A Tower of Song
Leonard Cohen and I were the same age, give or take a few months. It was my great privilege to attend the Leonard Cohen, Tower of Song, Tribute Concert in Montreal, on Nov. 6. A couple of weeks before, son Donald phoned saying he had a crazy idea. He had two tickets to the concert and thought it would be a good idea if I joined him for the occasion. Enough Aeroplan points made it possible, so o I went.
Being in the Bell Centre with 20,000 or so people, and feeling the waves of emotion as singer after singer gave their rendition of a Leonard Cohen song was an experience to be remembered. From Sting dancing in to “Dance Me to the End of Love” to k d lang’s “Hallelujah,” to Adam Cohen singing the rst song his father taught him, the concert certainly was a “Tower of Song.”
ere is some cadence of Leonard’s voice in his son Adam. However, there is no match for the gravelly gritty voice, which got deeper and deeper as the years went by, of Leonard himself. e various singers expand the range and interpretation of Leonard’s songs, which assures us that his music will go on. But the deep, raspy, tones of Leonard’s gravelly voice communicate the raw, ele- mental, subjects he dealt with like no other.
“ ere is a crack in everything, that’s where the light comes in.”
e creative process nds the tiny aw and shines light through it into new dimensions of understanding. Einstein found the crack in Newtonian physics and quantum science is the result. Jung found the crack in traditional theology and explored a whole new way of understanding the spiritual/psychic reality from which religions sprang. We nd cracks in our own thinking and living and evolve our lives in new and more whole ways.
“A thousand kisses deep.”
“Dance me to the end of love.” In his life and song, Leonard explored the fundamental human value of sexuality, a reality that is now a very serious social issue. What has been niggling at the edges for some time has now burst into the awareness of our whole society. The honouring of sexuality is now rmly in our sights.
The demeaning and domineering of women by men was a generally accepted way of life in much of our culture, and a ected us all. Now such behaviour is being called to account. Men in positions of power and authority — and that includes most of us men in one way or another – often misuse their/our position to violate the dignity of women.
A whole cultural transformation is happening. Women are standing in their integrity, and men are suddenly exposed in their/our understanding and actions. Leonard has helped us to take our sexual natures seriously as a fundamental reality that we must learn to express in a way that deepens and enhances our lives. Men, we are confronted by a major challenge.
“And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water.” “I have tried in my way to be free.” “Hallelujah.”
e quest for spiritual sustenance and depth was a theme of Leonard’s life. He was Jewish to the core. It formed the foundation of who he was. Yet he spent years in a Zen Monastery and was ordained as a Zen monk.
“When I want to get in touch with God, for that I have Judaism. Zen is not a religion. It’s the study of the self — as it arises and how the self disappears.”
In his deep commitment to the reality and power of the spiritual he gave voice to a void in our culture. While traditional religions are dying, the reality of the spiritual is still there. Something within us yearns to commune with, and feel we are part of, something grander than our individual selves. It is what I write about.
Leonard blended the spiritual and the sexual. He knew somewhere deep within himself that the two are intimately related. Our realization that in mature relationships sexuality is spiritual and the spiritual is sexual could go a long way to healing the sexual and spiritual shallowness of our time.
Whatever transpires, life is a grand challenge and glorious venture. “I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you “And even though it all went wrong “I’ll stand before the lord of song “With nothing on my tongue but hallelujah.”