Leonard Cohen Biography
Summary
"Leonard Norman Cohen", CC (born September 21, 1934 in Westmount, Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963.
Cohen's earliest songs (many of which appeared on the 1968 album "Songs of Leonard Cohen") were rooted in European folk music melodies and instrumentation, sung in a high baritone. The 1970s were a musically restless period in which his influences broadened to encompass pop, cabaret, and world music. Since the 1980s he has typically sung in lower registers (bass baritone, sometimes bass), with accompaniment from electronic synthesizers and female backing singers.
His work often explores the themes of religion, isolation, sexuality, and complex interpersonal relationships.
Cohen's songs and poetry have influenced many other singer-songwriters, and more than a thousand renditions of his work have been recorded. He has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and he is a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour.
Biography
Early life
Cohen was born to a middle-class Jewish family of Polish-Lithuanian ancestry in 1934 in Montreal, Quebec. He grew up in Westmount on the Island of Montreal. His father, Nathan Cohen, was the owner of a substantial Montreal clothing store, and died when Leonard was nine years old. Like many other Jews named Cohen, Katz, Kagan, etc., his family made a claim of descent from the Kohanim: 'I had a very Messianic childhood,' he told Richard Goldstein in 1967. 'I was told I was a descendant of Aaron, the high priest.' As a teenager he learned to play the guitar, subsequently forming a country-folk group called the Buckskin Boys. His father's will provided Leonard with a modest trust income, sufficient to allow him to pursue his literary ambitions.
Development as a poet
In 1951, Cohen enrolled at McGill University, where he was president of the McGill Debating Union. His first poetry book, "Let Us Compare Mythologies" (1956), was published under Louis Dudek as the first book in the McGill Poetry Series, while Cohen was an undergraduate. "The Spice-Box of Earth" (1961) made him well known in poetry circles, especially in his native Canada.
After graduation, Cohen spent a term in McGill's law school and a year (1956-7) at Columbia University, from which he dropped out.
Cohen applied a strong work ethic to his early and keen literary ambitions. He wrote poetry and fiction through much of the 1960s, and preferred to live in quasi-reclusive circumstances. After moving to Hydra, a Greek island, Cohen published the poetry collection "Flowers for Hitler" (1964), and the novels "The Favourite Game" (1963) and "Beautiful Losers" (1966). "The Favourite Game" is an autobiographical "bildungsroman" about a young man finding his identity in writing.
Reflecting Cohen's "Québécois" roots, but perhaps unusually for someone from a Jewish background, a secondary plot in "Beautiful Losers" concerns Kateri Tekakwitha, the Roman Catholic Iroquois mystic. "Beautiful Losers" initially shocked Canadian reviewers with its explicit sexual content.
Music
1960s and 1970s
In 1967, Cohen relocated to the United States to pursue a career as a folk singer-songwriter. His song 'Suzanne' became a hit for Judy Collins. After performing at a few folk festivals, he came to the attention of Columbia Records representative John H. Hammond (who signed artists such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Billie Holiday).
The sound of Cohen's first album "Songs of Leonard Cohen" (1967) was too dark to be a commercial success, but was widely acclaimed by folk music buffs. He became a cult name in the UK, where the album spent over a year on the album charts. He followed up with "Songs from a Room" (1969) (featuring the oft-covered 'Bird on the Wire'), "Songs of Love and Hate" (1971), "Live Songs" (1973), and "New Skin for the Old Ceremony" (1974).
In 1971, Cohen's music was used to great effect in the soundtrack to Robert Altman's film 'McCabe & Mrs. Miller'. Though pulled from the Cohen catalog, the songs melded so seamlessly with the story that many believed they had been written for the film.
Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, Cohen toured the United States, Canada and Europe. In 1973, Cohen toured Israel and performed at army bases during the Yom Kippur War. Beginning around 1974, his collaboration with pianist/arranger John Lissauer created a live sound praised by the critics, but which was never really captured on record. During this time, Cohen often toured with Jennifer Warnes as a back-up singer. Warnes would become a fixture on Cohen's future albums and she recorded an album of Cohen songs in 1987, "Famous Blue Raincoat".
In 1977, Cohen released "Death of a Ladies' Man" (note the plural possessive case; one year later in 1978, Cohen released a volume of poetry with the coyly revised title, "Death of a Lady's Man"). The album was produced by Phil Spector, well known as the inventor of the 'wall of sound' technique, in which pop music is backed with thick layers of instrumentation, an approach very different from Cohen's usually minimalist instrumentation. The recording of the album was fraught with difficulty; Spector reportedly mixed the album in secret studio sessions and Cohen said Spector once threatened him with a crossbow. Cohen thinks the end result is 'grotesque', but also 'semi-virtuous'.
