leonardcohenforum.com

Posted: **Wed Feb 25, 2009 11:32 pm**

CONTEST - Leonard Cohen at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton - May 19, 2009
Posted Feb 25th 2009 12:10AM

AEG LiveI've given away a lot of stuff over the years, some big, some small, but most or all, I like to think, pretty cool and of genuine interest to those who visit. But I think I can say with no small degree of certainty that this is the coolest contest I've ever been able to run.

Leonard Cohen is a figure for whom the term "living legend" was created. He's not just a Canadian icon, but a global one. He's… well come on. He's Leonard Cohen. And though he's kept a low profile in recent years, he returned to full-on active duty last year with a rapturously-received Canadian and European tour and has carried that forward into 2009, first being revealed as one of the top-billed performers at Coachella, then playing his first American show in over 15 years in New York City last week and almost before that show was over, announcing a massive North American tour. Having played a four-night stand in Toronto last year, he's not coming to the 416 this time around but will be just down the QEW on May 19 for a date at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.

And this is where it gets exciting. Courtesy of AEG Live, I have two pairs of tickets to give away for the show. That's right. Leonard Cohen tickets. For you. The public on-sale for the show is at 10AM on Monday morning, but rather than feverishly hitting refresh on your browser when you should be working and worrying about getting shunted to TicketsNow, two lucky readers will be able to sit back and relax in the knowledge that two golden ducats will be waiting for them at the Copps will call on the 19th of May. Are you excited? Hell, I'm excited and I don't even know if I'm going to get to go to the show.

And it's going to work like this. To enter, you need to select your favourite Leonard Cohen lyric, be it a line, a couplet, a verse, and tell me why you love it. Make it 100-150 words, give or take, and leave it in the comments. The submission is just the price of admission - winners will still be chosen at random from submissions. Make sure to include your email in the submission so I can contact the winners. Closing time for this one will be Sunday night, March 1, at midnight. Hop to it.

And to send you on your way and get you in the spirit, Leonard just contributed a new poem to The New Yorker.

http://blog.aol.ca/chromewaves/2009/02/ ... y-19-2009/

Posted: **Thu Feb 26, 2009 12:05 am**

from the New Yorker Magazine

A Street
by Leonard Cohen

I used to be your favorite drunk

Good for one more laugh

Then we both ran out of luck

And luck was all we had

You put on a uniform

To fight the Civil War

I tried to join but no one liked

The side I’m fighting for

So let’s drink to when it’s over

And let’s drink to when we meet

I’ll be standing on this corner

Where there used to be a street

You left me with the dishes

And a baby in the bath

And you’re tight with the militias

You wear their camouflage

I guess that makes us equal

But I want to march with you

An extra in the sequel

To the old red-white-and-blue

So let’s drink to when it’s over

And let’s drink to when we meet

I’ll be standing on this corner

Where there used to be a street

I cried for you this morning

And I’ll cry for you again

But I’m not in charge of sorrow

So please don’t ask me when

I know the burden’s heavy

As you bear it through the night

Some people say it’s empty

But that doesn’t mean it’s light

So let’s drink to when it’s over

And let’s drink to when we meet

I’ll be standing on this corner

Where there used to be a street

It’s going to be September now

For many years to come

Every heart adjusting

To that strict September drum

I see the Ghost of Culture

With numbers on his wrist

Salute some new conclusion

Which all of us have missed

So let’s drink to when it’s over

And let’s drink to when we meet

I’ll be standing on this corner

Where there used to be a street

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