Leonard Cohen 1934 - 2016

A skillful poet and singer/songwriter has passed away. Leonard Cohen has been a source of inspiration for a long time. His appearance in Gothenburg in 2012 was the fifth and last concert for me. At the later part of that performance people moved steadily towards the stage, which seemed to be welcomed by Cohen and the musicians. And it met no resistance from the guards. The crowd was a gentle one, and a sense of elated intimacy evolved immediately. I can't remember ever to "float" around with a greater sense of comfort amongst a crowd of strangers.

The song ”Who By Fire” starkly addresses death and dying, but ultimately aims at the palette of different courses of life, twists of fate and conscious desires and decisions.
The photographs in the image-show are my own, with the exception of the title and the final image.The song "Who By Fire" was in Cohen's repertoire in Gothenburg, but this particular sound recording was made a few days earlier at a different concert from the same tour.

Despite much positive resonance throughout the world, Cohen also had a reputation as being somber and depressive. For my part, I have thrived on his voice, guitar picking, and his highly original verbal imagery, often leading to lucid insights about various human experiences, not shying away from ”darker” aspects.

This is not to say that all his ideas, statements and implicit attitudes are easily acceptable for everyone. Part of my ”inspiration” grows out of a precarious balance between Cohen's crossing over into the questionable and his basic humility and respectful attitude.
 

I treasure a brief encounter with Cohen, when I was one in a group of maybe thirty people. At the end of a concert we had waited for about an hour at the hall's performer-exit. I wanted him to sign my copy of his ”Book Of Mercy” and a Cohen T-shirt. When the large felt-pen I had brought failed miserably half way through his attempt to sign the shirt, a humorous exchange started. People tried to pitch in with equally inadequate writing tools. Eventually we succeeded, but with an ink that was not waterproof, raising questions about "The Future" of my garment. We talked a few moments about Canada, then he turned to others who had waited. I noticed Cohen's rare ability to focus on one person at a time with an attentive friendliness. Nobody left before he did.

Here are the lyrics for the featured song:

Who By Fire

And who by fire, who by water,
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time,
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial,
Who in your merry merry month of may,
Who by very slow decay,
And who shall I say is calling?

And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,
Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,
And who by avalanche, who by powder,
Who for his greed, who for his hunger,
And who shall I say is calling?

And who by brave assent, who by accident,
Who in solitude, who in this mirror,
Who by his lady's command, who by his own hand,
Who in mortal chains, who in power,
And who shall I say is calling?

In an earlier blog entry I relate the story of my first "encounter" with Leonard Cohen on radio back in 1968, plus presenting a slightly enhanced version of his most famous song, "Suzanne". Click here to go there!