I was floored when "Live in London" came out. Everything came together there. Like he was always too young for his songs and age has at last equalized them. His voice is perfect and his charm is spellbinding. But the key ingredient is, he put on stellar backing band and new arrangements of the songs are perfection. His early songs where either acoustically too sparse, or (in "Death of a Ladies' Man") overwhelm the singer, or electronically too cold in the later career. Here are wonderfully expanded with acoustic solos. All his (musical) sins are atoned in this ultimate Cohen songbook.
I did hear him live in Ljubljana latter and it was similarly fantastic concert. It was a great tour.
I've been playing this one Cohen video in heavy rotation myself, along with the Athens Mercy Street.
Along with... you guessed it, Who By Fire.
I share your feelings about "acting your age", or more precisely, accepting the gift that can be, at least artistically, the ripening of one's auctoritas.
Maybe the old prostate is no fun at 70, but age can, potentially, allow an artist to emanate a certain gravitas that is simply out of the reach of a younger man.
Cohen is a prime example of this.
Now, one other artist come to mind who, albeit inferior to Cohen, has sharpened his act over the years, in no small part thanks to a wisely picked cast of supporting musicians.
Thematically, it's akin to "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" by Iron Maiden, except that... bicycles are involved: the titular "Diavolo Rosso" is cyclist Giovanni Gerbi.
And you can _feel_ the pedaling and the sweat and the determination and the introspection and the deeper meaning of it, even if you don't quite get the lyrics.
It's all so self-evident, Cohen was "God's" gift to those too easily seduced by the ego massaging of a few too many of Rock's superstars. The very shape of his career is so perfect, an ace Hollywood screenwriter couldn't have done it better. And you're right to be so emotionally moved by his last live appearance, it looks and sounds like the real thing -- a human quality that is clearly on the wane in this wonky 21st century.
Your take is that an artist has a quality A and then does not have A anymore. So for that artist A(t0) = 1 and then A(t1) = 0. And another artist has a quality A and still has A so, for that another artist, A(t0) = A(t1) (interestingly, it can be 0 or 1 or anything, it jsut means the artist persists).
However, one should, probably, take into account that we live in modernity. Modernity does not allow for a single A but rather, say, A+B. Because it has modern and 'before modern'.
So let's say A is ancient while B is modern. So for A+B can deteriorate in two ways: either A+B -> A or A+ B -> B. (Both A->0 and B -> 0 is improbable this would mean 'no talent').
Then if we consider Nick Cave he has A + B like this A + B = f(B) + B. Where (B) -> 0 when B -> 0.
For Dylan: A+B = O(A)f(B) + B. Where O(A) is (probably) a constant but still we can see it -> 0 when B -> 0.
While for Cohen it's rather A +B = A + f(A). So even if B -> 0 it stays constant.
I coincidentally was watching this performance, I believe, with my daughter yesterday (via a sizable clip appearing in the doc on him & Hallelujah currently on Netflix). Wonderful to read this the day after. Seeing the sly smile on an eight-year-old’s face as she said “I like this song” encapsulates for me much of what you’ve written about his subtly charming power.
I was floored when "Live in London" came out. Everything came together there. Like he was always too young for his songs and age has at last equalized them. His voice is perfect and his charm is spellbinding. But the key ingredient is, he put on stellar backing band and new arrangements of the songs are perfection. His early songs where either acoustically too sparse, or (in "Death of a Ladies' Man") overwhelm the singer, or electronically too cold in the later career. Here are wonderfully expanded with acoustic solos. All his (musical) sins are atoned in this ultimate Cohen songbook.
I did hear him live in Ljubljana latter and it was similarly fantastic concert. It was a great tour.
> Everything came together there. Like he was always too young for his songs and age has at last equalized them
I feel exactly the same.
This is getting slightly creepy.
I've been playing this one Cohen video in heavy rotation myself, along with the Athens Mercy Street.
Along with... you guessed it, Who By Fire.
I share your feelings about "acting your age", or more precisely, accepting the gift that can be, at least artistically, the ripening of one's auctoritas.
Maybe the old prostate is no fun at 70, but age can, potentially, allow an artist to emanate a certain gravitas that is simply out of the reach of a younger man.
Cohen is a prime example of this.
Now, one other artist come to mind who, albeit inferior to Cohen, has sharpened his act over the years, in no small part thanks to a wisely picked cast of supporting musicians.
That would be Paolo Conte.
This version of Diavolo Rosso from the Montreux Jazz Festival can give Cohen's backing band a good run for their money: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXMPg4Ok1Ws
Thematically, it's akin to "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" by Iron Maiden, except that... bicycles are involved: the titular "Diavolo Rosso" is cyclist Giovanni Gerbi.
And you can _feel_ the pedaling and the sweat and the determination and the introspection and the deeper meaning of it, even if you don't quite get the lyrics.
It's all so self-evident, Cohen was "God's" gift to those too easily seduced by the ego massaging of a few too many of Rock's superstars. The very shape of his career is so perfect, an ace Hollywood screenwriter couldn't have done it better. And you're right to be so emotionally moved by his last live appearance, it looks and sounds like the real thing -- a human quality that is clearly on the wane in this wonky 21st century.
Me a bit disagree and want to post a comment.
Your take is that an artist has a quality A and then does not have A anymore. So for that artist A(t0) = 1 and then A(t1) = 0. And another artist has a quality A and still has A so, for that another artist, A(t0) = A(t1) (interestingly, it can be 0 or 1 or anything, it jsut means the artist persists).
However, one should, probably, take into account that we live in modernity. Modernity does not allow for a single A but rather, say, A+B. Because it has modern and 'before modern'.
So let's say A is ancient while B is modern. So for A+B can deteriorate in two ways: either A+B -> A or A+ B -> B. (Both A->0 and B -> 0 is improbable this would mean 'no talent').
Then if we consider Nick Cave he has A + B like this A + B = f(B) + B. Where (B) -> 0 when B -> 0.
For Dylan: A+B = O(A)f(B) + B. Where O(A) is (probably) a constant but still we can see it -> 0 when B -> 0.
While for Cohen it's rather A +B = A + f(A). So even if B -> 0 it stays constant.
This explains it all.
This looks like pretty solid science to me, Alex, but you must have omitted some crucial parameters somewhere along the way.
Because, as we all know, the correct answer should always be "doo-dum-dum-dum da-doo-dum-dum".
So you'd better check those calculations again.
I coincidentally was watching this performance, I believe, with my daughter yesterday (via a sizable clip appearing in the doc on him & Hallelujah currently on Netflix). Wonderful to read this the day after. Seeing the sly smile on an eight-year-old’s face as she said “I like this song” encapsulates for me much of what you’ve written about his subtly charming power.
Looks like your daughter already has great taste - but I'd still recommend keeping her away from "The Future" until she's at least... umm.. ten?