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 open-air appearance in Gothenburg 2012 was the fifth and final concert for me. At the latter part of the performance people moved steadily closer 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, paired with just a hint of very agreeable perfume. I can't remember ever to "float" with a greater sense of comfort within a crowd of strangers.

The song ”Who By Fire” starkly addresses death and dying, but ultimately aims at the palette of different courses in 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. "Who By Fire" was in the Gothenburg repertoire, but this particular sound recording was made a few days earlier at another concert from the same tour.

Despite much positive resonance throughout the world, Cohen also had a reputation in Europe as being somber and somewhat depressive. For my part, I've always thrived on his voice, guitar picking, and his highly original verbal imagery, often leading to lucid insights about various human experiences, including spiritual ones, while not shying away from ”earthier” aspects.

This is not to say that all his ideas, statements and implicit attitudes are easily acceptable for everyone. Part of my ”inspiration” grew 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.

One lasting memory from various concerts is Cohen's positive attitude to "covers" of his songs. He loved the idea that his songs might live on, jumping over to other voices, maybe at different times and to future generations. He was equally fascinated by translations, once related by Cohen himself, describing a voyage on a European ferry, where a young guy performed one of Cohen's songs in Polish to a group crouched in a corner of an open deck.

PS 

 

-- A cover of Who By Fire by the Dutch Avalanche Quartet, lead vocals by Henk Hofstede.

 

-- My own collection of Cohen covers, a YouTube playlist

 

-- An earlier blog entry on the story of my first "encounter" with Leonard Cohen, on radio back in 1968.     Also presenting an "enhanced" version of his most famous song, "Suzanne".

 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?