NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Entertainment

Essence of Leonard Cohen

By Graham Reid
NZ Herald·
20 Aug, 2010 11:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Leonard Cohen. Photo / Agence Sygma
Leonard Cohen. Photo / Agence Sygma

Leonard Cohen. Photo / Agence Sygma

Leonard Cohen occupies a unique position in music, and has the rare distinction of having never been imitated.

British rock writer Nigel Williamson, considering the career of Leonard Cohen, recently observed, "We often describe singer-songwriters as being 'Dylanesque', a band with great harmonies you might describe as 'Beatlesque'.

"But have you ever heard the word 'Cohenesque'? It doesn't exist, and that says it all. He's a unique artist and not only has he never been copied, I don't think anybody has even contemplated trying to do so."

Leonard Cohen - 75 next month and touring here again in late October/early November - occupies a unique position in music: he has been included in rock culture, but was never part of it. And although nominally a "folk musician" early on, he wasn't part of the folk movement either.

Cohen has always been a man apart: a writer with four acclaimed books of poetry and two novels behind him before his debut album Songs of Leonard Cohen appeared.

That album was released at the end of 1967. Others with debuts that year included Jimi Hendrix and the Doors. The multi-coloured air was infused with incense, marijuana and psychedelic drugs (the Beatles' Sgt Pepper's was released in June) and Cohen's monochrome Songs arrived with spare, poetic lyrics and a sense of quiet.

Susanne, Sisters of Mercy and So Long Marianne made people stop and listen. They were folk - but not folk of the protest movement of a few years previous, or the surreal lyricism of Bob Dylan.

Cohen - Jewish, from French-speaking Montreal - came from a more European consciousness. But most rock listeners were unfamiliar with French singers like Jacques Brel or Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, his formative influences.

Throughout his long career - made more alluring when he retired to the Mt Baldy Zen Center monastery in California for a five year-stretch until 1999 - Cohen had outsider status, and that placed his music beyond the whims of cultural change. Bird on a Wire from 1969 resonates as much today as it did then, and his interpretation of The Partisan from the same year perhaps even more so in these troubled times.

Two years ago Cohen returned to the stage after a 15-year absence. His subsequent tours have been critically acclaimed and those seduced by his exceptional Vector Arena or Wellington concerts in January 2009 will doubtless have the Live in London DVD released last year.

But for anyone wanting an overview of the original songs which made people catch their breath, Cohen's career has been distilled on to The Essential Leonard Cohen double disc, which features 31 of his best known songs.

An expanded version which adds seven songs on a third disc (The Essential Leonard Cohen 3.0) unfortunately doesn't extend into his last album Dear Heather of 2004 (aside from The Letters), but it fills in gaps with songs from the 70s, including Death of a Ladies' Man.

But as an overview of a career which defies easy analysis, these are useful primers. And of course he sounds like no one other than himself. And no one sounds "Cohenesque".

*Leonard Cohen plays the Vector Arena on October 28 and 29. Tickets are still available for the first night.

-TimeOut

Discover more

Entertainment

<i>Review:</i> Leonard Cohen at Vector Arena

22 Jan 08:16 PM
Entertainment

Leonard Cohen returning to New Zealand

26 May 04:00 AM
Entertainment

Leonard Cohen to play second Auckland concert

16 Jun 10:37 PM
Entertainment

'Upfront' show on Diamond's mind

24 Oct 04:30 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Entertainment

Entertainment

Watch: Lorde treats fans to special pop-up show

28 May 08:42 AM
Premium
Entertainment

As George Lucas’ $1b ‘Starship’ museum nears landing, he takes the controls

28 May 02:52 AM
Entertainment

'I haven't got long to live': Miriam Margolyes on health struggles and fears

27 May 11:00 PM

Sponsored: Cosy up to colour all year

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
Russia to present peace terms to Ukraine at Istanbul talks
World

Russia to present peace terms to Ukraine at Istanbul talks

28 May 06:42 PM
Pedestrian dies after being hit by car in Christchurch
New Zealand

Pedestrian dies after being hit by car in Christchurch

28 May 06:36 PM
100km/h wind gusts: Rain, thunderstorms forecast for Auckland, Northland
New Zealand

100km/h wind gusts: Rain, thunderstorms forecast for Auckland, Northland

28 May 06:22 PM
Dozens of charges: Tate brothers face serious UK allegations
World

Dozens of charges: Tate brothers face serious UK allegations

28 May 06:11 PM
Netanyahu claims key Hamas leader killed
World

Netanyahu claims key Hamas leader killed

28 May 06:07 PM

Latest from Entertainment

Watch: Lorde treats fans to special pop-up show

Watch: Lorde treats fans to special pop-up show

28 May 08:42 AM

'Auckland I wanna play you something.. Meet me in the city tonight?'

Premium
As George Lucas’ $1b ‘Starship’ museum nears landing, he takes the controls

As George Lucas’ $1b ‘Starship’ museum nears landing, he takes the controls

28 May 02:52 AM
'I haven't got long to live': Miriam Margolyes on health struggles and fears

'I haven't got long to live': Miriam Margolyes on health struggles and fears

27 May 11:00 PM
HBO's Harry Potter series reveals main cast, filming starts soon

HBO's Harry Potter series reveals main cast, filming starts soon

27 May 10:46 PM
Sponsored: Into the woods - the new biophilic design
sponsored

Sponsored: Into the woods - the new biophilic design

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search