First line written in my notebook: “Must get soundtrack.” I’m discovering musicians I never heard of before. Martha Wainwright sings “The Traitor” with exquisite textures and shapes of sound. Perla Batalla and Julie Christensen do a transcendent “Anthem” together, and I love Batalla’s old-fashioned-looking brown dress with pink sleeves. And Antony, how did I miss this guy so far? “If It Be Your Will” – is there a more perfect song? Even if he does mess up the lyrics? The guy who sings “Can’t Forget” is Jarvis Cocker, but he looks enough like Cohen to be his long-lost son.
There are songs here that I, a self-identified Cohen aficionado, don’t remember hearing before. The thing about his compositions is, they lend themselves to a wide spectrum of styles and interpretations. In 2005 a whole slew of great performers got together for a concert honoring the songwriter/poet/novelist. This is the beauty part: they’re getting seen and heard by people they never reached before, because of their purpose to express their admiration for one man. There’s something karmically satisfying about that.
The director of I’m Your Man is Lian Lunson, and the executive producer credit goes to someone I’d never have guessed in a million years – Mel Gibson.
An interview is interspersed. I’ve seen some sexy old dudes recently – Frank Langella in Starting Out in the Evening comes to mind – and now Leonard Cohen. There are short bits where he says some very illuminating things. He grew up on a diet of superhero comics. As a young man in Montreal, he hung out with a group of poets who mutually savaged each other’s work, as a learning experience. He quotes the immortal Shelley, who said poets are the “unacknowledged legislators of the world.” One thing he talks about is how he’s always been more comfortable wearing suits. (But probably didn’t when living at Big Bear, or in the Zen monastery on Mt. Baldy).
Even more illuminating are the tributes offered by other musicians. Nick Cave’s first hearing of the Songs of Love and Hate album was, he says, a life-altering experience. “It just changed things.” Rufus Wainwright says he grew up in environment where “the name Leonard Cohen was spoken frequently, with reverence.” He does a real good job here, with “Hallelujah.” Edge from U2 makes his worship evident, and then there’s Bono, who I never paid much attention to before, but now that I hear how he feels about Cohen, I like him a lot. Bono compares Leonard Cohen to Shelley or Byron, and that’s just fine
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