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Time again to open this - already traditional - thread! Our members may congratulate Leonard on his 74th birthday.
This year Leonard will be in Rumania; he has a concert on September 21 in Bucharest.

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Dear Leonard,

Thanks to joining this forum today, I've just heard your sung version of Book of Longing. You are getting better at both singing and writing with age so keep on having birthdays. My mum gave me Book of Longing last year on my fortieth birthday, perfect timing for a perfect book.
I saw you on the Book of Mercy tour and grown women were running at you throwing roses, which impressed me as a teenager. So much for "In the eyes of men he falls, and in his own eyes too". You introduced me to Fredrico Garcia Lorca, and he is maybe better than you, but I'll add a Burns song you maybe haven't heard, as a present, a swap for Lorca and part-payment for your mighty effort. If you would like to be shown Glasgow when you come then ask and I'll drive you around.

all good things,

Danny


Now westlin winds and slaughtering guns
Bring autumn's pleasant weather
The moorcock springs on whirring wings
Among the blooming heather
Now waving grain, wild o'er the plain
Delights the weary farmer
And the moon shines bright as I rove at night
To muse upon my charmer

The partridge loves the fruitful fells
The plover loves the mountain
The woodcock haunts the lonely dells
The soaring hern the fountain
Through lofty groves the cushat roves
The path of man to shun it
The hazel bush o'erhangs the thrush
The spreading thorn the linnet

Thus every kind their pleasure find
The savage and the tender
Some social join and leagues combine
Some solitary wander
Avaunt! Away! the cruel sway,
Tyrannic man's dominion
The sportsman's joy, the murdering cry
The fluttering, gory pinion

But Peggy dear the evening's clear
Thick flies the skimming swallow
The sky is blue, the fields in view
All fading green and yellow
Come let us stray our gladsome way
And view the charms of nature
The rustling corn, the fruited thorn
And every happy creature

We'll gently walk and sweetly talk
Till the silent moon shines clearly
I'll grasp thy waist and, fondly pressed,
Swear how I love thee dearly
Not vernal showers to budding flowers
Not autumn to the farmer
So dear can be as thou to me
My fair, my lovely charmer

http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk/songs/texts/westlin.html

Happy Birthday for the 21st, Leonard - I hope it's a fantastic day for you and that the Bucharest concert proves to be a wonderful way of enjoying it even more!

You may, or may not, be aware that we will be celebrating your birthday for the 16th time in this little corner of the world (Toowoomba, Australia) and, as usual, will joyously indulge in your work over the weekend and acknowledge the rich contribution you have made in our lives!

It was great to see you in concert in Amsterdam, London and Athens - this was the realisation of an important "dream of a lifetime" for me!

Cheers
Andrew (Darby)

It seems a little early to be sending you birthday greetings, but better early than to forget, I suppose. I would never doubt the wisdom of my friend Jarkko!

I hope you have a very very happy birthday!

Thank you so much for all the fantastic concerts I have seen already this year. I went to four amazing shows, in my home town of Toronto and your home town of Montreal! Fabulous! I truly enjoyed every moment.

All the best,
Anne

Dear Leonard,

Have a red needle on me tonight -- whether it's before or after the show is entirely up to you.

Thanks a lot for stopping by Oslo on your tour this summer and making us shiver in the hot summer night! (Even the soundcheck made ears turn.)

Being a fan of your latest output also, I hope to someday see that in concert as well.

Skål! Don't be a Stranger.

Kjell Ove Hattrem

... Oh, and happy birthday!

On tour, sold-out at the door, begging for more, 74! I confess the cliches, the Hallmark rhymes, the rest of it, fit you to a tee LC. Might as well admit it...J'adore tu. Happy Birthday and many more!

Dar

Leonard

We come from the same town, about the same time. In fact , our family almost moved to Upper Westmount, near where you grew up, but were stopped by the Montreal neurosis. I still return to get my dose and Montreal bagels, too. It must be in the water!

Looking down from the Heavens, I am sure Frank Scott, Louis Dudek and Irving Layton would join me in a "sheheheyanu" for getting to this time and place. Yes, sustained with great pain, but sustained, nevertheless.

I didn't know Irving ( the inescapable lousiness of aging), but Frank was my Professor of Constitutional Law at Mcgill, and Louis taught me at the undergrad school.

Heck, I even remember you playing at Sir George in the sixties

Your work is iconic. There is nothing else to say.

Thank you.

Leonard from Montreal

Leonard,

"Life is one horribly complex joke
Awarded to every soul lucky enough to get born"
- Joe Brinton

Many happy RETURNS!

To Leonard Cohen, on the occasion of his 74th birthday:

Thank you for becoming finer with age and inspiring us all.

May you live well all the days of your life!

With deepest admiration and respect,
Anne Porter

You're kind of an old stain
in my XL cotton shirt. Even
though I'm mostly unaware
of you, you always come with.

Happy Birthday Leonard Cohen,

Adam

More candles than cake now
wishing you many more
John

Dear Leonard ~

~ In Honour of 21 September 2008 ~

Another year passes
and I wish you well...
a privilege.

My heart overflows...
thank you, Leonard, for all
you've been to me.

Privileged and grateful;
I feel blessed to know you...
I'm happy to be here, dear Leonard.

Living during the same
time as you; a witness
in some small measure.

Greater, however, are my wishes
for you... may you be lifted up
by the loves in your life,
who bring you the same.

May your grandson,
your son, your daughter,
your sister...
your friends, and
your lover companion...
may all of them always surround you.

Bless you for all that
you are to others;
I love you.

My deepest wishes... for
your continuing good health
and happiness, Leonard.
May fulfillment be yours.



Love,
Elizabeth... Lizzy

Thank you so much for such a wonderful summer of concerts. You seemed to get younger every day!

Here are a couple of photos of Hydra taken a few days ago, of views you will be very familiar with! Hope to see you on the island again soon: one visit a decade is not enough, Leonard.

Ah! Leonard, Leonard,

I wish you to feel all the happiness that you have given to so many people this year and I wish us that you'll have many many more birthdays to celebrate. The Earth is such a better place with you around. Thank you for creating so much beauty and for being kind enough to share it with us.

Avec un merci spécial pour les spectacles de Saguenay, bon anniversaire et beaucoup d'amour du Québec !

Louise

Leonard,

I wish you peace and good things
and also that you stay strong and healthy till a hundred and twenty

L'chaim!

--Balázs