Leonard Cohen particularly admired boxing legend and activist, Muhammad Ali, who died June 3, 2016. In I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen, author Sylvie Simmons reports that when she asked Leonard who his hero was, he immediately named “poets and spiritual leaders – Roshi, Ramesh Balsekar, Lorca, Yeats – adding the caveat, ‘I admire many men and women but it’s the designation ‘hero’ I have difficulty with, because it implies some kind of reverence that is alien to my nature.'” The next day, however, Sylvie received the following email from Leonard:
"i forgot
my hero is muhammad ali
as they say about the Timex in their ads
takes a lickin’
keeps on tickin’"
And, Adam Cohen (Leonard's son) named his own son, Cassius, after his (Adam’s) hero Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali. He’s named Cassius, Adam explained to Brigit Grant in 2012, because "I don’t think the rabbi would have appreciated Muhammad Cohen"
There you are then. Case closed.
A sense of humor appeared in his son? Must be an X-linked chromosome.
I fought against the bottle
but I had to do it drunk.
L Cohen - Diamonds in the Mine
(Looking out from the stage and noticing people dancing)
"And they say my music is dull"
(I was at this concert)
I was born like this
I didn't have a choice
I was born with the gift
of a golden voice
L Cohen - Tower of Song
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
His self deprecating comments are more sad than funny. He's written a couple of really great songs. And he has a 'tales from the crypt' voice. But that's it.
I saw a documentary which showed him on stage "singing" in the late 60s. I didn't recognize him at first and I was just astounded at how horrible his singing was. I kept saying "holy crap this guy is stink-foot bad how did he ever get recorded why would they even show this musical horrorshow (even on PBS)" nothing close to being on-key. Just nasty musically. And finally I realized "shit, that's Leonard Cohen!". So he did get a little better over time. Not a lot, but some.
Joe Guy wrote:It's amazing how someone with so little talent for his chosen profession could exist for so long in the business.
On the other hand there is Leonard Cohen, who has earned a successful career...
I dunno, "Hallelujah" is a pretty good song. Even if rhyming "hallelujah" with "right though ya" is a teentsy bit questionable. Not many have done as well. "Suzanne" is alright too.
If only some compassionate person cleaved off the "singer" from "Singer-songwriter" we would have all been better off.
Interesting, rubato. My wife and I both agree that his singing improved from the late 60s (and we should bear in mind that he was rather startled that people wanted to hear him sing back then). I was a convert in 1968 (September) when I went up to London and my room mate played Songs Of. That finished the Monkees for me; exchanged all the albums for a guitar and began learning the fingering for Bird on the Wire (etc).
But I don't agree that he sang off-key etc. This from his 1967 album is fairly representative:
Now, what you saw was "live" (so to speak) so there's no telling what the conditions were or the song. For example, if he was singing One of Us Cannot be Wrong, that is sung in a deliberately cracked voice. The same is true of many songs including Leaving Greensleeves, Diamonds in the Mine, and (what he termed "a disgrace") Please Don't Pass Me By. Also too in addition, if it was part of the Bird on the Wire documentary, he was absolutely out on drugs for some of those "performances" and your comments would be applicable there all right!
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
Joe Guy wrote:It's amazing how someone with so little talent for his chosen profession could exist for so long in the business.
On the other hand there is Leonard Cohen, who has earned a successful career...
I dunno, "Hallelujah" is a pretty good song. Even if rhyming "hallelujah" with "right though ya" is a teentsy bit questionable. Not many have done as well.
Have you seen/heard some of the rhymes Garrison Keillor has crafted over the years? -"BB"-
Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?
No accounting for taste. I think many of his songs are worth some attention. One of my favorites is 'Democracy is Coming' And many good singers have covered them. Me, I think Cohen sings much better than Tom Waits.