In 1979, Cohen returned with the more traditional "Recent Songs". Produced by Cohen himself, and Henry Lewy (Joni Mitchell's sound engineer), the album included performances by a jazz-fusion band, introduced to Cohen by Mitchell, and oriental instruments (oud, Gypsy violin and mandolin). In 2001, Cohen releasing the live version of songs from its 1979 tour on record "Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979".
1980s
In 1984, Cohen released "Various Positions", a highly spiritual and synthesizer-guided album, featuring the often covered 'Hallelujah'. Columbia declined to release the album in the United States, where Cohen's popularity had declined in previous years. (Throughout his career, Cohen's music has sold better in Europe and Canada than in the U.S.; he once satirically expressed how touched he is at the modesty the American company has shown in promoting his records.)
In 1986 he made a guest appearance in the episode "French Twist" of the TV series "Miami Vice". In 1987, Jennifer Warnes' tribute album "Famous Blue Raincoat" helped restore Cohen's career in the U.S., and the following year he released "I'm Your Man", which marked a drastic change in his music. Synthesizers ruled the album and Cohen's lyrics included more social commentary and dark humour. It was Cohen's most acclaimed and popular since "Songs of Leonard Cohen", and 'First We Take Manhattan' and the title song became two of his most popular songs.
1990s
The use of the album track 'Everybody Knows' (co-written by Sharon Robinson) in the 1990 film "Pump Up the Volume" helped to expose Cohen's music to a younger audience. In 1992, Cohen released "The Future", which urges, (often in terms of biblical prophecy) perseverance, reformation, and hope in the face of grim prospects. Three tracks from the album - 'Waiting for the Miracle', 'The Future' and 'Anthem' - were featured in the controversial and violent movie "Natural Born Killers".
In the title track, Cohen prophesies impending political and social collapse, reportedly as his response to the L.A. unrest of 1992: 'I've seen the future, brother: It is murder.' In 'Democracy,' Cohen, criticizes America but says he loves it: 'I love the country but I can't stand the scene.' Further, he criticizes the American public's lack of interest in politics and addiction to television: 'I'm neither left or right/I'm just staying home tonight/getting lost in that hopeless little screen.'
Nanni Moretti's film 'Caro Diario' (1993) features 'I'm Your Man', as Moretti himself rides his Vespa along the streets of Rome.
In 1994, following a tour to promote "The Future", Cohen retreated to the (Mount Baldy) Zen Centre near Los Angeles, beginning what would become five years of seclusion at the center. In 1996, Cohen was ordained as a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk and took the Dharma name "Jikhan", meaning 'silence'. He left Mount Baldy in 1999.
2000s
In 2001, following the five years' seclusion as a Zen Buddhist monk at the (Mt. Baldy) Zen Center (where he served as personal assistant to Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Roshi), Cohen returned to music with "Ten New Songs", featuring a heavy influence from producer and co-composer Sharon Robinson. With this album, Cohen shed the relatively extroverted, engaged, and even optimistic outlook of "The Future" (the sole political track, 'The Land of Plenty,? abandoning stern commandment for yearning but helpless prayer) to lament and seek acceptance of varieties of personal loss: the approach of death and the departure of love, romantic and even divine. "Ten New Songs" cohesive musical style (perhaps absent from Cohen's albums since "Recent Songs") owes much to Robinson's involvement. Although not Cohen's bitterest album, it may rank as his most melancholic.
In October 2004, he released "Dear Heather", largely a musical collaboration with jazz chanteuse (and current Cohen partner) Anjani Thomas, although Sharon Robinson returns to collaborate on three tracks (including a duet). As light as the previous album was dark, "Dear Heather" reflects Cohen's own change of mood - he has said in a number of interviews that his depression has lifted in recent years, which he attributes to the neurological processes of aging. "Dear Heather" is perhaps his least cohesive, and most experimental and playful album to date, and the stylings of some of the songs (especially the title track) frustrated many fans. In an interview following his induction into the Canadian Songwriters' Hall of Fame, Cohen explained that the album was intended to be a kind of notebook or scrapbook of themes, and that a more formal record had been planned for release shortly afterwards, but that this was put on ice by his legal battles with his ex-manager.
