Leonard Has Passed Away

News about Leonard Cohen and his work, press, radio & TV programs etc.
davidrichards
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by davidrichards »

Dignified, reflective and graceful.

Most appropriate.
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icecreamtruck
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by icecreamtruck »

Boro
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Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 10:08 pm

Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by Boro »

davidrichards wrote:Am I in a minority finding the "Optional final verse" both inappropriate and offensive?
I don't think you are
Mingxin
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by Mingxin »

"One man radiating like the sun, drawing us in and keeping us faithful to that light...part of his mystery, how he penetrated the darkness inside so many of us." Violet, this and the rest of your tribute is so beautiful, touching and true. Thank you.
seetharam2492
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Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2016 10:22 am

Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by seetharam2492 »

This is so sad :( May his soul Rest in Peace :(
Born With The Gift Of A G
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Location: Manchester, England

Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by Born With The Gift Of A G »

Leonard Cohen remembered by Rufus Wainwright:


https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/ ... r-obituary
"Little lady.....I AM Kris Kristofferson....."
London: 10 & 11 May 1993; Manchester: 17, 18, 19 & 20 June 2008; Vienna: 25 September 2008; London: 17 November 2008; Paris: 26 November 2008; Manchester: 30 November 2008; Liverpool: 14 July 2009; Paris: 28 September 2012; Manchester: 31 August 2013; Leeds: 7 September 2013.
Neil.S
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2015 11:41 am

Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by Neil.S »

Greetings fellow Cohenites.

Some Capetonians got together on the evening of 11 December to sing a few of LC's songs as a tribute and memorial. I shot a short video of the group singing the first song (though I didn't get the Jewish prayer), and here it is:

https://youtu.be/Xi2Wv24vtNA
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Greg Ross
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by Greg Ross »

I was honoured to be asked to write thoughts on Leonard's passing and his 50 year influence on my life for the on-line magazine Spirit Fanzine. It's in German, however there is an English translation link at the bottom of the page:
http://www.spirit-ein-laecheln-im-sturm ... 016_en.pdf
All Good Things
Greg

http://www.gregross.com.au/
RainDog1980
Posts: 118
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by RainDog1980 »

Born With The Gift Of A G wrote:Leonard Cohen remembered by Rufus Wainwright:


https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/ ... r-obituary
This is a great article.

Leonard's humor always came through his music, but he always appeared so dignified. I had to really laugh at the gay joke Rufus included, because it's so hard to picture that personal side of LC. It was even jarring to hear him swear in one of his last interviews. It's great to get little insights to him as a person.
zig
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 8:40 am

Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by zig »

Salut Monsieur Cohen ,
Montréal et le reste de la planète manquera votre esprit, votre sagesse,votre parole et sa beauté infini.
On se souviendras de vous pour l"éternité.

Avec tout mon amour
Merçi Monsieur Cohen

zig
( Igor Manuel Diaz )
MaryB
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Location: Columbus, Ohio USA

Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by MaryB »

Greg Ross wrote:I was honoured to be asked to write thoughts on Leonard's passing and his 50 year influence on my life for the on-line magazine Spirit Fanzine. It's in German, however there is an English translation link at the bottom of the page:
http://www.spirit-ein-laecheln-im-sturm ... 016_en.pdf
Beautiful article Greg!
1993 Detroit 2008 Kitchener June 2-Hamilton June 3 & 4-Vienna Sept 24 & 25-London RAH Nov 17 2009 NYC Feb 19-Grand Prairie Apr 3-Phoenix Apr 5-Columbia May 11-Red Rocks Jun 4-Barcelona Sept 21-Columbus Oct 27-Las Vegas Nov 12-San Jose Nov 13 2010 Sligo Jul 31 & Aug 1-LV Dec 10 & 11 2012 Paris Sept 30-London Dec 11-Boston Dec 16 2013 Louisville Mar 30-Amsterdam Sept 20
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MarieM
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Location: Michigan, USA

Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by MarieM »

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-an ... wieseltier
Tablet magazine

December 13, 2016
The Lace and the Grace
Remembering Leonard Cohen
By Leon Wieseltier

Remarks written for Leonard Cohen’s memorial service at Ohr HaTorah Synagogue in Mar Vista, California on Dec. 11, 2016.

In a fragment of a journal that he kept on the island of Hydra in 1983, Leonard amusingly recalled a kind of philosophical disputation that resulted from his attempt to write what he called “a metaphysical song.” Wryly mocking his own spiritual ambition, he writes that the song “attempted to exaggerate the maturity of my own religious experience and invalidate everyone else’s.” It was to be called “Letter to the Christians.” Leonard was never more Jewish than in his lifelong engagement with the figure of Jesus: has there ever been a more Jewish, or more damning, or more compassionate, characterization of Jesus than “almost human,” which is what Leonard called him in “Suzanne”?

