The Delightful Back Story of Lisa Kline's Leonard Cohen Unified Heart Tattoo

February 7, 2013

Portland Nov 11,12, Lisa Kline (upper right and bottom) & Arlene (upper left)

On Nov 11,12, Lisa Kline and I were both in Portland for Leonard Cohen's concert at the Rose Garden.  In the morning,  I invited Lisa, a fellow Canuck, to my hotel room to watch the November 11th Remembrance Day memorial on my laptop. The ceremony in Ottawa was to be streamed live at 11 am on the CBC network

Lisa brought us coffee and when she removed her UHTC jacket, her UHTC tattoo was revealed.  She told me the story about it which I thought was delightful. So I asked her to please send me her story to post on the LC Scrapbook and she did.  Thank you, Lisa.  Here it is in her own words.

For years, I thought that I might like to get a tattoo, but the problem was deciding what image to have permanently inked into my skin. It had to be meaningful, and it had to be something that I would be happy with for the rest of my life. After I saw Leonard Cohen in concert during the 2008-2010 tour (which was a profound, life-enhancing experience), it occurred to me that a unified heart would make a perfect tattoo. Not only is it a beautiful symbol, but it is a great reminder of those sublime concerts. However, thinking about getting a tattoo and actually getting one are two different things, and for quite a while I never had the guts to do anything about it. How it finally became a reality is as follows:

In 2011, I went to Montreal with my good friend Rachel, a fellow Leonard Cohen enthusiast, who also shared my interest in the idea of a unified heart tattoo (but like me, she had never mustered the nerve to do anything about it!).One afternoon, we were walking along Blvd. St. Laurent (or “St. Lawrence Blvd,” as Anglophones may say), a few blocks from Leonard Cohen’s house. We came upon a tattoo parlour, and we both started laughing because we simultaneously remembered a delightful interview with Leonard Cohen from 1966. In the interview, Leonard jokes that he is thinking of changing his name (to “September Cohen”) and getting a tattoo. When the interviewer asks of the latter, “Where?”, Leonard smiles and says, “There’s this place on St. Lawrence Blvd.” After a brief moment of discussion and contemplation, Rachel and I realized that we simply could not pass up such a wonderful opportunity! A few hours later, we each proudly had a unified heart tattoo, and whenever anyone asks us “where” we got them, we can smile and say, “There’s this place on St. Lawrence Blvd…”

From the 1966 CBC interview (approx 4.50 depending on how many ads at the front)
Leonard Cohen: ... I thought that I would ... get a tattoo
Beryl Fox: Where?
Leonard Cohen: There’s this place on St. Lawrence Blvd.

-------------------------------------  

• Lisa Kline is LisaLCFan on the leonrd cohen forum
• Not all CBC archived videos are accessible outside of Canada.  So a big thank you to Lisa for finding the one above.
• Another video and full transcript of the CBC Beryl Fox interview can be found at Speaking Cohen Webheights here  
• For background about the poppies Lisa and I are wearing and Nov 11th Remembrance Day, see Leonard Cohen Commemorates November 11th Wearing The Emblematic Poppy  

JOAN OF ARC Tour Debut in Leonard Cohen Portland Concert on Nov 11 With Band Wearing Poppies on Solemn Date

November 28, 2012

Portland Nov 11 screen shots from my videos

As soon as I was back in my Portland hotel room after the November 11 concert., my first brief post on the Leonard cohen forum summed up my excitement, my emotions in two short sentences.

CONCERT REPORT: Portland, OR - November 11, 2012

by bridger15 » Mon Nov 12, 2012 12:32 am

DEBUT: JOAN OF ARC

LC and the band wore Poppies to commemorate Remembrance Day/Armistice Day

When the band came on stage for the first time followed shortly by LC all wearing poppies to commemorate Remembrance Day/Armistice Day, this ex-pat Canadian got very teary eyed.
(I made an earlier post about the sgnificance of the poppy Leonard Cohen Commemorates November 11th Wearing The Emblematic Poppy)

Later in the concert, I started to tear up again when Leonard Cohen began to strum the opening bars to JOAN OF ARC, a tour debut. I have been wanting to hear this live for a very long time.

The Leonard Cohen and Hattie Webb duets were incredible.  The backing singers and band ensemble effect was gripping. It all came together. "They nailed it."

Luckily, I had my camera ready, put a check on my tears and captured it.

Thank you Leonard Cohen and ensemble for an unforgettable memory on my sixth and final concert of this leg.

Video by Arlene Dick

Joan Of Arc
Now the flames they followed joan of arc
As she came riding through the dark;
No moon to keep her armour bright,
No man to get her through this very smoky night.
She said, "i'm tired of the war,
I want the kind of work I had before,
A wedding dress or something white
To wear upon my swollen appetite.

Well, I'm glad to hear you talk this way,
You know I've watched you riding every day
And something in me yearns to win
Such a cold and lonesome heroine.
"and who are you? " she sternly spoke
To the one beneath the smoke.
"why, I'm fire," he replied,
"and I love your solitude, I love your pride."

"then fire, make your body cold,
I'm going to give you mine to hold,"
Saying this she climbed inside
To be his one, to be his only bride.
And deep into his fiery heart
He took the dust of joan of arc,
And high above the wedding guests
He hung the ashes of her wedding dress.

It was deep into his fiery heart
He took the dust of joan of arc,
And then she clearly understood
If he was fire, oh then she must be wood.
I saw her wince, I saw her cry,
I saw the glory in her eye.
Myself I long for love and light,
But must it come so cruel, and oh so bright?

