The cult of Leonard Cohen

[bananas]

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/Music/article/349798


Leonard Cohen as he always seems to appear: brooding, dark and mysterious.

The cult of Leonard Cohen

A modern Renaissance man
Leonard Cohen is arguably best known as a singer-songwriter, but the 73-year-old has worn many hats in his long and varied career. (And we're not just talking about his famous tweed cap.)
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His album output is sporadic and he hasn't toured in 15 years. So how does this music icon still command such undying devotion from his fans?
Mar 23, 2008 04:30 AM
Francine Kopun
Feature Writer

A guitar. A creaky voice. Poetry, black suits and a mournful expression.

If you guessed Leonard Cohen, you are a longtime fan, or you've been watching American Idol, where a young man in dreadlocks sang "Hallelujah" two weeks ago, making the song a bestselling single in cyberspace 24 years after it was first recorded.

Cohen is back, again. At 73, he's on tour for the first time in 15 years. His three shows – one of which was added to fulfill demand – at the Sony Centre June 6-8 are sold out. Premium orchestra seats are being auctioned at ticketmaster.ca. Bidding starts at $310.

Rumours abound more shows may be added in other Southern Ontario cities.

<snip>

[Dogmudgeon]

1. I never though I'd live to see it.

The Cult O' Cohen has come upon the world a lot faster than I though it would. Time was that I was convinced he was fated to be thought of as a latter-day Whitman with a recording contract.

Check out Anjani Thomas' recent stuff, too. She's his significant other, and he co-wrote a couple of her songs, including Blue Alert, which is like Carnal Knowlege in a four-minute song disguised with a metaphorical anti-war message.

--p!

[SoFlaJet]

2. holy crap

"Hallelujah" on American Idol? Rufus does the best version though IMO

[Quakerfriend]

3. Too bad he won't be touring in the states.

I'll always remember listening to his album over and over as a teenager in the mid-70's.

[Silent3]

4. I don't see anything here that implies a religious cult...

...so why is this in R/T? Singing "Hallelujah"?

[bananas]

5. For one, his most famous pieces are explicitly religious and theological

It's obvious in the song titles "Hallelujah" and "Sisters of Mercy",
and in the lyrics to "Suzanne":

And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them"
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body with his mind.

http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Leonard-Cohen/Suzanne.html

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. The original Hallelujah lyrics weren't particularly explicit.

Well, at least explicitly religious.

Baby, I've been here before.
I know this room, I've walked this floor.
I used to live alone before I knew you.

Yeah I've seen your flag on the marble arch,
But listen, love is not some kind of victory march,
No it's a cold and it's a very broken Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, (Hallelujah...)

There was a time you let me know
What's really going on below,
Ah but now you never show it to me, do you?

Yeah but I remember, yeah when I moved in you,
And the holy dove, she was moving too,
Yes every single breath that we drew was Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Maybe there's a God above,
As for me, all I've ever seemed to learn from love
Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.

Yeah but it's not a complaint that you hear tonight,
It's not the laughter of someone who claims to have seen the light
No it's a cold and it's a very lonely Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

I did my best, it wasn't much.
I couldn't feel, so I learned to touch.
I've told the truth, I didn't come all this way to fool you.

Yeah even tough it all went wrong
I'll stand right here before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my lips but Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Leonard Cohen himself grew up Jewish. He's apparently Buddhist now. I also wouldn't read too much into his lyrics.

[bananas]

7. These lyrics are explicitly religious: "holy dove", "God above", "Lord of Song", "Hallelujah"

Maybe you're reading too much into his lyrics.

[saltpoint]

8. Leonard Cohen is an understandable obsession.

And a very admirable one.

[agent46]

9. a good site for Leonard enthusiasts

The Leonard Cohen Files website features complete discographies, lyrics, photos and unpublished LC poetry and art. Also there's a great little chat-room where LC has occasionally popped in to say hello.

http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/

[JerseygirlCT]

10. I love that song. nt