Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, CC GOQis a Canadian singer, songwriter, poet and novelist. His work has explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality, and personal relationships. Cohen has been inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. In 2011, Cohen received a Princess of Asturias Awards for literature...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionFolk Singer
Date of Birth21 September 1934
CityWestmount, Canada
CountryCanada
In dreams the truth is learned that all good works are done in the absence of a caress.
A woman watches her body uneasily, as though it were an unreliable ally in the battle for love.
When things get really bad, just raise your glass and stamp your feet and do a little jig. That's about all you can do.
Well, for one thing, in the tradition of Zen that I've practiced, there is no prayerful worship and there is no affirmation of a deity.
I always considered myself a minor writer. My province is small, and I try to explore it very, very thoroughly.
I read with some amusement my reputation as a ladies' man. My friends are amused by that, too, because they know my life.
I had the title poet, and maybe I was one for a while. Also, the title singer was kindly accorded me, even though I could barely carry a tune.
Women stand for the objective world for a man. They stand for the thing that you're not and that's what you always reach for in a song.
I don't think you can write novels on the road. You need a certain stability.
Journalists, especially English journalists, were very cruel to me. They said I only knew three chords when I knew five!
As a young man, Yeats spoke to me in a way I could understand. Shakespeare I couldn't understand, but Yeats I could. It was his subject matter and also I really admired the way he put his personal life on the line.
Most of the time one is discouraged by the work, but now and again by some grace something stands out and invites you to work on it, to elaborate it or animate it in some way. It's a mysterious process.
This is the most challenging activity that humans get into, which is love. You know, where we have the sense that we can't live without love. That life has very little meaning without love.
My friends are gone and my hair is grey. I ache in places I used to play. And I’m crazy for love but I’m not coming on. I’m just paying my rent every day in the tower of song.