Traveling Light (2016) – Leonard Cohen

In the introduction to today’s song in the video below, an older Leonard Cohen sits outside on a front patio, smoking a cigarette. He says, “I feel a lot stronger, but I am actually a lot weaker,” which is quite poignant when you consider Traveling Light comes from Leonard’s last record, You Want It Darker (image inset), released just 17 days before he passed away.

To lighten it up a bit – I was imagining myself as a local resident, right there above looking onto Cohen’s house (if it were his residence), and wondering: when playing Leonard Cohen’s music – which I often do – would I feel the need to keep it down, or instead an incessant urge to just blast it out and then go onto the front lawn yelling, “Heck Leonard, love ya man – woohoo – yeah!” I probably wouldn’t have been a very tranquil Leonard Cohen neighbour.

I love Leonard Cohen’s last album. I found myself upset for a long time when I learnt of his passing. He is one of the few artists who you think will always be around; will always be the person to whisper in your ear and then when you hear these ‘departure’ tracks, it puts a lot into perspective.

As an astute commentator put it in the video below: ‘You tried poetry, you mastered it. You tried drawing, you mastered it. You tried songwriting and making music, you mastered it again. Thank you Leonard. You are a true Master of Art. We miss you everyday‘.

One thing that also struck me is when Leonard reflected on his life as a Buddhist monk in this interview. He spoke about the simplicity of life at the monastery, describing it as “a voluptuous sense of economy.” He then distilled the writing process like this: “you have to sit there in the bonfire of that distress… and sit there till you’re burnt away… it’s like rummaging through your pockets to see what you can work with“.

Traveling Light is another goodbye song on the record – or, as he puts it, an “au revoir” on an album that is really about departure, reconciliation, and coming to terms. It’s lovely that he co-wrote this song with his son, Adam Cohen, and got to share it with him. He seems to have let go of his baggage, his hang-ups, even much of the ego – the fear of death feels diminished. That’s what comes through across the whole record: resolution and surrender, like on the title track where he says, “I’m ready, my Lord.”

Due to fractures of the spine, You Want It Darker was recorded in the living room of Leonard Cohen’s home in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles and then sent by e-mail to his musical collaborators. His son, Adam Cohen recalled that “occasionally, in bouts of joy, he would even, through his pain, stand up in front of the speakers, and we’d repeat a song over and over like teenagers“.

[Verse 1]
I’m traveling light, it’s au revoir
My once so bright, my fallen star
I’m running late, they’ll close the bar
I used to play one mean guitar
I guess I’m just somebody who
Has given up on the me and you
I’m not alone, I’ve met a few
Traveling light, like we used to do

[Refrain]
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la

[Verse 2]
Good night, good night, my fallen star
I guess you’re right, you always are
I know you’re right about the blues
You live some life you’d never choose
I’m just a fool, a dreamer who
Forgot to dream of the me and you
I’m not alone, I’ve met a few
Traveling light, like we used to do

[Refrain]
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la

[Verse 3]
Traveling light, it’s au revoir
My once so bright, my fallen star
I’m running late, they’ll close the bar
I used to play one mean guitar
I guess I’m just somebody who
Has given up on the me and you
I’m not alone, I’ve met a few
Traveling light, like we used to do

[Outro]
But if the road leads back to you
Must I forget the things I knew
When I was friends with one or two
Traveling light, like we used to do
I’m traveling light

[Refrain]
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la

References:
1. You Want It Darker – Wikipedia