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June 30, 2006
A little bit of Canada
Cohen reminds us where our hearts really are.
JEFF L. LIEBERMAN
Canada Day in Los Angeles started unofficially early this year.
Last weekend, I was among a few hundred lucky people who gathered
at the Ford Amphitheatre to pay tribute to a true Canadian legend
and ambassador.
This wasn't an official event of the Canadian consulate – nor
was is it even billed as a Canadian event – but to me, it was
as Canadian as a moose and a Mountie, and that's all that mattered.
For all the Canadians in the crowd who grow lonesome for our birth
country around this time of year, we couldn't have asked for anything
better than a night of Leonard Cohen's music and poetry to make
us feel a little bit closer to the 49th Parallel.
The musical tribute was as Canadian as it gets, with performances
both live and on film from some of Canada's most talented musicians
– including Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Kate and Anna McGarrigle,
and two women who know Cohen and his music best of all, his longtime
backup singers, Julie Christensen and Perla Battala. Lionsgate Films
premièred their new film, Leonard Cohen, I'm Your Man,
which mixes both concert and biography and culminates with a performance
by the 71-year-old Cohen alongside his biggest devotees, U2.
Hearing "Suzanne" and "The Sisters of Mercy"
reverberate through the Hollywood Hills, I was somehow filled with
pride, as if I was listening to love songs for Canada. More importantly,
there was something comforting about being among other Canadians
who, like me, and most of the performers – including Cohen
himself – have made their home in the United States. When it
comes to living abroad and national identity, there is no place
more complicated to call home than the United States. The inner
conflict, or perhaps guilt, of leaving our birth nation for sunny
weather, lower taxes and an immodest nation is something we all
struggle with, especially around Canada Day.
While it may seem that Canadians who opt for palm trees over maple
trees would likely discard their Canadian ideals for Hollywood pizzazz,
I have come to realize that my Canadian sensibility has actually
become a larger part of who I am since I moved to California four
years ago. I headed south hoping to find a job and more career experience
in the film and TV industry, and while I was fortunate enough to
come from Hollywood North, the opportunity in Vancouver had definite
limits.
Perhaps the maple syrup in my veins now runs a bit thicker because
America forces you to react to so much of what surrounds you –
and who wouldn't want to hold on to their Canadian ideals when Americans
are constantly trying to deny one another their freedom of immigration,
health care, abortion or marriage?
In a city like Los Angeles, known for its bravado and cutthroat
tactics, it's sometimes not easy to be my friendly, polite and modest
Canadian self. However, holding on to those ideals grounds me in
the same way my Jewish identity plays into my daily thoughts, opinions,
and actions. I even find myself being that guy claiming so-and-so
is Canadian and starting sentences like "Well, back in Canada,
we...." I even stunned myself recently when, while playing
back a recorded interview, I caught myself saying "a-boot."
Yes, I admit it.
Cohen moved to the United States long before I did, but the struggle
and inner conflict for both of us is the same. We look at America
skeptically and Canada nostalgically. We enjoy the benefits of too
much of everything in America and ground ourselves in our Canadian
modesty when the excess becomes just that. Like Cohen said the other
night, as only he could phrase it, all that praising and exaltation
was going to give him a "moral pneumonia."
For any Canadians who find themselves outside of Canada this July
1, whether it be at the Maple Leaf Pub in London or on a beach in
Thailand or a poolside at the Canadian consulate's party in Los
Angeles, we can be grateful for the community of adventurous Canadians
who will never let you be alone on our day. And if you do happen
to find yourself alone somewhere in the world this Canada Day, hopefully
you remembered to pack a Leonard Cohen CD to transport you back,
if only for a moment.
Jeff L. Lieberman is a former Vancouverite living and
working in Los Angeles.
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