"He's gonna get us and turn us into vampires! And we'll all be dead and yet still alive! Like Leonard Cohen!" ~Neil from the Young Ones (Episode 2:3 "Nasty")
When he received a Juno Award for "Best Male Vocalist" in 1992, Cohen quipped "Only in Canada could somebody with a voice like mine win 'Vocalist of the Year'." His influence is far reaching and his legend gets bigger as he gets older. Brave New Waves on CBC radio profiled him one night back in 1986 or so and played cover versions of his songs. I was hooked.
Back in the 80s his most popular song would have been "Suzanne" (due to the Judy Collins version being a big hit in the 60s), but thanks to Jennifer Warnes' "Famous Blue Raincoat" album and his own "I'm Your Man", Cohen entered a new phase of recognition. 25 years later, I suppose "Hallelujah" would be his best known song thanks mostly due to the Rufus Wainwright version in the movie Shrek.
Cohen associates with the underdog, the outcast, the alien, and the misunderstood. Love, sex, mortality and religion mingle throughout his poetry and songs. From the beginning of time singers and writers have touched on these themes which may be why his newest album is called "Old Ideas". I'm reminded of Shakespeare who would often talk about God and sex at the same time. I never considered Cohen's songs as depressing, even he considers himself a happy person. I like that he often changes the lyrics to his songs when he performs them, like they are living organisms rather than static.
In 1988 I had the pleasure of seeing Cohen perform at the State Theater in Ann Arbor during his "I'm Your Man" tour. Now it costs over $100 to see him perform. If you haven't been fortunate enough to see him live, check out "Live In London" from 2009.
What often seems like contradiction might actually be paradox. This is certainly true of Leonard Cohen who dwells in a twilight time that hints at the darkness but still contains light.
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