I shudder to think about what I could possibly be doing when I’m 78-years-old or even if I’ll live to be that old at all. Call me cynical, but rarely do my thoughts bring up the image of a rich, wise and healthy elderly man playing out the last of his days, sharing his years of time-tested wisdom with the younger generations and enjoying the fruits of his lifelong labors in retirement.
Instead, the number “78” brings to mind a delusional, broke, ailing coot whose day-to-day existence is spent yammering about the good old days, the president being terrible and the terrorists invading his house, as his nurses feed him apple sauce and prune juice through an IV. Frankly, I don’t have high hopes for myself in old age. If I’m anything short of a raving, decrepit lunatic, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Leonard Cohen, on the other hand, has proved he ages like that ideal first example I gave, or rather like fine wine. At the tender age of 78, Cohen is not only still producing music, but it’s new, original, and most importantly, excellent.
Last week’s release of “Old Ideas” marks the 11th studio album Cohen has written and recorded since his 1967 debut, and he’s not a cent less of an artist than he was over 40 years ago. With each song on this album, Cohen proves he’s still the songwriting legend that crafted “Hallelujah” in the early 80s.
The album’s title is reflective of Cohen’s songwriting style on the album. Nothing really varies stylistically from what he’s done in the past. It’s more or less the same brand of chamber folk and pop he’s always stuck to playing. Thankfully, however, that’s indicative of top-notch quality.
Lyrically, it doesn’t disappoint. “I love to speak with Leonard. He’s a sportsman and a shepherd, he’s a lazy bastard living in a suit,” Cohen sings in the opening lines of the album, quickly revealing his signature sarcasm and wit. Each line is masterfully crafted with the care and precision with which he’s treated all of his classics.
The instrumentation and songwriting themselves are fairly typical of Cohen as well. He covers the spectrum of cabaret-tinged, teary-eyed folk ballads and more upbeat blues rock numbers, most of which merely serve as a backdrop to his exquisite poetry.
Perhaps the only immediately noticeable change in the elements of Cohen’s music is his voice, which started out as a much higher monotone and has since been chiseled into the gravelly, smoky, Tom Waits-like rasp that it is today.
As a whole, “Old Ideas” is certainly much more than its title suggests. While the style hasn’t changed much, the quality remains unparalleled in the songwriting world. The ideas may be old, but they’re built on the rock-solid foundation that Leonard Cohen spent the last four decades assembling.
If someone else had recorded this album, it’d be regarded as a benchmark for modern songwriting. With Cohen, it’s just more of the same.
