Leonard Cohen – High Priest of Song

Dance me to the end of love lyrics

Dance me to the end of love lyrics

Leonard Cohen was an orthodox Jew who liked Jesus and was a Buddhist priest.

From the prayer of the High Holidays

starts 2:04

בראש השנה יכתבון  וביום צום כיפור יחתמון.

כמה יעברון, וכמה יבראון?

מי יחיה, ומי ימות?

מי בקיצו ומי לא בקיצו?

מי במים ומי באש?

מי בחרב ומי בחיה?

מי ברעב ומי בצמא?

מי ברעש ומי במגפה?

מי בחניקה ומי בסקילה?

מי ינוח ומי ינוע?

מי ישקט ומי יטרף?

מי ישלו ומי יתיסר?

מי ירום ומי ישפל?

מי יעשיר ומי יעני?

ותשובה ותפילה וצדקה מעבירין את רוע הגזרה!!

from 1:15 HINENI HINENI

In memory:

Short movie of “Hineni” from the Museum of the Diaspora

Leonard and my Dad had a few things in common. They both had a father in the garment industry. They were both orphaned at a young age. That must have been very hard.

Story of Isaac (Live Songs, 1973)

The very first time I heard about him was at Camp Galil, on my way to Israel, back in 1969. A girl sang “Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye”. It was haunting. A few years I wrote a blog about it. Sure enough, a few days later I received an e-mail from the girl who sang it.

Lyrics 

words and chords 

He wrote about Jesus. I was surprised. An observant Jew writing about Jesus? But he also taught me to realize that he was remarkably one of us. “Forsaken, almost human.” Thank you for that gift as well.

In 1972 I went to see him perform at Binyenei HaUma in Jerusalem. I brought a girl named Ruth on a date. I didn’t get anywhere with her. I didn’t have his good looks. Or bravado. Or charm. The performance was riveting. He walked out in the middle of his own performance. I remember. He offered to return the tickets, but we were interested in him, and not any perfect offering. The producer came on stage and told us that you were overcome with emotion. He asked us to sing “Heveinu Shalom Eleichem” when he walked back on stage.  It was a magic moment in my life. And so I was elated to discover that this very segment is recorded (as part of a movie) and that it happened pretty much as I remember. Did he take LSD or coke to get back to your form? Does it matter now?

I met Leonard in 1984 at a party for him thrown by the Canadian Embassy in Tel Aviv. I told him I dreamed of being a musician. He told me he had wanted to be a scientist. I believed him.

Prof. Richard Sherwin lamented his becoming a singer. “He could have become quite a poet,” he told me. I remember that too.

Recently I was driving with Mira Awad and we were talking about him. She is also a big fan, you should know. “What is his best song?” I asked her. Without hesitation, she answered “Famous Blue Raincoat”. She was reading my mind. After all, I too tried to build my little home in the desert. Is Leonard the protagonist of the song? The antagonist? Both? Neither?

Leonard Cohen – Famous Blue Raincoat (Live)

words and chords

The Sisters of Mercy is another favorite of mine. He never did let us know who they were.  Perhaps that is most fitting. After all, when he did remember who was there at the Chelsea Hotel, our fantasies were compromised. Just saying, Leonard.

words and chords

And Anthem has your best line ever…

Anthem – Leonard Cohen

The last time I saw Leonard was in Ramat Gan, where he performed the ‘birkat hacohanim’.

Dear Leonard,

I could go on and on but I have a class to teach. About you and your legacy. Not only your most popular tunes, but some of the fantastic ones you wrote way back then, when we were innocent and young. I will teach them the Sacrifice of Isaac, one of your brilliant and less well-known songs. Do you want to tell me why the peacock spreads its fans? Don’t bother, I’ll happily remain with the ambiguity.

Leonard Cohen Hallelujah + lyrics

A forgotten classic. Words and chords

chords and lyrics

My other book on Leonard Cohen for our course, in which I compare him with another hero of mine, Paul Simon.