Book Review: I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen, by Sylvie Simmons (2012, Updated Edition 2021)

 

Cover of the updated paperback edition of I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen, by Sylvie Simmons, 2021. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

To me, Leonard Cohen is the definition of an artist. Driven, dedicated to his craft, living his life unapologetically. Sylvie Simmons’ biography of Cohen, I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen, is a fascinating look at this enduring artist.

One of my first introductions to Leonard Cohen was the live album Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979. Released in 2001, Field Commander Cohen finds Cohen backed by a fantastic band, touring in support of his album Recent Songs. When I worked for a small bookseller, one of my co-workers was a huge Leonard Cohen fan, and there was a period of several months where Field Commander Cohen was in the rotation of CD’s we listened to, and so every afternoon Leonard’s baritone would bid adieu to Marianne. At first listen, I was unimpressed. I was going through a Bob Dylan phase at the time, and I suspect I found Cohen just too similar to Dylan. And after a while I was simply sick of listening to Field Commander Cohen every single day. However, I was impressed with the different musical textures that are found on Field Commander Cohen, with its nods towards world music and jazz, and “Memories” pastiche of 1950’s doo-wop. Eventually, Field Commander Cohen got to me. I started to love John Bilezikijan’s long oud solo on “Lover Lover Lover,” and the way Leonard sings “lover” seven times in a row on that song. Seven times in a row might seem a bit much, but it fits the rhythm of the song so perfectly. And one day I needed my own copy of Field Commander Cohen, which occupies an odd place in my personal discography. It’s not one of my favorite albums, but it's one of the albums I’ve heard the most. Suffice it to say, Leonard Cohen has grown on me over the years.

I’m Your Man was first published in 2012, and an updated edition with a new Afterword came out in 2021. When I was paging through I’m Your Man in a bookstore last December, I knew I wanted to read this book. I had to learn more about Leonard Cohen the man.

I’m Your Man is not an authorized biography, but Simmons interviewed Cohen several times, and occasionally their dialogue appears in the book as a Q&A. Simmons does an excellent job of tracing Cohen’s life and career, from Montreal to Hydra to New York City, and Los Angeles, with many stops in-between.

Cohen described to Simmons some of the reasoning behind his decision to become a poet and novelist: “The word ‘career’ always had an unattractive and burdensome resonance in my heart. My idea mostly was to avoid participating in that activity called career, and I’ve been pretty much able to avoid it.” (p.39)

Cohen was 33 years old and well-established as a poet and novelist when his first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, was released in late 1967. Cohen claimed that he became a songwriter to make money. But, as Simmons informs us, Cohen had been singing folk songs on his guitar since he was a teenager. So perhaps he was simply following his muse. Or perhaps music was simply another way of avoiding a career.

Cohen explained his artistic philosophy in a 1976 interview: “A cry of pain in itself is just that. It can affect you or you can turn away from it. But a piece of work that treats the experience that produced the cry of pain is a different matter altogether. The cry is transformed, alchemized, by the work by a certain objectivity that doesn’t surrender the emotion but gives it form. That’s the difference between life and art.”

I’m Your Man follows Cohen through the difficulties of the music business, including the period in the 1990’s when he essentially abandoned his music career in order to study to become a Buddhist monk. The book also covers Cohen’s remarkable return to live performance in 2008, after a break of some 15 years, and the ecstatic reception he received around the world. The world tour eventually stretched to 2 ½ years, from May of 2008 until December of 2010, as Cohen performed just shy of 250 concerts.

Throughout I’m Your Man, Simmons refers to Cohen as “Leonard,” a familiar touch that is well-earned by her thorough research. Leonard Cohen was certainly a complicated man, and he was not without his demons. Yet throughout the 500-plus pages of the book, I liked him. Frankly, Leonard Cohen seemed like a really nice guy. When Cohen’s manager Kelley Lynch stole millions from him, leaving him nearly bankrupt, Cohen would tell friends “It’s enough to put a dent in one’s mood.” (p.447) You have to like a man who can make light of such a difficult situation.

I’m Your Man is an absorbing examination of the life of a talented artist who is still “speaking to you sweetly from a window in the Tower of Song.”

Concert Review: Rufus Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche at the Minnesota Zoo

Rufus Wainwright, 2018.

Lucy Wainwright Roche.

Last night my wife and I saw Rufus Wainwright and his half-sister Lucy Wainwright Roche at the Minnesota Zoo. We’ve seen Rufus several times before, at Orchestra Hall in 2010 and in 2017, at the Zoo in 2012, and at the Fitzgerald Theater in 2013. I haven’t seen Lucy Wainwright Roche before, and I enjoyed her songs, which highlighted her intelligent lyrics. Lucy is also quite funny, with a very dry sense of humor. After just a song or two, she asked the audience if anyone had any questions for her. She was serious, and eventually some people shouted out some questions. One of them was the inevitable “How are you related?” She responded, “I assume you mean how am I related to Rufus?” Lucy didn’t tell us the names of very many of her songs, so I can’t tell you what she played. However, she did close her set with a lovely acoustic version of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” Lucy also sang backing vocals on a couple of Rufus’ songs. 

