Watch Leonard Cohen’s Spellbinding ‘Come Healing’ Live in Dublin
Last fall, midway between the releases of 2012’s Old Ideas and the recent Popular Problems, Leonard Cohen played nine shows in the U.K. and Ireland, including two dates at Dublin’s 02 Arena. “I’m not quite ready to hang up my boxing gloves just yet,” he told the crowd toward the beginning of his one of his Dublin sets. “I don’t know when we’ll meet again, but tonight we’ll give you everything we’ve got.”
Cohen, it turned out, made good on his promise, and now the second of those gigs is being released as a triple-disc CD/DVD/Blu-ray set dubbed Leonard Cohen Live in Dublin. Above, watch the singer perform “Come Healing,” one of Old Ideas‘ most magnificent tracks. In this version, a trio of backup singers lead the way, and when Cohen enters, he sings the song almost in a whisper, dropping down on his knees as if praying in a church pew.
Almost exactly a year later, the legendary songwriter visited L.A. to preview Popular Problems and discuss – among other other things – the possibility of returning to the road. Apparently, he’s still keeping his gloves close by: “I’ll have another shot or two at it when I go on the road – if I go on the road,” the now 80-year-old said, referring to new track “Born in Chains.” “The road is beckoning. I know if I run that song down in concert two-or-three-hundred times, I’m going to get it.”
Leonard Cohen Live in Dublin can be pre-ordered here.