...the rock era unfolded as ... a series of begats (Elvis begat the Beatles, the Beatles begat Jann Wenner, etc.) involving identity-famished teenagers and their heroes ... Cohen is absent from this narrative for one simple reason: He was the same age as Elvis.
I had to look this up: Actually he was a few months older (born in 1934 while Elvis was 1935).
This seems to overlook the more obvious reason he is absent from that narrative: he was never all that popular. His only top 100 hit, for "Hallelujah", came in 2016, after his death.[0]
Yep, the album Various Positions on which Hallelujah appeared was not even released in the US by Columbia, they released it in Europe instead.
I think it was only after Bob Dylan covered Hallelujah ~1988 at one of his live concerts, he was the first to cover it (John Cale did it in 1991), that the song and the album exploded in popularity.
it's safe to say he was always a cult favorite at least since the mid-90s when I first heard of him. Mainstream writers of all sorts (music press among others) have certainly been writing about him for as long, for the same set of reasons he's being written about here
When I was backpacking in Germany some many years ago I stumbled upon a concert of him and tried to convince some peers to watch it, IIRC the venue was suitable to hang around and listen to without a ticket, and everybody thought that it was the uncoolest thing ever. I still disagree, Leonard Cohen is amazing. Much cooler than most rocks stars. I would be happy if his song become a thing again.
I saw him perform twice in Los Angeles. Despite being over 70, he performed over 3 hours. It was outstanding. Outside of seeing U2 at the Sphere, it was the best live events I've ever attended.
What a writer. We were lucky to share the same planet for a while.
1000 kisses deep, if it be your will, you want it darker, tower of song, ain’t no cure for love, anthem, and on and on. Most songwriters will never write one of those, but he just kept on going.
He was our man, our searching, restless, yearning man.
I highly recommend Cohen's The Book of Longing. It has carried me over the years through mountains of heartbreak. It was one of the first poetry books that I ever read and introduced me into a whole new realm of literature.
Readit News
[0]: https://www.billboard.com/artist/leonard-cohen/; compare to Elvis https://www.billboard.com/artist/elvis-presley/, Beatles https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-beatles/
I think it was only after Bob Dylan covered Hallelujah ~1988 at one of his live concerts, he was the first to cover it (John Cale did it in 1991), that the song and the album exploded in popularity.
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Transposed to HN it would be:
The era of software unfolded as a series of frameworks, involving identity-famished nerds and their languages...
His response was that no, earlier in the day he was wearing grey but it clashed with the rain so he went home and changed.
1000 kisses deep, if it be your will, you want it darker, tower of song, ain’t no cure for love, anthem, and on and on. Most songwriters will never write one of those, but he just kept on going.
He was our man, our searching, restless, yearning man.