Learning from Leonard Cohen
I grew up without religion, so I have to take my moral lessons where I can find them. Sesame St set me right through childhood. When I was a teenager I discovered Leonard Cohen and started buying his albums on vinyl for some reason. I would listen to them over and over again and then I forced my friends to listen to them when we went on holiday together at the beach. Then Zephfi would play her Paul Simon albums. Then we’d listen to Triple J.
Anyway, as you know I saw Leonard Cohen live this year and for me, it was the closest thing I have personally experienced to religious enlightenment. I was seeing someone who I admired perform his songs with passion, humility and sincerity.
One of the reasons Leonard is so great is that his songs are poetry and the poetry is based on experience, philosophy and religious teachings. This is a man that feels deeply and is unafraid to put his emotions into his songs. And I think there are things that we can learn from him, if we take a select sample of his lyrics and apply them to our own lives.
Lesson the first, that Leonard sings about over and over again is that Love Conquers All.
Even when it doesn’t work. Even when it hurts. Even when you know you have to part, love is the most important thing.
I saw you this morning.
You were moving so fast.
Can’t seem to loosen my grip
On the past.
And I miss you so much.
There’s no one in sight.
And we’re still making love
In My Secret Life.
All the rocket ships are climbing through sky
Holy books are open wide
The doctors working day and night but they’ll never ever find that cure for love
there ain’t no cure for love
The next lesson is that although you can try, you shouldn’t ever expect to achieve perfection. You do the best you can and that is all that is needed. if you can accept that everything has a flaw in it somewhere, then you will be a happier person than the person.
The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don’t dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be….
Ring the bells that still can ring/ forget your perfect offering
there is a crack, a crack in everything
that’s how the light gets in.
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Friday is right to party
Mr Vintage are narrowing their collection down to kiwiana tshirts only so they have a pretty wicked sale on right now, if you’re into tshirts with 80s icons on them, go check it.
Bemeaningful on twitter linked me today to this lovely website One million acts of kindness.
I am seriously tickled that someone found my blog by googling “marrying into the irish mob”. Aah LARP reports, how you ruin people’s innocent google research!
I have a big weekend of laziness planned, then a two day work week next week and then a blissful blessed holiday at the beach. Ah, I am looking forward to it so much!
Finally, a poem spoken to you by one of my personal heroes, Leonard Cohen. It’s a love song kind of.
Leonard Cohen Live – United Hearts tour
The crowd to get into the arena was huge and old and well behaved. Frank, my Mum and my Dad were quietly excited going in. The people at the door were taking water bottles off people, but my mum smuggled hers in. Our seats were in the back row of the upstairs seating on the right hand side of the building. We were about half way along, so we had a great view of the stage, completely unimpeded and not too far away.
Sam Hunt opened with some poetry recitations, his own and some famous Yeats and Baxter ones as well. He was unexpectedly funny and moving. He swore a lot too, I liked him.
There was a 15 or so minute break in which I purchased a programme and a United Hearts tshirt for an extortionate amount of money (well, not really, I was happy to pay for them after all) and some water. They took my water bottle cap away. The arena has a policy apparently that you can’t have bottle caps at concerts. If anyone can explain the reason for this please let me know. 
Leonard Cohen’s band took their places, the instruments assembled on different levels on a huge red Persian rug. There was a red velvet chair in front for the Spanish banjo player. When Leonard took the stage it was at a run, in his signature suit and fedora. The audience gave him a standing ovation before he’d done anything. He waited for it to die down, thanked us politely and then launched into ‘Dance me to the end of love’.
From then on I ascended into a kind of religious ecstasy. His songs are so important to me, so familiar and his voice was much better live than in the old recordings I have, and to see him start a song on his knees, bent forward over the microphone and then straighten up as the song went on. To close my eyes and imagine that it was me that he sang for…it was all quite overwhelming. Frank thought I was overheating, mostly I was overcome with emotion. He played every single song that I had hoped he would. He danced a funny little shuffle, his banter was humble and warm and funny. He mentioned a newspaper article that had mentioned his short stature. “I cannot always be seen by the naked eye. I’ve been offered a job, I’ll be the colossal shrimp and lie down next to the colossal squid.”
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