leonardcohenforum.com

Hi All,

I'm writing a piece about LC for a literary publication and I'm trying to come up with ways to represent LC's popularity.

I'm looking for measures that are as specific as possible. Things like:

How many songs of his have been covered by other artists?

How Leonard Cohen Files compares to the web presence for other artists? In terms of how many members other sites have, or how long they've been around?

How many books and albums he has sold?

How many countries his recent tour took him to?

Any and all thoughts would be appreciated!

By the heart.

Not what you''re looking for, but the first thing that came to MY mind.

Here are some random thoughts...

Leonard Cohen and popularity are in some ways a contradiction in terms, even though they have sat uncomfortably alongside each other since 2008.

Never mind the fact that Leonard's new album is called "Popular Problems" (the title itself seems to imply intended irony).

Any understanding of Leonard's significance and the quality of his work cannot be assessed by quantity.

How many people supported Jesus at the crucifixion and how many American fundamentalists support him now?

How many followers does Leonard have compared to Justin Bieber?

How many women prefer Leonard's poetry to the fact that they find him sexy?

How many Facebook likes does Leonard get, and how many are by the same people?

How many posts has "Heck of a Guy" made compared to the posts made by other Leonard fans/devotees or however you describe yourself?

How many people feel a compulsive urge to assimilate Leonard's new album before it's even released against those who like Leonard prefer to take things slow?

Lizzytysh, bless her, has probably come closer to defining how Leonard's "popularity" should be measured than anyone else is likely to!

brooklynloser

I permit myself to change your question:

Why should LC´s popularity be measured?

I don´t care if Mr. Cohen is popular with the masses.
I can´t find any reason in collecting numbers and figures.
I fully agree with John´s thoughts and I love Lizzy´s answer – can´t be put shorter and more just.

No harm meant, dear brooklynloser, I wish you good luck with your work anyway – though I won´t be interested in it.

Is this a troll?

My answer is : How can Leonard Cohen's popularity be measured?

It is a great idea to write a piece about the Man. My! I would not like to be in your shoes, though! You better give them a good shining before beginning to work each day for many hours for many years!

But a well written piece with such a subject would be a real treasure on Broadway for centuries. IMHO.

To collect your information, you do not have the choice than to plundge into the amounts of datas already available on the net and the books (have fun, now!). Armed with good tools : clear questions, solid grids to fill with clear answers to clear questions. You also can contact his management, if they are kind enough to provide info and maybe permission??? to begin with? (well) and maybe access to numbers and figures from the label(s). And interview a couple of key people in the Cohen world. If they accept.

Good luck!

In the ranking of the best 100 Glastonbury performances Leonard Cohen is #1!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/glas ... -ever.html

But I fully agree with Lizzy !!!

Yet good luck.