Friday 11 November 2016

You Want It Darker

Well, what a crappy week it has been. I learned today that Leonard Cohen passed away. A great singer that was also a true poet, which is now a rarity among singers and an almost extinct breed. Incidentally, he was also a fellow Montrealer. At 82, his death may not be tragic, it is nevertheless extremely sad. In his honour, I am sharing today You Want It Darker, the song form his ultimate album. More than a artistic testament, the song had an uncannily prophetic ring. Today more than ever, I think that Leonard Cohen was the last Jewish prophet.

3 comments:

PJ said...

Si seulement Democracy avait été prophétique, comme plusieurs de ses autres chansons....

Pik-Cor said...

Yep. I'm with you. Spent a lot of time singing and crying yesterday.

I was lucky enough to meet him briefly on Metcalfe in Montreal (this would have been Summer of 93?). I'd been to his amazing concert the night before at the Forum. His performance of This Waltz, when a gigantic disco ball was lit up and twirled its lights all across the audience was particularly moving.

He was leaning against a lamp post in a way only Leonard Cohen can, when I locked eyes with him as I came up from the Peel metro station. His tour bus had got stuck by the progression of the Stanley Cup parade down Sherbrooke. I was late for a tutoring session at McGill and kept walking. But then I thought...no way. You have to go back. So I did.

I had a brief exchange with him about the concert and his performance and then asked if I could shake his hand. Which he did. He was then ushered back on to the bus by an aide I guess. But as he was going he called out to me, "We're in Ottawa tonight." I wished him luck and continued on my way wishing I had some way of getting to Ottawa.

Je suis désolée.

Gwen Buchanan said...

That was a sad day.. and week in general... I so agree. what is the world coming to???