Eight years after his death, Leonard Cohen, Canada’s beloved singer and poet, continues to be celebrated through his teachings about love, art, and beauty.
Jewish-Canadian musician Leonard Cohen’s poetic voice has enchanted listeners since his first song was released in 1956. He’s the mind behind many famous songs and ballads including “Hallelujah,” “So Long, Marianne,” and “Suzanne.” Cohen beckoned the attention of writers, commentators, and musicians with a successful musical career spanning over six decades.
The widespread celebration of Cohen’s talents, life, and legacy is embodied in the new HBO Max show So Long, Marianne, which premiered on Crave on Sept. 22.
The new series, inspired by Leonard Cohen’s iconic song, delves into the ionate and poignant romance between the legendary singer-songwriter, played by Alex Wolff, and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen, reimagined by Thea Sofie Loch Naess. The two meet on the Greek island of Hydra, before Cohen rises to fame, each struggling to find their place in the world.
The show centres around Cohen’s romantic relationship with Ihlen, who later became the subject of his 1967 song “So Long, Marianne.” The song seems to capture the perfect mix of grief, desire, and gratitude for the moments you’ve shared with another.
The show’s a reminder of the way Cohen’s insightful and powerful lyrics continue to inspire future minds. Boygenius, a successful contemporary indie band, composed of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker, wrote a song called “Leonard Cohen” built around his famous lyrics from the 1992 song “Anthem.” The lyrics go, “There’s a crack, a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” Through these words, Cohen teaches listeners of the inherent beauty and goodness within imperfections.
Rolling Stone called Cohen “a poet of brokenness” because in many of his songs, he calls upon feelings of despair or being severed as in two of his most famous songs, “Suzanne,” and “Hallelujah.” Cohen openly struggled with depression most of his life, which is depicted throughout So Long, Marianne.
But Cohen never gave into the darkness inside of him. Instead, he churned his intense feelings into beautiful messages about embracing love and light, as skillfully portrayed and sung in “Anthem.”
Throughout his life, Cohen carried with him the heavy spirit of a writer and poet. That literary voice is strong in his songwriting. He illustrates to listeners the interconnectedness of art, and how poetry and music fit into one another.
Cohen’s legacy also lives on outside of So Long, Marianne.
As Cohen was born in Montreal, the French-Canadian city has a special love for the singer. In 2019, Canada Post released three new Leonard Cohen stamps to honour what would’ve been his 85th birthday.
In 2019, Musee D’Art Contemporain De Montreal (MAC) launched a virtual exhibition called Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything which explores predominant themes from his poetry and connects them to contemporary art. Montreal is also home to an incredibly large mural of Cohen on the side of a 22-story skyscraper.
During a trip to Montreal with my mom in the final year of high school, we stood together, taking in the vast mural before retreating to our cozy boutique hotel room. There, we sipped flat champagne from plastic cups, letting Leonard Cohen’s haunting melodies fill the space. It was that night, bathed in the warmth of the city and shared memories, where I fell completely in love with his music.
Cohen reminds listeners of the importance of human relationships and the lasting impact that we have on one another. Cohen speaks of relationships that brought him both sadness, and beauty, and those relationships turned into his life muses, forming the heart of his art.
Cohen’s music etches love into our souls, leaving an indelible mark. His songwriting connects deeply, stirring emotions in listeners worldwide since the late 1950s. As So Long, Marianne reveals, even after his death, there’s still much to learn from Cohen’s legacy.
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