The Partisan, Leonard Cohen

Here is a page devoted to a historical song covered by Leonard Cohen in his album "Songs from a Room": "The Partisan", sometimes called "The song of the French partisan".

This song is actually an adaptation from "La complainte du partisan", written in London during 1943, by Emmanuel D'Astier de la Vigerie (called "Bernard" in the French Resistance) and Anna Marly.

I suggest our French visitors click on the following RA to hear Claude Dauphin give his historical comments about this song's story.

From LP "L'encyclopédie sonore : Les chants  de la Résistance et de la Libération"; Librairie Hachette 320 E 847.

This song was really a survivor of the German bombing, and became a popular tune in the 50's in French-speaking countries.

It is now less famous than its almost homonymous "Chant des partisans" by J. Kessel and M. Druon. This last one was notably made "re-fashionable" by the André Malraux's speech during the transfer of Jean Moulin' ashes in the Panthéon of Paris.

Finally, Leonard Cohen gave the "complainte" a new life in 1969 with his "Partisan". Hy Zaret was the first to apply for a copyright (via the editor Raoul Breton) for the d'Astier-Marly song.

He heard the song on the BBC waves; maybe the radio broadcast didn't give him the name of the lyric writer, but only Marly's name, who wrote the music and gave the original performance. It's probably for this reason that only Zaret (for the English adaptation) and Marly (for music and French lyrics) were credited.

Finally, and as it can be read in Anna Prucnal 's LP "Avec Amour", the actual credit is:

Original : La complainte du Partisan

paroles: Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie also undernamed  "Bernard"

musique: Anna Marly

Leonard 's cover : The (song of the French) Partisan

paroles : E. d'Astier de la Vigerie, adaptation Hy Zaret

musique : Anna Marly

Ed. Raoul Breton.

(texto retirado daqui)