farmdoc's blog post number 245

I reckon it was in 1973. Sweetheart Vivienne, darling Kate and I were living in Finchley in North London, and I was studying statistics and epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. We attended a Judy Collins concert. I don’t remember where it was held, or any of the songs she sang. Bar one: ‘Suzanne’. I thought it was one of the most beautiful songs I’d ever heard. I soon learnt that ‘Suzanne’ had been written by the Canadian poet Leonard Cohen. And so began my love affair with Cohen’s work – admittedly his music more than his poetry – which has spanned 35 years. So far. I’ve been thinking of my other favourite Cohen songs. I’ve decided on ‘Bird on a Wire’, ‘Hallelujah’ and ‘The Future’. I think the man’s a genius. His singing voice is unusual. Arguably even droll. But it suits his words perfectly. And in turn his words suit his music perfectly. Each one of his songs is exquisite. A week ago this Age article announced that Cohen will be in Australia a month from now: ‘…bad things sometimes happen to great people and in 2005 Cohen discovered that his entire fortune had been stolen by his former manager, which has forced him to undertake a world tour to recoup his losses’. He’s now 74-years-old.