Source: Sunday Express

Nana Mouskouri und Leonard Cohen : Über eine jahrelange Freundschaft und gegenseitige Ehrerbietung

2018 befand sich Nana Mouskouri u.a. in Montreal, um ihre damalige Kanada-Tournee zu promoten. Bei der Gelegenheit , kurz bevor die Ausstellung im April 2018 endete, besuchte sie

„Leonard Cohen: A Crack In Everything,” : “I was crying all the way through,” sagte die damals 83jährige Mouskouri, die Leonard Cohen schon seit den 1970ern Jahren kennt. Damals besuchte Leonard Cohen eines ihrer Konzerte. Danach lud er sie auf einen Kaffee in sein Haus ein. 1974 traf sie Leonard Cohen erneut in Los Angeles und besuchten zusammen ein Konzert von Bob Dylan, den sie gemeinsam danach backstage besuchten. Mit beiden, Leonard Cohen und Bob Dylan verbindet die Mouskouri eine lange Freundschaft.

Mitte der 1990er Jahre zog sich die Mouskouri von der Bühne zurück. Als sie 2014 beschloss, wieder live aufzutreten, schrieb ihr Leonard Cohen : “Twenty years ago, in this curious world, you raised your voice in song. I heard you then and I hear you now. I am still listening. We all are,” he wrote in part of the letter“, worüber sie sich sehr freute. Und als sie über Leonard Cohen in Interviews gefragt wurde, sagte sie des öfteren:  “There is a religious mysticism about him. There are believers in his work and his words… and I feel the same way,”- “I listen to (his) records very often. I try to get even more between the lines to discover more. It’s not easy, but it’s wonderful.”

Nana Mouskouri`s „Hallelujah“ für Leonard Cohen

Auf Mouskouri’s Cover album “Forever Young” zollte sie ihrem Freund Leonard Cohen mit einer Version von „Hallelujah“ Respekt. Eigentlich wollte sie diesen Song, der schon so oft gecovert wurde, nicht auch noch aufnehmen: „It seemed like the most appropriate song to perform in his passing. Its lyrics spoke to my feelings and I didn’t want to “disturb” his more recent work by recording it myself.“

More Tributes To Leonard Cohen

2004 hatte Nana Mouskouri schon einmal Leonard Cohen-Songs aufgenommen. Auf dem „A Canadian Tribute“ (2004) – Album befindeen sich 5 seiner Songs:

La Ballade Du Chien Loup / (Ballad of the absent mare) 1)

The guests 2)

Suzanne 3)

You know who I am 4)

1) First released on the album „Ballads“ (France 1982)

2) First released on the album „Song for liberty“ (France 1982)

[also in German as „Das Fest“ on the album „Wenn ich tr�ume“, Germany 1980]

3) First released on the album „Fille du soleil“ (France 2002)

4) Duet with Graeme Allwright

 Ein fünfter durch Cohen bekanntgewordner, aber nicht von ihm stammender Song auf dem Album ist:  „Un Canadien Errant“ 5)

5) Der Song „Un Canadien errant“ wurde von Leonard Cohen auf dem „Recent Songs“-Album 1979 gesungen. Gérin-Lajoie wrote the song. The song has become a patriotic anthem for certain groups of Canadians who have at a point in their history experienced the pain of exile. In addition to those exiled following the Lower Canada Rebellion, it has come to hold particular importance for the rebels of the Upper Canada Rebellion, and for the Acadians, who suffered mass deportation from their homeland in the Great Upheaval between 1755 and 1763. The Acadian version is known as „Un Acadien errant.“

Leonard Cohen recorded „Un Canadien errant“ as „The Lost Canadian“ on his 1979 Recent Songs album. His own song „The Faith“, on his 2004 album Dear Heather, is based on the same melody.

“ Die Lieder von Leonard Cohen standen mir stets bei „

In einem Interview des „S-Magazine“ der griechischen Zeitung „INVESTOR’S WORLD“ vom 29. März 2003 wurde die Mouskouri gefragt:

In your personal mythology except Gatsos and Hadjidakis who else we find?, worauf sie antwortete:

Bob Dylan. It might be difficult to believe that, because Dylan is much more aggressive than me, but his songs overwhelm me. He has also influenced me as a person. He has even written a song for me: „Every Grain Of Sand“.

