Julie Christensen & Perla Batalla Shine In 1993 Performance
Coming across this recently uploaded video of “Dance Me To The End Of Love” performed by Leonard Cohen with backup singers Julie Christensen and Perla Batalla from the May 12, 1993 “Later With Jools Holland” show called to mind An Interview with Jools Holland dealing with that same episode of that program found at Speaking Cohen.
In that article, Richard Cooper offered his own commentary and annotations as well as what he described as his “fairly literal transcription of an interview with Jools Holland that Leonard Cohen gave in 1993 on Holland’s sublime BBC TV music show, ‘Later With Jools Holland,’ during The Future tour.”
The entire interview as well as “Leonard Cohen at the Albert Hall 1993: A Personal Account,” which precedes the interview on the same web page, is entertaining, insightful, and altogether worthwhile reading, but for the purposes of this post, I want to focus on the final paragraph which is Cooper’s written description of “Dance Me To The End Of Love,” the final song Cohen sung that day on the “Later With Jools Holland,” comprising straightforward observations which nonetheless effectively evoke the sense and the tone of the performance.
Finally Holland introduces Cohen once more for the show’s closing song, “Dance Me to the End of Love”, which Cohen opens with a sombre keyboard motif. For the second verse Cohen duets with Julie Christensen, and with Perla Batalla for the third. JC and LC look into each other’s eyes for their duet, but LC and PB both close their eyes for theirs. As they sing the middle and final choruses of the song, Batalla and Cohen look out into the studio with wide, warm smiles.
Leonard Cohen – Dance Me To The End Of Love
Video from Uba58
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