On October 8, 2005 Cohen alleged that his longtime former manager, Kelley Lynch, misappropriated over US$5 million from Cohen's retirement fund along with the publishing rights to his songs, leaving Cohen with only $150,000. Cohen was sued in turn by other former business associates. These events placed him in the public spotlight, including a cover feature on him with the headline 'Devastated!' in Canada's "Maclean's" magazine. In March 2006, Cohen won the civil suit and was awarded US$9 million by a Los Angeles County superior court. Lynch, however, ignored the suit and did not respond to a subpoena issued for her financial records. As a result it has been widely reported that Cohen may never be able to collect the cash. Cohen has been under new management since April 2005.
"Blue Alert", an album of songs co-written by Anjani and Cohen, was released on May 23, 2006 to positive reviews. The album is sung by Anjani, who according to one reviewer 'sounds like Cohen reincarnated as woman. . . . though Cohen doesn't sing a note on the album, his voice permeates it like smoke.' The album includes a recent musical setting of Cohen's 'As the mist leaves no scar,' a poem originally published in "The Spice-Box of Earth" in 1961 and adapted by Spector into 'True Love Leaves No Traces' on "Death of a Ladies' Man".
Cohen's new book of poetry and drawings, "Book of Longing", was published in May 2006; in March a Toronto-based retailer offered signed copies to the first 1500 orders placed online, which saw the entire amount sold within hours. The book quickly topped bestseller lists in Canada. On May 13, 2006, Cohen made his first public appearance for thirteen years, at an in store event at a bookstore in Toronto. Approximately 3000 people turned up for the event, causing the streets surrounding the bookstore to be closed. He sang two of his earliest and best-known songs: 'So Long, Marianne' and 'Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye', accompanied by the Barenaked Ladies and Ron Sexsmith. Also appearing with him was Anjani, the two promoting her new CD, along with his book. Cohen's new album meanwhile is also slated for late 2007, while rumors of a tour, his first since 1993, remain unconfirmed.
Family life
In the 1960s, during his stay at Hydra, Cohen befriended the Scandinavian novelists Axel Jensen and Göran Tunström. He lived there with Axel's wife Marianne Jensen (now: Ihlen Stang) and their son Axel after they broke up. The song 'So Long, Marianne' is about her. For a long time it was believed that the character Lorenzo in Jensen's novel "Joacim" (1961) was based on Cohen, but Axel told him it was influenced by Tunström.
According to biographer and filmmaker Harry Rasky, Cohen has been married once, to Los Angeles artist Suzanne Elrod, and although the two did have an important relationship in the 1970s Cohen himself has said that 'cowardice' and 'fear' have prevented him from ever actually marrying (... more) (... more) . He has two children with Elrod: a son, Adam, was born in 1972 and a daughter, Lorca, named after poet Federico García Lorca, was born in 1974. Adam Cohen began his own career as a singer-songwriter in the mid-1990s and currently fronts a band called The Low Millions. Elrod took the cover photograph on Cohen's "Live Songs" album and is pictured on the cover of the "Death of a Ladies' Man" album.
Cohen and Elrod had split by 1979. Contrary to popular belief, 'Suzanne', one of his best-known songs, refers to Suzanne Verdal, the former wife of his friend, the Québécois sculptor Armand Vaillancourt, rather than Elrod. In 1990, Cohen was romantically linked to actress Rebecca De Mornay. He is now romantically involved with (and working with) Anjani Thomas.
Themes
Recurring themes in Cohen's work include love and sex, religion, psychological depression, and music itself. He seems to be seeking wholeness. He has also engaged with certain political themes, though sometimes ambiguously so. Love and sexuality are common themes in popular music, yet Cohen's background as a novelist and poet enabled him to bring a darker, deeper edge to these themes. 'Suzanne' mixes a wistful type of love song with a religious meditation, themes that are also mixed in 'Joan of Arc.' 'Famous Blue Raincoat' is from the point of view of a man whose marriage has been broken (in exactly what degree is ambiguous in the song) by his wife's infidelity with his close friend, and is written in the form of a letter to that friend, to whom he writes, 'I guess that I miss you/ I guess I forgive you ... Know your enemy is sleeping/ And his woman is free', while 'Everybody Knows' deals in part with the harsh reality of AIDS: '... the naked man and woman/ Are just a shining artifact of the past.'
'Sisters of Mercy' evokes genuine love found in a hotel room encounter with two Edmonton women. Some have claimed that 'Chelsea Hotel #2' treats his Janis Joplin one-night stand rather unsentimentally and others that it reveals a much more complicated and mixed set of feelings than straightforward love. The title of 'Don't Go Home with Your Hard-On' speaks for itself.
