Leonard Cohen, Prince of Asturias award for letters 2011

Today they've announced the Prince of Asturias for letters 2011, awarded to the Canadian singer-songwriter, novelist and poet Leonard Cohen. Considered one of the most influential authors of our time, his poems and songs have beautifully explored the major issues of humanity in great depth. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships. Famously reclusive, having once spent several years in a Zen Buddhist monastery, and possessing a persona frequently associated with mystique, he is extremely well regarded by critics for his literary accomplishments, for the richness of his lyrics, and for producing an output of work of high artistic quality over a five-decade career.(wikipedia)
When I was a teenager I was in love with his deep voice and the messages he sent, and I still am today. Wonderful man, wonderful songs. It's been hard to choose one for this post. Let me recommend a few: Take this waltz (where he translates and puts music to Lorca and his Poet in New York), Suzanne (my first love), Hey, that's no way to say goodbye...


Here's my final choice, Hallelujah. There are different versions of this song (with slightly different lyrics) and different covers by many artists. It is maybe his most popular song and one of the best in my opinion. I'm posting one of the original videos from the 1980s. My favourite verses are not included in this version though so I'm just including them here:

There was a time you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in with you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It’s not a cry you can hear at night
It’s not somebody who has seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

And now, on with the song. Enjoy!



I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light in every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Leonard Cohen was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010. The following is a news clip  about the event:

Thank you, Jimena!

Jimena, I hope you don't mind my writing about you here but I want to thank you in public. Because I want people to know how helpful and supportive you have been to me this year.  Your ever-present smiles, reassurances and kind words have got me through my bad days and made me believe in myself again. I've been  lucky to have you with me even if for too short a time. You are a great teacher and an amazing person. Maybe we'll work together again some time...
Thank you!

Thanks   by W. S. Merwin

 

Listen 

with the night falling we are saying thank you 

we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings 

we are running out of the glass rooms 

with our mouths full of food to look at the sky 

and say thank you 

we are standing by the water thanking it 

smiling by the windows looking out 

in our directions 

back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging 

after funerals we are saying thank you 

after the news of the dead 

whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you

over telephones we are saying thank you 

in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators 

remembering wars and the police at the door 

and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you 

in the banks we are saying thank you 

in the faces of the officials and the rich

and of all who will never change

we go on saying thank you thank you

with the animals dying around us 

our lost feelings we are saying thank you 

with the forests falling faster than the minutes 

of our lives we are saying thank you 

with the words going out like cells of a brain 

with the cities growing over us 

we are saying thank you faster and faster 

with nobody listening we are saying thank you 

we are saying thank you and waving 

dark though it is

 Today people in the USA celebrate Memorial Day. For some, it is a day to honour loved ones who have died serving their country. For others, the national holiday is the unofficial start of summer.
When is Memorial Day? This federal holiday is observed on the last Monday of May. Whether you want to honour a fallen comrade or celebrate peace, Memorial Day Weekend is a time for remembrance and thanksgiving.
Begun as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the Civil War, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family get-togethers, fireworks and trips to the beach.

GRASS
by: Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

PILE the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo,

Shovel them under and let me work--

I am the grass; I cover all.

 

And pile them high at Gettysburg

And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.

Shovel them under and let me work.

Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:

What place is this?

Where are we now?

 

I am the grass.

Let me work. 

 



Carl Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln.

I've finally updated My Students page. Give it a look, please!!

YES, THE TIMES ARE A-CHANGIN'

The times are a changin’ in Madrid. (AITOR AGUIRRE INFO@ANTINEAMEDIA.COM )

With everything that's going on in Spain and in other parts of the world today, I see really fitting to share this wonderful Dylan song. This  song became an anthem for frustrated youth. It summed up the anti-establishment feelings of people who would later be known as hippies. Many of the lyrics are based on the Civil Rights movement in the US. In the liner notes of this album Biograph, Dylan wrote: "I wanted to write a big song, some kind of theme song, with short, concise verses that piled up on each other in a hypnotic way. This is definitely a song with a purpose. I knew exactly what I wanted to say and who I wanted to say it to." (source: Songfacts.com)
Unfortunately, I couldn't find Dylan's version which should really be the one to post but I found a live cover by Eddie Vedder (from Pearl Jam) which is the next best thing. Enjoy the song and think!




Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressman
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he who gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
You old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

Short Story Competition!

My wonderful sister, who is always finding me things for my classes and my students, has informed me of a competition the on-line newspapers Elcomerciodigital.com and Lavozdeaviles.es are organizing for people your age (10-15).  You only need to write  up to three short stories in English and submit them before June 1 2011. I think this is a great opportunity for those of you who love writing and do so regularly. Give it a try, you have nothing to lose... the first prize? A scholarship for Hello English summer camp. For more information go here.
Even if you don't want to take part, you may want to visit their site and see what other students are writing.

Calvin and Hobbes cartoon by Bill Watterson

I want to offer a different take on Mother's Day and this poem by Linda Pastan seems really fitting. I love the humour and truth in it. I'm sure every mother has felt the same some time,  I wonder how many went through with it though.

 Marks

My husband gives me an A
for last night's supper,
an incomplete for my ironing,
a B plus in bed.
My son says I am average,
an average mother, but if
I put my mind to it
I could improve.
My daughter believes
in Pass/Fail and tells me
I pass. Wait 'til they learn
I'm dropping out.

Linda Pastan is an American poet of Jewish background. She was born in New York on May 27, 1932.
She is known for writing short poems that address topics like family life, domesticity, motherhood, the female experience, aging, death, loss and the fear of loss, as well as the fragility of life and relationships.