London Prince Digs Cohen
Posted by Brody on March 4, 2010London is a spectacular city. It has all the appeal of a very contemporary metropolis, with fantastic art and live performance, and a generous selection of fine hotels. Tourists seem to agree that it’s never waned in their hearts as one of the premiere travel destinations, where lively culture continues to set the pace for the rest of the world. There are always plenty of things to see and do here, with a dizzying array of attractions and sights, ranging from the cutting edge to the deeply historical. History has left some very deep marks here, with so many wars from all the centuries past, and the ghosts of World War II still haunting the city.
For some, there is no better chronicler of a post-war sensibility than the incomparable Leonard Cohen. When he came here last year as part of his world tour, it was splendid enough to warrant a dvd and cd release of this spectacular event. This tour was something that brought the reclusive singer-songwriter out of his meditative brooding, so that he could brood, and play fantastic music, for thousands of fans. There were plenty of rumors that this tour was sparked by a need to pay a lot of debts, but the star seemed to be here only because of the debt that he felt to his fans.
The thing about Leonard Cohen is, he really does love to play. It’s obvious that he has tendencies toward melancholia, and it’s also obvious that this is an arena that he is very comfortable in, and it cheers him up. His dark and fatally-romantic songs have a strangely healing effect on the crowds, keying in on a layer of emotions that we all feel, but are often leery of entertaining. For someone who began writing poetry inflected with musings on the holocaust, the move to international fame is somehow surprising today, but it makes a sense that’s only accessible when love and history start to dance together, showing us who we’ve been and who we will be tomorrow.
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