I was saddened by the news that Leonard Cohen had passed away recently. I also felt a little guilty because I hadn't even thought of him in a very long time. But his music was some of the first really high quality music that I had fallen in love with. The ability to write words that would move you if they were simply read aloud was enhanced by setting them to music. These were songs that you wanted to listen to. These were songs that you wanted to sing.
There were a small handful of songwriters in the early sixties that I still think of today. Cohen, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs are at the top of my list. Later came Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell. My personal folk heroes. Because of them I decided I wanted to be a songwriter. After several years of trying I realized that my reach exceeded my grasp. I would never write songs that could compare. That may be the nature of "genius". To make it look easy and obvious to those of us who can't do it. But these guys could write about tepid tap water and make it interesting.
I was once asked in a radio interview what I thought the best kind of music is. I think she was trying to trap me into saying something controversial but I simply said, "The best music in the world is the music that you went to high school with. It was the sound track behind all of the profound 'firsts' in your life between the ages of 13 and 18." So I don't want to say that my music is better than your music. Such comparisons are inevitably unfair as our "best of the best" are typically compared to your "worst of the worst".
But I have noticed over the years that music in the sixties was usually (though not always) far more literary. I don't mean that as a criticism of todays artists. The audiences back then came to expect that level of writing. Todays audiences seem to want more razzle-dazzle. The shows back then were smaller and more intimate. Today the shows are much bigger and have a circus element. I think P.T. Barnum would feel right at home.
Back then Cohen wrote those amazing words and music to "Suzanne" all by himself. Such things were fairly uncommon even then. At the same time that Cohen, Dylan, et al were beginning their careers, the business was dominated by teams of songwriters and producers giving us "Tall Paul" and "Kookie, Kookie, Lend me your Comb." It was all about the money for these companies, just as it is today.
Just as folk music disrupted the pop music business back then, perhaps something similar can happen today. The social climate is ripe for the type of criticism that folk music is known for. And instead of popping up on college campuses perhaps YouTube videos and live webcast concerts will be the new venues.
But for now Leonard Cohen is dead. I can only hope that his music will continue to live and enthrall future generations. Sing "Halleluia".