Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Leonard Cohen

Watched a tribute special for Leonard Cohen last night. Filmed in 2005. Bunch of talented people performing cover versions of his songs.
This is an absolutely amazing man. A singer/songwriter that other singers, other songwriters and other musicians revere. He is in the stratosphere where Bob Dylan lives.
There are precious few people with this level of talent and insight into life and the ability to express it profoundly. People who have experienced life, actually lived it and can share that with us in ways that inspire.
I am ashamed to admit that I discovered him in a roundabout way. He has a couple of songs on the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers. While watching the movie and hearing the songs, my soul said "Who the hell is this guy? I love this stuff." I researched him and voila he was in my life. I'll take my inspiration from whence it comes.
In specials like these you always get people saying "He changed my life." I always considered that a profound statement and wished I could apply it to my life. Some of these people changed musical direction because of his influence, or looked at life more deeply, or got into music and poetry because of him, or incorporated some of his style and inspiration into their own creations.
I always say The Beatles changed my life. The Allman Brothers changed my life. Hunter S. Thompson changed my life. But I never believed it because nothing about my life changed. I still ended up a lower middle class slug flailing away at life. I never acted on any of this inspiration.
But as I listened to Leonard's songs last night and paid attention to his interview comments, I realized I was alive with emotion. And passion. The man resonates with me and always has since the first time I came across him.
And it hit me that the same rings true for The Beatles and The Allman Brothers and HST and Bukowski. They HAVE changed me.
Something internal, something that gets triggered whenever I see them or hear them or read them. Something that was not there before.
The fact that I have not used that inspiration to make changes in my life does not mean that I won't. After last night I almost feel that it is inevitable.
I can walk around singing a Leonard Cohen song and feel pretty cool about it. But when you see professionals performing his songs in complete rapture, as in this special, you realize how powerful, how special this man is.
He is 78 years old and recently released his twelfth studio album, called Old Ideas, which debuted at number 1 across the globe. He is going on tour. I pray for the opportunity to see him.
He wrote a song called Hallelujah. Listen to him sing it or listen to Rufus Wainwright sing it, who does an amazing cover version. Either way it will fire up your emotions and blow your mind. The song is the very definition of emotion.

Some of the lyrics to Everybody Knows:

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
           That's how it goes
           Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
          Everybody talking to their pockets
         Everybody wants a box of chocolates
         And a long stem rose
        Everybody knows
The man understands life and will not spare your emotions if you live in fantasy land.

He said his earliest memory of writing was when his father died. Leonard was nine years old. He went into his parents' bedroom and grabbed one of his father's bow ties. He cut it open and inserted a note into it and buried the tie in the back yard. He doesn't remember if it was a prayer or a good bye or a poem. But what a profound thing for a nine year old to do. A sensitive, creative soul revealed.
He dresses impeccably, beautiful suits and a fedora. He speaks softly and is a gentleman of dignity. Yet his words, his perspective will knock you out.
In 1994 Cohen retreated to the Mt. Baldy Zen Center near LA beginning what became five years of seclusion. In 1996 he was ordained as a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk. He got back to music/writing/poetry in 1999.
I could go on and on. He is a fascinating man and a continuing source of inspiration, intelligence, insight and humility.
A Leonard Cohen quote: "My reputation as a ladies' man was a joke that caused me to laugh bitterly through the ten thousand nights I spent alone."
Check him out. Your life will be better for it.

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