Farewell to Leonard Cohen

[Wokabaut_Meri]

Farewell to Leonard Cohen 1934-2016 - novelist, poet, songwriter and artist, sometime Buddhist monk... the haunting notes of Hallelujah and then Anthem greeted me at the end of our Camino as we walked into the Plaza del Obradoiro...

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in....

Heart With No Companion

I greet you from the other side
Of sorrow and despair
With a love so vast and shattered
It will reach you everywhere

And I sing this for the captain
Whose ship has not been built
For the mother in confusion
Her cradle unfilled

For the heart with no companion
For the soul without a king
For the prima ballerina
Who cannot dance to anything

Through the days of shame that are coming
Through the nights of wild distress
Tho’ your promise count for noting
You must keep it nonetheless

You must keep it for the captain
Whose ship has not been built
for the mother in confusion
Her cradle unfilled

For the heart with no companion…

I greet you from the other side…

 

[Silverbarista]

He was very special. I am humbled to to have seen him live in Sydney

 

[William Garza]

Fare the well to a muse...

 

[JMac56]

So long, Leonard. A true artist. It's "Closing Time".

 

[SabsP]

His son, Adam Cohen,wrote these beautiful words in his FB page....

https://www.facebook.com/AdamCohenMusic/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf

 

[wayfarer]

I saw him at an open air concert in Dublin in 2013. A memorable evening, a great artist. RIP.

 

[Albertagirl]

For no particular reason, I was singing the words of "Susanne" as I finished my pilgrimage and arrived home this past week. It was a shock to learn that Leonard Cohen is dead. His music has been so much a part of my life since my youth, and especially of my years in Montreal. I cannot imagine Leonard resting in peace, as he has been such a traveller of the spirit all his life. I wish him the blessing that we wish to our companions on the Way, "Buen Camino, Leonard."

 

[nalod]

Saw him in my native Sligo about 7 years ago, it is where his favourite Poet Yeats spent so much time. There is a video I watched last night and it won't be a hit with all Cohen fans but I think it is priceless. It is almost like Cohen doing "Karaoke". It is filmed in Dublin Ireland and is more like the end of an Irish Wedding. Just look at Cohen's facial expressions and that of the musicians. "Save the last Dace for me" appropriate as a tribute and also a little tongue in check , joyous and a bit of humour.

 

[Kanga]

A wonderfully talented musician, lyrical, unique, legendary, warm and funny. We were privileged to be at one of his concerts in Sydney, 3 years ago; it was simply superb.

 

[CaptBuddy]

We've been adoring fans for decades. Got to see him twice in the last 5 years. So saddened, but buoyed by what he has given us to remember him by.

My favorite L. Cohen song with a message at the end. Peace to us all.

 

[SabsP]

One of my many favourites.

 

[wayfarer]

This is one of mine. From songs of love and hate, 1971.

 

[NualaOC]

I'm a big fan too. I love this tribute: http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/...r-in-singing-leonard-cohens-hallelujah-watch/

 

[CaptBuddy]

I've been seeing tributes and expressions of sorrow and joy all week. So many people expressing their personal experiences and favorite pieces.
It is remarkable to me to see how much one man can use his heart and soul to touch, and maybe, change the world.
Introspection and self-examination (remind you of something?) is a very powerful thing.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

The CBC radio (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) has been airing some in depth and very interesting interviews and documentaries on his life and work. I'm sure many can be found on its website.

I remember coming home on the evening of an outdoor U2 concert just a few km away from home. As I got out of the car I could hear Bono siging "Alleluia". Such magic.

A poet turned musician. I am so glad he used his voice and guitar to share his poetry with us.

Montreal is in mourning this week. We wil miss our icon terribly. A provincial politician took part in the vigil in front of Cohen's house yesterday and said how moved he was that so many came to say their last goodbyes to an anglophone, to a jewish man, two communities this politician belongs to. That's my Montreal, that is the type of world Leonard Cohen wanted to live in and that we need to keep fighting for.

