Death of a Ladies Man — Leonard Cohen is Gone

YESTERDAY afternoon, out of the blue, I sang “Hey that’s no way to say goodbye” in my kitchen.

Was it your spirit brushing past?

I had the privilege of seeing you perform live in Copenhagen: Once on Falkoner Allé and once in Kongens Have: A beautiful summer evening concert that was the best musical event I have ever attended.

You wrote to Marianne in Norway earlier this year, shortly before she passed away, to let her know you would be following her soon. Thanks for warning me.

Your music has been the background for my life.

Suzanne

When I was in boarding school in the 1970's one of the girls sang Suzanne. Oh, to go back and whisper in my ear that I thirty years later would hear the original writer perform it live…

Feed you tea and oranges…

Various Positions

Various Positions for my first kiss at a boozy party in Rathfarnham. I choose your music; I put it on the turntable myself.

Songs of Leonard Cohen

Face Thorpe @arr had this to say about the “Songs of Leonard Cohen” album:

I’m Your Man

I’m Your Man for my time here. It played the whole weekend in the beautiful apartment on Lundsgade in May 1988 when I visited Copenhagen for the first time.

The impossibly-luxuriant horse chestnut blossomed in the yard and I fell in love with this city that has been my home since September 1988.

(As we strolled down Nyhavn, my fellow interviewee Stuart said: “Are those not born beautiful here just shot at birth?”)

Songs of Love and Hate

Songs of Love and Hate for my soul searching. One cold February day in 1991 I listened to your music and contemplated suicide. I imagined my colleagues and friends weeping and rehashing our final conversations. Then I sensed a relief emanating from them that I was gone.

“Damn them,” I roared inside, “I won’t give them that satisfaction”; so I lived.

Hallelujah

Hallelujah for my heartache.

I visited New York in 2010 and visited Berlin for the first time this summer. First we take Manhattan then we take Berlin.

I came so far for beauty for one of the most beautiful men I have ever seen:

The lyrics are sublime. I learned them by heart.

(Perla Batalla does a fabulous version of this; not on YouTube, though)

When I saw you play in Falkoner concert hall in 1992, I was happy to listen to you play live.

The concert in Kongens Have was the best musical event I have ever attended. You sang Suzanne like it was new and fresh.

You sang Hallelujah with immense depth and feeling. I imagined I could hear the influence of Jeff Buckley.

You praised your supporting band members. They were superb.

Twilight came and went and you mesmerized us all.

“Bring your own razor blades,” they used to say of your early concerts.

Later you sang your beautiful songs with wry humour: you observed the pain but it no longer had power over you.

Your wit, your charm, your insight all blaze through the screen in the documentaries I’ve seen you in.

“Caveat Emptor” you said after you had pretended to be asleep in a clip from your youth. Watch it for free:

Your transcendental comment, “Maybe it’s supposed to be this way” proclaimed a truth whose essence I struggle to comprehend and live.

You were unique, only fitting snugly into your own mould. No musical standard tryannized you:

You were your own.

You were yourself.

Thank you for your beautiful lyrics, for your humour, for your emotional depth, for your inimitable voice.

Thank you for giving your life to music. Your vocation has enriched my life immeasurably.

Hey that’s no way to say goodbye…

PS: Your timing, as always, was impeccable. Some see it as a definitive response to an untenable situation.

I wonder how many others were waiting too.

I guess Canada wasn’t far enough away.

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