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Leonard Cohen "The Partisan"

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ORIGINAL: michaelOfGeorgia

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Leonard Cohen "The Partisan"

who's that? never heard of him. is it redneck music?

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Recurring themes in Cohen's work include love and sex, religion, psychological depression, and music itself. He seems to be seeking wholeness. He has also engaged with certain political themes, though sometimes ambiguously so. Love and sexuality are common themes in popular music, yet Cohen's background as a novelist and poet enabled him to bring a darker, deeper edge to these themes. "Suzanne" mixes a wistful type of love song with a religious meditation, themes that are also mixed in "Joan of Arc." "Famous Blue Raincoat" is from the point of view of a man whose marriage has been broken (in exactly what degree is ambiguous in the song) by his wife's infidelity with his close friend, and is written in the form of a letter to that friend, to whom he writes, "I guess that I miss you/ I guess I forgive you … Know your enemy is sleeping/ And his woman is free", while "Everybody Knows" deals in part with the harsh reality of AIDS: "… the naked man and woman/ Are just a shining artifact of the past."

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"The Partisan" ("La Complainte du 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. It has been adapted (with English lyrics by Hy Zaret) and covered by diverse artists, including Leonard Cohen, Joan Baez, 16 Horsepower, Red Union, Po' Girl, Branimir Štulić and Electrelane.

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THE PARTISAN

When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender
This I could not do
I took my gun and vanished.

I have changed my name so often
I've lost my wife and children
But I have many friends
And some of them are with me

An old woman gave us shelter
Kept us hidden in the garret
Then the soldiers came
She died without a whisper.

There were three of us this morning
I'm the only one this evening
But I must go on
The frontiers are my prison.

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing
Through the graves the wind is blowing
Freedom soon will come
Then we'll come from the shadows.

Les Allemands étaient chez moi
Ils me dirent "résigne toi"
Mais je n'ai pas pu
J'ai repris mon arme.

J'ai changé cent fois de nom
J'ai perdu femme et enfants
Mais j'ai tant d'amis
J'ai la France entiere.

Un vieil homme dans un grenier
Pour la nuit nous a cachés
Les Allemands l'ont pris
Il est mort sans surprise.

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing
Through the graves the wind is blowing
Freedom soon will come
Then we'll come from the shadows.