Leonard Cohen preparing for 2008 Tour
I’m Your (Sharp-dressed) Man
They come runnin’ just as fast as they can
‘Cause every girl crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man.
- From Sharp-dressed Man by ZZ Top
This shot of Leonard Cohen rehearsing for his upcoming World Tour in his Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes1 is intriguing and even a tad mysterious.
How, for example, does he look so good in that hat? Why does he look like an illustration for the dictionary definition of “dapper” wearing a double breasted jacket while 97% of the men that don them (including Dave Letterman, who wears one almost every night on his show) resemble nothing else as much as a corpse being fitted for a shroud? Why is he fingering a keyboard when he typically plays a guitar, if he plays any instrument, in his concerts? Why does he have only one hand on the keyboard? Is the one hand in the pocket stance essential as a component of the not quite insouciant slouch?
And what the heck is with that gong in the background?
Update: All is revealed – or at least these questions are answered at Leonard Cohen & His Gong – Questions Answered
Credit Due Department: Photo by Lorca Cohen. Used by permission of Leonard Cohen via Ed Sanders. Thanks to Dick Straub for alerting me to the photo, which originally appeared on LeonardCohenFiles.com and LeonardCohenForum.com
_____________________- Or would these be Leonard Cohen’s “Sabbath-go-to-meeting Clothes?” Or his “Sabbath-go-to-synagogue Clothes?” Such are the perils of the culturally sensitive blogger.↩
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