David Gilmour covered a pair of Leonard Cohen songs in a webcast earlier this week to promote his wife’s book.
The live stream’s primary purpose was to promote Gilmour’s wife Polly Samson‘s new novel, A Theatre For Dreamers, after a publicity event fell through due to COVID-19. The book is set on the Greek island of Hydra, and so was the live stream. Complete with furniture, wine glasses, and a basket of oranges, the setting was made to look like a cafe in Hydra. To add to that authenticity, Gilmour played a pair of Cohen songs that were inspired by the late singer’s time on the Greek island.
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Between Samson’s selections from A Theatre For Dreams, Gilmour provided musical interludes as well as the Cohen covers. At roughly 7:46 in the nearly 36 minute live stream, Gilmour goes into “Bird on the Wire”. The song was partially written during Cohen’s time on Hydra, but ultimately finished in a Hollywood motel in 1969, according to Cohen. Part way through Gilmour’s solemn performance of the tune, one of his grandchildren begins to cry and is taken offscreen. During both songs, Gilmour is joined on vocals by his daughter Romany Gilmour in this family affair live stream, complete with a baby and a dog.
After more selections from the novel, Gimour helps close out the stream with “So Long, Marianne”, coming just over 30 minutes in. Cohen wrote the song for his longtime partner Marianne Ihlen, whom he met on Hydra. The couple went on to live together on the island for a number of years before commuting between New York, Cohen’s home in Montreal, and Hydra. Ilhen died in 2016, and her and Cohen’s relationship was chronicled in the 2019 documentary Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love.
Watch David Gilmour cover Leonard Cohen songs in a fake Greek cafe below. “Bird on the Wire” at 7:46 and “So Long, Marianne” at 30:08.
David Gilmour – A Theatre For Dreams live stream
[Video: David Gilmour]
On Wednesday, Samson announced another live steam for 3 p.m. ET on Instagram along with a video of Gilmour playing “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye”. This could mean that more Cohen covers are in store for today’s stream. Viewers can tune into the stream here.
[H/T Rolling Stone]