The old man with the hat

“It has been 14, 15 years since I have stood on stage, performing. Then I was only a 60-year-old with big dreams…”

The old man in the dark suit and felt hat that casts a permanent shadow over his eyes smiles slowly, and the audience laughs and applauds.

Leonard Cohen, on tour again at 74 years old, is clearly enjoying himself. He sings his songs darkly and melancholically, as they have always been sung and are still meant to be sung. But between the songs he banters with the audience and displays a dry and often self-deprecating wit. I have never seen him perform before, so I would not know what his on-stage demeanour was in earlier years, but it seems that he does not anymore take himself as seriously as his dark, brooding songs of yesteryear would suggest.

I “discovered” Leonard Cohen when I was about twenty years old, in the late 1980s. At the time, we all told the stale old joke that you get a packet of razor blades for free with every Leonard Cohen album that you buy so you can slash your wrists after you have listened to it.

But for me, his music had and still has a soothing effect – like that of Pink Floyd and Roger Waters, who are also in the razor blade league. I am especially fond of Leonard Cohen’s album I’m your man, that came out in 1988, shortly after I had started listening to his music.

Having lived in South Africa and Kenya all my life, I did not get to see many of my favourite international artists live. The previous international act that I saw, was Roger Waters in Cape Town in 2002. So it was an unexpected and very welcome bonus when I found out that Mr Cohen was considerate enough to perform in Melbourne when I would be passing through there.

And what a wonderful experience it was! He sang all my favourites, including almost every song on I’m your man. My only regret is that he didn’t do Dear Heather, from his eponymous 2004 album. But I guess when a show is “only” 2 hours and 50 minutes long, you have to make some tough choices about what to sing and what to leave out!

At 74 years, with his hat, his suit, his grey hair, his big ears, his hooked nose and his slight stoop he looked – from certain angles – a lot like my late grandfather on my mother’s side, which was slightly weird for me, because the two men do not have much in common.

In addition to the humorous banter, Leonard Cohen also had some social comment. My favourite bit went something like this:
Cohen: “It is great to be performing in a country where it is so peaceful.”
Audience: Applauds loudly and patriotically.
Cohen: “And peace is not a right – we are incredibly fortunate to have it.”
Audience: Digests this for a couple of seconds and then applauds again, this time a bit more soberly.

This performance was before the terrible bush fires in and around Melbourne. The second performance in Melbourne was shortly after that. He would have remarked on it during his show, and I wonder what he said…

***

Here is the song line-up from his show in Perth, published by another blogger, and it seems to me to be much the same as the one in Melbourne:

Dance Me to the End of Love

The Future

Ain’t No Cure for Love

Bird on a Wire

Everybody Knows

In My Secret Life

Who By Fire

Chelsea Hotel

Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye

Ring the Bells

Tower of Song

Suzanne

The Gypsy Wife

The Partisan

Boogie Street

Hallelujah

Democracy

I’m Your Man

A Thousand Kisses Deep

Take This Waltz

So Long Marianne

First We Take Manhatten

Famous Blue Raincoat

Anthem

Democracy

I Tried to Leave You

Wither Thou Goest