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Sep. 23rd, 2014 07:32 pmYou know how sometimes a friend is telling you about a book they're reading, and you say politely, "oh, that sounds interesting," and they say "OH I'LL LEND IT TO YOU" and next thing you know you have a book in your hands?
So that's how I ended up reading I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen, even though I have heard maybe three of Leonard Cohen's songs, total. Maybe four.
-- okay that's not quite true, actually, I've probably heard quite a lot of Leonard Cohen's songs, but very few of them actually sung by Leonard Cohen, because other people do tend to do it better ...
(Fun true fact about Leonard Cohen that I now know, because of reading his biography: he was having money troubles in his career as a poet, which is why he decided to fix his career by becoming a FOLK SINGER, that time-honored means to earning a quick buck. I mean, we laugh, but it did work!)
No, I mean, it was definitely a fascinating read, though I think I liked my mental image of Leonard Cohen better when I knew less about him. I am not impressed by escapades like bopping off to the Bay of Pigs as a hipster revolutionary tourist. Still, as a document of moments and developments in music history, it's a fascinating biography.
I gotta say, though, the thing that kept striking me as I read was this idea of the muse. Leonard Cohen was one of those guys who has a string of women acting as an ~*~inspiration~*~, until they are no longer inspiring and it's time for a new muse. Lots of people seem quite happy to buy into the rule that if you're an artist, this is totally okay. But scattered through the story of Leonard Cohen's are these other stories, really depressing stories, about young women trying to make it as artists, singers, authors -- young women who then meet a famous and talented man, and become his muse, and that's it, that's officially what they're famous for. Sometimes that man is married, and so instead of hanging out in the artistic circles that they wanted to join in the first place, they have to go live in a separate house and keep themselves on the DL so that his wife doesn't find out, which is ... just an extra dose of wonderful.
And, I mean, this book also contains Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell and all kinds of other female artists who have gotten lots of recognition for their work -- so it's not like every women's story in this book is one of spinning in orbit around The Man, The Musician, The Artist Leonard Cohen. But too many of them are. I don't like the idea of a muse.
So that's how I ended up reading I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen, even though I have heard maybe three of Leonard Cohen's songs, total. Maybe four.
-- okay that's not quite true, actually, I've probably heard quite a lot of Leonard Cohen's songs, but very few of them actually sung by Leonard Cohen, because other people do tend to do it better ...
(Fun true fact about Leonard Cohen that I now know, because of reading his biography: he was having money troubles in his career as a poet, which is why he decided to fix his career by becoming a FOLK SINGER, that time-honored means to earning a quick buck. I mean, we laugh, but it did work!)
No, I mean, it was definitely a fascinating read, though I think I liked my mental image of Leonard Cohen better when I knew less about him. I am not impressed by escapades like bopping off to the Bay of Pigs as a hipster revolutionary tourist. Still, as a document of moments and developments in music history, it's a fascinating biography.
I gotta say, though, the thing that kept striking me as I read was this idea of the muse. Leonard Cohen was one of those guys who has a string of women acting as an ~*~inspiration~*~, until they are no longer inspiring and it's time for a new muse. Lots of people seem quite happy to buy into the rule that if you're an artist, this is totally okay. But scattered through the story of Leonard Cohen's are these other stories, really depressing stories, about young women trying to make it as artists, singers, authors -- young women who then meet a famous and talented man, and become his muse, and that's it, that's officially what they're famous for. Sometimes that man is married, and so instead of hanging out in the artistic circles that they wanted to join in the first place, they have to go live in a separate house and keep themselves on the DL so that his wife doesn't find out, which is ... just an extra dose of wonderful.
And, I mean, this book also contains Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell and all kinds of other female artists who have gotten lots of recognition for their work -- so it's not like every women's story in this book is one of spinning in orbit around The Man, The Musician, The Artist Leonard Cohen. But too many of them are. I don't like the idea of a muse.
