前些天傳來坂本龍一的死訊，哀嘆時代的眼淚之餘，想起了 Leonard Cohen。
好久沒聽老先生唱歌。今天點開 Treaty，他一開口眼淚就直接掉下來。到底是什麼樣奇怪的魔力，讓他於我在眾多音樂人之中如此特別具份量，是個未解之謎。
大概是被他給迷住了。
1980年老先生排名了他的最愛，這首曲子排在第二，並且長年將這首歌收藏在私人的點唱機裡。幾年前聽聞James Blake 翻唱，歌詞裡盡是對舊愛的景仰之情。被阿靖提醒才知道，傳說 Joni Mitchell 的這首寫的是柯恩伯。本以為只是因為歌詞太美而且哥又真的這麼美、造成樂迷心中的小仙子灑著磷粉作祟，然而原來在他們短暫的愛戀燃燒殆盡前，他真的告訴過 Joni，「我（對你）恆久如同北極星。」
在樂評 David Yaffe 的書《Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell》裡，寫道：
No lover gave her poetry like Leonard, and even after their affair ended, she continued to communicate with him in song; most memorably in “A Case of You.” She recalled that Cohen told her, “I am as constant as the Northern Star.” Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar says this to Brutus, and it’s not far from there to “Et tu, Brute.” “I knew it was from Julius Caesar,” Cohen recalled, “but I didn’t say it with Shakespeare’s irony. I think I actually meant it in relation to her.”
“When I played ‘A Case of You’ for him, he said, ‘I’m glad I wrote that,’” Joni recalled. The song begins: Just before our love got lost you said, “I am as constant as a northern star.” And I said, “Constantly in the darkness Where’s that at? If you want me I’ll be in the bar.” It was a tension that spoke to a schism in their songwriting …
不知怎地鬆了口氣。
也許 Joni 當年並沒有清明地意識到人生就是摸著黑往前走，散會後回過頭才發覺，愛情的尾聲她無意間在嘲諷中流露出赤誠的真心。畢竟每位樂迷都對歌詞深有同感——我們可以喝下一整箱的聖酒，也只是更加踩穩腳步，而不會迷失方向。就像 1970 年夏天 Isle of Wight 音樂祭裡，那些原先躁動不安、對著台上的樂手發難叫罵的觀眾們，在見到他登台後全都奇異地找回了平靜與安寧。是的，是的，如果這世界有神，他就是通道。而他將永遠在同一個位置飽含著光，我們黑暗中的北極星。