Leonard Cohen Has Died

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/leonard-cohen-dead-at-82-w449792

by joaomsa • 10 years ago

978 133 10 years ago

rollingstone.com

pcurve• 10 years ago

Man this was a surprise. I read this article very recently.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/10/1...

Which was quickly followed by:

http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/10/leonard-cohen-no-longe...

seanwoods• 10 years ago

couple good ones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZqq-zAkGy4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FeZe5P803c

mkeeter• 10 years ago

This is a wonderful article about Leonard Cohen:

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/music/89715...

The quote that stood out the most for me:

"In a pursuit like rock ’n’ roll, which is entirely devoted to redemption, Cohen’s ideas were not only old but radical. His peers all insisted that salvation was at hand. To go to a Doors concert was to stare at the lithe messiah undressing on stage and believe that it was entirely possible to break on through to the other side. To see Cohen play was to gawk at an aging Jew telling you that life was hard and laced with sorrow but that if we love each other and fuck one another and have the mad courage to laugh even when the sun is clearly setting, we’ll be just all right. To borrow a metaphor from a field never too far from Cohen’s heart, theology, Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, and the rest were all good Christians, and they set themselves up as the redeemers who had to die for the sins of their fans. Cohen was a Jew, and like Jews he believed that salvation was nothing more than a lot of hard work and a small but sustainable reward."

dang• 10 years ago

That article contains a wonderful story about how he calmed a hostile audience in the middle of the night at a festival in 1970. I recommend it. (Search for "Isle of Wight", the story starts there.)

andrewem• 10 years ago

https://vimeo.com/56002315 is an hour-long documentary about his performance there, with lots of footage of the show itself.

rukuu001• 10 years ago

Thanks for the heads up re Isle of Wight - that story feels almost biblical.

mpwoz• 10 years ago

Thank you for sharing this. If anybody wants a tear in their eye, read this article while listening to his latest album. And, optionally, a glass of wine.

rootedbox• 10 years ago

If it be your will. That I speak no more. And my voice be still. As it was before. I will speak no more.

inimino2• 10 years ago

A tremendous loss.

A recent profile that I greatly enjoyed:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/leonard-cohen-m...

CalChris• 10 years ago

A wonderful voice. A favorite of my mother's who over the years became a favorite of mine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTTC_fD598A

ageitgey• 10 years ago

I saw Leonard Cohen on his last tour. He opened every show on the tour by saying "I don’t know if we’ll meet again, but tonight we’ll give you everything we got."

stuart78• 10 years ago

I saw the same tour in Los Angeles, and it stands as my favorite show. He and the band controlled the room and it was just amazing, beginning to end.

picklesman• 10 years ago

About 4 years ago I was scanning my twitter timeline and I noticed someone posted a picture from a Leonard Cohen concert that night in Montreal. What?!? I hadn't heard anything about it and my heart sank. After a frantic search I found out he was playing the next night and I bought myself a ticket.

I went by myself, which is unusual for me when it comes to concerts. He played for 3 hours and needless to say, it was incredible.

During "Suzanne", the room (a hockey arena) was completely dark except for a spotlight shining up from below casting a giant shadow behind him. Combined with such a haunting song it made for one of the most beautiful musical experiences of my life.

Here's a recording of that performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3pcPK4eXHQ

That turned out to be the last time he played here and I'm so thankful to have gotten a chance to hear him play his songs.

Way too many great lines to quote, but these ones comfort me: "But you'll be hearing from me baby, long after I'm gone I'll be speaking to you sweetly from a window in the Tower of Song"

EDIT: I found a video from a different concert that gives a better idea of what it looked like, though the link above is a better performance imo, + much better audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emgt62vls3o

(also love the single comment, which I ran through google translate: "What is still the magic of this man? I am not a sentimental dragon, but it goes straight to the heart.")

JadeNB3• 10 years ago

During "Suzanne", the room (a hockey arena) was completely dark except for a spotlight shining up from below casting a giant shadow behind him. Combined with such a haunting song it made for one of the most beautiful musical experiences of my life.

