Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Leonard Cohen

[mickey_one]

At the Green Note yesterday-
With wonderful luck of timing I was just about to read my Guests parody which I wrote for our recent poetry comp. As you may recall it was based on the poster I saw in a local betting shop and the subject for our contest was "that's right it's come to this". As I approached the mike, I was pulled by a friend into the doorway of the cafe to meet Leonard himself. He was, of course, the most welcome, and indeed charming, Guest. I showed him a copy of the poster and told him I was about to perform my "poem". He told me to go straight ahead so I brought him into the cafe first and introduced him to applause where only surprise exceeded admiration. The introduction, by the way , was to the "famous poet, singer and armed robber".

Standing alongside me, he listened and laughed throughout the piece. The first time he heard the Lynching chorus he really showed appreciation.

At the end I commented that it was lucky I wasn't performing my Bird On The Wire version but he told me to do it. I only remembered the first verse
There's a Bird on the Wire
Shoot her, shoot her
time for Tweety to expire
No more points as a frequent Flyer.

I would probably have made this post anyway, but I have done so immediately after reading the rather hysterical complaint by William about Greg. The most interesting question at the later Barbican performance was from a Bhuddist asking Leonard about his faith. He replied that he never became a Bhuddist, that he had a perfectly good religion of his own which was rich and deep, but he followed Roshi to learn a calmness and enlightenment that he saw in that Teacher.




__________________________________________________________________________________________


That's Right, It's Come To This




One by one, the bills arrive
The bills are coming through
The debts, they are so many
The assets are so few

And no-one knows where the cash is going
And no-one knows why Kelley is glowing
Oh Lynch, I need you
I need you
I need you
Oh…I need you now

And those who cry, begin to cry
Those who hurt begin
And “hands up, hands up” cries a voice
“let all my guns come in”

And no-one knows where the cash is going
And no-one knows why Kelley is glowing
Oh Lynch, I need you
I need you
I need you
Oh…I need you now


And Len goes stumbling through that shop
In lonely secrecy
Saying “just the money please”
Or “I’ll blow your fucking head off, you bastard, don’t you see I’m desperate, I’m quite old and realistically I won’t be doing any more touring although I don’t mind selling my drawings and the occasional conversation
With Phillip Glass
So, shift your ass”

And no-one knows where the cash is going
And no-one knows why Kelley is glowing
Oh Lynch, I need you
I need you
I need you
Oh…I need you now

All at once his nostrils flare
His trouser zip flies open
Note by note he steals it all
Like it’s going out of fashion

And no-one knows where the cash is going
And no-one knows why Kelley is glowing
Oh Lynch, I need you
I need you
I need you
Oh…I need you now

And here he eats his sweet potato
Whilst shop and gun dissolve
And one by one his teeth fall out
Beyond the guardian’s wail

And no-one knows where the cash is going
And no-one knows why Kelley is glowing
Oh Lynch, I need you
I need you
I need you
Oh…I need you now


Those who shout, begin to shout
Those who die begin
Those whose honesty is lost
Are lost and lost again

And no-one knows where the cash is going
And no-one knows why Kelley is glowing
Oh Lynch, I need you
I need you
I need you
Oh…I need you now

One by one, the bills arrive
The bills are coming through
The debts, they are so many
The assets are so few

And no-one knows where the cash is going
And no-one knows why Kelley is glowing
Oh Lynch, I need you
I need you
I need you
Oh…I need you now

[lizzytysh]

I had just heard privately about this Great Event !!! It didn't include Leonard's actual point of entry... just that he had surprizingly appeared to the delight of everyone there... and that someone would no doubt be writing about it on the Forum. I had asked at what point, with whom, et al... but my response had only just been written, prior to seeing your posting. Good on you... everyone... who chose to attend!! BEST on LEONARD who chose to appear!!!

I'll bet he DID laugh throughout your reading .

[Not sure why you felt to include William in this as you did .]

By the way, is there only one gentleman here? What an abyssmal average... who might he be ?


~ Lizzy

[mickey_one]

I had just heard privately about this Great Event !!! It didn't include Leonard's actual point of entry... just that he had surprizingly appeared to the delight of everyone there... and that someone would no doubt be writing about it on the Forum. I had asked at what point, with whom, et al... but my response had only just been written, prior to seeing your posting. Good on you... everyone... who chose to attend!! BEST on LEONARD who chose to appear!!!

I'll bet he DID laugh throughout your reading .

[Not sure why you felt to include William in this as you did .]

By the way, is there only one gentleman here? What an abyssmal average... who might he be ?


~ Lizzy

thanks for the GentlemEn correction. If there had been only one it sure wasn't me.

I included William because that's how it happened. I read that thread for the first time this morning and immediately thought of the contrast with Leonard's grace and maturity yesterday, the lack of ego, when he stood next to a stranger reciting "don’t you see I’m desperate, I’m quite old and realistically I won’t be doing any more touring although I don’t mind selling my drawings and the occasional conversation" etc.

Maybe naively, but whenever I see such sensitivity on the forums I wonder if the person concerns ever aspires to the calmness and quiet self-belief exemplified by Leonard.

[lizzytysh]

Hi Michael ~

The perspectives in the two cases are different. Not really analogous.


~ Lizzy