After a few days Leonard had four stanzas for his new song, and judging by the lines that he reproduces in his journal he was right not to proceed with this one. The subject of the verses was God and the Galilee and the Crucifixion. Leonard sang the lyrics to a friend as they waded in the Aegean, and a few minutes later his friend composed a wicked reply. It went like this: “I really hope you stumble on/ The Great Red Whore of Babylon/ Forget the Grace/ Enjoy the Lace/ Have some fun and carry on.” It appears that Leonard appreciated his friend’s retort. He notes immediately that “the beach was full of beautiful young women whom I desired uniformly at a very low intensity.” He spots a lovely “new-born Christian” sitting on a rock and “hurries off” to charm her with some smooth talk about Grace. After the Grace, I presume, came the Lace.

In the weeks since Leonard’s death, he has been portrayed as a sage, a rebbe, a kabbalist, an exegete, a kind of troubadour theologian. There is some truth to these descriptions: he was devoted to the cosmological speculations of his own tradition and others, he had an erotic relationship with big ideas, and in his way he never quit the theistic universe. But as I mourn him I want to remember him accurately, and so I want to insist that Leonard was not so much a wise man as a man in search of wisdom. He found it, he lost it, he found it again, he tested it, he lost it, he found it again. The seeking was his calling. He was never certain, never done, never daunted, never saved.

And so, against those other descriptions of him, I wish to recall that my brother was also, and more primarily, a poet, a lover, a voluptuary, a worshipper of beauty, a man who lived as much for women as for God, a man who lived for women because he lived for God, a man who lived for God because he lived for women, a servant of the senses, a student of pleasure and pain, an explorer whose only avenue of access to the invisible was the visible, a sinner and a singer about sin, a body and a soul preternaturally aware of the explosive implications of the duality.

Leonard was a good man with desires, and he had the courage of his desires. The man who seeks forgiveness even as he seeks experience: he is the hero, or the anti-hero, of all of Leonard’s work. The power of Leonard’s graciousness was owed to the history of his turbulence. His songs are the songs of a wounded and wounding man. I have almost never known a humbler person—what other star of popular music filled stadiums to sing on bended knee?—but it was the humility of one who was also impertinent and defiant. His was the modesty that succeeds temerity.

Leonard cherished the rules because he recognized his inclination to break them. He was bored by innocence, by the calm before the storm, by stormlessness. But the calm after the storm—that was his ideal. His poise was his triumph, his method of self-mastery, the profoundly moving evidence of his sovereignty over his rioting appetites. But the appetites accounted for as much of Leonard’s flavor as the poise.

And now it’s come to distances and only we can try. I wish to testify that my own existence has been permanently and irreversibly desolated by Leonard’s departure from the world. There were inflections of my soul for which he was my only comrade, states of fragility and perplexity for which he furnished my only solidarity. He taught me a great deal about the conditions of gratitude and gladness. Most of all, he taught me that it is by our longings that we are most truly known. And now I will long for him, and for his genius for longing.

If, as Leonard wrote in Book of Mercy, “holy is that which is unredeemed,” then an aspect of holiness attached to my ravishing friend, and will forever attach to his memory. Te’hay nishmato tse’rurah be’tsror ha’chaim. May his soul be bound up in the bundle of life.

Marie
Speaking Cohen
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AlanM
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by AlanM »

Thank you, Marie, for posting this. I particularly like the comment:
Leonard was not so much a wise man as a man in search of wisdom
but there are many other truths and revelations within the article.

Alan
Too much Leonard Cohen is never enough.
London 1972, Adelaide 1980, 1985, 2009
Sydney 2010; Adelaide 2010
Sydney 2013 X2; Melbourne 2013; Adelaide 2013
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clive cass
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Location: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UK

Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by clive cass »

Message from Stefan Mork (now of Dark & Dear) who was headline act at Krakow Event in 2012.

R.I.P LEONARD COHEN
It has indeed been a sad and blustery night here in Canada.
Not “only” have we lost the greatest songwriter and poet ever to walk this Planet. We have also lost a true, humble, wise, gentle and decent human being who encouraged people around him, his fans and everyone else who listened to his speeches, songs and poems, to unite, to respect each other, to behave towards each other and do our best as human beings. To do our best to create, embrace and unfold relationships to the people around us.
Leonard Cohen was in so many ways a beautiful person. A person we so dearly need in the time ahead, where our planet gets warmer and people get colder. This is a sad day - fortunately Cohens work and speeches will keep spreading and unfold minds and hearts in every corner of the planet. We need this more now, than ever.
If it be your will
That I speak no more
And my voice be still
As it was before
I will speak no more
I shall abide until
I am spoken for
If it be your will
If it be your will
That a voice be true
From this broken hill
I will sing to you
From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing
From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing
If it be your will
If there is a choice
Let the rivers fill
Let the hills rejoice
Let your mercy spill
On all…
Dublin(3) 14/5/12, Lille 25/9/10, Liverpool 14/7/09, Manchester 30/11/08, Manchester 17/6/08, London 1988 or 1993 date unknown, Manchester 27/2/85
leonardthedog
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2016 1:59 pm

Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by leonardthedog »

[quote="MarieM"][quote]
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-an ... wieseltier
Tablet magazine

December 13, 2016
The Lace and the Grace
Remembering Leonard Cohen
By Leon Wieseltier

Remarks written for Leonard Cohen’s memorial service at Ohr HaTorah Synagogue in Mar Vista, California on Dec. 11, 2016.