Cohen comes from a Jewish background, most obviously reflected in his song 'Story of Isaac', and also in 'Who by Fire,' whose words and melody echo the Unetaneh Tokef, an 11th century liturgical poem recited on Rosh Hashanah. Broader Judeo-Christian themes are sounded throughout the album "Various Positions": 'Hallelujah', which has music as a secondary theme, begins by evoking the biblical king David composing a song that 'pleased the Lord,' and continues with references to Bathsheba and Samson.
In his early career as a novelist, "Beautiful Losers" grappled with the mysticism of the Catholic/Iroquois Catherine Tekakwitha. Cohen has also been involved with Buddhism at least since the 1970s and in 1996 he was ordained a Buddhist monk. However, he still considers himself also a Jew: 'I'm not looking for a new religion. I'm quite happy with the old one, with Judaism.'
Having suffered from psychological depression during much of his life (although less so with the onset of old age), Cohen has written much (especially in his early work) about depression and suicide. The wife of the protagonist of "Beautiful Losers" commits a gory suicide; 'Seems So Long Ago, Nancy' is about a suicide; suicide is mentioned in the darkly comic 'One of Us Cannot Be Wrong'; 'Dress Rehearsal Rag' is about a last-minute decision not to kill oneself; a general atmosphere of depression pervades such songs as 'Please Don't Pass Me By' and 'Tonight Will Be Fine.' As in the aforementioned 'Hallelujah', music itself is the subject of many songs, including 'Tower of Song', 'A Singer Must Die', and 'Jazz Police'.
Social justice often shows up as a theme in his work, where he seems, especially in later albums, to expound a leftist politics, albeit with culturally conservative elements. In 'Democracy' lamenting 'the wars against disorder/ ... the sirens night and day/ ... the fires of the homeless/ ... the ashes of the gay,' he concludes that the United States is actually not a democracy. This is a specifically (and classically) leftist position, as is his observation (in 'Tower of Song') that 'the rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor/ And there's a mighty judgment coming.' In the title track of "The Future" he recasts this prophecy on a pacifist note: 'I've seen the nations rise and fall/ .../ But love's the only engine of survival.' In 'Anthem,' he promises that 'the killers in high places who say their prayers out loud/ ... are gonna hear from me.'
In 'The Land of Plenty,' he characterizes the United States (if not the opulent West in general) of benightedness: 'May the lights in The Land of Plenty/ Shine on the truth some day.'
War is an enduring theme of Cohen's work which in his earlier songs, as indeed in his early life, he approached ambivalently. In 'Field Commander Cohen' he (perhaps metaphorically) imagines himself as a soldier/spy socializing with Fidel Castro in Cuba-where he had actually lived at the height of US-Cuba tensions in 1961-allegedly sporting a Che Guevara-style beard and military fatigues. This song was actually written immediately following Cohen's front-line stint with the Israeli air force, the 'fighting in Egypt' documented in an (again perhaps metaphorical) passage of 'Night Comes On:'
In 1973, Cohen, who had traveled to Jerusalem to sign up on the Israeli side in the Yom Kippur War, had instead been assigned to a USO-style entertainer tour of front-line tank emplacements in the Sinai Desert, at one of which he both came under fire and reportedly shared cognac with an unlikely self-professed fan, then-General Ariel Sharon. Disillusioned by encounters with dead and wounded Israeli soldiers, and having expressed ambivalence from the start about the causes of the war, he wrote his song 'Lover Lover Lover,', where the ending line is: 'May it be a shield for you, a shield against the enemy.'
His recent politics continue a lifelong predilection for the underdog, the 'beautiful loser.' Whether covering 'The Partisan', a French Resistance song by Anna Marly and Emmanuel d'Astier, or singing his own 'The Old Revolution', written from the point of view of a defeated royalist, he has throughout his career through his music expressed his sympathy and support for the oppressed. Although Cohen's fascination with war is often as metaphor for more explicitly cultural and personal issues, as in "New Skin for the Old Ceremony", by this measure his most 'militant' album.
Cohen blends a good deal of pessimism about political/cultural issues with a great deal of humour and (especially in his later work) gentle acceptance. His wit contends with his stark analyses, as his songs are often verbally playful and even cheerful: In 'Tower of Song,' the famously raw-voiced Cohen sings ironically that he was '... born with the gift/ Of a golden voice'; the generally dark 'Is This What You Wanted?' nonetheless contains playful lines 'You were the whore at the feast of Babylon/ I was Rin Tin Tin'; in concert, he often plays around with his lyrics (for example, 'If you want a doctor/ I'll examine every inch of you' from 'I'm Your Man' will become 'If you want a Jewish doctor ...'); and he will introduce one song by using a phrase from another song or poem (for example, introducing 'Leaving Green Sleeves' by paraphrasing his own 'Queen Victoria': 'This is a song for those who are not nourished by modern love').