I think that what got me from the concert (which I saw in Chicago) was when he dropped to his knees to sing. What a privilege it was to see such a giant perform.

alphaone• 10 years ago

Now I'm living in this temple Where they tell you what to do I'm old and I've had to settle On a different point of view

I was fighting with temptation But I didn't want to win A man like me don't like to see Temptation caving in

sparkzilla• 10 years ago

RIP. Those looking to try Cohen for the first time (or wanting to rediscover him) should listen to Live in London (2009), which IMHO is one of the best live albums ever. Great songs and some witty banter in between.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2p8je2

qohen• 10 years ago

Given the recent election, may I suggest this song of his: "Democracy"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU-RuR-qO4Y

http://genius.com/Leonard-cohen-democracy-lyrics

pfooti• 10 years ago

I heard there was a secret chord.

efoto• 10 years ago

Rest in Peace

elihu• 10 years ago

I did my best, it wasn't much

I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch

I told the truth, I didn't come to fool you

But even though it all went wrong

I'll stand before the Lord of Song

with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

randlet• 10 years ago

No longer aching in the places he used to play. Rest in peace Leonard, it's closing time.

failrate• 10 years ago

I'm not sad. He had probably the best life he could have had, and it ended on a high note.

triplesec• 10 years ago

His life was full of very low notes. And excellent ones at that.

glandium• 10 years ago

And he got to live to 82, it's hard to say it's too early.

agumonkey3• 10 years ago

80 is my threshold digit for sadness. If you reached it without long debilitating condition or traumatic life, then, at least if I had the pleasure to get there, no complaints.

lordnacho2• 10 years ago

It's what they call "a good innings" in the UK.

viraptor• 10 years ago

"No one can sing a Leonard Cohen song the way Cohen himself can't." is still my favourite description of his work.

zeluve• 10 years ago

RIP. The voice will be here for the rest of generation and becomes legacy for the next.

bhickey• 10 years ago

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/leonard-cohen-pens-fi...

Back in July he wrote to a dying Marianne Ihlen, "Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine."

sdoering• 10 years ago

Thanks. That story just broke me down, while sitting in the office with tears running down my cheeks.

Reminded me of my late father having passed away some 18 months ago.

Thanks for that moment. Your link was a gift.

avitzurel• 10 years ago

Rest in peace.

nikanj• 10 years ago

It's a widely held sentiment that 2016 has killed more long-running celebrities than any other year. Is there any factual basis to this, or is it just confirmation bias?

jacobwg• 10 years ago

I read someplace that the phenomenon of modern celebrities and the communication networks / styles necessary to develop those celebrities started to take off at a time that coincides with those ever-increasing numbers of celebrities to reach their terminal years now. Unfortunately I cannot find the original source, but perhaps somebody else knows what it was.

smelendez• 10 years ago

I think there were a few celebrity deaths that were really unexpected, especially Prince (who died of an accidental drug overdose) and David Bowie (who hadn't revealed he had cancer and outwardly seemed to be healthy and active), so they hit people especially hard.

And those came on top of the incredibly bitter political situation in the U.S., the Brexit vote and refugee-related strife in the E.U., rising authoritarianism in Russia and China, and a number of high-profile terrorist attacks and some serious natural disasters.

agumonkey3• 10 years ago

Maybe related to a special post war period that gave birth to icons so many of us shared through the rised of nascent mainstream mass scale medias.

More than a dreadful year, it's also the passing of a generation, of a world. Sometimes I think that we had it too easy and we produced nothing good as a replacement for being somehow spoiled brats.

lordnacho2• 10 years ago

- Celebrity is lumpy. Bowie, Prince and Cohen were big lumps.

- The lumps are distributed unevenly. Baby boomers are dying around now, and they created their own culture.

- Celebrity itself only became big roughly (very roughly) as these people came of age and did their great works.

