Leonard Cohen: Still Feisty After All These Years

Posted: November 6th, 2009 | Filed under: Music | No Comments »

At some point during the septuagenarian’s marathon three hour concert in Nashville Thursday — two sets, multiple encores — I turned to the Film Babe and offered how glad I am that I never saw Leonard Cohen until this late stage of his career.

There is something more palatable about this satyr’s poetic sexual musings, something kind of quaint, now that he’s a bit hunched at age seventy five. And never doubt that this man is a sybarite to the core. A grand poet, genius actually, he is first and foremost a sensualist. Janis Joplin wasn’t the only one you know. Rebecca DeMornay . . . oh the list goes on and on.

Some of the songs were probably harder to swallow when Cohen was still young and on the prowl. Now presented with an abiding sense of humility for a life well lived all in all, the tunes come across with a sweetness.

But I digress.

Leonard Cohen stands tall among the great poet/lyricists of our time.

More after this little interlude of “Everybody Knows.” (The scenes from ” A Man From U.N.C.L.E.” are kind of strange. I’m not sure what they have to do with the song.)

That is one of those what I call list songs that Cohen does so well, starting or ending most lines with the same phrasing. It really works here.

“And everybody knows that it’s now or never/ Everybody knows that it’s me or you/ And everybody knows that you live forever/ Ah when you’ve done a line or two/ Everybody knows the deal is rotten/ Old Black Joe’s still pickin’ cotton/ For your ribbons and bows/ And everybody knows.”

The concert in Andy Jackson Hall at the oddly designed Tennessee Performing Arts Center was truly a cut above. Backed by implacable musicians playing impeccable arrangements and stunning back up singers, the performer didn’t disappoint on any level. I’m hard pressed to think of a song somebody might want to hear that Cohen didn’t do. His voice a foggy resonance, he was a most gracious performer.

I’d love to post a rendition here of Cohen singing “First We’ll Take Manhattan,” my favorite of his songs, but there isn’t one worth the trouble available on You Tube. Understanding that ofttimes Cohen’s tunes are best presented by others,  I found this version by the Joe Cocker. Enjoy.

“They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom/ For trying to change the system from within/ I’m coming now, I’m coming to reward them/ First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin.” I love that beginning.

I remember my first Leonard Cohen moment, hearing Judy Collins sing “Suzanne.” Who is this Leonard Cohen guy who wrote these lyrics, I wondered?

“There are heroes in the seaweed/ There are children in the morning/ They are leaning out for love/ And they will lean that way forever/ While Suzanne holds the mirror/ And you want to travel with her/ You want to travel blind/ And you know she’ll find you/ For she’s touched your perfect body with her mind.”

The bottom line is this. Cohen’s voice has never been much, but it now soothes like a fine aged wine. He sang every song we wanted to hear. And more. The imagery, subtle, incisive, affective, filled the auditorium.

Leonard Cohen is one of the pop music giants of the last fifty years. How invigorating that he’s on his game now as never before.

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