Rufus put on an awesome show, as usual. This was a solo show, and he has the musical chops to pull it off. He played piano and some acoustic guitar. He’s an exuberant guitar player, pounding the strings with panache. Rufus joked about wanting his new album to do well enough so he could afford a guitar tech. Whenever I write about Rufus Wainwright it’s always a challenge for me to describe his music if you haven’t heard it before. He’s a difficult performer to try to categorize, as his music mixes pop, classical, Broadway, and opera in a style that is distinctively his own. His beautiful, soaring voice adds greatly to the flavor of his music—there is simply no one else that sounds like him.

Wainwright played a mixture of songs from his back catalogue, and he also played some new songs from his upcoming pop album, which he said will be out “in about a year.” He played several of my favorite songs of his, including “The Art Teacher,” which I simply love. It tells the story of a girl who falls in love with her art teacher, but she never acts on her feelings. “He asked us what our favorite work of art was/ But never could I tell him it was him.” I also love his song “Out of the Game,” the title track from his 2012 album. It’s a catchy and smart piece of pop writing. In a perfect world, it would have been a huge hit single. Another one of my favorites that Rufus sang last night is “Montauk,” which has catchy lyrics that often get stuck in my head. 

The new songs that Wainwright played, “Peaceful Afternoon,” “Early Morning Madness,” and “Only the People That Love” were all interesting, and whetted my appetite for his next pop album. Rufus also sang a satiric hip-hop song about Trump that he wrote in collaboration with someone whose name I can’t remember. It was quite funny. A highlight of the show was his lovely version of Leonard Cohen’s “So Long, Marianne.” Hearing Wainwright’s big voice on that song was wonderful. Another vocal highlight of the show was the acapella version of “Candles,” a very moving song about his mother’s death. 

For the encore, Wainwright sang “Going to a Town,” with its refrain of “I’m so tired of you America.” He cheekily dedicated the song to the trumpet player from the Minnesota Orchestra, who walked out as a political protest during the song last December. I was wondering if Rufus would mention that controversy during last night’s concert. He closed the show with the inevitable “Hallelujah” and “Poses.” Once again, it was an evening full of excellent music from Rufus Wainwright. 

Set list:

Beauty Mark

Memphis Skyline

Out of the Game

Jericho

Peaceful Afternoon

The Art Teacher

Early Morning Madness

Gay Messiah

Only the People That Love

Trump Song

So Long, Marianne

Montauk

Alone Time

Candles

Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk

Going to a Town

Hallelujah

Poses

Concert Review: Rufus Wainwright with the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall

Promotional card for Rufus Wainwright with the Minnesota Orchestra. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

Last Saturday night my wife and I went to see Rufus Wainwright with the Minnesota Orchestra. We’ve seen him several times before, at Orchestra Hall in 2010, at the Minnesota Zoo in 2012, and at the Fitzgerald Theater in 2013. Wainwright always puts on a good show, and last week’s concert was no exception, as he performed some of his best songs in front of a deeply appreciative audience. 

Wainwright is a difficult performer to try to categorize, as his music mixes pop, classical, Broadway, and opera in a style that is distinctively his own. His beautiful, soaring voice adds greatly to the flavor of his music-there is simply no one else that sounds like him. Wainwright’s songs sounded great with the Minnesota Orchestra, under the baton of Sarah Hicks, behind him. 

The program was made up of many Wainwright’s most well-known songs, including “The Art Teacher,” “Vibrate,” “Who Are You, New York?” “Poses,” “Grey Gardens,” “Going to a Town,” “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk,” and “Oh What a World.” Wainwright actually restarted “The Art Teacher” after a verse or two, saying that something felt off, and since they were recording, he wanted to get it right. 

One of the highlights of the night was Wainwright’s version of “O Holy Night,” sung in the original French. Rufus was a little unsure, but of course he hit the high notes with style. I also really enjoyed the song “Montauk,” which came after a song from Rufus’ opera Prima Donna. Rufus called those two songs “the Philip Glass section of the evening.”

Rufus received a rapturous standing ovation after “Going to a Town.” Before he started playing the song, he talked briefly about politics, saying how disappointed he was in the Republican-led tax bill that had passed the night before. During this speech, principal trumpeter player Manny Laureano got up from his seat and walked off the stage as a protest. I noticed this, and I thought to myself for a second, “Did he leave because of what Rufus just said?” And then I didn’t think any more about it until there was a piece in the Star Tribune about the incident, making it clear that Laureano’s action was a reaction to what Rufus was saying. 

Another highlight of the night was the encore, comprised of “Oh What a World,” which sounded beautiful accompanied by the orchestra, who could do justice to the quotes from Maurice Ravel’s Bolero. Rufus also sang “Over the Rainbow” and the Leonard Cohen song “Hallelujah” to end the night, which hit me right in the feels. 

If you have the opportunity to see Rufus Wainwright in concert, do it. He’s an excellent live performer who will keep you entertained and amazed at his songs and voice.