Saturday Stream of Consciousness

The scene at some Walmarts on Black Friday, the uprising of the people in streets in Egypt. The drought in Texas, the icecaps melting. What is going on today? In the world. If some intergalatic consciousness peered in on us, what would it see? Spinning the globe around and around like playing with Google Earth and zooming in, at any given moment on any given thing? What is new in the world? What has remained for centuries (pyramids)?

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Who is eating leftovers? (me) Who is walking the long ago paths of the maids in Druid Hills, Georgia, taking lovely photographs and pondering on the words of Mary's Magnificat? (Suki)

Words that have endured and been translated in many languages.

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Who is fighting for freedom? Who is just trying to get through another day, and not paying attention to the struggles going on?

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I watched an old Leonard Cohen interview this week. He was asked about his poetry. "As the world becomes more baffling and bewildering, one is thrown back on one's own shabby little story."He explained that is what produces his work."If one or two poems remain out of a man's work... he is considered a major poet.....generally nothing remains of our work."

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Who we are, with the transience of our lives...why do anything? Why build a pyramid at all? Asked Alan Parsons. And it remains. Poetry, art, music, architecture, literature... all not necessary for existence, yet here we are, for our own reasons, trying to explain, trying to be understood, attempting to build something that will last. Leave something behind.

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And what we really have, all that we can actually say with certainty, is that one day we won't be here. So we may as well make the best of it.

Leonard Cohen on PBS This Month

Check your local PBS station for Leonard Cohen Live in London.

Leonard Cohen's Suzanne

For Dharma Bum, my good friend, who appreciates Beauty. And to Suzanne, who is beautiful.

Leonard Cohen on Fresh Air Today

Who but Leonard Cohen, when asked to describe a raincoat he once owned, called it a sort of the opposite of an invisibility cloak...."the garment that will lead you to erotic and intellectual adventures...."

It's always a joy to hear Leonard unexpectedly as I did on my way home from work today. That remark and a bit of the song Famous Blue Raincoat is about 9 minutes or so into the featured program on Fresh Air today. You can go to the website below and hear it.

NPR's Fresh Air ran parts of Leonard's 2006 interview...and intermingled his readings of some of his poetry from Book of Longing. You will also hear snippets of several songs...and I must say interviewer Terry Gross did a wonderful job picking them. You can tell she is a fan. Asking him about different lyrics and asking insightful questions. She gets him to talk about his 5 years at Mt. Baldy at the Zen Center...and he reveals a suprizing insight...it is not as reclusive to go to a monastery as you would think. There are more private moments on Boogie Street.

His voice..though much lower and gravelly than in his youth still rings with his spirit. I can almost hear the younger Leonard underneath in his phrasing...with his pauses, and a smile peeking through the darkness and that sense of longing which Leonard is known for.

There's no better way to hear Leonard's poetry than him reading it. I loved "Titles" and "A Thousand Kisses Deep" (which I taped to my wall a long time ago)

Toward the end a discussion of beauty, prompted by a phrase in the song Chelsea Hotel. "We are ugly...but we have the music." The song is about a tryst he had with Janis way back when. The encounter is immoralized in the song.

"I'll be waiting on the corner where there used to be a street." A snippet of a poem/lyric he wrote for Anjani, comes at the end. There's more to it, but I won't spoil it. Terry Gross seemed awed by it.

He makes me want to write so much better.

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Leonard's new CD is called "Live in London" and it was recorded last July.

An Evening with Leonard Cohen

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Hey, look at this. I opened up Yahoo this morning... and right there on a list with Bombs in Pakistan and prostate cancer news, is Leonard Cohen's concert in New York. Well, let's just go ahead and read about it.
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Great article. Love this part:
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His lean, taut songs sounded particularly apt in such a time of economic recession. At one point, Cohen told the crowd he understood that hard times were coming, then drolly adding, "some say even worse than Y2K."
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....and this part:

He both recited the lyrics and sang the song: "Ring the bells that can still ring/ Forget your perfect offering/ There is a crack, a crack in everything/ That's how the light gets in."
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and the end...
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. . . Cohen sang "Goodnight my darling/ I hope I leave you satisfied" and shortly thereafter — breaking from his graceful poise — skipped off the stage.

Sisters of Mercy

Leonard Cohen's song-featuring the movie McCabe and Mrs. Miller. There are actually three of his songs in the movie.
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It's beautiful, really.
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wikipedia:
In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. McCabe & Mrs. Miller was acknowledged as the eighth best film in the western genre.

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One tip though: Watch it 'full screen' because the video itself seems dark. So if you click the little box on the right-bottom of the video screen to watch it full size it helps.

Dance Me to the End of Love

I checked, and I can't believe I haven't posted this Leonard Cohen video before. This is one of the ones I wore out playing it over and over again on VHS.

Enjoy!

I'm Your Man

A Lesson for Concert Goers

In the spirit of wanting to learn more about Leonard Cohen's first concert tour in years, I went surfing around this morning and I stumbled upon this site.

Now, keep in mind that intelligence is measured, in part, by the ability to "classify things according to various attributes, and to see analogies and relations among concepts or things..." (link) .

Not only is there a primer on the similiarities between Springsteen and Cohen in concert but, just as funny, the visual notion that Cohen resembles Joe Namath. See for yourself.

