Monday, May 18, 2009

On Leonard Cohen's Writing

I wouldn't possibly begin to tell you what I think he wrote, because that changes, so all I will say is that like the Bible or the Talmud, great lines have an endurance, no matter what position you take when you open the book. And I think that he studied that, and he began over time to understand what it was that made a phrase enter this heart. So that's the crucial issue there, the words actually do get under your skin, for very good reason. He's a genius that way. And so, you know, today they mean this, today they look like that, maybe it's that, and that's great. It's like a diamond, it depends on which side you look at it.



Jennifer Warnes

2 comments:

Manya Shochet said...

I forget which poet wrote this, but it describes Cohen's writing perfectly: "The poem should not mean/But be".

Tommy Lei said...

Leonard Cohen New Images - Radio City Music Hall
http://www.msg.com/photos/leonard-cohen-live-at-radio-city-/slide/1/
This guy is awesome!