Cohen has also covered such love songs as Irving Berlin's 'Always' or the more obscure soul number 'Be for Real' (originally sung by Marlena Shaw), chosen in part for their unlikely juxtaposition to his own work.
Titles and honours
In 1968, Cohen refused a Governor General's Award (in category for English language poetry or drama) for "Selected Poems 1956-1968".
In 1991, Cohen was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
In 1993, Cohen won the Juno Award for Male Vocalist of the Year.
In 1994, Cohen won another Juno Award this time for Songwriter of the Year.
In 1996, he was ordained a Rinzai Buddhist monk.
In 2001, Cohen was awarded a SNEP Award for more than 100,000 copies sold of Ten New Songs in France. " (Photo of the award.) "
In 2003, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour.
In 2004, "Beautiful Losers" was chosen for inclusion in Canada Reads 2005. It was selected and originally to be championed by singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright; however, tour commitments meant that Wainwright had to be replaced by singer Molly Johnson.
In 2006, Cohen was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In 2007, Cohen was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. (... more)
Discography
All albums released on Columbia
Studio albums
"Songs of Leonard Cohen"December 27 1967Columbia
"Songs from a Room"April 1969Columbia
"Songs of Love and Hate"March 1971Columbia
"New Skin for the Old Ceremony"August 1974Columbia
"Death of a Ladies' Man"November 1977Columbia
"Recent Songs"September 1979Columbia
"Various Positions"December 1984Columbia
"I'm Your Man"February 1988Columbia
"The Future"November 1992Columbia
"Ten New Songs"October 9 2001Columbia
"Dear Heather"October 2004Columbia
Live albums
"Live Songs"1973Columbia
"Cohen Live: Leonard Cohen in Concert"1994Columbia
"Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979"2001Columbia
Compilation albums
"The Best of Leonard Cohen"1975ColumbiaGold
"So Long, Marianne"1991Columbia
"More Best of Leonard Cohen"1997Columbia
"The Essential Leonard Cohen"2002Columbia
Books
"Let Us Compare Mythologies" (poetry) 1956
('Poem' from "Let Us Compare Mythologies", online at CBC Words at Large)
"The Spice-Box of Earth" (poetry) 1961
"The Favourite Game" (novel) 1963
"Flowers for Hitler" (poetry) 1964
"Beautiful Losers" (novel) 1966
"Parasites of Heaven" (poetry) 1966
"Selected Poems 1956-1968" (poetry) 1968
"The Energy of Slaves" (poetry) 1972
"Death of a Lady's Man" (poetry and prose) 1978
"Book of Mercy" (prose poetry/psalms) 1984
"Stranger Music" (selected poems and songs) 1993
"Book of Longing" (poetry, prose, drawings) 2006
('Irving and Me at the Hospital' from "Book of Longing", online at CBC Words at Large)
"Various Positions: A Life of Leonard Cohen" An updated version of the celebrated biography, with a new concluding chapter 2007, University of Texas Press. http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/books/nadvap.html
Cohen songs in other works
Soundtrack appearances
Cohen's music has often been used in film soundtracks.
"McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971) uses three songs from his debut album, "Songs of Leonard Cohen": 'Stranger Song' is McCabe's theme, 'Winter Lady' is Mrs. Miller's, and 'Sisters of Mercy' is the theme of the prostitutes who work in their establishment. He also composed some incidental music for the movie.
"Fata Morgana" (1969) also uses songs from Cohen's first album to highlight the themes of post-apocalyptic ruin in the central section of Werner Herzog's desert-set documentary.
"Bird on a Wire" (1990) uses 'Bird on a Wire' sung by The Neville Brothers.
"Pump Up the Volume" (1990) uses 'Everybody Knows' frequently, as well as 'If It Be Your Will'. A Concrete Blonde cover of 'Everybody Knows' is also heard in the film and appears on the CD of the soundtrack.
"Love At Large" (1990) uses 'Ain't No Cure For Love'.
"Caro Diario (film), 1993, features 'I'm Your Man.'
"Natural Born Killers" (1994) uses 'The Future,' 'Waiting for the Miracle,' and 'Anthem,' all from the album "The Future".
