Recent biographies of Leonard Cohen have attempted to explain how this shy Canadian poet-turned-songwriter achieved celebrity after the age of seventy. Sylvie Simmons’s ‘I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen’ traces Cohen’s development from his first concert in New York in 1967, where his discomfort before the audience required three attempts to perform a single song, to the worldwide concert tours he undertook since 2008, which are famous for their length and the singer’s humility before his audience and musicians.
In her concluding chapter, ‘A Manual for Living with Defeat,’ Simmons praises Cohen for overcoming unhappy love affairs, depression, drug and alcohol dependency, financial woes, as well as his dislike of appearing before a public, to become a generous artist who never runs out of energy to write songs or please his audience.
Cohen has not only changed his life but also the subject matter of his poetry and songs. His early lyrics, with their emphasis on the artist’s unhappiness, alienation, and the ephemerality of love, earned him the title Duke of Doom at the start of his career. Beginning in 1985 with the album ‘Various Positions,’ however, Cohen’s songs express more positive sentiments — the possibility of reconciling our physical and spiritual natures, the peace that comes from surrendering to a higher power, the joy that derives from admitting our human limitations.
In many of his recent, more optimistic songs, Cohen incorporates stories and symbolism from the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament. A contemporary audience, largely secular, may not recognize such biblical allusions, but Cohen is quite purposeful in using them.
Cohen’s frequent allusions to the Bible should come as no surprise considering his upbringing. He is the grandson of a rabbi and was raised in the Jewish faith, which exposed him to the rituals, music, and literature based on Hebrew Scripture. His Irish nanny brought him to Mass in the churches of Montreal, where he sang Latin hymns while gazing at the crucifix and statues of the saints.
His upbringing in two religions enables him to celebrate Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the holy men and women of Catholicism along with David, Samson, and the prophets. Cohen has also practiced Zen Buddhism for many years, even becoming a Buddhist monk and spending several years away from the public at Mount Baldy Zen Center.
Through his songs, Cohen tells us that there is no conflict between the religions of the East and the West. All are paths to inner peace, understanding of our mortal condition, and sources of consolation. The beauty of Cohen’s lyrics has often provoked comparisons with Bob Dylan. Both are, fundamentally, poets who have succeeded in turning their poems into popular music. But the religious impulse in Cohen’s work is much stronger and more constant. His songs demonstrate the common ground of Judaism, Christianity, and Buddhism. His best loved songs work toward a reconciliation of the human and the divine.