Two Other Kinds of People (re: Leonard Cohen)
Categories: Entertainment , Movies & Books , Poetry
(1) Those who would marry Leonard Cohen in a heartbeat and those (2) like my daughter, who says, "Everybody in the sixth grade hates Leonard Cohen," and when she's really mad, "Leonard Cohen doesn't love you."
The gateway song to Leonard Cohen is usually "Suzanne." Albums I'd recommend are Tower of Song (1995); The Future (1992); The Essential Leonard Cohen (2002). Cohen's least popular album (aside perhaps from his most recent one) is Death of a Ladies Man," which was produced by Phil Spector and definitely has that Wall of Sound thing going on. I like it a lot. Also, for cool cover versions, I'm Your Fan, a tribute album (Version #1) is a lot of fun.
There are biographies of Leonard Cohen, none completely up to date. The most recent is Leonard Cohen, by David Sheppard, published in 2000. While satisfying as far as Cohen's early days are concerned, Sheppard's record stops before Cohen's departure from Mount Baldy, near Los Angeles, where he was a Buddhist monk for five years.
If you don't know if you're ready to become a Cohen stalker, see if you find this paraphrased comic intro from the 1965 Ladies and Gentlemen: Mr. Leonard Cohen hilarious. He's talking to a big audience of 1960s people. These aren't his exact words:
"I haven't spoken to a group like this since I was in the mental hospital. (Laughter.)
"I was visiting a friend. We were on the top floor. I asked him where I could get some coffee, and he said the cafeteria was on the first floor. I had taken off my jacket, as I was wont to do. (Laughter.) My friend, though mentally ill, was not a thief. In fact, I don't even think he was mentally ill. (Laughter.) It was just what he was doing instead of college.
"I went out of his room into another room, where there were five doors, and the one thing I didn't think would happen did happen. Two men in white coats came out and asked, 'Where are you supposed to be right now?'
"'In the cafeteria.'
"'Uh, huh? Where are you supposed to be right now?'
"'In the cafeteria.'
"'Uh, huh. Where are you supposed to be right now?'
"This went on until an orderly came in and told them I was a visitor. Then I went back into my friend's room, and he had eaten my jacket."
You'll want to put the 2006 documentary I'm Your Man on your Netflix list.
Here are some books you'll need to read:
- Dance Me to the End of Love (song lyrics illustrated with works by Matisse--a fast read)
- Beautiful Losers (a novel, perhaps his best-known work apart from his songs.
- Book of Longing (2006 collection of poems, including poems he wrote while on Mount Baldy. Illustrations by Cohen)
- Book of Mercy (contemporary psalms)
- If you've gotten this far, you're ready for Richard Peabody's "Rant 2000." It's the second poem in the online chapbook (and the last line is the important one).