 

[amorfati1]

from a zurich newspaper - featuring numerous, lesser known foto images across the decades
http://blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/index.php/82124/die-gesichter-des-leonard-cohen/

and this a friend shared w/ me a few days ago - never heard it before - whoa!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0nmHymgM7Y
Chapeau, Monsieur!

 

[amorfati1]

thank you for sharing these words of his son about his dad, LC -

"...his approachable elegance, his charisma without audacity, his old-world gentlemanliness and the hand-forged tower of his work....."

 

[Anemone del Camino]

from a zurich newspaper - featuring numerous, lesser known foto images across the decades
http://blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/index.php/82124/die-gesichter-des-leonard-cohen/

and this a friend shared w/ me a few days ago - never heard it before - whoa!

Chapeau, Monsieur!

Amorfati,

"You Want It Darker" is from his last CD, launched this october. He new this would be is farewell.

 

[Martha567]

We all seem to know his earlier work. I urge you to listen to his latest album, You want it darker, it was released only three weeks ago. Listen to the lyrics as well as the music. Simply great.

 

[amorfati1]

We all seem to know his earlier work. I urge you to listen to his latest album, You want it darker, it was released only three weeks ago. Listen to the lyrics as well as the music. Simply great.

(FYI: a link is posted above to just that song. - hope that link does work)

 

[Martha567]

(FYI: a link is posted above to just that song. - hope that link does work)

I know. I recommend listening to the whole album.

 

[gittiharre]

Farewell to Leonard Cohen 1934-2016 - novelist, poet, songwriter and artist, sometime Buddhist monk... the haunting notes of Hallelujah and then Anthem greeted me at the end of our Camino as we walked into the Plaza del Obradoiro...

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in....

Heart With No Companion

I greet you from the other side
Of sorrow and despair
With a love so vast and shattered
It will reach you everywhere

And I sing this for the captain
Whose ship has not been built
For the mother in confusion
Her cradle unfilled

For the heart with no companion
For the soul without a king
For the prima ballerina
Who cannot dance to anything

Through the days of shame that are coming
Through the nights of wild distress
Tho’ your promise count for noting
You must keep it nonetheless

You must keep it for the captain
Whose ship has not been built
for the mother in confusion
Her cradle unfilled

For the heart with no companion…

I greet you from the other side…

Thank you meri. I was very saddened by the news too. Went to both his concerts in Auckland, the second being his last concert ever. He looked tired, but performed beautifully and gave to the very end. With numerous encore he was on stage for more than 3 hours. I felt so privileged to have been there and he was definitely at his best in the last few years. The artists on stage with him were first class and brought his poetry to life.
Somehow the lyrics became more accessible in the context of the music and live performance.
How timely his death at this time with the world getting darker at one level, yet giving opportunity for stepping up from collective complacency and balancing the harshness with compassion and love for our fellow human beings and respect for nature.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

We can thank his swindeling manager for his last years of music. Who knows if he would have been so prolofic and on such tours had he not been robbed.

 

[Stivandrer]

I went backstage when working at the Roskilde Festival sometime in ´90 to hear his magic up close. Thousands of people singing back; ´Then we take Berlin´....After that I never needed to hear another concert with him , in any event I would never get any closer to the sound... He has stayed in my repertoire since Suzanne in the seventies. And a good companion when you need to hum and sing your very own favourites as you walk the Camino. Most of the time nobody hears you anyway and in this way and manner he will stay forever... Music should be heard live at best , but it is also in your head...
Honour old Lenny with your best humming, be it Anthem, Hallelujah, Thousand Kisses Deep etc, you take your pick.....

 

[Jo114]

One of my hobbies is playing the piano, and one of my very favourite pieces was Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. I have played it several times over the last couple of days in memory of Leonard. Farewell and RIP, your music will live on and you brought a lot of people a lot of enjoyment.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Early Coffee on the Meseta


When the sky fills with moon

I go early for the darkest coffee.

Leonard Cohen sings his ballads

From a corner stool in my head.


God’s fire is on its way.

Residue of the devil; some may think.

