Leonard Cohen is a singer and a poet, among many other things. The first time I realized I knew who he was when I learned that he was the original songwriter and performer of the song "Hallelujah," a song that has been covered many times and was featured prominently in the first season of the super credible television series "The O.C." My favorite (though they're all so different and appropriate depending on my mood) version of "Hallelujah" is Jeff Buckley's 1994 recording. But that's irrelevant.
My interest in Cohen started when my roommate read one of his poetry collections for class. Then this past spring, when I was visiting my friend in Prague, I found Cohen's most recent collection (and first book in over 20 years) in an American bookstore. The collection is called Book of Longing and it features some of the wry humor and candor that mark Cohen's songs.
One poem that I like in particular is called "This is It"
I like it so much that I'm willing to type the whole thing out here.
This is it
I'm not coming after you
I'm going to lie down for half an hour
This is it
I'm not going down
on your memory
I'm not rubbing my face in it any more
I'm going to yawn
I'm going to stretch
I'm going to put a knitting needle
up my nose
and poke out my brain
I don't want to love you
for the rest of my life
I want your skin
to fall off my skin
I want my clamp
to release your clamp
I don't want to live
with this tongue hanging out
and another filthy song
in the place
of my baseball bat
This is it
I'm going to sleep now darling
Don't try to stop me
I'm going to sleep
I'll have a smooth face
and I'm going to drool
I'll be asleep
whether you love me or not
This is it
The New World Order
of wrinkles and bad breath
It's not going to be
like it was before
eating you
with my eyes closed
hoping you won't get up
and go away
It's going to be something else
Something worse
Something sillier
Something like this
only shorter
I'm not coming after you
I'm going to lie down for half an hour
This is it
I'm not going down
on your memory
I'm not rubbing my face in it any more
I'm going to yawn
I'm going to stretch
I'm going to put a knitting needle
up my nose
and poke out my brain
I don't want to love you
for the rest of my life
I want your skin
to fall off my skin
I want my clamp
to release your clamp
I don't want to live
with this tongue hanging out
and another filthy song
in the place
of my baseball bat
This is it
I'm going to sleep now darling
Don't try to stop me
I'm going to sleep
I'll have a smooth face
and I'm going to drool
I'll be asleep
whether you love me or not
This is it
The New World Order
of wrinkles and bad breath
It's not going to be
like it was before
eating you
with my eyes closed
hoping you won't get up
and go away
It's going to be something else
Something worse
Something sillier
Something like this
only shorter
At the bottom of this poem there is one of the many sketches littered throughout Book of Longing. Cohen sketched a lot for this collection. The sketch accompanying "This is It" is a close-up of a woman's crotch area. We see her hands pressing against the tops of her thighs, a dark line indicating what I assume is a pair of underwear, and the bottom of her stomach including her belly button.
I couldn't find a photo of that particular page. But here is one that gives you an idea of what the book looks like.
It's a great collection, very funny and true and definitely worth paging through.
I couldn't find a photo of that particular page. But here is one that gives you an idea of what the book looks like.
It's a great collection, very funny and true and definitely worth paging through.
So I was watching Watchmen last night when a version of Hallelujah began to play during one of the scenes. I was sorely disappointed, as I thought it was the worst version I have ever heard.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_L2v_DJSxg
I was shocked to hear it was also done by Leonard Cohen. He has done better versions of *his* song than this crap!
That being said, it is a powerful song, especially considering that so many artists feel the need to cover it. It is strong poetry, much like the poem you posted here. I now have an inkling to check his writings out. The only thing that may stop me was the memory of a sex scene between Nite Owl and Silk Spectre to the worst version of Hallelujah I've heard thus far...
Just this past weekend, my brother and I were listening to a Neil Diamond record while we were hanging out in our basement. When Diamond's cover of Cohen's "Suzanne" came on, we both instinctively shut up and listened to every word of the song until it was over...powerful stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that I find most interesting is that pretty much all I know about Cohen comes from other more contemporary musicians referencing him (another example: see lyrics for Nirvana's "Pennyroyal Tea").
They don't write lyrics like they used, too. However, at least a lot of good artists/bands have the sense to cover Cohen's songs.