According to Genius, the lyrics to the Future go:

"And now the wheels of Heaven stop, you feel the Devil's riding crop"

Those lyrics make sense and rhyme, but no matter how hard I listen, I just hear "you feel the devils writhe and crawl".

What do you think? Is there any source that can deliver a final judgement on the matter?

Very curious to hear about how he created his work. Lots of obsessive rewrites for his lyrics I’m aware, but the music and chord progressions itself. Was he a sit down and play around type of guy. He obviously knew some theory knowledge with ‘the fourth the fifth, minor fall and major lift’

From Aviva Layton:

At the time I was working as Literary Director of the Los Angeles Children’s Theatre and we had just installed a fax, as had Leonard. Leonard and I used to fax each other frequently with Leonard asking me if I was “standing by my post” and signing himself as “Field Commander Cohen.” This artwork is based on a “selfie” Polaroid that is housed in the archives of the Leonard Cohen Family Trust. This work was later scanned into Leonard’s Mac computer and became a piece of artwork that appears in his 2006 publication Book of Longing. Leonard sent this to me personally some fourteen years ahead of his decision to include it in Book of Longing.

And you want to travel with her

And you want to travel blind

And you know that she will trust you

For you've touched her perfect body with your mind

His gift at the top is a framed photo that hung in our favorite record store and I always commented that I wanted it so much, because I mean, look at him. (He didn't steal it but purchased it off of the shop owner)

I commissioned an Etsy artist for the handwritten sheet music of "Dance Me to the End of Love" (Leonard is important to the story of our first meeting)

Maybe this is corny but I wanted to share. This exchange of gifts is easily the best I've ever experienced.

I recently covered one of my favourite Leonard Cohen tunes. He’s always been a towering influence on me (pun intended) Songs from a Room was the soundtrack to my early 20s when I lived in Montreal. His music will always be synonymous with that city to me. A small tribute. 🍷

If anyone was interested to hear, the song can be found anywhere you find your music - artist name is Jdeebird.

Would love to know anyone’s thoughts on the cover 🙏

What do you think ?

Not your favourite! Just the one where the lyrics are the best. I’ve thought long about this and I think Avalanche is up there. Fucking full to the brim of lyrics only he could write. Last Years Man too.

Obviously there are songs with great one liner lyrics, but I’m mainly asking for songs that are stunning all the way through.

I remember watching a film many years ago starring Christian Slater called Pump Up The Volume, Leonard Cohen is featured a few times on the soundtrack, once I heard If It Be Your Will I was hooked.

A few of these songs (Chelsea Hotel, Who by fire, and Is this what you wanted) I’ve known for a while but I decided to give the full album a listen front to back

1. Chelsea Hotel 10.0
   
2. Take this longing 9.8
   
3. Who by fire 9.1
   
4. There Is A War 8.7
   
5. A Singer Must Die 8.2
   
6. Why Don’t You Try 7.9
   
7. Lover Lover Lover 7.8
   
8. I Tried To Leave You 7.6
   
9. Is this what you wanted 7.5
   
10. Leaving Green Sleeves 6.7
    
11. Field Commander Cohen 6.1

You can for sure tell he’s getting more experimental than his previous work which sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t. I’m all for pushing creative boundaries but for him I’ve tended to like the more stripped down and less busy songs. “Take this longing” was one of the best first listens I’ve had of a song in a while and Chelsea Hotel remains one of my favorite songs in the entire folk genre. LMK your thoughts on this album and rating

So, I was helplessly trying to find some lost footage of the BBC In Concert series and ended up learning about this 1968 Leonard’s TV special and also couldn’t find it anywhere - even though there are some indications that this given footage still exists. There’s even an IMDb page for it. Anyone knows anything about this?

I played Famous Blue Raincoat on my radio show this morning. If you want to hear it, plus the rest of the show, click here: https://www.mixcloud.com/CIDeMann/six-degrees-of-rockination-11-july-2026/

Death of a Ladies' Man Review

Hey guys so almost a year ago I wrote a little essay about "Songs of Leonard Cohen", and it was received favourably here, and I finally found some time to write one about his most controversial album, which I think deserved a critical re-examination. Please lemme know what you think, I'm always up for album discussions!

Leonard Cohen’s Family Announces First Official Tribute Tour — A Decade After His Passing

Ten years on, Leonard Cohen’s songs are returning to the stage in “Everybody Knows.” Sung by his son Adam Cohen and, for the first time, his grandson, “Everybody Knows” is the first official, family-produced tribute tour since the 2017 memorial celebration at Montreal’s Bell Centre, where Lana Del Rey, Feist, Damien Rice, Courtney Love and The Lumineers gathered to honor him.

Created and led by Adam Cohen, the production pairs Leonard Cohen’s most enduring songs with curated archival photography and film. The tour begins in Canada in November 2026 before continuing into Europe in early 2027. Adam will be joined onstage by his son — Leonard’s grandson — with additional special guests to be announced closer to the date. Visual design is by Moment Factory, the Montreal-based studio behind stage productions for Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Madonna.

Leonard's backing band on those final tours was incredible. Very tasteful musicians, excellent backup vocals, etc.

Feels like a shame for them having to stop doing something great, that made people happy.

Has there ever been a discussion of them touring, playing his music with, say, different artists singing?

I know I’m missing some essential ones, especially my favorite album of all time: Isle of Wight 1970, but alas it’s too expensive.

And the Field Commander Cohen album is❤️

I’ve read I’m Your Man by Sylvie Simmons but I still wish I knew more about the mundane details of Leonard’s life: what he ate for breakfast, whether he wrote at home or in cafes, how he decorated his house.