There are songs out there that you cannot get enough of. A feeling of excitement surfaces at the first listen, and the incessant repeated listenings that follows familiarizes you with the individual elements that make up the song(instruments, composition, production, lyrics, etc), helping you understand what made you fall for the tune in the first place, as well as reliving that excitement over and over again. I have been very fortunate to have experienced this euphoria numerous time, and a song that had me smitten recently is
The combination of Leonard Cohen's frantic guitar plucking, his baritone voice quietly speaking words of a freedom fighter in the midst of war, and the sound of an accordion weaving in and out is moving experience - it is as if reading the train of thought of a man who has resigned to a soldier's fate, but still has a flicker of hope for the war to end. The Partisan is truly a moving experience found in Cohen's second album, .
Now listening to The Partisan you immediately understand that the song is about war with lyrics such as and this particular passage really drives the war and heroism theme home. But then suddenly in the middle of the song there is a woman singing along in french which took me by surprise, and made me even more curious about the song.
So first I looked for translations of the lyrics:
Les Allemands e'taient chez moi
ils me dirent, "Signe toi"
mais je n'ai pas peur;
j'ai repris mon arme.
J'ai change' cent fois de nom
j'ai perdu femme et enfants
mais j'ai tant d'amis
j'ai la France entie`re.
Un vieil homme dans un grenier
pour la nuit nous a cache'
les Allemands l'ont pris;
il est mort sans surprise.
The Germans were at my home
They said, "resign yourself"
But I am not afraid
I have retaken my weapon.
I have changed names a hundred times
I have lost wife and children
But I have so many friends
I have all of France
An old man, in an attic
Hid us for the night
The Germans captured him
He died with no surprise.
So now it has become obvious that "The Partisan" refers to the French Resistance during World War II, and it is a bit curious that the French lyrics seems a lot more specific than Cohens (who mentions neither warring parties). Delving deeper into learning about "The Partisan" I found out that this song is actually a cover/adapation of a French song called "La Complainte du Partisan" (The Rime of the Partisan).
The original was written in 1943 by a soldier named Emmanuel D'Astier de la Vigerie and turned into a song by singer Anna Marly (whose version you can listen to above). "La Complainte du Partisan", which was indeed dedicated to the French Resistance, was then translated by composer Hy Zaret (who famously wrote the song "Unchained Melody"). Hy Zaret translation stayed relatively true to Emmanuel D'Astier de la Vigerie in all but the omission of the fighting parties and one important sentence - and a pretty significant one (translation by Google Translate):
Le vent souffle sur les tombes (The wind over the graves)
La liberté reviendra (Freedom return)
On nous oubliera (We forget)
Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing
Through the graves the wind is blowing
Freedom soon will come
Coming from the shadows is significantly different from returning to the shadows - the original spoke of the selflessness of the resistance fighters as they will return to their normal lives in anonymity. Meanwhile, Zarets' translation implies that the fighters will reveal themselves to the normal/regular life when freedom returns. Coming out of the shadows does give an aire of glory to the fighters' return, and perhaps Zarets wanted to end the prose on a hopeful and heroic note instead of the more stoic original. Zarets' version is what Leonard Cohen sang after listening to a version of the song on BBC Canada.
So that is where my tiny bit of research on Leonard Cohen's "The Partisan" ended. It is a beautiful song that turns out to have an interesting history behind it. If you have read this far do listen to the variety of song versions posted above (click the left and right arrows), and if you want to learn more about the music this Google search is a good place to start. I hope you will be as moved by the song as I was.
Here's something that doesn't happen every day, an actual video interview with one of the most elusive personalities in hip-hop in specific and music in general, . or better known as (or Quasimoto, Yesterday's New Quintet, DJ Rels, Russel Jenkins, Sound Directions, Suntouch and a whole host of other guises). The interview took place during Madlib's recent Medicine Show tour in London and may include facts you may or may not know about this genius producer.
It's a proud day for us here in Whiteboard Journal as today, June 26, If you regularly read our website you probably have noticed that our recent literary picks have been made possible by the Japanese book shop, and to take it a step further Kinokuniya provided a physical space in their store to display the selection - making it easier for readers to find the books!
Joining this collaboration to promote reading is , who has provided us with a for us to display the selection so customers can read the book descriptions before making their choice of literature.
Every month the display in Kinokuniya will change as we bring you a new selection of books on our website, so if you are looking for that next great read make your way to the 5th floor of Sogo, Plaza Senayan, and stop by our booth!
JL Asia Afrika 8 Sogo
Plaza Senayan Lt. 5
Jakarta 10270
We posted the trailer to this video a last week. Well, here's the full version, and great one it is too!
