The Partisan

A number of French artists have recorded and released versions of the song since, but it is better recognised globally in its significantly, both musically and in the meaning of its lyrics, different English adaptation by Hy Zaret (1907–2007), best known as the lyricist of "Unchained Melody".

Anna Marly was born in Petrograd on October 30, 1917, and after her father was murdered by the Bolsheviks, she escaped with her mother and sister to a Russian colony in Menton, south-eastern France.

[4] In Paris, 1945, Raoul Breton published the "La Complainte du partisan" sheet music with lyrics by d'Astier credited to Bernard,[12] his Resistance code name.

[1] In their examination of the songs of Anna Marly, the Académie de Lyon describe "La Complainte du partisan" as "une vision déchirante de l'engagement des résistants" (English: "a heartbreaking vision of the commitment of the Resistance members"), and evaluate its structure and the meaning of its words: the song's lyrics are structured as six quatrains; the first and second lines of each is formed with seven syllables, the third line with five syllables and the fourth with six.

[13] In his analysis for the University of Freiburg, Giacomo Bottà describes d'Astier's lyrics as "very straightforward", then continues:[14] A partisan recalls, in the first person, episodes of his life ... each verse narrates a different situation: life on the run, the loss of the family, that of comrades, the killing of an old man who hid partisans, up to the ending.The first five verses (quatrains) depict scenes of Nazi occupied France, the expectation of French people to accept the occupation of their country, and the extraordinary reaction of the Resistance.

The second line, "On m'a dit 'Résigne-toi'" (English: "I was told 'Resign yourself'"), references the common resignation of the French people in response to Philippe Pétain's radio address, after the Fall of France, announcing his intention to ask for an armistice with Germany.

[13] In the third and fourth lines, "Mais je n'ai pas pu / Et j'ai repris mon arme" (English: "But I could not / And I took my weapon"), d'Astier introduces the notion of resistance, with a risk of death, loss of family, friends and identity and leading a secretive and dangerous life on the run, evoked by the lines "J'ai changé cent fois de nom / J'ai perdu femme et enfants ... Hier encore, nous étions trois / Il ne reste plus que moi / Et je tourne en rond / Dans la prison des frontières" (English: "I changed name a hundred times / I lost wife and children ...

In the final verse, d'Astier expresses his hope and confidence that Resistance will not be futile; "Le vent souffle sur les tombes" (English: "The wind blows on the graves") evoking a cleansing wind and "La liberté reviendra / On nous oubliera / Nous rentrerons dans l'ombre" (English: "Freedom will return / We will be forgotten / We will go into the shadows") expressing the confidence that the actions of the mostly anonymous Resistance will have their desired effect.

[14] Born in Manhattan, New York City in 1907, Hy Zaret was best known as a Tin Pan Alley lyricist, whose writing credits include those for "Unchained Melody", "One Meat Ball" and several educational and public service songs.

[g 5] Douglas Martin reported for The New York Times that Zaret "loosely translated" the French lyrics,[1] and in his book Passion and Ambivalence: Colonialism, Nationalism, and International Law, author Nathaniel Berman compares excerpts of d'Astier's original French lyrics alongside, what he calls Zaret's English "‍(mis)translation", and notes that "the two versions reflect very different views"; that Zaret's English suggests that the partisans will "come from the shadows", while the French "nous rentrerons dans l'ombre", he states as "we will return to the shadow" (emphasis in quote) in English, suggests that the partisans – the Resistance – are "an artifact of the imperialism that dominates [them]", and that "reconciliation of society with its shadows is an illusion".

[25] Using Zaret's predominantly English adaptation to record the song, with the title "The Partisan",[18] left Cohen dissatisfied, and he suggested to Johnston that French voices were needed on the track.

Johnston reportedly arranged to fly with Cohen to Paris, for "authenticity" according to Maurice Ratcliff, to record a trio of female singers and an accordion player, whose work was overdubbed on to the track.

A song that simultaneously mourns what's been lost and steels listeners for a fight to come" and that Gordon and Perkin's version "begins with a softly haunting acoustic intro before escalating to stomping blasts of distorted guitar and heaving drumming".

Andy Gill, reviewing the album for The Independent, described their style as "a sort of cross between Krautrock, klezmer and free jazz that thrives on the enthusiasm of performance", and that their version is "still recognisable ... despite the churning thrash they give it".

Clarke says the band create "indie-pop with the scope, precision and polish of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours" (emphasis added), and that their performance of "The Partisan" "encompass[ed] all the elements of Other Lives' sound".