"Exotica (movie)" (1994) uses 'Everybody Knows' from the album "I'm Your Man."
"Beautiful Girls" (1995) uses 'Be For Real' performed by Afghan Whigs.
"When Night Is Falling" (1995) uses 'Hallelujah.'
"Basquiat" (1996) uses 'Hallelujah' performed by John Cale.
"Breaking the Waves" (1996) uses 'Suzanne'.
"Love, etc." (1996) uses 'Take this Waltz'.
El tiempo de la felicidad (1997), a Spanish film by Manuel Iborra, uses "Suzanne" and "Bird on the Wire".
Mr. Jealousy (1998) uses 'Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye'
Kiss the Sky (1999) uses 'I'm Your Man'
"Wonder Boys" (2000) uses 'Waiting for the Miracle.'
"Shrek" (2001) uses a slightly censored version of John Cale's recording of 'Hallelujah.' The soundtrack album, however, replaces this with a version by Rufus Wainwright.
"The Good Thief" (2002), directed by Neil Jordan, features 'A Thousand Kisses Deep.'
"Secretary" (2002) uses 'I'm Your Man.'
"The Life of David Gale" (2003) uses 'The Future.'
"A Home at the End of the World" (2004) uses 'Suzanne' from "Songs of Leonard Cohen."
"Nathalie..." (2004), a French movie by Anne Fontaine, uses 'Boogie Street.'
"St. Ralph" (2004) uses 'Hallelujah' performed by Gord Downie.
"Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei" (2004) uses 'Hallelujah' performed by Jeff Buckley.
"Don't Move" (2004) directed by Sergio Castellitto uses 'If it be your Will' from the album 'Various Positions'
"Land of Plenty" (2004) uses 'Land of Plenty' and 'The Letters', both written by Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson, and performed by Cohen.
"Lord of War" (2005) uses 'Hallelujah' performed by Jeff Buckley.
"Salvador" (2006) uses 'Suzanne.'
The episode 'Poughkeepsie, Tramps and Thieves' of the TV show "Veronica Mars" (season 3) features 'A Thousand Kisses Deep'.
"King of Kong" (2007) uses 'Everybody Knows'.
Tribute albums
"I'm Your Fan", from 1991, features Cohen's songs interpreted by a variety of folk and alternative rock acts, including R.E.M., Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Pixies, The Lilac Time, Jean-Louis Murat and Geoffrey Oryema,
"Tower of Song", released in 1995, has a more mainstream pop-rock program that includes Sting, Jann Arden, Willie Nelson and Elton John.
"My Kohen", released in 2002 by Vasiliy K, most compositions are mainstream rock in Russian.
"Ibrica Jusi?: Hazarder - A Tribute to Leonard Cohen", in Croatian, Dancing Bear, Croatia, in 1999.
"Famous Blue Raincoat: Songs of Leonard Cohen", by Jennifer Warnes (1987), is the most famous tribute album.
"Bird on the Wire: the Songs of Leonard Cohen", by Perla Batalla, in 2005.
"Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man", is actually the soundtrack of the 2006 documentary of the same name. It includes performances of Cohen's songs by Nick Cave, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, U2, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, The Handsome Family, Jarvis Cocker, Teddy Thompson, Beth Orton, Antony, and others. It has been produced by Hal Willner.
At least 32 tribute albums are released worldwide, mostly in non-English languages.
Renditions by other singers and composers
Many of Cohen's songs and poems have been interpreted (and sometimes translated in other languages) by other artists, occasionally receiving more popular attention than Cohen's own, typically minimalistic arrangements. Some of Cohen's most recorded songs include:
'Avalanche,' covered by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds.
'Bird on the Wire,' covered (often as 'Bird on a Wire') by Johnny Cash, Joe Cocker, Adam Cohen, Judy Collins, Fairport Convention, Tim Hardin, k.d. lang, Willie Nelson, The Neville Brothers, The Bobs, Jennifer Warnes, and Our Lady Peace (at Live 8).
'Chelsea Hotel No. 2,' recorded by Lloyd Cole, Josh Ritter, Rufus Wainwright and Regina Spektor. Captain Chaos has also covered this song, mis-titling it simply as 'Chelsea Hotel.'
'Dance Me To The End Of Love', recorded by Madeleine Peyroux and the Klezmer Conservatory Band.
'Diamonds In The Mine', recorded by the Broken Family Band.
'Everybody Knows,' recorded by Concrete Blonde, Don Henley, Dayna Kurtz, Rufus Wainwright, The Duhks and Kari Bremnes.
