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Leonard's 3 Angels

from Songs From the Crux by Walter Ehresman

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Click here for the video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xme8_UcBAow

Long-time fans of Ehresman's catalogue might be taken aback by seeing the word "angel" in one of his song titles. But fear not.....the life-long atheist hasn't softened his stance at age 58. Instead, interestingly, this is a character study about mortality and a notion of a really nice way for a singer-songwriter to go out.

According to Ehresman, "I wrote this song after re-watching Leonard Cohen's 'Live in London '08' DVD in January of 2020. I was struck by how, in this last tour.....at the end of his life.....he was going out with such a bang......his gruff, low voice floating on a cloud of angelic background vocals from his three sublime backing singers. And I thought 'all of us singer/songwriters should be so lucky to go out like that'."

Evidently, having Cohen on the brain while writing this song also had an influence on Ehresman's lyric-writing. The song depicts an aging songwriter, looking back over his life, with the pride and the regrets we all must face, and musing that being ushered off this mortal coil to the strains of Leonard Cohen's three angelic background singers would be a fine way for a singer-songwriter to make his exit. "Leonard's 3 Angels" is a beautiful, mature, melancholy highpoint in Ehresman's lifetime of songs.

lyrics

Leonard’s Three Angels
(© 2020 Walter Ehresman)

Well, I’ve snarled at the hand; broke up the band;
And loved to the end; shot straight with a friend;
Climbed down from my chair, still cried out for what’s fair;
Blew through your good will, played the fool even still;
Saw all of this pass through reverse looking glass;
Vowed better to do, as the sand runs on through.

Well, I’ve put two steps out there, felt three that slid back;
I’ve thought of the long game, but then lost the track;
Jumped out of my skin, then grasped it again;
Wept seas for the past; froze up in the natural
ways of the world, that I see from outside,
but then stood by your side—felt your fingers uncurl.

But now at the end
(though I still won’t pretend)
I’ve a notion, it seems
(though I still don’t believe)
Leonard’s angels—won’t you please sing me home.

Mountainous waves of intention now crash on the shore;
Reading new tidelines to see if there’s anything more.

Well, I’ve looked into eyes and thought I could see;
Gone all-in again, crawled away bitterly;
Wondered could I go on……stuck around for the song;
Broke open the vein for to sing out the pain, and then
stood up again, with some help from my friends;
Tried to learn from it all, ‘til the final recall.

credits

from Songs From the Crux, released April 1, 2021
Walter Ehresman: vocals, acoustic guitar, 5-string electric bass, keyboards, sequencing.

Snipe Bog Records.
p. 2021 Walter Ehresman

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Walter Ehresman San Miguel De Allende, Mexico

Called "the quintessential Austin DIY artist" by famed local disc jockey Charlie Martin , Walter Ehresman was an eccentric presence in the Austin music scene from the '80s until his 2015 move to Mexico. A prolific songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist...and a restless musical spirit, always looking for something new, expressed with fearlessly honest, socially-conscious lyrics. ... more

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