Kluny2• 10 years ago

I was wondering myself. For what it's worth, no one thought to make the equivalent of /r/fuck2016 for any other year.

sndean• 10 years ago

If you have ~40 minutes to spare, Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History did a really interesting story on Hallelujah in July:

http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/07-hallelujah

kafkaesq• 10 years ago

This article was posted here about a month ago:

   http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/leonard-cohen-makes-it-darker

Discussion:

   https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12700141

Interestingly, I was thinking about him on the subway just before surfacing to see above thread pop up. Very glad that I got to catch up on his bio (and to see him live a few years back) before his departure.

2016 - what a year.

carlsborg• 10 years ago

"Hineni hineni. I'm ready my Lord."

from "Make it Darker"

nb: The word 'Hineni' means 'Here I am' in a spiritual sense, which is what Abraham says and means to God to indicate his readiness when he is called.

azernik• 10 years ago

"Hineni" means "here I am" in a literal sense too - Cohen happens to be making a biblical/spiritual reference there, but like most lines from the (Hebrew) bible, the language is very plain and straightforward.

coldtea3• 10 years ago

If you haven't heard his songs, either the early folky ones or the post-80s electronic-ballads, definitely check them out. They are songs for grown-ups (he started his career as a singer around 34 years old after all).

logicalmind• 10 years ago

Big fan of Leonard Cohen, big loss. I think his Isle of Wight performance is one of the greatest of all time considering what was going on the crowd and how he used his showmanship and calming music to turn things around:

https://vimeo.com/56002315

detaro• 10 years ago

:'(

There is a crack, a crack in everything.

That how the light comes in.

ska• 10 years ago

But perhaps remember the previous line:

Ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering.

sundvor2• 10 years ago

RIP. Listening to his brand new release You Want It Darker (via Spotify HQ on my Audio Technica ADG1Xs, Soundblaster ZXR sound card). I can't get over the quality of the production and how utterly perfect his voice still is .. right until the very end. In light of recent events, this song is uncanny. What a masterpiece to finish a magnificent career.

Kluny2• 10 years ago

I believe his son was the sound engineer. He clearly didn't phone it in.

sundvor2• 10 years ago

Interesting, and a stellar job. I could easily see this becoming a reference track / album for hi-fi affectionados, bringing depths and detail to my new headset that I didn't know it had. (I upgraded a few months ago from the ATH-ADG1s.)

Jerry2• 10 years ago

Wow! Such a sad news. He was one of the greatest and his songs were timeless.

One of my favorites is "Everybody Knows": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxd23UVID7k

You will be missed.

עליו השלום

mdpm• 10 years ago

And who shall I say is calling?

-- You will be missed but never forgotten.

muhic• 10 years ago

Sad for the artistic loss but also glad he died at peace after a rich life spent doing what he loved till the last moment. He joins a special list, alongside Hintjens who also passed recently, of those who manage to strip the dread from death and stress the importance of 'tidying up' over passive acceptance as one enters the final days.

“The big change is the proximity to death,” he said. “I am a tidy kind of guy. I like to tie up the strings if I can. If I can’t, also, that’s O.K. But my natural thrust is to finish things that I’ve begun.”

“For some odd reason,” he went on, “I have all my marbles, so far. I have many resources, some cultivated on a personal level, but circumstantial, too: my daughter and her children live downstairs, and my son lives two blocks down the street. So I am extremely blessed. I have an assistant who is devoted and skillful. I have a friend like Bob and another friend or two who make my life very rich. So in a certain sense I’ve never had it better. . . . At a certain point, if you still have your marbles and are not faced with serious financial challenges, you have a chance to put your house in order. It’s a cliché, but it’s underestimated as an analgesic on all levels. Putting your house in order, if you can do it, is one of the most comforting activities, and the benefits of it are incalculable.” [0]

[0] http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/leonard-cohen-m...

supervillain• 10 years ago

http://img.wennermedia.com/760-width/rs-leonard-cohen01-4c21...