Just scalping the mountain hill;

I drink my coffee and watch.


Distant shadows growing weaker

As wheat stalks do when full and nodding.

And the serpentine track I will walk twisting distance

As a sailor’s rope might do when wrapped around an anchor.



Copyright 2016 Dan Murphy

 

[VNwalking]

It's been a bad week. But you nailed it, Gitti:

How timely his death at this time with the world getting darker at one level, yet giving opportunity for stepping up from collective complacency and balancing the harshness with compassion and love for our fellow human beings and respect for nature.

RIP.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

RIP.

Suzanne is a lovely song, to be sure....

But Cohen's connection to the Camino is....?

 

[Lmsundaze]

RIP.

Suzanne is a lovely song, to be sure....

But Cohen's connection to the Camino is....?

I can answer this only for me. Yes, the walk to Santiago de Compostela, is what we call the Camino, but really our whole lives are our Camino, as we journey through our lives to God. And I think, in his body of work, that Leonard Cohen has shared his Camino and many ideas that have been relevant to mine also. I think many of us seekers feel a connection to him. (Suzanne is indeed a lovely song, but one of many ... he is a lot more than this.)

 

[CaptBuddy]

RIP.

Suzanne is a lovely song, to be sure....

But Cohen's connection to the Camino is....?

Spiritual.

His daughter is named Lorca. Not for the Camino village, but for Garcia Lorca.
For me, that is connection enough.

There are times when I cannot tell where Lorca ends and Cohen begins.

 

[Albertagirl]

RIP.

Suzanne is a lovely song, to be sure....

But Cohen's connection to the Camino is....?

@rappahannock_rev
About Leonard Cohen's connection to the Camino, his song "Alleluiah" was being played, rather loudly, on the altar of the church of Santiago Apostol in Vilar de
Mazarife when I went in there to pray on Oct. 21. It did not seem very appropriate to me in that context, but the young woman who was volunteering there so that the church could remain open to pilgrims in the evenings thought that the only issue was whether I liked the song. There was a strange clash of cultures and I gave up on trying to explain why one of my favourite popular songs might not be suitable to play on the altar of a Catholic Church.

 

[amorfati1]

RIP.

Suzanne is a lovely song, to be sure....

But Cohen's connection to the Camino is....?

to me - he is, eh... was another wayfarer ....

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

RIP.

Suzanne is a lovely song, to be sure....

But Cohen's connection to the Camino is....?

more than just Suzanne - manna for the soul. As is the Camino.

 

[Albertagirl]

We have had several threads on music for thr Camino and I have contributed songs that I thought might be appropriate or meaningful to sing. If I had considered songs that would sing themselves through me while on Camino, Leonard Cohen's Suzanne would have topped the list for me this year. Cohen's songs and poems all have a question in them as to meaning and that is always a central part of my Camino. Where am I going and why? Is it for the question or for the music that they sing themselves through me?

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Lest the intent behind my question be misunderstood, I was simply wondering if Cohen had, at some point, walked the Camino.

 

[CaptBuddy]

FYI - Terry Gross will replay a previous interview with L. Cohen on Friday, 25 Nov.
This week she is ending her show with a selected song.
Here is a link to her show's website and podcasts.
http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/

 

[Albertagirl]

Is it because of the lyrics? Maybe I misunderstand your comment but I myself found it often puzzling that this song is played at funerals and weddings. I know it mainly as the song performed by Jeff Buckley which I find sublime (but certainly not suitable for a funeral or a wedding). In the meantime I have learnt that Leonard Cohen himself wrote about 80 draft verses and used different sets of lyrics when he performed the song himself. Other performers have also used different sets or even changed the lyrics.

@Katharina,
The chorus of "Halleluyah" is wonderful, and must be all that most people hear when they listen to the song. The lyrics are hardly suitable for either wedding or funeral, since they begin with the scene of Bathsheba seen naked by King David while bathing (leading of course to his rape of her and murder of her husband) and are followed by a reference to Sampson being tied up and his hair cut off by his wife, Delilah (leading to his being blinded and made captive by his enemies). Both scenes show radical abuse of a member of the opposite sex by a person who is or becomes their spouse. At a wedding, this is a very serious warning. But, admittedly, probably only recognized by me as a biblical scholar. I do not know what others hear when they listen to these lyrics.

