Leonard Cohen - In My Secret Life

Quiz by Sharon Michiko Yoneda

artist:  Leonard Cohen

songwriter:  Leonard Cohen

date released:  2001 on album, Ten New Songs.  Rereleased in 2006 as a single.

Singer-songwriter, musician, poet, novelist Leonard Cohen was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1934.  His grandparents emigrated from Europe; his grandfather came from Poland and his grandmother, from Lithuania.  Cohen's father owned a clothing store in Montreal. As a teenager, Cohen learned to play the guitar and experimented with his voice as an instrument in reading his poetry.

In 1951, Cohen enrolled at McGill University majoring in Literature and specializing in poetry and fiction.  Yeats, Whitman, Frederico Garcia Lorca and Henry Miller were his early influences.

His first successful song as a songwriter was "Suzanne" which became a hit for American singer, Judy Collins in 1967.  In spite of his early success, international recognition eluded him; his recordings sold mostly in Canada and Europe.

"Bird on a Wire" followed a year after the success of "Suzanne".  Apparent within are Cohen's dualistic views of sin and forgiveness. Some literary scholars have explored the theme of "bird on a wire" as a metaphor for Jesus on the cross.   

In 1994, Cohen retreated from public life and entered a Buddhist monastery at Mount Baldy Zen Centre near Los Angeles.  In 1996, Cohen was ordained as a Buddhist monk.

In 2001, following his five-year-seclusion at the monastery, Cohen returned to the music world and began to tour again around the world at the grand age of sixty-seven years old.  Leonard Cohen became the quintessential Renaissance man; his music soared to the top of the charts again.

In his lifetime, Leonard Cohen has received many prestigious awards and honours.  In 1968, he received a Governor-General's Award for his poetry which he refused.  In 1991, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.  1993 saw Cohen receiving his first Juno Award for Male Vocalist of the Year.  Canada's highest civilian honour, Companion of the Order of Canada was bestowed upon Leonard Cohen.  In 2007, Cohen received his first Grammy Award as a featured artist in Herbie Hancock's jazz album, "River:  The Joni Letters".  The Canadian Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him in 2008.  In addition, Leonard Cohen became a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec.  

Leonard Norman Cohen died on  7 November 2016 in Los Angeles, California). Leonard Cohen was one of the most iconic Canadian artists of the 20th century.

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