He looks so much like Adam Sandler

macintux3• 10 years ago

I always thought he and Leonard Nimoy were merging visually as they aged.

Here he looks like...some random but famous actor whose name escapes me:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q8IlTmpaTiQ/Vnq3CrkSOnI/AAAAAAAAxY...

zimpenfish2• 10 years ago

Alfred Molina? Or maybe Tony Hancock[1]?

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b039f1y4

pgodzin• 10 years ago

Easily one of the greatest songwriters of the generation. As Dylan said, ‘As far as I’m concerned, Leonard, you’re Number 1. I’m Number Zero.’

His songs are dark and poetic and really keep you entranced. I'm glad he released his last effort (Leaving the Table is a great one for the occasion) and seemed totally at peace in his New Yorker feature.

daveloyall• 10 years ago

    Like a bird on a wire
    Like a drunk in a midnight choir
    I have tried, in my way, to be free

sbmassey• 10 years ago

"But you'll be hearing from me baby, long after I'm gone

I'll be speaking to you sweetly from a window in the Tower of Song"

One of the greats.

fnj• 10 years ago

Hallelujah!

t1m• 10 years ago

I am reeling.

Leonard's music had an uncanny sense of timing, both musical and cultural. He referenced the external, political world, indirectly - not through selfishly inward bullshit, like many of his contemporaries, but by sifting it through relationships with others and his relationship to the divine.

As I am writing this, the next article in hackernews is about Peter Thiel and his ascension to whatever office he is seeking in Trump's cabinet. His views on the damage women and minorities have done to Libertarianism (whatever that is), and how democracy is shit are well known, and I will let you judge how Palantir has benefited humanity.

The thing that gets me is his straight faced desire for immortality. Note that he doesn't wish for immortality for someone who is great, he wishes it for himself.

RIP Leonard. You already are immortal.

yarou2• 10 years ago

Way to use someone's death for political purposes. Aren't you ashamed of yourself? (Note to mods: trying to be really civil here, but come on!)

noir_lord• 10 years ago

He was merely demonstrating the contrast between two people and doing so politely and in an eloquent way, whether you agree with him or not why should the mods be involved? And why should he be ashamed of himself/herself..

snsr• 10 years ago

Wrong thread for that man, come on.

nathancahill• 10 years ago

Listening to Leonard and drinking whiskey. It's closing time. Just fuck me up Leonard.

akprasad• 10 years ago

There was recently a lovely interview with Leonard Cohen on Fresh Air [1], from which I learned that he had also spent some time a Zen monk. The article mentions this in passing, but there's more detail in the interview.

While never abandoning Judaism, the Sabbath-observing songwriter attributed Buddhism to curbing the depressive episodes that had always plagued him.

[1] http://www.npr.org/2016/10/21/498810429/leonard-cohen-on-poe...

ertand• 10 years ago

Hallelujah was the first dance song at our wedding. RIP.

bestham• 10 years ago

I feel with you. I was born into this world with Leonard Cohen in the background. Still "the Captain" make my mother feel in a very special way that I cannot relate to.

A relative of mine did interviews with both Cohen and Marianne Ihlen (the Marianne from his song)[1].

Cohen has a special place in my heart, his humor, darkness, humbleness[2] and poetic aide is for me very inspirational and aspirational and the thought of him make me choose life when I get depressed.

[1] https://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/marianne2006.html

[2] https://youtu.be/VIR5ps8usuo

vlowther• 10 years ago

Hah. Closing Time was the last song at mine.

brnoenfield• 10 years ago

I took my mum to see him live in Brisbane back in 2013. At the end of the show he thanked his backing band. And then he thanked, by name, the sound engineers, the lighting operators, the cameraman filming for the tour DVD, and various other staff. One of the greatest musicians to have lived but also a genuine and decent person.

