科恩的诗意人生

Through much of his life, Leonard Cohen was a man on the move.

在他一生的大部分时间里，莱昂纳德•科恩都在四处奔波。

The Canadian singer, songwriter, poet and novelist died on Nov 10, leaving behind a musical *travelogue that documented his journey in lyrical detail while exploring questions of faith and morality, sex and betrayal, love and hate. He was 82.

这位加拿大歌手、歌曲作家、诗人、小说家于11月10日与世长辞，留下了一部音乐游记存世。这部游记详细地纪录了他的诗意旅程，同时也探索了关于信仰与道德、性与背叛、爱与恨的一系列问题。他享年82岁。

“I have no program. I have no five-year plan,” he told a crowd during a 1985 performance. “I just move from hotel to hotel and from bar to bar, and by the grace of the one above, occasionally a song comes.”

“我没有什么项目，也没有五年计划，”在1985年的一场表演上，他向观众说道。“我只是从一家酒店搬到另一家酒店，从一个酒吧前往另一个酒吧。承蒙上帝恩典，有时一首歌就这样写出来了。”

Cohen’s first musical successes came during folk’s great leap forward in the late 1960s, alongside Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell and US musician Bob Dylan. He introduced himself to the world with now-standards including Bird on a Wire (1969), Suzanne (1966), Sisters of Mercy (1967) and So Long Marianne (1967), and across the next five decades issued 14 studio albums dense with wit, charm, cruelty, harsh self-judgment, bitterness, grace and profound, enduring empathy.

在上世纪60年代晚期的民谣狂潮中，科恩开始在音乐上崭露头角，与他一同成名的还有加拿大歌手、词曲创作家琼尼•米歇尔以及美国音乐人鲍伯•迪伦。他用《线上孤鸟》(1969)、《苏珊娜》(1966)、《仁慈姐妹》(1967)以及《再见玛丽安》(1967)等传唱至今的歌曲让全世界记住了自己。在接下来的五十年中，他又陆续发行了14张录音室专辑，每一张都饱含智慧、魅力、残忍、严苛的自我评判，以及苦涩、优雅、深远而又持久的共鸣。

A novelist and poet first, Cohen mastered his craft across the decades, and singers lined up to record his work, including American musicians and bands such as Nina Simone, Johnny Cash, Tori Amos, Lana del Rey, Nick Cave, Jennifer Warnes and R.E.M.

刚开始，科恩是一个小说家、一个诗人。在过去的这些年间，他将自己的技艺练得炉火纯青，许多歌手都纷纷翻唱他的作品。这其中就包括了妮娜•西蒙、约翰尼•卡什、多莉•艾莫丝、拉娜•德雷、尼克•凯夫、珍尼弗•温拿斯以及快转眼球乐队等美国音乐人和乐队。

“My tunes often deal with a moral crisis,” he told US writer Harvey Kubernik. “I often feel myself a part of such a crisis and try to relate it in song. There’s a line in a poem I wrote that sums this up perfectly: ‘My betrayals are so fresh they still come with explanations.’”

“我的曲调往往与道德危机有关，”他向美国作家哈维•库布尼克说道。“我常常觉得，我自身是这种危机的一部分，并尝试将它和歌曲联系起来。在我写的诗中，有一句诗完美地总结了这一点：‘我的背叛如此鲜活，它们还带着解释的声音。’”

The *trajectory of his lyrical adventures ranged from memories of romance in Chelsea Hotel No. 2 (1974), to committing to a *monastic life at a Buddhist *retreat in which he composed gorgeous meditations and recollections on life, death and the space in between.

从歌曲《切尔西酒店作品2号》(1974)中的浪漫回忆，再到归隐处苦行僧般的生活和对生命、死亡和空间的冥想和回忆，这就是他诗意的探险轨迹。

In his 2012 song Come Healing, he wrote of the “longing of the branches to lift the little bud” and the “longing of the *arteries to purify the blood”.

在2012年的歌曲《来治愈》中，科恩写道“树枝的渴望是爆发新芽”、“动脉的渴望是净化血液”。

Across the decades, he penned work that combined wit, intellect and an ear for a sharp turn of phrase, yet he was merciless on himself. “I am not this *hunchback that you see,” he sang in Avalanche (1971).

几十年里，他写下了许多风趣、机智而又言辞犀利的作品，而他对自己也毫不留情。“我不是你们眼前的这个驼子，”他在歌曲《雪崩》(1971)中唱道。

He described his “secondhand physique” on one version of A Thousand Kisses Deep (1996). The *interlude during Chelsea Hotel No. 2 quotes his lover: “You told me again, you preferred handsome men/ But for me you would make an exception.”

他将歌曲《千吻之深》(1996)的其中一个版本形容为他的“二手体格“。《切尔西酒店作品2号》的间奏还引用了他恋人的话：“你告诉我，你喜欢更英俊点的男人/ 但你会把我作为例外。”

*Loath to repeat himself in song, Cohen pushed his pen in new directions until the very end. His swan song, You Want It Darker, was issued just last month. On the title track, he acknowledged his artistic success while *belittling his life’s challenges, singing that he “struggled with some demons, they were middle class and *tame.”

科恩不愿意歌曲有所重复，在人生的最后时光，他还在尝试一些新方向。他的绝笔之作专辑《你希望世界更加黑暗》上个月才刚刚发行。在与专辑同名的主打歌中，他认可了自己在艺术上的成功，并对生活中的挑战不屑一顾。他唱道“我抗争过一些恶魔，他们不过平庸怯懦。”

As with every line he wrote, his gaze was *unflinching as he faced the final goodbye. “I’m ready my Lord,” he offers in the title track. “I’m ready.”

正如他写下的每句诗那样，在面对最终的道别之时，他的目光总是无所畏惧。“上帝，我准备好了，”他在这首同名主打歌中唱道。“我准备好了。”