Leonard Cohen turned 80 this week. His new album, “Popular Problems“, was released on Tuesday. He was interviewed by Mike Ayers for an article in wsj.com titled: Leonard Cohen’s ‘Bad Habit’. A few excerpts:
Q: The new record is called “Popular Problems.” Are these what we are all up against?
A: I thought it as a general description of what we’re all up against. Those are the questions: life, death, war, peace, space, God. All those matter, and rather facetiously, I describe them as “popular problems.”
Q: All of us think about that stuff daily and there are no real answers.
A: No.
Q: But you can sing about it?
A: If you can sing about it, that’s a kind of answer.
Q: What still draws you to making records these days?
A: You know, it’s a bad habit…Well, after a while you can’t break it. Employment is a very crucial matter for everyone. Unemployment is the most sinister disease of our society. To feel fully employed, it’s not something you want to relinquish or abandon. So that’s my work and I’m able to do it, God willing, I’ll be able to do it until I can’t do it any longer. I have no plans to abandon it.
Q: What’s a song that’s blown your mind recently that you did as a young guy?
A: I think any writer reviewing their work, they find that the work itself has a certain prophetic or prescient quality. In other words, if you’re working at a deep place, you’re able to articulate feelings that you hadn’t yet acknowledged.
Q: Do you think about writing and creating on a daily basis?
A: As we said at the beginning of our conversation, it’s employment. It’s habitual. And one’s grateful. Very grateful.
Q: Some people can turn it on and off and some can’t?
A: Right. Well, I’m always blackening pages, scribbling away, feeling like I’m not doing enough.
Q: He (Kanye West) never seems satisfied with what he does, where a lot of people say he’s working at a very high level.
A: One is grateful if one’s able to continue.
Find the full interview in wsj.com: Leonard Cohen’s ‘Bad Habit’
Find his new album on iTunes here: Popular Problems.
Thank you for this interview. He is a treasure.
He is…Thank you.
He goes back a long way…(how do I know that?) hmmm….
You read about him in history books when you were younger.
That must be it!
That’s the best answer! I love that song, by the way.
🙂 Me too…
Love this David! Thank you.
Thanks Debra.
He is great 🙂 Thank you dear David, love, nia
He is Nia…thanks.
Million kisses for him 🙂 You are welcome, love, nia
I was introduced to him at 15 and have loved him ever since…………
He’s such a good man and with so much talent…