In a fragment of a journal that he kept on the island of Hydra in 1983, Leonard amusingly recalled a kind of philosophical disputation that resulted from his attempt to write what he called “a metaphysical song.” Wryly mocking his own spiritual ambition, he writes that the song “attempted to exaggerate the maturity of my own religious experience and invalidate everyone else’s.” It was to be called “Letter to the Christians.” Leonard was never more Jewish than in his lifelong engagement with the figure of Jesus: has there ever been a more Jewish, or more damning, or more compassionate, characterization of Jesus than “almost human,” which is what Leonard called him in “Suzanne”?

After a few days Leonard had four stanzas for his new song, and judging by the lines that he reproduces in his journal he was right not to proceed with this one. The subject of the verses was God and the Galilee and the Crucifixion. Leonard sang the lyrics to a friend as they waded in the Aegean, and a few minutes later his friend composed a wicked reply. It went like this: “I really hope you stumble on/ The Great Red Whore of Babylon/ Forget the Grace/ Enjoy the Lace/ Have some fun and carry on.” It appears that Leonard appreciated his friend’s retort. He notes immediately that “the beach was full of beautiful young women whom I desired uniformly at a very low intensity.” He spots a lovely “new-born Christian” sitting on a rock and “hurries off” to charm her with some smooth talk about Grace. After the Grace, I presume, came the Lace.

In the weeks since Leonard’s death, he has been portrayed as a sage, a rebbe, a kabbalist, an exegete, a kind of troubadour theologian. There is some truth to these descriptions: he was devoted to the cosmological speculations of his own tradition and others, he had an erotic relationship with big ideas, and in his way he never quit the theistic universe. But as I mourn him I want to remember him accurately, and so I want to insist that Leonard was not so much a wise man as a man in search of wisdom. He found it, he lost it, he found it again, he tested it, he lost it, he found it again. The seeking was his calling. He was never certain, never done, never daunted, never saved.

And so, against those other descriptions of him, I wish to recall that my brother was also, and more primarily, a poet, a lover, a voluptuary, a worshipper of beauty, a man who lived as much for women as for God, a man who lived for women because he lived for God, a man who lived for God because he lived for women, a servant of the senses, a student of pleasure and pain, an explorer whose only avenue of access to the invisible was the visible, a sinner and a singer about sin, a body and a soul preternaturally aware of the explosive implications of the duality.

Leonard was a good man with desires, and he had the courage of his desires. The man who seeks forgiveness even as he seeks experience: he is the hero, or the anti-hero, of all of Leonard’s work. The power of Leonard’s graciousness was owed to the history of his turbulence. His songs are the songs of a wounded and wounding man. I have almost never known a humbler person—what other star of popular music filled stadiums to sing on bended knee?—but it was the humility of one who was also impertinent and defiant. His was the modesty that succeeds temerity.

Leonard cherished the rules because he recognized his inclination to break them. He was bored by innocence, by the calm before the storm, by stormlessness. But the calm after the storm—that was his ideal. His poise was his triumph, his method of self-mastery, the profoundly moving evidence of his sovereignty over his rioting appetites. But the appetites accounted for as much of Leonard’s flavor as the poise.

And now it’s come to distances and only we can try. I wish to testify that my own existence has been permanently and irreversibly desolated by Leonard’s departure from the world. There were inflections of my soul for which he was my only comrade, states of fragility and perplexity for which he furnished my only solidarity. He taught me a great deal about the conditions of gratitude and gladness. Most of all, he taught me that it is by our longings that we are most truly known. And now I will long for him, and for his genius for longing.

If, as Leonard wrote in Book of Mercy, “holy is that which is unredeemed,” then an aspect of holiness attached to my ravishing friend, and will forever attach to his memory. Te’hay nishmato tse’rurah be’tsror ha’chaim. May his soul be bound up in the bundle of life.

Thank you for posting this... another thread in the weave of love and gratitude for Leonard's life and work.

He taught me a great deal about the conditions of gratitude and gladness. Most of all, he taught me that it is by our longings that we are most truly known. And now I will long for him, and for his genius for longing.
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