"Two years ago Motor City Drum Ensemble was one of the busiest DJs on the circuit, with a string of popular EPs and a hit mix under his belt. But suddenly, the Stuttgart native disappeared from public view, and his once-packed release schedule all but dried up. These days he's back on tour, which is where we find him in the latest edition of . RA shadowed Plessow from Boiler Room and Corsica Studios in London to a gig in Aix-en-Provence and an appearance at Lyon's Nuits Sonores festival, with a stopover at his new home in Utrecht in between. In our time together, he told us about his temporary withdrawal from DJ life, what happened during his enforced break and what's changed since then."
Despite calling the event ‘Warm’, the recently held performance at Salihara Theater was proven to be far from warm but more sweaty hot.
Reading through the event pamphlet, audiences were prepared to witness an wrapped under what was explained as heat and stage lights that could go up to 45 degrees.
We had no idea what to expect.
On Saturday, 15th of June, 'Warm' became the second out of the six other performances held weekly in a program by Salihara called . The name itself is derived from two words, and wheretheprogram is intended to become a small festival showcasing the art forms of collective theatre groups.
Before the show started, audiences were already welcomed by the thick and humid air, as if pushing us to understand the uneasiness performers will soon deal with. 30 minutes in, the room was crowded, each seat were occupied, and the fascination over the intense heat slowly became quiet irritation of people fanning themselves with show booklets and wiping off each droplets of sweat.
The main intention of the heated room was to take this form of circus-theater into the next level. The elasticity of acrobats are defined by their tight grip. Sweat, no matter how little, can disrupt the overall concentration and balance of the artists. This was however, was the challenge the duo acrobats, and were aiming for.
For an intense 45 minutes, the swayed movements of the two men were accompanied by the bold vocals of actress - giving her own life to the performance. Every movement, every interaction were narrated with an Indonesian translation of 's script with the same title 'Warm.' The script is represented by a women as she trails off her sensual imagination. continuingherwild exploration of erotic thoughts between the union of any human beings.
The presence of actress Ine Febriyanti gave the narration a very raunchy and erotic feel to it. If the movements between the two acrobats stood alone, the performance was anything but vulgar, in fact it wasn’t even sensual, the union of the two men were graceful in their embrace. What was admired throughout the show is undeniably - other than the totality of characters all three performers - was the intense focus Alexandre Fray and Frederic Arsenault had to pick each other up. Especially after realizing during the last few minutes, the unbearable heat would sooner or later break their mentality and physique. Clearly, an immeasurable amount of trust to go through each jump was no doubt a value they shared - especially having explained of their 16 years of performing together.
As we, the audience, admired each word and movement, by the end of the show we were drenched in sweat from head to toe and to our surprise, as we got out the hall gave a rare comment of how breezy Jakarta became for us. Giving us a perfect ending to cool down from the heated performance.
, the project of , friend of W_Music and one of our favourite music archivists and recently performed set at . Can't wait for this dude to tour South East Asia! Watch this space...
Backstage Life Bareng Grrrl Gang di Episode Kelima Vindy Ngapain?
Tahun ini Grrrl Gang mendapatkan kesempatan untuk menjadi salah satu line up di We The Fest 2019, dan Vindy diperbolehkan untuk mengikuti aktivitas mereka.
Tahun ini Grrrl Gang mendapatkan kesempatan untuk menjadi salah satu line up di We The Fest 2019, dan Vindy diperbolehkan untuk mengikuti aktivitas mereka.
Son of another Indonesian great, multi-instrumentalist-Jack Lesmana, Indra Lesmana is a child prodigy who learned how to master the keys at a young age, with his first performances done at the age of ten to an audience of hundreds and thousands, and his first album released when he was 12 years old. From child to adulthood, Indra Lesmana has dedicated his life to music.
With currently over 50 albums released, his musical endeavors are not restricted to jazz, Indra Lesmana has also released a multitude of critically acclaimed pop records, winning a BASF Award for his meaningful pop numbers. Currently busy promoting the first LLW record, LLW being his modern jazz trio with bassist-Barry Likumahuwa and drummer-Sandy Winarta, Indra Lesmana spared some time our of his busy schedule to talk to W_Music about some highlights from his three decade-long career, LLW, and leaves the viewers and aspiring musicians some words of wisdom. Enjoy!
[featured caption="W_Music Series Vol.05: Indra Lesmana"]
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Invent Your Future
Temukan siapa dirimu dan bagaimana karaktermu menentukan arah masa depan.
