Leonard Cohen

Touring again, at 74. No stops in the States. What a pity. Neo-neocon has a post with a couple of videos, and links to more. The second one, from the early '60's, includes a standup routine. It's subtle stuff. A few more: Closing Time. The Future. Again: The Future, "Natural Born Killers" movie version, slightly different lyrics, very different video. An anthem for cynics: Everybody Knows. If this one were more recent, I dare say it would have included references to the US government or the Mossad being responsible for 9-11, and something about "Bush Lied!" (In this [musical] context, that looks like "a German song about an azalea.") Because everybody knows. Nice oud solo on this one. Bird On a Wire, with uncanonical lyrics. Suzanne, of course. That's No Way To Say Goodbye. So Long, Marianne (karaoke!). So Long, Marianne again, live. Famous Blue Raincoat. The Tower of Song: "I was born like this, I had no choice. I was born with the gift of a golden voice." Irony, much? Everybody knows.

Here's Neo-neocon's picture of Leonard Cohen:
Here's a recently discovered bust of Julius Caesar: Mere coincidence? You be the judge.

Update: Cohen started out as a poet, went on to write novels, and is now best known as a singer-songwriter. An interesting evolution. It's all good.

Another update: Some don't see the irony.

Yet another update: I have had to change some of the links, mostly for less satisfactory ones. YouTubes, they come and go.

And another update: Neo-neocon has another Cohen gem, which we might call "I'm the Man Who Wrote Suzanne."