Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Now that Leonard Cohen is acknowledged as a musical treasure, it's fascinating to revisit this performance from a time when his star was in its early ascendancy.
The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival was a glorious disaster – 600,000 starving youngsters stranded in a field with barely enough facilities for 100,000 – with conditions exacerbated by the "free festival" revolutionary faction, leading to a fractious atmosphere that saw quieter performers like Joni Mitchell and Kris Kristofferson brutally heckled. Cohen was one of the last acts to play, shortly after Hendrix had set fire to the stage; but his zen-like calm and gently paternalistic attitude – he was already 35, twice the age of most of the audience – seemed to mesmerise the crowd right from the first bars of "Bird on a Wire". Backed by a loose aggregation of session musicians known as The Army, Cohen interspersed poems, aphorisms and background details among his songs, revealing for instance how "One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong" was written as he was "coming off amphetamines and pursuing a blonde lady that I met in a Nazi poster". Accompanied here by Murray Lerner's documentary DVD of the event, it's a remarkable, gripping performance.
Download this: So Long, Marianne, Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye, Sing Another Song, Boys
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments