Leonard Cohen is one of a kind.....I have always liked him.....here is an interesting interview as he turns 80..... By Gavin Edwards | September 19, 2014 Leonard Cohen is our leading poet of love, wisdom, and sorrow – and according to the lyrics of Nirvanas Pennyroyal Tea, the guiding spirit in Kurt Cobains afterworld. We sat down with the singer-songwriter on the occasion of his 13th studio album, Popular Problems, in a formal dining room at the Canadian consulate in Los Angeles (he primarily lives in L.A. and mostly recorded the album in his home studio, but he hails from Montreal). He discussed producer Patrick Leonard (It was an unusually fraternal collaboration), his fedora (Ive got about 20 of these) and the aging process (My high jump is definitely degraded). Cohen turns 80 on Sunday, and Popular Problems will be released two days after that. Related Leonard Cohen Leonard Cohen Offers Rare Peek Into His Writing Process When you finish something like this record, are you proud of it? Its the done-ness of it that I really like. It nourishes me. Some guys dont know how to open a door. What are the pros and cons of working at home? I dont know if there are any cons. Its very nice to go into your backyard and climb up into your studio. We had some good mics there, and both Pat and I had our keyboards, so we were able to flesh out these songs. Patrick said that part of the process of working together was stripping out any excesses or fripperies. Yes, both in the music and in the lyric. We were both, I think, quite compassionately savage about our vision. Pat, because he has such an abundance of musical ideas, hell sometimes overproduce. But hes quite aware of that. So sometimes well just say we dont need a chorus here, we dont need horns here, you know, we need to break it down here. And same with the lyric: If somethings obscure or just on the wrong side of accessible, then Pat will mention that and Ill happily redirect. How do you know when a songs working? You can pretty well tell. We play it for select people, like my daughter – theres a few people who arent afraid to tell you that it isnt working. We had another song on the album, which was called Happens to the Heart, which will be on the next album. Its a very good lyric, a very good tune, but we didnt nail it. So we didnt put each other on about it – not for more than a week or two. You know, this song really doesnt make it. Thank God you said that, Pat, because I cant stand it. Has your approach to making music has changed over the decades? I never had an approach. I was always like a bear in a honey tree, just trying to get something without getting stung to death. Is financial necessity is good or bad for art? I think it levels the ground. I never had huge amounts of money when I was young. I had huge amounts of fame, and I always had the sense of labor and recompense. I always said I dont want to work for pay, but I want to get paid for my song. Financial necessity of course arose in a very acute manner a few years ago. [His then-manager stole over $5 million from his retirement account.] I thought I had a little bread, enough to get by. I found I didnt – for which Im very grateful because it spurred a lot of activity. I was curious about a lyric on Nevermind, Theres truth that lives and theres truth that dies. Theres truth that lives and truth that dies. I dont know which, so never mind. There is no need that this survive, theres truth that lives and truth that dies. Its one of those phrases that resonates in some corner of the heart. And I dont think it serves us well to explain it or to analyze it or to interpret it. It sounded right to me. There are certain truths that are in a dormant stage that you cant always locate or be nourished by. But theyre there. When youre writing a song, are you aware that youre tapping into something that you may not have a conscious handle on? Well, I think that sometimes when youre in ninth gear, or when youre really skiing down the slope – youre right on top of the snow, you dont want to go any deeper. As someone said, you learn to stop bravely at the surface. If you hear something that really resonates, you just fold your hands in gratitude and try to incorporate it into the song. Sometimes those obscurities are just bullshit and they have to be excised; they have to be ruthlessly removed even if they sound good. Because they produce a disconnect in the song that every listener feels unconsciously. If you feel somebodys trying to put you on, you really feel it. Do you write much poetry that isnt suitable for lyrics? Oh, yeah. And sometimes I think, What the hell am I doing? It doesnt mean anything, its deeply irrelevant. Not just to everybody else but to myself. But what else are you going to do? Everything else has gone away. Most of the things that Ive liked to do, for one reason or another, its often inappropriate to do them. At age 80, are there things you cant do that you used to be able to? Theres a lot of things that you can do that you couldnt do when you were younger. You depend on a certain resilience that is not yours to command, but which is present. And if you can sense this resilience or sense this capacity to continue, it means a lot more at this age than it did when I was 30, when I took it for granted. What are you good at that has nothing to do with music? I can make a couple of good sandwiches: tuna salad and chopped egg salad. And Greek bean soup. I was a cook for my old Zen master for many years. So there were two or three dishes that he liked, you know. Teriyaki salmon, a few things. I wouldnt call myself a good cook by any means. My son is a very good cook. My curries are not bad. Do you write songs faster or slower than you used to? Theres always a group of songs that Im working at. Some of them are 10 years old, and some of them are just a few weeks old. Im always trying to adjust these songs to some position where I can bring them to completion. Theres a few songs that I would like to finish before I die. One in particular, its a lovely melody that I cant find any words for. Ive been trying for a good 15 years. Ive tried many, many versions. And God willing, maybe something will happen. After youre gone, what would you want people to remember about you? I never give that much thought. Some people care about their work lasting forever – I have little interest in it. You probably know that great story about Bob Hope. His wife came to him and said, Theres two plots available at Forest Lawn. One looks at some beautiful cypress trees, one looks over the valley. Which do you think youd prefer? He said, Surprise me. Thats the way I feel about posterity and how Im remembered. Surprise me. By Gavin Edwards | September 19, 2014 Leonard Cohen is our leading poet of love, wisdom, and sorrow – and according to the lyrics of Nirvanas Pennyroyal Tea, the guiding spirit in Kurt Cobains afterworld. We sat down with the singer-songwriter on the occasion of his 13th studio album, Popular Problems, in a formal dining room at the Canadian consulate in Los Angeles (he primarily lives in L.A. and mostly recorded the album in his home studio, but he hails from Montreal). He discussed producer Patrick Leonard (It was an unusually fraternal collaboration), his fedora (Ive got about 20 of these) and the aging process (My high jump is definitely degraded). Cohen turns 80 on Sunday, and Popular Problems will be released two days after that. Related Leonard Cohen Leonard Cohen Offers Rare Peek Into His Writing Process When you finish something like this record, are you proud of it? Its the done-ness of it that I really like. It nourishes me. Some guys dont know how to open a door. What are the pros and cons of working at home? I dont know if there are any cons. Its very nice to go into your backyard and climb up into your studio. We had some good mics there, and both Pat and I had our keyboards, so we were able to flesh out these songs. Patrick said that part of the process of working together was stripping out any excesses or fripperies. Yes, both in the music and in the lyric. We were both, I think, quite compassionately savage about our vision. Pat, because he has such an abundance of musical ideas, hell sometimes overproduce. But hes quite aware of that. So sometimes well just say we dont need a chorus here, we dont need horns here, you know, we need to break it down here. And same with the lyric: If somethings obscure or just on the wrong side of accessible, then Pat will mention that and Ill happily redirect. How do you know when a songs working? You can pretty well tell. We play it for select people, like my daughter – theres a few people who arent afraid to tell you that it isnt working. We had another song on the album, which was called Happens to the Heart, which will be on the next album. Its a very good lyric, a very good tune, but we didnt nail it. So we didnt put each other on about it – not for more than a week or two. You know, this song really doesnt make it. Thank God you said that, Pat, because I cant stand it. Has your approach to making music has changed over the decades? I never had an approach. I was always like a bear in a honey tree, just trying to get something without getting stung to death. Is financial necessity is good or bad for art? I think it levels the ground. I never had huge amounts of money when I was young. I had huge amounts of fame, and I always had the sense of labor and recompense. I always said I dont want to work for pay, but I want to get paid for my song. Financial necessity of course arose in a very acute manner a few years ago. [His then-manager stole over $5 million from his retirement account.] I thought I had a little bread, enough to get by. I found I didnt – for which Im very grateful because it spurred a lot of activity. I was curious about a lyric on Nevermind, Theres truth that lives and theres truth that dies. Theres truth that lives and truth that dies. I dont know which, so never mind. There is no need that this survive, theres truth that lives and truth that dies. Its one of those phrases that resonates in some corner of the heart. And I dont think it serves us well to explain it or to analyze it or to interpret it. It sounded right to me. There are certain truths that are in a dormant stage that you cant always locate or be nourished by. But theyre there. When youre writing a song, are you aware that youre tapping into something that you may not have a conscious handle on? Well, I think that sometimes when youre in ninth gear, or when youre really skiing down the slope – youre right on top of the snow, you dont want to go any deeper. As someone said, you learn to stop bravely at the surface. If you hear something that really resonates, you just fold your hands in gratitude and try to incorporate it into the song. Sometimes those obscurities are just bullshit and they have to be excised; they have to be ruthlessly removed even if they sound good. Because they produce a disconnect in the song that every listener feels unconsciously. If you feel somebodys trying to put you on, you really feel it. Do you write much poetry that isnt suitable for lyrics? Oh, yeah. And sometimes I think, What the hell am I doing? It doesnt mean anything, its deeply irrelevant. Not just to everybody else but to myself. But what else are you going to do? Everything else has gone away. Most of the things that Ive liked to do, for one reason or another, its often inappropriate to do them. At age 80, are there things you cant do that you used to be able to? Theres a lot of things that you can do that you couldnt do when you were younger. You depend on a certain resilience that is not yours to command, but which is present. And if you can sense this resilience or sense this capacity to continue, it means a lot more at this age than it did when I was 30, when I took it for granted. What are you good at that has nothing to do with music? I can make a couple of good sandwiches: tuna salad and chopped egg salad. And Greek bean soup. I was a cook for my old Zen master for many years. So there were two or three dishes that he liked, you know. Teriyaki salmon, a few things. I wouldnt call myself a good cook by any means. My son is a very good cook. My curries are not bad. Do you write songs faster or slower than you used to? Theres always a group of songs that Im working at. Some of them are 10 years old, and some of them are just a few weeks old. Im always trying to adjust these songs to some position where I can bring them to completion. Theres a few songs that I would like to finish before I die. One in particular, its a lovely melody that I cant find any words for. Ive been trying for a good 15 years. Ive tried many, many versions. And God willing, maybe something will happen. After youre gone, what would you want people to remember about you? I never give that much thought. Some people care about their work lasting forever – I have little interest in it. You probably know that great story about Bob Hope. His wife came to him and said, Theres two plots available at Forest Lawn. One looks at some beautiful cypress trees, one looks over the valley. Which do you think youd prefer? He said, Surprise me. Thats the way I feel about posterity and how Im remembered. Surprise me. L
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 21:07:46 +0000
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