JadeNB3• 10 years ago

The simple thing that gets me is how he always addresses his audience as 'friends', and thanks them.

josscrowcroft• 10 years ago

Leonard Cohen - So Long, Marianne (live 1968):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE6wBBrTMEs

So long, Leonard.

taejo• 10 years ago

Marianne herself just died in July; when she was dying Leonard wrote her a letter saying he wasn't far behind.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/aug/07/so-long-marian...

internaut• 10 years ago

"Everybody Knows" is one of my favorite songs, just on grounds of its lyrical quality alone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lin-a2lTelg

LargeCompanies• 10 years ago

His song,"Hallelujah," is timeless and even he agreed KD Lang's version is the best...

Wasn't a fan of hers until... https://youtu.be/ikdLBQACC74

smw• 10 years ago

I'll always prefer Jeff Buckley's.

mcv3• 10 years ago

I like Cohen's. It's different from all the Wainwright-style covers, and I once heard he'd written over a hundred verses for it that he alternates on concerts. I wish they were available somewhere, but I suspect I would have had to have been there.

mrkgnao2• 10 years ago

The ticker in the video is almost surreal, dispassionately telling you about murders and nightclubs being shot up, with that in the background.

DCoder• 10 years ago

Amanda Palmer's rendition is amazing as well: https://www.periscope.tv/w/1DXxyoEbXBLGM (starting at 3:01:56).

neom2• 10 years ago

I believe we recently discussed Mr. Cohen: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12700141

I have cried more tears listening to Leonard Cohen than all the other tears I've cried combined, his music, his words, his poems have always resonated deeply within me. He truly is my favourite artist. We listened to him daily in my dad's house and I grew to find an incredibly amount of peace in his voice. Love the HN community seems to like him as much. rest well sir.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MXOuaZuTak

robbrown4512• 10 years ago

I feel bad for not knowing more about him. Thanks for that YouTube link, so good.

neom2• 10 years ago

You have a lot of exploring to do, he's quite prolific. My fav two albums are I'm your man and ten new songs, recommend them. :)

m_fayer• 10 years ago

If you have Spotify, there's a playlist there published by Spotify called "This Is: Leonard Cohen", it's one of the best sweeps over his career that I've seen so far.

He may not have been as prolific as Dylan, but he also had pretty much no duds.

I'm thankful to have his work seeing me through this life. Especially so these days.

blacksqr• 10 years ago

There's only one bed and there's only one prayer; as I listen all night for your step on the stair.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TFWug6KlvMI

akiselev• 10 years ago

May you rest in peace, Mr. Cohen.

It seems like so many of my favorite musicians and songwriters have passed in the last few years and its a struggle to figure out why. I'm a millenial with a wide taste in music from the early 20th century blues to contemporary EDM but it seems like the musicians whose talent you could just sense with every note and lyric are rapidly disappearing. I should be too young for this kind of cynicism but its an easy trap to fall into when comparing Dylan, Bowie, or Cohen to some song on the pop charts or an artist in the overwhelming field of independent musicians.

It's a sad day but I can't help but marvel at the universe. It is a kind of unique, rare beauty when a life-long artist like Bowie or Cohen close out their final chapter by releasing an album within weeks of their death.

coldtea3• 10 years ago

It seems like so many of my favorite musicians and songwriters have passed in the last few years and I'm struggling to figure out why.

Because people generally die, and your favorite musicans are all several decades older than you, and thus close to the median life expectancy?

Assuming you are not into 2010's teen pop of course.

If one likes pre-war blues, for example, almost all of their favorite musicians would not be around anymore.

I'm a millenial with a wide taste in music from the early 20th century blues classics to contemporary EDM but it seems like the musicians whose talent you could just sense with every note and lyric are rapidly disappearing.

Well, not many "contemporary EDM" musicians are rapidly disappearing. OTOH, Dylan, Bowie or Cohen were all 65+.

hughdbrown2• 10 years ago

So sad. I saw him in Manhattan. My wife got tickets as a Christmas present, knowing I had been excited when we were traveling in Barcelona and he was there that week. (Couldn't get tickets -- didn't even try.) So we showed up at Madison Square Garden and I had no idea what we were seeing -- and there were no markings to give away the surprise! It was not until the show started that I knew it was a Leonard Cohen concert. It was an awesome evening.

