Leonard Cohen meet Paul Simon

In memory:

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

https://fb.watch/4OE_UZawCF/

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

https://fb.watch/4OE_UZawCF/

Leonard Cohen’s best line ever is in this song – what is it?

Anthem – Leonard Cohen

Paul Simon’s best stanza (from 2:08)

Simon And Garfunkel – Slip Slidin’ Away (with lyrics)

My personal letter to Leonard Cohen, optional reading:

I was a Simon and Garfunkel fan early on. Our neighbours let me listen to their records when I would babysit their daughters in Ottawa. I saw them perform at the Capitol Theater in Ottawa (with Jim Shalom), and again at Saratoga Springs in New York  on August 19th, 1968.

This is one of the songs they performed. I’m going to dedicate it to all the elderly who we do not protect.

That same summer of 1968 I first heard a Leonard Cohen song (Hey, That’s no way to Say Goodbye) sung by a girl at camp. By 1972 I was a big fan.

I saw him in Jerusalem in April,  1972, that fateful night when he walked offstage in the middle of the set, and returned as the whole audience sang for him “Havenu shalom aleichem”. A few years ago I discovered that this event was captured on film as part of a documentary.

From Wikipedia: When his performance in Israel didn’t seem to be going well, however, he walked off the stage, went to his dressing room, and took some LSD. He then heard the audience clamoring for his reappearance by singing to him in Hebrew, and under the influence of the psychedelic, he returned to finish the show.

I like to compare the careers and music of Cohen and Simon. Both Jews, but different kinds. Both recorded at Columbia Records. Both New York lovers. Both had high school bands. Both wrote the lyrics and the music.  A morose bent in many of each of their songs.

Commonalities: 

Judaism

Alienation

New York City

Capitol Records

High School Bands

Self-writing

Long Careers

Reinvention

Foreign influences

”Cohen is one of the most fascinating and enigmatic singer/songwriters of the late ’60s. . . [and] has retained an audience across four decades of music-making. . . Second only to Bob Dylan (and perhaps Paul Simon) [in terms of influence], he commands the attention of critics and younger musicians more firmly than any other musical figure from the 1960s who is still working at the outset of the 21st century.” – Bruce Eder, critic

Would it be fair to say that Cohen is more of a lyricist and Simon more of a musician?

Take a moment to listen to the intricate accompaniment of this song -how many instruments can you make out? And who is Mr. Leitch?

Fakin’ it – Simon and Garfunkel

Clinton Street vs Bleecker Street

Songs with NY Streets: Leonard Cohen, Clinton Street

Leonard Cohen – Famous Blue Raincoat (Live)

Simon and Garfunkel, Bleecker Street

Simon and Garfunkel – Bleecker Street

Songs about rivers: Hudson, New York

Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water – Madison Square Garden, NYC – 2009/10/29&30

Leonard Cohen, Saint Lawrence River, Montreal

Songs about fathers:

Simon And Garfunkel – Slip Slidin’ Away (with lyrics)

Songs with Leaves:

Leaves that are Green – Simon and Garfunkel

“If your life is a leaf that the seasons tear off and condemn”

Sisters of Mercy – Leonard Cohen

Most famous songs? Perhaps these:

Leonard Cohen Hallelujah + lyrics

Sound of Silence

Dance me to the end of love lyrics

And we end with this Leonard Cohen song from the prayer of the High Holidays, “Who by fire?”

starts 2:04

And I’ll just throw in this trailer from the 1971 classic movie that brought Cohen’s music to the forefront.

And this link to a more personal farewell ebook to my musical hero…