Leonard Cohen 2012 Tour Debut "Ain't No Cure For Love" Seattle Nov 9 & Portland Nov 11.12

November 25, 2012

"Aint't No Cure For Love" Seattle Nov 9 (screenshot from my video)

Performed for the first time on the Old Ideas World Tour 2012
Ain't No Cure for Love (with intro) 
Leonard Cohen on Nov 9.12 at Key Arena, Seattle, WA.

This was concert five of my six concerts in a row adventure starting in Austin on Oct 31 and I just never expected it.  

Ah, he's keepin' his concerts fresh.  What a wonderful surpise.

I suppose, I should have expected something new.  Leonard Cohen concerts are dynamic, in more ways than one.

INTRO: "My songs are kind of bleak, but underlying the whole dismal affair is actually a tiny thread of light. I studied religious values. I actually bound myself to the mast of non-attachment, but the storms of desire snapped my bounds like a spoon through noodles."

Video by Arlene Dick

 

Thanks to Rachel/Holydove for the intro transciption.

 

 *  *  *

 

Portland, OR - November 11, 2012

 

Audio of intro to Ain't No Cure for Love.

This is yet another Leonard Cohen gem.

He had just finished singing DARKNESS and started off with:

Jesus Christ, you have to lighten up you know, I mean

Is it, is it really that bad? I don't think so.

But, I did. I plunged into religious practice and I bound myself to the mask of, the mast of non-attachment,

but the uh, the teeth of the storm just cut me loose.

And I, I practiced uh, I practiced uh, I practiced indifference.

Yes, I put on the blinders of indifference, but the, the light of beauty kept leaking through.

After a while I learned that uh, I learned that even what our Savior knew as he was pinned up on the cross.

I learned that uh, there ain't no cure for love

Leonard Cohen Audio, INTRO: "Ain't No Cure For Love" Portland, Nov 11.12 
Audio clip by Arlene Dick

Thanks to Inna & Kelsey (KaimiK) for the intro transcription.

*   *   *

I was very lucky to be at both the Seattle and Portland concerts.

Very lucky, indeed.

Leonard Cohen FRIENDS Gather For Five Final Concerts 2010

"I want to express our gratitude to those, I don't want to call them fans,
they are of a much deeper order than fans..." Las Vegas, Dec 10




From March 22, 2010  leonardcohenforum

Slideshow Video (Dia)

With my own snapshots, and photos from many wonderful Forum people plus a few I "borrowed" from the internet, this slideshow includes over 100 Friends at five concerts. (Individual thank you credits are at the end of the video.)

I added country codes (ISO alpha3 English) for Friends outside of North America only, consulting Maarten's nametag list.

Oakland, December 5 & 6 - Paramount Theater

Portland, December 8 - Rose Quarter Theater Of The Clouds

Las Vegas, December 10 & 11 - Caesars Palace Colosseum

Music: 3 songs from my own youtube videos

1. Avalanche-Oakland-Dec 5-first time live

2. The Darkness-Portland-Dec 8-my favourite of the three new songs

3. So Long Marianne-Las Vegas-Dec 11-emotional singalong, strong contingent from Europe, especially from Ireland.

*   *   *



...all the women tear their blouses off
and the men they dance on the POLKA DOTS



POLKA DOTS were worn by many FRIENDS at the Dec 11 concert to commemorate the final concert of the World Tour. This elegant idea was envisioned and lovingly organized by Marie Nolan (IrishMar).

Set list thanks to Maarten Massa

Dec 10, 2010

Dec 11, 2010 - Final concert World Tour

Portland, Dec 8, 2010, Leonard Cohen Concert at the Rose Garden Arena Theater Of The Clouds, Closing Time Outro

From Jan 23, 2011  leonardcohenforum

I had read concert reports from Europe about LC lyrically reciting from his early version of "Closing Time" for his outro.

(Tom Sakic) From an early version of Closing Time, recorded by Anjani in 2006, and it's titled "Never Got To Love You"

In Oakland and then Portland, I was able for the first time to see him do this live.

In Portland, the audience was really into the spirit of his recitation with clapping in time to the music.
It was magical.

* Closing Time *
outro cued to start at 5.09

Ah, they're stacking up the chairs
and they're wiping down the bar
and I never got to tell you
just how beautiful you are
they ought to hand the night a ticket
for speeding, it's a crime
I had so much to tell you
But now it's closing time

Well, friends, I'd Like to keep you drinking
and dancing with you all night.
But, they've turned off the Budweiser sign.
The parking lot is dark.
People making their way to their cars and
Make sure you get into your own car

And drive to your own home...

Portland setlist thanks to Chris Bynum



Portland, Oregon, Leonard Cohen Sings Democracy - USA, December 8, 2010

* Democracy *

I captured the whole song but I had to end it abruptly in order to multi-task. Because Leonard Cohen was so well received abroad, I wanted him to know the "USA Loves You". So I had a sign made up saying that. When Democracy was ending I wanted to hoist the sign with the aid of Leslie/lioness. The concert vidoegrapher turned his camera around and took a shot of my sign which was displayed on the screens to the cheers of the audience..

Portland Paradise - Finally Meeting Leonard Cohen

December 8, 2010, Portland, OR

Dec 14, 2010  leonardcohen forum
Posted by: Alan Mawhinney (Adelaide, Australia)

Arlene's Miracle
When you’re standing on the sidewalk
And you’re waiting in the rain,
And they ask you how you’re doing
Of course you say you can’t complain.
When you’re squeezed for information,
That’s when you should not play it dumb.
You have met with Leonard Cohen
And your miracle has come.

Again I apologise for the plagiarism.
Congratulations Arlene,
I guess this is your reward for all the help you have given to me and others on this forum.
I am so happy for you.