'Famous Blue Raincoat,' recorded by Judy Collins, Tori Amos, Joan Baez, Lloyd Cole, Dax Riggs, Jonathan Coulton and Jennifer Warnes. Fabrizio De André translated it for Ornella Vanoni. Played live by Dave Smallen as of Street To Nowhere.
'First We Take Manhattan,' recorded by Joe Cocker, R.E.M., Jennifer Warnes, Kid Harpoon and Sirenia.
'Hallelujah,' recorded by Jeff Buckley, John Cale, Bono, Dave Smallen as of Street To Nowhere, Brandi Carlile, Allison Crowe, Guy Forsyth, k.d. lang, Bob Dylan, Rufus Wainwright, Regina Spektor, Kevin Max, The Dresden Dolls, Jazz Mandolin Project, Imogen Heap, and Willie Nelson. Cale's version (slightly edited) was featured in the movie "Shrek", but Wainwright's replaced it on the soundtrack album, apparently because Wainwright was signed with Dreamworks SKG at the time and Cale was not. The "Shrek" theme music was also based on 'Hallelujah.' In addition, the American TV show "Scrubs" used parts of Cale's 'Hallelujah' (from "Fragments of a Rainy Season", not from "I'm Your Fan") and it is included on the "Scrubs Soundtrack". Cale's version also appears in Julian Schnabel's film "Basquiat", about New York artist Jean Michel Basquiat, as well as the movie Lord of War. The song appears on the Jazz Mandolin Project's album "The Deep Forbidden Lake" as an instrumental. Buckley's version is featured in the ending scenes of the first season's finale of The O.C., and was also sung by Imogen Heap in the season three finale in a cappella. The Buckley version was also used in the second season premiere of "House", and towards the end of the finale of season 3 of "The West Wing" in May 2002. Buckley's version was also featured in the film 'The Edukators'. Australian Idol winner Damien Leith also sang 'Hallelujah' on Australian Idol in 2006. In 2007, songwriter/artist Dräco Rosa translated Hallelujah, into Spanish (Aleluya) for his upcoming CD in June 2007 named 'Draco y El Teatro del Absurdo'. The song was also sampled on the song Hum Hallelujah by Fall Out Boy on the album Infinity On High.
'Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye,' recorded by Judy Collins, Roberta Flack, Claudine Longet and Ian McCulloch.
'I'm Your Man' recorded by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
'In My Secret Life covered by Katie Melua
'Joan of Arc,' covered by Judy Collins, Allison Crowe, Fabrizio de André, Lou Reed and Jennifer Warnes.
'Leonard Cohen's Day Job' by the Austin Lounge Lizards was not composed by Leonard Cohen, but it alludes to and parodies several songs, especially 'I'm Your Man' and 'Joan of Arc.'
'Light As The Breeze,' recorded by Billy Joel.
'Lover, Lover, Lover', recorded by Ian McCulloch on the album "Mysterio".
'Seems So Long Ago, Nancy', recorded (as 'Nancy') by Fabrizio de André and Pearls Before Swine.
'Sisters of Mercy', recorded by Serena Ryder and Strafe Für Rebellion.
'So Long, Marianne,' recorded by James, John Cale, Suzanne Vega, and Straitjacket Fits.
'Song of Bernadette', recorded by Jennifer Warnes on her album of Cohen covers "Famous Blue Raincoat", by Bette Midler on the album "Bathhouse Betty", and by Anne Murray on the album "What a Wonderful World".
'Story of Isaac,' recorded by Roy Buchanan, Judy Collins, and Suzanne Vega.
'Suzanne,' recorded by Graeme Allwright, Judy Collins, Tori Amos, Fabrizio de André, Neil Diamond, Fairport Convention, Pearls Before Swine, Roberta Flack, Peter Gabriel, Françoise Hardy, Geoffrey Oryema, and Nina Simone. R.E.M. recorded a song called 'Hope' which they admit was indebted to 'Suzanne'; Cohen received co-songwriting credit for the song. Plan B recorded a song also called 'Suzanne', which featured a sample of Cohen's original, as part of the bootleg 'Paint it Blacker' 2006. (... more)
'Tower of Song', recorded by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Marianne Faithfull, Martha Wainwright, Dax Riggs, and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
'Who By Fire', recorded by Another Roadside Attraction on their album 'Broken Hallelujah' and Coil on the album "Horse Rotorvator".
'Winter Lady', recorded by Palace Songs.
'Partisan', recorded by Sixteen Horsepower, heard on their interviews film.
