I have always been a great fan of the late, great Leonard Cohen.
What a poet he was.
One that stood apart from the rest.
All his life he sought the truth, and tried to find the meaning of our strange existence.
Although he was raised in Judaism, and it's a faith he never lost, in the 1990's he entered a Zen
Monastery , or retreat, and came out a few years later, an enlightened man.
This can be seen in his concerts after this time; he is a different person, full of joy and fun, nothing like the serious one he was when he was younger.
He had suffered from severe depression all his life.
He said he used to drink three bottles of wine before he would go on stage in the early days, as , he believed, it helped the songs, and, no doubt,because he was nervous.
He also smoked a lot, and said , in his seventies, he still missed doing that, but used incense instead, as a reminder.
I loved the story of how he met Bob Dylan in Paris one day many years ago and they had a coffee together.
Bob asked Leonard how long it took him to write a song, to which the reply was, '3 or 6 months, sometimes 3 years or longer.'
Leonard then asked Bob how long it took him.
Dylan told him that it was about twenty minutes.
Different strokes for different folks !
They both laughed.
He will not be forgotten.
The next post is his remarkable classic Hallelujah, which was rejected, first of all, by his record company.
What do they know ?
Thank goodness it finally got released, after other artists recorded it.
There are so many wonderful verses in this song, but two stand out for me.
How many people who have felt the sweet cupid arrows that firstly delight and then later hurt like hell will relate to the following verse
' Maybe there's a God above
As for me, all I learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you .'
Or the following verses;
' There was a time you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you ?'
'I remembered when I moved in you
And the Holy Dove she was moving too
And every single breath we drew
Was Hallelujah'
I have never known anyone unite spirituality and sexuality as Cohen does.
In the next post you will find the classic ' Hallelujah'
I hope you enjoy it.
Mike Selley.
'.
.
What a poet he was.
One that stood apart from the rest.
All his life he sought the truth, and tried to find the meaning of our strange existence.
Although he was raised in Judaism, and it's a faith he never lost, in the 1990's he entered a Zen
Monastery , or retreat, and came out a few years later, an enlightened man.
This can be seen in his concerts after this time; he is a different person, full of joy and fun, nothing like the serious one he was when he was younger.
He had suffered from severe depression all his life.
He said he used to drink three bottles of wine before he would go on stage in the early days, as , he believed, it helped the songs, and, no doubt,because he was nervous.
He also smoked a lot, and said , in his seventies, he still missed doing that, but used incense instead, as a reminder.
I loved the story of how he met Bob Dylan in Paris one day many years ago and they had a coffee together.
Bob asked Leonard how long it took him to write a song, to which the reply was, '3 or 6 months, sometimes 3 years or longer.'
Leonard then asked Bob how long it took him.
Dylan told him that it was about twenty minutes.
Different strokes for different folks !
They both laughed.
He will not be forgotten.
The next post is his remarkable classic Hallelujah, which was rejected, first of all, by his record company.
What do they know ?
Thank goodness it finally got released, after other artists recorded it.
There are so many wonderful verses in this song, but two stand out for me.
How many people who have felt the sweet cupid arrows that firstly delight and then later hurt like hell will relate to the following verse
' Maybe there's a God above
As for me, all I learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you .'
Or the following verses;
' There was a time you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you ?'
'I remembered when I moved in you
And the Holy Dove she was moving too
And every single breath we drew
Was Hallelujah'
I have never known anyone unite spirituality and sexuality as Cohen does.
In the next post you will find the classic ' Hallelujah'
I hope you enjoy it.
Mike Selley.
'.
.
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