 Another one is Leonard Cohen who is more introverted than Dylan. His presence to my music and life was important because his songs was a kind of support for me who lived outside my country far away from my beloved persons

ENGLISH VERSION:

Nana Mouskouri and Leonard Cohen: On Years of Friendship and Mutual Deference

In 2018, Nana Mouskouri was in Montreal, among other places, to promote her Canadian tour at the time. On this occasion, shortly before the exhibition ended in April 2018, she visited

„Leonard Cohen: A Crack In Everything,“ : „I was crying all the way through,“ said the then 83-year-old Mouskouri, who has known Leonard Cohen since the 1970s. At that time, Leonard Cohen attended one of her concerts. Afterwards, he invited her to his house for a coffee. In 1974, she met Leonard Cohen again in Los Angeles and attended a Bob Dylan concert together, which they then attended backstage together. The Mouskouri has a long friendship with both Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan.

In the mid-1990s, the Mouskouri withdrew from the stage. When she decided to perform live again in 2014, Leonard Cohen wrote to her: „Twenty years ago, in this curious world, you raised your voice in song. I heard you then and I hear you now. I am still listening. We all are,“ he wrote in part of the letter,“ which she was very happy about. And when she was asked about Leonard Cohen in interviews, she often said: „There is a religious mysticism about him. There are believers in his work and his words… and I feel the same way,“- „I listen to (his) records very often. I try to get even more between the lines to discover more. It’s not easy, but it’s wonderful.“

Nana Mouskouri’s „Hallelujah“ for Leonard Cohen

On Mouskouri’s cover album „Forever Young“, she paid tribute to her boyfriend Leonard Cohen with a version of „Hallelujah“. Actually, she didn’t want to record this song, which has been covered so many times: „It seemed like the most appropriate song to perform in his passing. Its lyrics spoke to my feelings and I didn’t want to „disturb“ his more recent work by recording it myself.“

More Tributes To Leonard Cohen

In 2004, Nana Mouskouri had already recorded Leonard Cohen songs. On the „A Canadian Tribute“ (2004) album there are 5 of his songs:

La Ballade Du Chien Loup / (Ballad of the absent mare) 1)

The guests 2)

Suzanne 3)

You know who I am 4)

1) First released on the album „Ballads“ (France 1982)

2) First released on the album „Song for liberty“ (France 1982)

[also in German as „Das Fest“ on the album „Wenn ich tr ume“, Germany 1980]

3) First released on the album „Fille du soleil“ (France 2002)

4) Duet with Graeme Allwright

A fifth song on the album that Cohen made famous but did not write by him is: „Un Canadien Errant“ 5)

5) The song „Un Canadien errant“ was sung by Leonard Cohen on the „Recent Songs“ album in 1979. Gérin-Lajoie wrote the song. The song has become a patriotic anthem for certain groups of Canadians who have at a point in their history experienced the pain of exile. In addition to those exiled following the Lower Canada Rebellion, it has come to hold particular importance for the rebels of the Upper Canada Rebellion, and for the Acadians, who suffered mass deportation from their homeland in the Great Upheaval between 1755 and 1763. The Acadian version is known as „Un Acadien errant.“

Leonard Cohen recorded „Un Canadien errant“ as „The Lost Canadian“ on his 1979 Recent Songs album. His own song „The Faith“, on his 2004 album Dear Heather, is based on the same melody.

“ The songs of Leonard Cohen have always stood by me „

In an interview with the „S-Magazine“ of the Greek newspaper „INVESTOR’S WORLD“ on March 29, 2003, Mouskouri was asked:

In your personal mythology except Gatsos and Hadjidakis who else we find?, to which she replied:

Bob Dylan. It might be difficult to believe that, because Dylan is much more aggressive than me, but his songs overwhelm me. He has also influenced me as a person. He has even written a song for me: „Every Grain Of Sand“.

Another one is Leonard Cohen who is more introverted than Dylan. His presence to my music and life was important because his songs was a kind of support for me who lived outside my country far away from my beloved persons

SOURCES for this article:

S-Magazine of the Greek newspaper INVESTOR’S WORLD (29 March 2003)

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/512704/Nana-Mouskouri-Greek-singer

https://www.contactmusic.com/leonard-cohen/news/leonard-cohen-still-a-big-fan-of-fellow-80-year-old-mouskouri_4372404

Leonard Cohen-Songs von Nana Mouskouris interpretiert auf YOU TUBE:

Ein ganz anderes Interview mit Fish gibt es im Buch:

Vol. 6 – Marillion , Montreal & Leonard Cohen – UK-Prog Rock-Band #MARILLION on Montreal and on Leonard Cohen – Essays, Photos, Interviews – #Marillion #Montreal #LeonardCohen

photos: Christof Graf

Photo: Christof Graf