Friday, November 11, 2016

Closing Time

Friday evening, and I just learned of the passing of Leonard Cohen, a great poet and songwriter (and singer, in my opinion, at least).

Rather unusually for me these days, after getting in after midnight last night...well, this morning, actually... following a late session at a yakitori place, I decided to listen to/watch some old rock and blues performances on YouTube. After succumbing many times to the temptation of "just one more" link to Clapton, or Knopfler, or Beck, or many others, while sipping more whisky than was entirely wise on a weekday, I finally gave in as it started getting light outside.

Turning in at six and getting up at eight is not as easily done since I became middle aged: these reminders that I'm not 18 anymore are truly annoying. Nevertheless, it seemed fitting to end the session with Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, and then Closing Time, and a silent toast to Mr. Cohen with the last of the whisky before going to sleep.

I didn't know 12 hours ago that it was a "goodbye" toast as well as the usual "thank you for the pleasure you've provided me, and the thoughts you've provoked, over the years" toast.

Cheers, Mr. Cohen, and thanks.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice one, Mike. I miss this kind of sentiment in everyday life. But then again, maybe it's probably not meant that way.

said...

The end of an era. I just discovered him a few years ago when his music matched my thoughts.

and rthe end of another era appears to have come, and that's the end of the Japan bloggers of 5-10 years ago. I abandoned mine, Japan w/o the Sugar, in 2011, MTC seems to have stopped his, Our Man in Abiko is long gone, and it seems so have you ended yours. It was a great era, a great run. Best of luck to you. And since it is Dec 25, Merry Christmas.

Balefire said...

Thank you for the holiday greeting, and for stopping by.
I miss your blog, the others you mention, and a couple of other apparently-abandoned Japan blogs, too.
I haven't really thrown in the towel yet, but these days I have considerably more time constraints, and somewhat less motivation, than I used to have.
Best of luck to you as well, and if you ever start up another blog, be sure to let me know.
Happy New Year!