What a voice, what a sagacious soul, Leonard Cohen is a being whose illuminations have touched so many through the decades. His poetry, music, books, etc., have spoken and inspired so many individuals.

His newly released CD, Leonard Cohen Live in London is a fantastic collection of songs, starting off with the song, “Dance Me to the End of Love”. The song is haunting, yet is one enveloping love and hope.

Leonard Cohen is quoted as saying, “Dance Me To The End Of Love’ … it’s curious how songs begin because the origin of the song, every song, has a kind of grain or seed that somebody hands you or the world hands you and that’s why the process is so mysterious about writing a song. But that came from just hearing or reading or knowing that in the death camps, beside the crematoria, in certain of the death camps, a string quartet was pressed into performance while this horror was going on, those were the people whose fate was this horror also. And they would be playing classical music while their fellow prisoners were being killed and burnt. So, that music, “Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin,” meaning the beauty there of being the consummation of life, the end of this existence and of the passionate element in that consummation. But, it is the same language that we use for surrender to the beloved, so that the song — it’s not important that anybody knows the genesis of it, because if the language comes from that passionate resource, it will be able to embrace all passionate activity“. I found this quote on Wikipedia.

Watch an “official” video of Leonard Cohen performing Dance Me to the End of Love, here. I don’t know if all countries will be able to receive this. Have some tissues handy.
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You can watch an interview with him in Montreal on Q TV – CBS exclusive, here (Some areas of the world might not be able to receive this video link).

A friend of mine told me that he attends the same synagogue in Southern California that she does. She said that “he is very nice person, and is a natty dresser!”
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Tuesday April 28, 2009 – 4th of Iyyar, 5769