Leonard Cohen
I was lucky enough to catch Leonard in Montreal last week where he gave the last of three days of sold-out shows before heading off to England. This meant that he missed his own tribute party the following day, which took over the whole town. But then Leonard has always been one jump ahead of most of us.
Probably we recall Leonard as a force during the seventies, when his low bass voice rumbled songs of disappointment. That was where he made his first impact. Now, at 72, one might expect him to be just as gloomy as the caricature of him would suggest.
But you would be wrong.
The Leonard Cohen who stood before us that night had a voice that is so unaccountably rich, full, and pitched so very low that it shakes the floorboards under your feet and makes your hair stir of its own accord. Musically he has never been more impressive.
Yet it is the words that have truly come into their own at last. Seen for many years as songs of gloom, the words have, today, a renewed depth. The depth was always there, but we just couldn’t quite feel it, I suspect. For when a song that said true things 30 years ago is sung today and feels truer than ever it has to be because the singer himself has found the new depths. He knew what he wrote as a young man was true, but it’s not until now that he could express the fullness of that vision. He brings before us not just sadness (which is a rather adolescent response) but instead he gives us a sense that although sadness exists and will always exist it is the extraordinary beauty of human joy that keeps breaking through. And that is what is worth commemorating.
The audience was in tune with this, too. I can’t recall having seen so many tear-filled eyes outside a funeral. They were filled with tears of real emotion for the beauties that are in everything, even the most confused aspects of our lives, and for the majesty of being alive in a scrambled world.
Ring the bells that still will ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
- That’s how the light gets in.
Shakespeare knew that, too. It’s when the smooth flow of words gets interrupted, when Romeo catches at words for feelings he’s never had before, THEN, that’s when life slips in; and life is always messy, always extraordinary. The poetry is not the polished phrase but it lurks in the hesitations between the phrases. We labor to create perfect offerings, but it’s the very imperfections of our works that make them holy.
That night we saw a singer who was not insisting on anything, but just showing what he felt. In that setting the Magician appeared. And we wept for joy.
on July 1st, 2008 at 10:32 am
I only know Leonard Cohen ’s work through the songs Judy Collins covers - Suzanne and Sisters of Mercy ( which has long been one of our favorites) are the two that come to mind at the moment.. After reading your comments about his concert, I will definitely seek out some of his recordings to take a listen.
Thanks Allan!
J.
on July 1st, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Dear Jean,
Suzanne and Sisters of Mercy are exquisite, and yet you could try ‘Hallelujah’ (it makes my spine tingle just to write it, it’s so extraordinary and moving) and if you’re struggling with some writing just try “Tower of Song’ as a way to see how darned demanding the creative life can be - and how magnificent.
There’s an incredible version of ‘Hallelujah’ on You Tube by Jeff Buckley. He REALLY gets it. Take a moment and listen, preferably when you know you’ll have a few minutes afterwards to recover . One needs those moments after having one’s heart split wide open, I find.
As ever, Allan
on July 2nd, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Dear Administrator:
Now that you’re “back on Boogie Street” — one of my favorite Cohen lines of all time — I’m green with envy that you were at the concert and I wasn’t.
Last year at the Kendall, I saw the Leonard Cohen film called “I’m Your Man.” It’s now on DVD and you can see the trailer on UTube.
Bono, Rufus & Martha Wainwright, the McGarrigle sisters intersperse their own voices and comments with Cohen’s. Nick Cave did a fabulous job with “I’m Your Man” and Cohen himself renders “Tower of Song.”
I was so moved by the end that I could barely get out of my seat
Just yesterday, I rode Cohen’s coat-tails and borrowed “the crack in everything” to make a point in my own writing.
MLou
on July 2nd, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Dear M-L,
Oh my goodness yes, I know “I’m Your Man”. Loved it. But I love Leonard better. Why? Because the Wainwrights etc. were excellent singers and musicians who decided to put the music first, not the words It’s a minor shift but, to me, it’s huge.
Do take a look at Jeff Buckley, though. Too good to miss.
Allan
on July 2nd, 2008 at 8:48 pm
What thrilled me was the mood of the homage. Your friend, Leonard, seemed touched by it, too. ML
on July 2nd, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Tim and I watched “I’m Your Man ” last night - it was an On Demand selection from Comcast.( Sundance). It was fascinating for us because we were blown away by the songs and I don’t know where we’ve been but we had never heard of most of the performers.
And yes there are so many lines such as ” the crack in everything” (which lets the light in !!!) that are haunting.
Tonight we will listen to The Essential Leonard Cohen. He has such a soulful presence!!! Reminds me of that serene glow that Joseph Campbell had…..
And his voice is so unlike anyone else’s!
Next we will have to find the Jeff Buckley version of Hallelujah.
Thanks,
Jean
on July 2nd, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Dear Jean and Mary Lou,
Leonard is certainly operating at a very impressive level these days, more so even than when he was a sprightly young chap. His on-stage presence was so centered, so kind, and so very aware that, my goodness, it’s hard to describe what he brought to the room. Deep soulfulness might describe it.
May we all aspire to that.
Allan
on July 2nd, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Yes, deep soulfulness.
Amen to that.
J.
on July 4th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Hallelujah.
MLou