Book of Longing poetry collection has been adapted by composer Philip Glass (working alongside Cohen) as a piece for seven instruments and a vocal quartet, and contains recorded spoken word performances by Cohen and imagery from his collection. The work premiered in June, 2007 in Toronto, Canada.
As of December 1, 2006, the site (www.leonardcohenfiles.com) had counted a total of 1,200 released versions of Cohen's songs.
Film
Leonard Cohen was the subject of the 1965 documentary "Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Leonard Cohen", directed by Donald Brittain and Don Owen and produced by the National Film Board of Canada.
His song "I'm Your Man" was also the inspiration for a 1996 NFB animated short.
The music of Leonard Cohen appeared quite heavily in the Werner Herzog film Fata Morgana.
A film titled "The Favourite Game / Le Jeu de l'ange" was released in Canada in 2003 based on his novel of the same name.
A film titled "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man" was released in the USA on June 21, 2006. It is a film of the 2005 tribute to Leonard Cohen 'Came So Far For Beauty' held at the Sydney Opera House; the concert was produced by Hal Willner. The film, directed by Lian Lunson, has appearances by Nick Cave, Beth Orton, Antony of Antony and the Johnsons, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, among others, and a performance of 'Tower of Song' by Cohen and U2. The film also features Cohen recalling significant parts of his life and career.
Leonard Cohen's "Master Song, Sisters of Mercy, So Long, Marianne" and "Suzanne" are all heard in the Rainer Werner Fassbinder film Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte (Beware of a Holy Whore), 1971. "Lover, Lover, Lover" and "Why Don't You Try" are heard in the Rainer Werner Fassbinder made for TV film, Angst vor der Angst (Fear of Fear), 1975.
In addition Cohen narrated a documentary called "The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Way of Life".
References in popular culture
Music
'Pennyroyal Tea' by Nirvana
'Los restos del naufragio' by Enrique Bunbury
'Under You' by Better Than Ezra
'The Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song' by Jeffrey Lewis
'Ego is not a Dirty Word' by Skyhooks
'Want One' by Rufus Wainwright
'The Lonely Waltz of Leonard Cohen' by pageninetynine
Industrial Metal band Godflesh is inspired to some extent by Cohen's work, including naming one of their latter day albums after his own, 'Songs Of Love And Hate'
The cover of Ween's 1991 Album "The Pod" is a variation of the cover of "The Best of Leonard Cohen"
The name of the band Some Girls is derived from lyrics from the song 'Teachers'.
The band The Sisters of Mercy is named after the Cohen song of the same name.
David Blue, who performed in a theatre play based on Cohen's songs, wrote the song 'Marianne' based on Cohen's 'So Long, Marianne'. (... more) .
Mercury Rev refers to Cohen in their song 'A Drop in Time.' (... more)
Joni Mitchell's song 'Rainy Night House' depicts her visit to the house of Cohen's mother in Montreal.
Books
In Louis de Bernières' novel "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", a Canadian poet and singer lives briefly on the island of Cephalonia (not Hydra, where Cohen lived). The description of the poet, his style and his entourage are transparently based on Cohen.
Cohen is briefly mentioned in the first book of the Spanish writer Miguel Ros López 'El corazón y la birlocha.'
M. J. Hyland's novel "How the Light Gets In" takes its title from the chorus of 'Anthem.'
Liz Moore's novel "The Words of Every Song" takes its title from a lyric in Cohen's 'Teachers.'
Viktor Pelevin's novel "Generation '?'" uses lines from 'Democracy' as its motto (apparently removed in English editions). (... more) (... more)
Ken Kesey quotes several of the lyrics to 'Suzanne' in his book Sailor Song.
Other
He is mentioned on the BBC television show "The Young Ones", where the hippie, Neil, says 'I'm beginning to feel like a Leonard Cohen record, cause' nobody ever listens to me'. In another episode, when faced with being bitten by a vampire, Neil expresses fear of being dead, yet still alive, 'like Leonard Cohen!'.
R.E.M. provides Cohen with a co-songwriting credit for the song 'Hope' from the album 'Up' (1998).Although Cohen had not truly collaborated on 'Hope' the band felt that it shared too many similarities to 'Suzanne'.
In what must be one of the more unlikely cultural clashes of recent times, supporters of Middlesbrough FC chanted the name of their star striker Mark Viduka along to the chorus melody of Cohen's song Hallelujah (... more) .
External links
(French Leonard Cohen Website)
(Special Report: Leonard Cohen)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Leonard Cohen.