  If you want a lover
  I'll do anything you ask me to
  And if you want another kind of love
  I'll wear a mask for you
  If you want a partner, take my hand, or
  If you want to strike me down in anger
  Here I stand
  I'm your man

jtwaleson• 10 years ago

A sad day. I'm a big fan, had the privilege of seeing him perform four times and I've named my daughter Suzanne.

I cant be sure, but back in 2008 when he played "Democracy is coming to the USA" he seemed to be delighted that Obama won. IMHO this part of the song is more appropriate for Leonard's last days on earth: "I love the country but I can't stand the scene".

RIP

edit: removed comment about the president elect

RickHull• 10 years ago

    Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld
    So I can sigh eternally

awjr• 10 years ago

Dear 2016, please stop already.

mcv3• 10 years ago

50 more days. We're nearly done.

libeclipse• 10 years ago

Hallelujah, hallelujah.

yaegers• 10 years ago

I will never not get shivers listening to his Hallelujah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttEMYvpoR-k

matt4077• 10 years ago

Fuck this year.

At least he lived the most graceful life. Having only ever known him in the last 20 years, it seems as if he started as an old man, and died young.

JdeBP• 10 years ago

And then you heard, on Remembrance Day, of the Poet who had gone away; No more music in the dark to keep you warm.

For years to come you will recall the music's death, the soldier's fall, and your songs salute them both. So: Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

The first Cohen song that I ever heard was "Everybody Knows", in Pump Up the Volume.

herpderpherpder• 10 years ago

Same. I think the juxtaposition between the cohen version throughout and the 4 non blondes (?) version at the end made me love it so much more.

I feel that many singers just sing the words, and sometimes they're pretty, sometimes sad. It was like raw emotion poured out every time Leonard Cohen opened his mouth.

the_fury2• 10 years ago

That would be Concrete Blonde.

everyone• 10 years ago

Just making a general point here that this event has surfaced..

I dont get why people are so emotional when famous artists die. Posting on facebook and whatnot.. We werent personal friends with them, so it wont affect our lives in any way. Their works are still as available as ever, and still as great as ever. We can still listen to their music every day.

If they died old then they've had a good run to make a good body of great work that can be their direct legacy for hundreds of years. Few people achieve that.

saganus• 10 years ago

My father once explained to me, when I was very young and my 12-year old cousin had died of cancer, that the reason I was in pain and suffering was not because my cousin was dead and he would not be enjoying his next birthday, or that he would not be coming with us for the next vacation.

The reason I was in pain was because I was not going to enjoy him anymore. In the end, he was dead already. He could not feel or enjoy anything anymore, so why be sad for him?

So maybe when someone that through art or knowledge or whatever touches people in a certain way, and then that person passes away, it makes people sad because they will not be able to enjoy any new music, any new takes on life, any new works, etc.

Yes, we now have YouTube and digital media so we can keep listening to John Coltrane and Leonard Cohen, but the fact that we won't be able to keep growing up with them makes it painful. Even if they are not your friends, they are people you admire. They are people that will no longer produce any "new wisdom" for you to absorb and savor.

When someone like say, Dennis Ritchie died, we (HN, engineers, <other placeholder>) got sad because there would be no new insights coming from this great mind. He's not going to be able to comment on, say, SpaceX's first trip to Mars or whatever.

So in the end we are the ones deprived of these great minds' wisdom and thus we are the ones that ache and suffer.

