I took these photos today on a quick detour to a place I sometimes go for a bit of solitude. No matter how great the weather, this place is always quiet and contemplative.
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We saw the new Leonard Cohen documentary, "I'm Your Man." I didn't care for it and fast forwarded through a great deal of the performances. They just weren't to my taste... a little too cabaret or burlesque... excepting Nick Cave because I have a soft spot for him. I refuse to see another documentary about a musician featuring performances by other people. These kinds of documentaries are a way to look back and capture the life or the spirit of a person's work -- it's just that I want to reminisce to the actual songs performed as I know them. At the same time what I do not want is the kind of over-the-top, grotesquely reverential, hero worship displayed in this film. And please, for the love god, do not let Bono shoot his mouth off in one more music documentary. It was bad enough in "The New Order Story" but they went and let him perform in this one too.
Anyways, I prefer the National Film Board of Canada documentary from 1965, "Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Leonard Cohen." I've been enjoying The Stranger Song recently. Leonard Cohen does have a wonderful ability to arrange words in a pleasing fashion.
"And while he talks his dreams to sleep
you notice there's a highway
that is curling up like smoke
above his shoulder."
One of my favourite lines:
"If your life is a leaf that the seasons tear off and condemn
they will bind you with love that is graceful and green as a stem." - from Sisters of Mercy
But my favourite song will always be Susanne. I got into Leonard Cohen via Nina Simone's version of this song. I like both versions equally.