 

[CaptBuddy]

@Katharina,
The chorus of "Halleluyah" is wonderful, and must be all that most people hear when they listen to the song. The lyrics are hardly suitable for either wedding or funeral, since they begin with the scene of Bathsheba seen naked by King David while bathing (leading of course to his rape of her and murder of her husband) and are followed by a reference to Sampson being tied up and his hair cut off by his wife, Delilah (leading to his being blinded and made captive by his enemies). Both scenes show radical abuse of a member of the opposite sex by a person who is or becomes their spouse. At a wedding, this is a very serious warning. But, admittedly, probably only recognized by me as a biblical scholar. I do not know what others hear when they listen to these lyrics.

No. you don't have to be a Biblical Scholar to recognize these stories.
And, why would biblical stories not be appropriate for a wedding or a funeral. (Just kidding. )

 

[CaptBuddy]

Lest the intent behind my question be misunderstood, I was simply wondering if Cohen had, at some point, walked the Camino.

Many people, myself included, are on High Sensitivity Alert this week.

 

[Albertagirl]

No. you don't have to be a Biblical Scholar to recognize these stories.

one doesn't have to be a biblical scholar to recognize the references to Bathsheba and King David or Sampson and Delilah.

Would it offend anybody if I suggested that perhaps at least the Christian, or Christian educated, members of the camino forum may be better aware of biblical stories than the general public? The young woman in Vilar de Mazarife who had a recording of Halleluyah playing on the church altar was fluent in English but completely bewildered at why I considered this song, with the usual lyrics, unsuitable for playing in church. I really don't know what it could mean to her or to persons who play it at weddings and funerals, unless it is the chorus.

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

I see it's application to weddings, but not played in a church, especially with '88 lyrics...to me just not appropriate--but that's me. I wouldn't play it at a reception, either. I definitely would find it out of place at a funeral. I think it ends up at both because movies and TV have played it a lot in both wedding scenes (most famously Shrek) and when major characters die and/or are buried. media has way too much influence on way too many people.

 

[CaptBuddy]

Would it offend anybody if I suggested that perhaps at least the Christian, or Christian educated, members of the camino forum may be better aware of biblical stories than the general public?

Speaking for myself, I would not be offended, but I would think you are incorrect and very far off the mark.
I am not a Christian, nor Christian educated and I recognized the theme first time I heard it. In fact I've had to explain it to many of my Christian friends.
And I also think that a Joyful Noise, is a Joyful Noise.
I am tolerant, I think, and accept your objections to using the song in certain ceremonies.
Personally, I object to folk guitar Masses, and Metallic Christian Rock.

 

[DurhamParish]

Personally, I object to folk guitar Masses, and Metallic Christian Rock.

Ha. This struck a chord with me. It's not so much that I "object", it's just that I have a hard time mixing sacred lyrics with what I recognize as secular sounds. It's just a "thing" with me, but there we are.

We just lost one of my favorite musicians yesterday. The Master of Space and Time, Leon Russell. RIP Leon, and thanks for the great music.

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

Many people, myself included, are on High Sensitivity Alert this week.

Yes... often it's difficult to express thoughts and feelings with only words but at least we get a chance to discuss our views and sort ourselves out. Even if we agree to disagree.

 

[William Garza]

Only Words...
What nuance and inflected outcome you expect..breathless upon hearing
Words

From a Beloved someone
Or a stranger..well met upon yon highlands with darkness
Fast upon you.

This Way....

Or pon conversation last?
Next time
You were looking down upon stilled face
Repose and emptied vessel

Recollections re played in tear washed halls
Memories

Or between vast distance between you
And I
Because we once disagreed my friend
I..miss you
Said into bitter wind

I miss you...
My old friend

Look upon that woundrous face
Drink
DRINK in their words! ..fresh back from distance and turn.