That's my take on it at least. Maybe it's not what's actually happening but it kinda make sense to me :)

thieving_magpie2• 10 years ago

My mother knows I have been a longtime fan of Leonard Cohen. I received some texts this morning saying she hoped I wasn't sad. Not at all - I presume he lived a great life. His death doesn't affect me and it doesn't change my enjoyment of his music or writing. Those are works created in certain moments of time, that's what matters and cannot be erased.

zimpenfish2• 10 years ago

If you haven't already, this is an excellent read -

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/leonard-cohen-m...

hughdbrown2• 10 years ago

"We werent personal friends with them, so it wont affect our lives in any way"

Life is about the search for value, and most often you find that in other people, their ideas, and their lives. Singers and other artists selectively create a public representation of their value-judgments, and people who find those values resonate in them come to love those artists in a very personal way.

aamar• 10 years ago

Some artists die having more to make, more to say. Bowie or Prince could have had a dozen more albums, and thousands more design ideas, photos, and poignant commentaries. Those moments of joy could have surfaced here and there over decades, but instead they're all gone in one day.

Leonard Cohen wasn't as young as some of them, but he was still active. I looked forward to his thoughts and music on many things.

JadeNB3• 10 years ago

I dont get why people are so emotional when famous artists die. Posting on facebook and whatnot.. We werent personal friends with them, so it wont affect our lives in any way.

I mentioned in another thread how touching it was that Cohen always addressed his audience as 'friends'. It is a little thing, but he wanted to connect with us personally—he was a poet much more than a performer, I think—and he did, and I feel it as a personal loss even if I was never physically any closer to the man than one seat at one of his concerts.

If you don't feel it, or any loss of anyone famous, personally, then that's totally reasonable; but why try to dismiss others' sense of loss?

another_account• 10 years ago

On the Level feels like it was written for me (i know) It describes my current feelings about Lady Heroin after nearly 2 years clean. Perfectly.

RIP.

youdontknowtho• 10 years ago

God damn it.

projectramo• 10 years ago

I wanted to post some of his lyrics as a comment, but it turns out you can take any rhyming subset and it is appropriate for almost any occasion. (Not kidding, try it yourself).

They're ambiguous so that helps.

"But let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie, your eyes are soft with sorrow, Hey, that's no way to say goodbye."

RIP, Leonard Cohen

keithpeter• 10 years ago

    "Ring the bells that still can ring
     forget your perfect offering
     there is a crack in everything
     that's how the light gets in."
                           -- Anthem

As I get older, I appreciate the cracks more.

dennispi• 10 years ago

I can't think of a better, more appropriate Cohen cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGRfJ6-qkr4

jperras• 10 years ago

As a native Montréaler, this hit me really, really hard. The man was a legend, and hopefully his legacy will live on in the city.

I'd really like to see McGill, our common alma mater, commemorate him in some way.

goffley3• 10 years ago

Sad day. The year of the great dead continues.

jejones3141• 10 years ago

Very sad. Also sad that the very first thing I did when I saw a mention of it on Facebook was google "leonard cohen death hoax". Thanks and farewell, Mr. Cohen.

pencilcode• 10 years ago

About a week ago commented with a friend of mine his last album was absolutely wonderful and how awesome that he was 80 years old and still creating with the quality that he was. He was the musician that touched the most, others I sort of grew out of but always came back to Leonard - I suspect that there hasn't been a month in the last 15 years where I haven't listened to him. As an aside also discovered Irving Layton, a poet, through him.

HeyLaughingBoy• 10 years ago

This is sad. I heard about this listening to the radio this morning while waiting for the school bus with my son. I introduced my (future) wife to his music and our wedding song was "Dance me to the end of love." I gave her the Matisse coffee-table book set to its lyrics (https://www.amazon.com/Dance-End-Love-Art-Poetry/dp/19321839...).

I always wanted to meet him and now, I'll never have the chance.

R.I.P.

daveheq• 10 years ago

I didn't know Leonard Cohen was a hacker. Wait, does he happen to be popular among hackers?

the_fury2• 10 years ago

By the responses I would say yes, yes he was.

dvtv75• 10 years ago

He's been popular with all sorts for many years. This is from 1984: https://youtu.be/43-wurCmbIE?t=1898

Leonard Cohen Has Died

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