorites. The premise of the poem plays so strongly into the theme of longing and the great humor along with an underlying pathos makes this a major work.
First of all, the theme of death is dealt with in a totally unexpected manner.
The first line, “My mother isn’t really dead.” is startling in its brutal simplicity. In a Judeo-Christian universe, it is certainly not unexpected that there be a resolution to the whole notion of the parting aspect of death, but generally it involves these nebulous ideas of heaven, hell, resurrection etc. Emily Dickenson has these great lines in one of her poems:
There is no doubt that anyone who has lost loved ones has experienced this deep sense of sorrow in simply not being able to be around this person for now. We generally reserve this for close relatives or loved ones. But, as a practical fact, we often miss others who are not as closely related. Pets are one of the true grief makers in our lives. My father died when I was eleven and Leonard’s when he was nine, and one of the aspects of his poetry that I’ve admired most is the restraint that he’s used in talking about this seminal event. In fact, I think the best line that he’s come up with in regard to it, is the line from “Everybody Knows”-the most cynical line of all-”like your father or your dog just died.” Now, of course, there really is no comparison to the impact of your father dying or your dog dying-except emotionally-that parting is wrenching in either case.Parting is all we know of heaven
And all we need of hell
And here, in this poem we have this quasi-reincarnation idea of dogs becoming ants. But truly it is the emotional baggage that is being addressed:
Our awkward affection is often our only affection and the heartfelt cries of:But do not try to pet the ant
It will be destroyed by your awkward affection.
Where the bone of the heart is offered to that intense longing in the always childish manner that we learn to face these things.Mother, mother,
I don’t have to miss you anymore.
Rover, Rover, Rex, Spot
Here is the bone of my heart.
Musically, the song begins with the round arpeggios and hinges on the line:
There is a recognizable joy in the song and the timing of the next line is added so rapidly afterward as to emphasize how much joy is found.I’m so happy for you
You thought your mother was dead
The bell is struck continually in the song-it is almost like a culmination of bell ringing has begun.And now she isn’t
There is a musical break right before we hear the concluding passage:
The final lines sung together by the soprano and mezzo-soprano are heartfelt:The tree is trying to touch me.
It used to be an afternoon.
Now the music is ascending with a certain question-like quality:Mother, mother,
I don’t have to miss you anymore.
The slowing tempo and the ascending notes make for a dramatic conclusion-but one that still presents the comic aspects in their most affecting and disarming manner.Rover, Rover, Rex, Spot
Here is the bone of my heart.
I hope to go on to the dramatic climax of "You Came To Me This Morning" soon.
Joe