I'm just a little behind you, close enough to take your hand. This old body has given up, just as yours has too. Song of Leonard Cohen (1980) – documentary directed by Harry Rasky for CBC filmed during Cohen's 1979 European tour. Rasky also wrote a book about the film: The Song of Leonard Cohen. Leibovitz, Liel (December 11, 2012). "Wall of Crazy: Phil Spector and Leonard Cohen's incredible album, released 35 years ago, is a time capsule of American pop music". Tablet: A New Read on Jewish Life. Nextbook Inc. Archived from the original on December 15, 2014 . Retrieved March 12, 2015. GROSS: It's been great to talk with you. Thank you so much for reading some of your work and talking with us. In 1966, CBC-TV producer Andrew Simon produced a local Montreal current affairs program, Seven on Six, and offered Cohen a position as host. "I decided I'm going to be a songwriter. I want to write songs," Simon recalled Cohen telling him. [22]

So - and also, your songs make it clear that you're not unfamiliar with, you know, depression and regret and fear, which are, again, the kind of things that one tries to quiet through meditation. Did you become a Buddhist because your desires were so dominant? COHEN: I wrote that as a song. But it's always the same for me. But it's only afterwards that I realize that I can, that it does arise with a melody. Or, sometimes, it arises with a melody that doesn't work. Or the other thing happens. You know, a melody and a lyric arises. But, you know, the lyric doesn't deserve that kind of expression. And you're left with a good tune. Suzanne Vega spoke of Leonard Cohen's admirers in a New Yorker interview, saying that knowing his work was like being part of a "secret society" among people of her generation. [171] Personal life [ edit ] Relationships and children [ edit ]In April 2022, author and journalist Matti Friedman published "Who By Fire: War, Atonement, and the Resurrection of Leonard Cohen" [161] [162] the story of Leonard Cohen's 1973 tour to the front lines of the Yom Kippur War. [163] TV miniseries by Yehonatan Indursky based on the book is expected in 2024. [164] GROSS: It's funny, you know, you have one recording of Irving Berlin's song "Always," and the last few lines are a lyric that you added (laughter) of your own.

COHEN: Well, yeah, about, you know, 500 tons of whiskey and, you know, a million cigarettes - 50, 60 years of smoking. But I don't smoke anymore. COHEN: There were times that I thought I was good looking. You know, I don't know about how you feel. But, I mean, there were times I felt I was good looking. But most of the time, you know, especially - you know, the damn thing about it is that, you know, there's comparisons around, you know? Best Known For: Legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen was known for his poetic lyrics, iconic songs and baritone voice.GROSS: That's Leonard Cohen singing his song "Famous Blue Raincoat." You know, before we heard that song, you said that you were kind of - what? - exempt from the world of, like, sexual passion now and jealousy and all that because of... James Taylor: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013 . Retrieved November 11, 2016. I want to write songs': Leonard Cohen gave up hosting CBC TV show to be songwriter". Archived from the original on November 13, 2016.

In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked him number 103 in their "200 Greatest Singers of All Time" list. [2] Early life [ edit ] GROSS: And it's such a sweet song. You know, I'll be loving you always with a love that's true always, you know, not just for an hour - not just for a day, you know, not for just... Cohen released his 13th album, Popular Problems, on September 24, 2014. [134] The album includes "A Street", which he had previously recited in 2006, during promotion of his book of poetry Book of Longing, and later printed twice, as "A Street" in the March 2, 2009, issue of The New Yorker magazine, [135] and appeared as "Party's Over" in Everyman's Library edition of Poems and Songs in 2011. People think Leonard is dark, but actually his sense of humour and his edge on the world is extremely light. GROSS: Well, that must be really hard. I mean, I think of you as a fairly - your reputation as being kind of solitary and reclusive. So we always think of you as being reclusive when you're at the Zen center. Now you're saying it's actually you're always in the company of other people.In September, October and November 2008, Cohen toured Europe, including stops in Austria, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Italy, Germany, France and Scandinavia. [ citation needed] In March 2009, Cohen released Live in London, recorded in July 2008 at London's O2 Arena and released on DVD and as a two-CD set. The album contains 25 songs and is more than two and one-half hours long. It was the first official DVD in Cohen's recording career. [107] 2009 tour [ edit ] Cohen in McLaren Vale, South Australia, January 2009 Adria, Marco, "Chapter and Verse: Leonard Cohen", Music of Our Times: Eight Canadian Singer-Songwriters (Toronto: Lorimer, 1990), p. 28. It is a beautiful thing for us to be so deeply interested in each other. You have to write about something. Women stand for the objective world for a man, and they stand for the thing that you're not. And that's what you always reach for in a song.