leonardcohenforum.com

Hi,

Are there any particular aspects of his life that you would like him to include?

Not intending to start a rumor here about any such memoir. Might be intresting to see, though,
what is most of interest to people here. Deleted a similar post because of lack of responses.
Am revisiting the spirit of that post from a different angle. Continuance is up to you.

I'd like him to talk about Judaism and the future of Judaism.

Mothers always have stories about their kids, what stories did his Mother love to tell about him at family gatherings? What did his grandma smell like? (I don’t even know if he knew his grandma but grandma’s always have interesting smells to them – good smells) I’d like to hear some stories that seemingly have nothing to do with anything, just things that he remembers – stories about his life that he likes to tell at parties or to his kids, “I remember the time …”.

I have a fascination with Irving Layton, so any stories about him.
He was a child during WWII, what was that like to live in Montreal then?

anything that he would like to share in his own way, as opposed to facts splattered out on a linear timeline.

What are you curious about Steven?

Good topic, Steven.

I too would wonder of his grandma, even her smell

I'd also like to know how he felt the first time he maintained balance on a bicycle, the wind in his face.

I'd like to know how he felt standing at the Wailing Wall. Although I've been to Israel, I never got there.

And I'd love to know what he thought of two men - Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. What they talked about.

Interesting,
Adam

I'd like to know what the ends of romantic relationships were like for him. And the beginnings, and everything in between. I'd also like to know what Leonard's relationship with god has been like. What is prayer like for you is a question I'd like answered. On the double.

You know, nothing too intimate : )

Hi,

Enjoyed reading the replies. What AlexandraLaughing, Cate, Boss and Abby came up with would be of
interest to me if included in a memoir. Cate asked what I'd be curious about. There's much.
Here's some: How did fame hurt and benefit him as an artist? What challenges and resources arose
from being an outsider? Do the glories of artistic accomplishment outweigh the emotional price
he paid along the way? With hindsight, what would he have done differently? How did ambition hinder
and help him? Would he be comfortable in the atmospheres of the bars in "Closing Time" and
"Night Comes On"?

Another couple:

LC's father comes into songs all the way through his career, but most interestingly I think in 'Here it is'. There is clearly a lot he has not said and could say about this relationship, which was so crucial to him. So if he wrote a memoir, I would hope he would talk a lot about his father.

Why didn't he sing 'By the rivers dark' on any of his recent tours, when it's such a brilliant song?

I have always wanted to know more about Leonard's relationship with his mother. My sense of it, from the few things that have been said, is that Leonard & his mother had a very special & very close relationship (partly, perhaps, because Leonard's father died when he was so young), & that she was a pretty strong influence in his life & his art. She was, after all, the first woman in his life. So I would like to know alot more about that relationship. I would also like to know more about Leonard's relationship with his maternal grandfather - the famous rabbi; & more about Leonard's experience of Chassidism - I read somewhere that he's had some involvement with Chabad & some kind of contact with the Lubavitcher Rebbe (I've wondered if that was the "famous rabbi" referred to in the poem "One Of My Letters" - Book of Longing, P. 5).

Hi AlexandraLaughing,

Would also like him to talk about his father, should there ever be a memoir. His father passed away when
L.C. was but a boy. He could, if he so desired, reveal memories and comment on the passing and the
affect that subsequent absence of a father had/has on him. L.C. buried a necktie that was his dad's after
he (L.C.) wrote something on it around the time that his father passed away (if I recall the biographical
account correctly) and he stated as an adult that he doesn't recall what he wrote on it (again, if my
memory is correct). Perhaps he'd care to speak of this as well. Wouldn't blame him, though, should he
put up a fence and not do so.

Psychobiographers (should there ever be any) of L.C. could attempt to make a case that L.C.'s lyrics that
reference God, to some extent, reflect a transference of feelings about the earthly father he had to
the Godly one. I'll leave it at that. No luxury of time for me to delve further into this. They could do
this, with or without a memoir as source material.

Don't know why he didn't include "By The Rivers Dark" and agree that it is a brilliant song. Your mentioning
it resulted a revisit to it and a renewed appreciation for the song.

Hi holydove,

Yes, it would be great to learn more about those aspects. Not only that, there'd be the pleasure
of discovering how L.C. expresses himself about them.

Hi,

Would also like to know if L.C.'s penchant for many song edits has resulted in aborting songs because
lyric content raised too difficult emotional material. The time expenditure that he has devoted to
editing would have given ample opportunities for reconsideration. My bet is that it has.

I doubt LC would ever write a memoir. He's stated that he doesn't go for nostalgia. ( "A sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.") Although I doubt his memoir would be nostalgic.


LC seems to me to be "too good to be true". Even with bits of his dark side showing through I'm not convinced that we've ever seen the real deal.
I mean, geez, whenever he was depressed and drinking he was well dressed and groomed. (A bit OCD maybe??)

But I've never read a biography or listened to very many interviews, or watched films. So it obvious to me that I'd rather keep his work separate from his private life and personal behavior. I think the only reason I would want to know his private life would be to make him more human. And I don't want to do that.
I like my bodhisatva's working from another dimension.

For some reasons I don't feel authorized to enter personal life just because I like so much whatever he does. But I may be the much most more boring fan with a plus. Plus. Plus ?

Being in the eye of the storm that celebrity is. It seems a utmost jeopardizing situation. A little bit too the left, or the right, or up or down and one is crushed by this huge energy. I prefer to believe that he is safe in the middle of all the turmoil, in peace, freedom and a solitude that he shares with the only people who do not make us feel alone in the crowd.

May you live long and prosper.

Too.

He has said that he remembers his mother singing. Does he remember what those songs were? And, which songs did he write with his mother in mind. Which of his songs did she like the most.....

Edit - Why did he change 'ya' to you in Hallelujah?

It could include absolutely anything in my opinion and I would still read it.