You..are here
I..hear you

Now.

The last whisper between olden kin
Kith and friend.

I
Missed you
My old friend

I turned and you were taken by the wind.

Distant lights they are
To the weary dusty sin of time.

There are no secrets on the Way
Only chances and misses and what I ment to say...

Deep within...

Deep within our Secret Life...

Only matters when
Not where
Nor why

Nuance and bend of phrase
Good day and along with ye..
Along the way.

Meri..my Muse smiled tonite
A morsal loosed her lyre

Leonards pyre warms many ways

Let us dance and talk in turns of phrase
celebrate all..the Bard has gone

Be Blessed upon your Ways Peregrinos

 

[Stivandrer]

RIP.

Suzanne is a lovely song, to be sure....

But Cohen's connection to the Camino is....?

...that he was a good soul that spoke to you, that he had pieces of advice, hymns of humanity that would make you sing and think AS you walk the Camino.
In this way many things and many people are connected to the way because we reflect on things that were said, people we admire, concepts that spoke and speaks to us....

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

Only Words...
What nuance and inflected outcome you expect..breathless upon hearing
Words

From a Beloved someone
Or a stranger..well met upon yon highlands with darkness
Fast upon you.

This Way....

Or pon conversation last?
Next time
You were looking down upon stilled face
Repose and emptied vessel

Recollections re played in tear washed halls
Memories

Or between vast distance between you
And I
Because we once disagreed my friend
I..miss you
Said into bitter wind

I miss you...
My old friend

Look upon that woundrous face
Drink
DRINK in their words! ..fresh back from distance and turn.

You..are here
I..hear you

Now.

The last whisper between olden kin
Kith and friend.

I
Missed you
My old friend

I turned and you were taken by the wind.

Distant lights they are
To the weary dusty sin of time.

There are no secrets on the Way
Only chances and misses and what I ment to say...

Deep within...

Deep within our Secret Life...

Only matters when
Not where
Nor why

Nuance and bend of phrase
Good day and along with ye..
Along the way.

Meri..my Muse smiled tonite
A morsal loosed her lyre

Leonards pyre warms many ways

Let us dance and talk in turns of phrase
celebrate all..the Bard has gone

Be Blessed upon your Ways Peregrinos

Ah William... if you only knew how timely these beautiful words of yours are:

I
Missed you
My old friend
I turned and you were taken by the wind

Hubby and I exhausted ourselves yesterday looking for a friend who had been swamped by events in his life and was greatly troubled. A massive police search got underway this morning.

We've just now been informed that his body has been located.

Life is so precious and so fragile and inexplicable pain can overwhelm.

Be Blessed upon your Ways Peregrinos

I miss you...
My old friend.

 

[Albertagirl]

Ah William... if you only knew how timely these beautiful words of yours are:

I
Missed you
My old friend
I turned and you were taken by the wind

Hubby and I exhausted ourselves yesterday looking for a friend who had been swamped by events in his life and was greatly troubled. A massive police search got underway this morning.

We've just now been informed that his body has been located.

Life is so precious and so fragile and inexplicable pain can overwhelm.

Be Blessed upon your Ways Peregrinos

I miss you...
My old friend.

@Wokabaut_Meri
I am so sorry for your loss. We try so hard to protect and care for those whom we love, and sometimes we just can't. May he rest in peace.

 

[wayfarer]

@Wokabaut_Meri , sorry for your loss. May he Rest in Peace.

 

[William Garza]

Ahhh Meri

My deepest condolences..
we try,
But sometimes no matter how hard,we cant save them all.

Let your troubled heart rest
He has found his.

Kind regards and blessings for you and yours,

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

Thank you all. Yes, we can't save them all. Listened to a lot of Leonard last night.

