Sting rasped an elegant, effortless “Dance Me to the End of Love.” k.d. lang belted a to-the-rafters “Hallelujah.” Courtney Love bellowed a grunge-karaoke “Everybody Knows.” And the great man himself, via a video projected on giant screens, croaked “You Want It Darker” accompanied live by the choir of the Québec synagogue Shaar Hashomayim, which had…
Many American Jews face two yahrzeits in the coming weeks, two memories of existential loss. The first comes November 8, when we’ll mark the first anniversary of the election of President Trump. For many of us, this wasn’t just the loss of a preferred candidate. It was the death of a certain reassuring narrative —…
The 2017 Polaris Gala, whose website says they aim to present awards to Canadian artists based on their “artistic integrity,” took place Monday, September 18. Among the evening’s delights was a new posthumous video for Leonard Cohen’s “Leaving The Table,” from his final album, “You Want It Darker.” The animated video opens and closes with…
(JTA) — The family of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen has announced a memorial concert to mark the first anniversary of his death. The concert, called “Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen,” will be held on Nov. 6 in Cohen’s hometown of Montreal, his family announced on it Monday. It will benefit the Canada…
(JTA) — It’s always difficult to whittle down the list of influential Jews who died in a given year, but this year the task seemed to be especially tough. The number of Jews who left historic marks on their fields — and, more broadly, on Jewish culture — was remarkable. As 5777 draws to a…
Google Trends just released “American’s Most Misspelled Words” of 2017, and it’s a sight to behold. While some states can be forgiven for struggling with certain words (I get it, West Virginia and Connecticut, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is confusing), some of these mistakes are just plain embarrassing. But Leonard Cohen may be surprised to see ‘Hallelujah’ as…
‘Saturday Night Live’ used Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ to send a hilarious season finale shot at President Trump. Alec Baldwin opened the show by playing Trump and crooning his version of the last Jewish songwriter’s classic, defending himself against various perceived plots against him. He was joined by other characters who have mocked Trump’s inner circle…
Leonard Cohen’s getting a gigantic tribute in Montreal. But at least one prominent local thinks the late cultural icon would have cringed at his 28,000-square-foot, 20-story likeness plastered on a downtown building. Writing for the Montreal Gazette, writer Bill Brownstein called the massive mural an “ill-fitting tribute… that feels so wrong.” “The fact of the…