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With concert tours in 2008 scheduled for both Springsteen and Leonard Cohen, how will you know the difference?
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Link -- A few excerpts.
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Born in the USA: Bruce Springsteen
Born with the gift of a golden voice: Leonard Cohen
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Countin’ On A Miracle: Bruce Springsteen
Waiting For The Miracle: Leonard Cohen
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Ain’t nobody talking ’cause everybody knows: Bruce Springsteen
That’s how it goes / Everybody knows: Leonard Cohen
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I’ve seen the future of rock n’ roll, & its name is Bruce Springsteen: Bruce Springsteen
I have seen the future and it is murder: Leonard Cohen
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Sings about a State Trooper: Bruce Springsteen
Sings about the Jazz Police: Leonard Cohen
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Kisses that burn or Kisses that used to turn [one] inside out: Bruce Springsteen
A Thousand Kisses Deep: Leonard Cohen
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Jesus Was An Only Son: Bruce Springsteen
Jesus Was A Sailor: Leonard Cohen
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Hallelujah Leonard Cohen

...Congratulations on Leonard Cohen's induction into the Hall of Fame... and on the announcement of his first tour in 15 years! In lieu of a speech he recited those famous words...

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...But you'll hear from me baby, long after I'm gone.I'll be speaking to you sweetly from my window.. in the Tower of Song.

Leonard Cohen to be Inducted in Hall of Fame

“I don't consider myself a pessimist. I think of a pessimist as someone who is waiting for it to rain. And I feel soaked to the skin.”

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"I've always held the song in high regard because songs have got me through so many sinks of dishes and so many humiliating courting events."

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"Only in Canada could somebody

with a voice like mine win 'Vocalist of the Year'."

Not Just Silly Pranks, Teens and Talking Parrots

I've been spending a lot of time on YouTube lately. Now, I know you are thinking, this woman doesn't have a life if she is sitting in a dark room in front of a computer, in this sweltering heat, in front of the fan, watching videos of a stupid roommate prank and some goofy Leprechaun siting. Well, I've done that, but... and here's the thing.... there is sooo much more than that.

Let me explain. For years now I have been part of this sub-culture trading these grainy second and third generation videos of various recording artists...whether it is TV shows that aired in other countries, or concerts and videos that simply were not available anywhere at all, other than if you knew someone. Just because we loved them. It was an enormous effort by those involved. And I give sincere thanks to my friends...-- and you know who you are.

But now this stuff is OUT THERE for the world. A simple YouTube search will call up Leonard Cohen's Closing Time, or Van Morrison with Bob Dylan doing Crazy Love... Janis on the Dick Cavett Show, or... my latest find... a 1964 clip of Donovan singing Catch the Wind! ... I would never have seen something like this one ever, if it hadn't been for YouTube. And that is why it is so great. I encourage everyone, if you haven't explored there, to do it.

You may just find something that strikes a chord in you.

and... PS ....the Leprechaun Sighting is pretty funny too if you are into goofy things. Over 3.8 million hits so far there BTW.

The Aging Ladies' Man is Doin' Alright

I just can't get it off my mind. Leonard Cohen.... cheerful? My friend Bhumi sent me a Leonard Cohen interview published over the weekend in Saturday's Toronto Globe and Mail that sounded like a visit with your favorite uncle. You know, the one who gave you your first beer, or talked to you about the birds and the bees when you didn't want to ask your mom. Just hanging out with Leonard, talking about anything you want to, drinking wine, eating good bread, looking at art... I could, well, really dig this. Can I come over, too?

I came away from the interview with a nice, warm feeling. That, despite all the dark songs and poetry, despite his loss of millions of dollars recently, despite what looked like an endless quest--the longing and yearning, somehow, we overlooked the Hope.

Leonard is gonna be all right.

Perhaps there is a lesson in all this... that even in the darkest mind there may be a slight crack where the light gets in. ( trite, I know, but it works) Sheesh, maybe dogs and cats are sleeping side by side, perhaps peace in the Mideast will spark. Who knows what else is possible?

Sara Hampson writes, "Cohen, now 72, novelist, poet and singer/songwriter, is a cornerstone of Canadian culture, but he dances in our heads mostly unseen, like a beautiful idea. "

And she ends with this passage below:

Earlier, he had explained that even if despair has lessened, challenges remain. “This isn't very different from the monastery,” he says, referring to his current situation. “It's the same kind of life, which is sometimes difficult, like everybody else's. It's a struggle for significance and self-respect, and you know, for righteous employment, to be doing the right thing.”

Part of that, clearly, is inviting people, strangers even, into his house of unadorned walls, simple white curtains and old wood floors, nourishing them with food and ideas and hours of delightful conversation, and then sending them back out into the world, the one with the smokers and the drizzle and the pain.

He's the Man

Legacy Records re-released Leonard Cohen's first three albums: Songs of Leonard Cohen, Songs From A Room, and Songs Of Love And Hate on CD. It is the 40th anniversary of Cohen's first album. Each has previously unreleased bonus material. If you are a die hard fan, this is probably for you. Meanwhile, I have the album Songs of Love and Hate, that I bought at a flea market, still in a plastic wrapper. If you are new to his music, this is not the best choice for you. I do however recommend The Essential Cohen to introduce you to a span of years of his music.

Harp Magazine has a review of the three re-released CDs.

...if you simply listen to the songs again, without any visual distractions and keeping thoughts of this being Important and Influential Music at bay, you can’t help but be impressed by their conciseness, and the attention to detail, the way the use of a children’s choir or a mouth harp at a key point sends a shiver up your spine. Cohen’s first three albums also form an unintentional trilogy, a dark-darker-darkest progression, as if you start out in a small room and end up locked in a closet.