When I penned those initial lines from Heart With No Companion in my OP little did I know how poignantly prescient they would become in hindsight:

I greet you from the other side
Of sorrow and despair
With a love so vast and shattered
It will reach you everywhere

 

[Silverbarista]

Ah William... if you only knew how timely these beautiful words of yours are:

I
Missed you
My old friend
I turned and you were taken by the wind

Hubby and I exhausted ourselves yesterday looking for a friend who had been swamped by events in his life and was greatly troubled. A massive police search got underway this morning.

We've just now been informed that his body has been located.

Life is so precious and so fragile and inexplicable pain can overwhelm.

Be Blessed upon your Ways Peregrinos

I miss you...
My old friend.

He slipped through the crack in the bell
Be strong
There is no reason, no rational
Stuff happens
Look for a yellow arrow, it will be on the wall behind the cow
Buen Camino

 

[KinkyOne]

Only today by sort of an accident came across the info about So Long Marianne. It was his 60's love Marianne Ihlen who died this July. And that's what he wrote to her:
"Well Marianne it's come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine. And you know that I've always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.


— Leonard Cohen, [14]

She died aged 81 on 28 July 2016, in Oslo.[15] Cohen followed her shortly after, dying on 7 November 2016.[16]"

So long, POET!

 

[cete46]

As a special treat on the occasion of our 60th birthdays we treated ourselves to tickets for his concert in Toulouse in 2009. Absolutely fabulous. My father was a fan too and we played a recording of Leonard singing "If it be Thy Will" at his funeral in 2011. The world will be a lonier place without him.

 

[andreak58]

Saw him in my native Sligo about 7 years ago, it is where his favourite Poet Yeats spent so much time. There is a video I watched last night and it won't be a hit with all Cohen fans but I think it is priceless. It is almost like Cohen doing "Karaoke". It is filmed in Dublin Ireland and is more like the end of an Irish Wedding. Just look at Cohen's facial expressions and that of the musicians. "Save the last Dace for me" appropriate as a tribute and also a little tongue in check , joyous and a bit of humour.

So lovely, brought me to tears. Thanks for sharing

 

[JMac56]

The Manager of the hotel I stayed at in Molinaseca in May this year is a big Cohen fan and was playing the "Live in London" album on the PA in the foyer as I prepared to leave in the morning. Wonderful way to start a day's walking!
I plan to have this live version of "If It Be Your Will" played at my funeral. Ah, "the sublime Webb sisters".

 

[RodlaRob]

An artist like no other. The world is a poorer place without him.
All who walk with his music in their soul will have a spring in their step!

 

[Kanga]

Here's the link to the song @JMac56 mentions

 

[JMac56]

Thanks Kanga:

 

[markgrubb]

@Katharina,
The chorus of "Halleluyah" is wonderful, and must be all that most people hear when they listen to the song. The lyrics are hardly suitable for either wedding or funeral, since they begin with the scene of Bathsheba seen naked by King David while bathing (leading of course to his rape of her and murder of her husband) and are followed by a reference to Sampson being tied up and his hair cut off by his wife, Delilah (leading to his being blinded and made captive by his enemies). Both scenes show radical abuse of a member of the opposite sex by a person who is or becomes their spouse. At a wedding, this is a very serious warning. But, admittedly, probably only recognized by me as a biblical scholar. I do not know what others hear when they listen to these lyrics.

There is a very good analysis of the lyrics of the song 'Hallelujah' in this Rolling Stone article
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/n...hallelujah-in-the-holy-or-the-broken-20121203

 

[markgrubb]

I don't think that it has been mentioned but Leonard Cohen struggled for a large parts of his life with depression and anxiety and had extensive treatment for them. Whilst I have not suffered from these illnesses his lyrics, which go into depth on the topic, have helped me cope in the darker times in my life

 

[Chito]

Thank you all for posting and articulating your responses. You all have soothed my heart and brought me some peace.
Ultria

 

[Chito]

I've been listening to Leonard since the late sixties and still feel like a novice in terms of gleaning the wisdom from the treasure that he has left us . This is a song of Leonard's called "If it Be Your Will" sung by Antony at a tribute to Leonard about 10 years ago. "I'm your man".