Bird on a Wire

The Leonard Cohen Home Page



What is a saint? A saint is someone who has achieved a remote human possibility. It is impossible to say what that possibility is. I think it has something to do with the energy of love. Contact with this energy results in the exercise of a kind of balance in the chaos of existence. A saint does not dissolve the chaos; if he did the world would have changed long ago. I do not think that a saint dissolves the chaos even for himself, for there is something arrogant and warlike in the notion of a man setting the universe in order. It is a kind of balance that is his glory. He rides the drifts like an escaped ski. His course is the caress of the hill. His track is a drawing of the snow in a moment of its particular arrangement with wind and rock. Something in him so loves the world that he gives himself to the laws of gravity and chance. Far from flying with the angels, he traces with the fidelity of a seismograph needle the state of the solid bloody landscape. His house is dangerous and finite, but he is at home in the world. He can love the shape of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of the heart. It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love.
- L. Cohen, Beautiful Losers (1966)



The Muse

Smudged Air: The lyrics of Leonard Cohen
As compiled by Dean Engelhardt (dean@cs.adelaide.edu.au)
Sincerely, L. Cohen: The Leonard Cohen discography
As compiled by Dean Engelhardt (dean@cs.adelaide.edu.au)
Guitar Tablature
Chords for songs written by Leonard Cohen, as posted on alt.guitar.tab
Sibel's Poetry Corner
Contains a collection of thirteen poems from The Spice-Box of Earth

The Man

Robert Hilburn interviews ...
A wonderful recent interview from the LA Times. Cohen talks about his life on Mount Baldy, Hilburn reviews the new tribute album (he gives it two and a half stars), and Cohen gives a critique of his own music.
CBC Radio Interview with Leonard Cohen
Cohen comments on his work, particularly his two most recent studio albums.
Leonard Cohen on BBC Radio
A transcript. Leonard Cohen hosts a show with Jennifer Warnes and Suzanne Vega, discussing his life and his music.
The Jewish Book News Interview
This interview provides an insightful perspective on Leonard Cohen's religious life and beliefs.
Suzanne Vega - Leonard Cohen Interview, October 1992
Not really an interview so much as a conversation. In three parts. To find out more about this artist who was influenced so greatly by Cohen, check out the Suzanne Vega WWWebsite.
Leonard Cohen in Venue Magazine
In this excerpt from a longer interview, Cohen talks a little about the early days of his poetry.
Columbia's promo page
Provides a lot of interesting biographical information, interspersed with commentaries and anecdotes.
The handwriting of Leonard Cohen
Cohen's intruiging answers to a questionnaire from the Jewish Telegraph. From Paul Black's Cohen page.
Leonard Cohen fait-il parti du patrimoine culturel quebecois?
This looks like an interesting site -- audio files and general bio info. Unfortunately, I can't really read it. It's in French.

The Inspired

Alt.music.leonard-cohen
The newsgroup that helped this page begin
The Unofficial Alt.Music.Leonard-Cohen FAQ
Something I'm throwing together in my spare time...
Jarkko Arjatsalo's Compleat Leonard Cohen Page
This page has an unparalleled collection of information on covers, compilations, bootlegs, books, memorabilia, etc.
No Diamonds in the Minefield
Adi's beautiful Cohen page. Soon to be mirrored here.
Covers
Some of Cohen's more famous fanatics

Thanks to...

Colophon

Disclaimer: This document in no way represents the University of Pennsylvania. All opinions and errors are mine alone.

cpage@seas.upenn.edu