Spesikal

LEONARD COHEN WRITER AND SINGER-SONGWRITER

The depth of the knowledge about Leonard Cohen varies. Only one song, a lot of them, all or even his life can be known. When we talk about one song we have in mind “hallelujah”. However, simply with this song we already know about the great Leonard Cohen. It was written and sung by him, what means that he was writer and singer, arriving to the conclusion that he was singer-songwriter. It is true, but the definition would be incomplete because he was writer in all the senses and he stood out as poet. Even some which were initially poems evolved to songs as in the case of “Suzanne” from the book parasites of the paradise.

His singer side came from the folk, although it evolved to other rhythms until arriving to Rock and Roll. Sometimes he seemed to be out of the musical trend of the moment, but his genius maintained his success.

Although, the biographies separate the singer-songwriter from writer in essence they should not be separated, since to be singer is to be able to fuse the poetry and the music. May be it would be necessary to create a new term to describe the song as one more genre of the artist, something like writer-singer-songwriter his novel, his poetry, his songs.

The poet was always present, maybe that’s why he received more prizes as writer than as singer. His poetic training comes from his childhood, when he read poems from different countries. His university studies also contributed in information and different points of view for his poems. In fact his first poems were published thanks to a subscription launched by the newspaper of the university.

In his text Cohen gets involved politically, socially, emotionally and sentimentally. Man of depth thoughts, interested in the Jewish theology and became Buddhist monk. But also capable of address the subject of the sexuality as in “famous Blue Raincoat” a song about a cockold writing to her wife’s lover. Some of his songs were soundtracks. Three weeks before his dead he wrote “You Want It Darker” while the light of his life was coming to end.