In honor of the New Yorker's recent publication of the Leonard Cohen poem, "Going Home" and the streaming of the "Going Home" track from the Old Ideas album from the New Yorker web site (see Leonard Cohen And The New Yorker Team Up On Going Home), DrHGuy offers The New Yorker Leonard Cohen Map, an adaptation of the iconic 1976 New Yorker cover drawn by Saul Steinberg depicting the world as seen from a New Yorker's perspective.

As one might expect, DrHGuy has depicted a more Cohencentric world view.

Click on image to enlarge

May all your seasons be joyous, resonant with the warmth of home and family, the cheer of friends, and the blessings of being loved.

~Allan

 

… it’s indisputable that DrHGuy, though acutely aware of the dissonance between words and music and the miserable state of affairs described by the lyrics, still likes the damn song - a lot.

The "Build Me Up Buttercup" video below is from There's Something About Mary

Check out the full review, including a video of The Foundations performing "Build Me Up Buttercup" in 1969, at at Build Me Up Buttercup – Aberrant, Subversive, & Beloved

This post was first published at DrHGuy on January 9, 2008

As ongoing viewers may recall from Leonard Cohen Arrives In Oviedo - But Where Is The Famous Blue Sharpie?-  the Sharpie routinely carried by the Canadian singer-songwriter-Prince of Asturias Award winner seemed to be absent on his arrival in Oviedo (see photo below).

Thanks to the diligence of the Spanish Cohen Brigade, however, we now have pictorial proof in the form of the photo atop this post that the Sharpie has returned to the master's hand.

As shown in the first photo, the ever-gracious Leonard Cohen is certainly willing to sign autographs after his arrival in Spain for the Prince of Asturias Awards ceremonies. This shot from Oviedo, in fact, nicely recapitulates the photo of Cohen taken by Judy Green in Las Vegas (see below).

The vital difference is, of course, that in Las Vegas the fan had a trusty blue Sharpie (see Leonard Cohen Reaches Out – A Sharpie Parable), Cohen's preferred tool for inscribing autographs, at the ready for his use.

Switching the scene back to Spain, the image below demonstrates Cohen bravely, uncomplainingly signing his name with a non-Sharpie writing implement.

All this, however, begs the more significant point.  Where is the set of Sharpies Leonard Cohen typically carries?  

As the astute Leonard Cohen observer Avi Elkoni notes in Leonard Cohen, Mel, Tom, LNRDCOHN, & The Bolo Tie Slide - Footnote #2:

I have witnessed two items emerge from the outer pocket of Leonard’s guitar case: A sharpie, for those fans that desire an autograph but are hopelessly unprepared for it, and (get this): a white magic marker (one of those paint-type markers) for those autograph-seeking fans who want their autograph on the dark blue cover of the “Live in London” CD/DVD set. After seeing that, I added to the list of things I thought I knew about LC “well prepared”.

Even when the Canadian singer-songwriter is enjoying a casual, solitary lunch, he has a Sharpie in his pocket.

If the unthinkable has happened - if Leonard Cohen somehow forgot to pack his Sharpies or if Homeland Security confiscated them as dangerous contraband or if they were lost or ... - one can only hope and trust that someone on site can provide him this vital tool before his unaccustomed attempts to use other pens saps his stamina or impairs his guitar playing.

_________________

Credit Due Department: The photo atop this post is by EFE/J. L. Cereijido. The photo of Leonard Cohen in Las Vegas taken by Judy Green. The shot of Leonard Cohen signing an autograph is by Miki Lópe. The final photo of a postprandial  Cohen is from Aleim Magazine.

O chosen love, O frozen love
O tangle of matter and ghost.
O darling of angels, demons and saints
and the whole broken-hearted host
[emphasis mine]

It was the photo atop this post that sparked the investigation reported in Leonard Cohen Finds Love - Quiescently Frozen On A Stick, which revealed that the tasty frozen treat was the source of the "frozen love" image in Leonard Cohen's “The Window" (see lyrics above) and "Lullaby:"

I can’t break the code
of our frozen love.

Further, the humble popsicle featured heavily in this predecessor to "Everybody Knows:"

Everybody licks raspberry ‘sicles
Everybody licks lime and pistachio
Everybody licks  blueberry and chocolate
Even with a mustachio.
Everybody knows you’ve been discreet
But there were so many flavors you just had to eat
You must come quick,
I’ll give you one more lick.

Everybody licks, everybody licks
When it drips it sticks
So everybody licks

Everybody licks, everybody licks
To get their kicks
Everybody licks

All this and much more that links Leonard Cohen's music to the ice pops are to be found at Leonard Cohen Finds Love - Quiescently Frozen On A Stick

In addition, this image is entry #90 in the Shades of Leonard Cohen category.

A gallery comprising all items published in the photo series, Shades of Leonard Cohen, can be viewed at Collected Shades Of Leonard Cohen.

The photo of Leonard Cohen fearlessly enjoying a Popsicle or its generic equivalent while wearing a white suit was taken by Darcy Hemley and published in Brother of Mercy by Mikal Gilmore (Spin, March 2002). Found at 10 New Songs. 

The video comprises the audio recording of the first version of Chelsea Hotel from Leonard Cohen's 1972 concert in Jerusalem complemented by images of Leonard Cohen, Janis Joplin (whose liaison with Cohen at the Chelsea Hotel led to the creation of the song), the Chelsea Hotel, and people and places associated with the song.

For more about the significant thematic differences between Chelsea Hotel #1 and Chelsea Hotel #2, see New Video - Chelsea Hotel #1 By Leonard Cohen.  

Not only did Leonard Cohen autograph and date an oyster shell which now hangs with other signature-inscribed mollusks on the wall of Maestro S.V.P. in Montréal, he also scribbled a  single word punctuated by double exclamation marks: Wonderfull!!

Now, Cohen scholars are in violent dissent about the meaning of this inscription. For the full story, including the charges of heresy, the doctrine of Anthemic Infallibility, and the fallout from the Oyster Shell Manuscript, see Leonard Cohen Oyster Shell Manuscript Triggers Schism Among Followers

Also see Unusual Objects Autographed By Leonard Cohen

 

High Gear features my favorite Neil Larsen album cover art for its contrast with Larsen's recent role as Neil Larsen – The Impeccable, Nearly Invisible Leonard Cohen World Tour Keyboardist. (See also Neil Larsen Without His Leonard Cohen Cloak Of Invisibility, Part 2)

DrHGuy has designated February 15, 2011 as a day of  recovery and recuperation from the reveries and rigors of Valentine’s Day.

The DrHGuy site will return to regular progamming tomorrow.