BRENDAN SHEA, PhD, teaches philosophy at Rochester Community and Technical College. He has published articles on the history and philosophy of science, ethics, and the philosophy of popular culture. Somewhat embarrassingly, he first learned who Leonard Cohen was when watching the 1990 Christian Slater film, Pump Up the Volume.
PETER STONE is Ussher Assistant Professor of Political Science at Trinity College Dublin. He received his PhD from the University of Rochester in 2000. He has previously taught at Stanford University and held a Faculty Fellowship at Tulane University’s Center for Ethics and Public Affairs. Much of his research concerns the contributions that random selection can make to democracy and justice. He is the author of The Luck of the Draw: The Role of Lotteries in Decision Making (Oxford University Press, 2011) and the editor of Lotteries in Public Life: A Reader (Imprint Academic, 2011). He has also published articles in such journals as the Journal of Political Philosophy, the Journal of Theoretical Politics, Political Theory, Rationality and Society, and Social Theory and Practice. Last time he checked, his friends were not gone, and his hair wasn’t grey.
LISA WARENSKI, PhD, is a philosopher who works primarily in epistemology, metaphysics, and the general philosophy of science. She teaches at City College and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Lisa is a former dancer and choreographer. Lisa first heard the song “Suzanne” one night at the age of thirteen when she was drifting off to sleep. She didn’t hear it again, but never forgot it, until some years later after the performance of a duet that she choreographed. One of her dancers then played Songs of Leonard Cohen for her for the first time, and she has been gripped by “Suzanne” ever since. She knows that she’s half crazy. (But that’s why you want to be there.)
BERNARD WILLS is Professor of Humanities at Grenfell Campus Memorial University in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. He has a doctorate in Religious Studies from McMaster University and a Master’s in Classics from Dalhousie University. He hails from Cape Breton Island, Canada though he has spent well over a decade in Newfoundland. He is of such an age as to recall enjoying Leonard Cohen on his mother’s eight-track cassette player. In spite of this he continues to root among the garbage and the flowers of contemporary culture turning up scholarly papers, essays, and poems as he goes.
EDWARD WINTERS studied painting at The Slade School of Fine Art before reading philosophy, taking his doctorate in philosophy at University College London. He has published widely in aesthetics and art criticism. He was co-director of History and Theory in the School of Architecture at University of Westminster and was head of fine art graduate programs at West Dean College. He has also taught history and philosophy of art at University of Kent. His latest book, Aesthetics and Architecture, is published by Continuum. As a result of a residency in southern Spain, he is currently working on a philosophical travelogue in conjunction with a series of fine art prints, entitled, Málaga Suite. He regrets having played the favorite game so carelessly, but is grateful for a life in bars, where he fought against the bottle in the graceful company of beautiful losers.
Index
Aaron (biblical), 19
Abraham (biblical), 22–23
Abu Ghraib, 222
Adorno, Theodor W., 155, 162
Aeschylus
Agamemnon, 213
aesthetics, best explanation in, 149
afterlife, question of, 228
agape, 111, 223
Airplane! (film), 32
Alexander, Jeffrey, 162–63
Alexander the Great, 6
Altman, Robert, 32
ambiguity, 126
ambivalence, 125
Amos, Tori
“Raincoat,” 69
Strange Little Girls, 69
Anaximander, 133
The Answer, critique of idea of, 19, 22
Antichrist, 41
apocalypse, 46
apokalypsis, 46
Apollo, 79, 80
Aquinas, Thomas, 234
Arendt, Hannah, 134, 162
Eichmann in Jerusalem, 161, 164
Aristotle, 30, 108, 117, 195
art, Apollonian versus
Dionysian, 80
asceticism, 173–74
askesis, 217
Auden, W. H., 25
Aufhebung, 134
Augustine, Saint, 40, 128
Aurelius, Marcus, 6, 43
auteur theory, xi
Bach, J. S., 80
Badham, John, 32
Badhwar, Neera K., 108, 109
banality of evil, 161–62
Barbour, Douglas, 149
Bauman, Zygmunt, 164
Beatlemania, 207
Beatles
“She Loves You,” 134
Beaudelaire, Charles, 239
Beauvoir, Simone de, 126, 129
The Ethics of Ambiguity, 126
The Second Sex, 131
Benjamin, Jessica, 107
Berlin, Irving, 40
“Always,” 51
Berry, Chuck, x
Bieber, Justin, 25
biological essentialists, 35
Bird on a Wire (film), 32
Bizet, Georges
Carmen, 83
“black romanticism” (Scobie), 239
Blake, William
“The Garden of Love,” 150
Blakley, Ronee, 62
Bloom, Harold
The Anxiety of Influence, 221
body, as shaping mind, 102–3
Bogart, Humphrey, 244
The Book of Revelation (biblical), 237. See also John the Apostle: Apocalypse
Boucher, David
Dylan and Cohen, 57
Brel, Jacques, 57
Brod, Harry
“Jewish Men,” 33
Bronner, Ethan, 226
Bruno, Giordano, 159
Buckley, Jeff, 24, 67, 73, 132, 242, 245
Buddha, 174
Buddhism, and compassion, 239–40
Burke, Alexandra, 72, 74, 251
Butler, Judith, 37
Gender Trouble, 36
Cale, John, 24, 72, 132, 242, 244
Callas, Maria, 57
Camus, Albert, 21, 32
on absurdity, 18–20
The Myth of Sisyphus, 17–18, 20
resignation in, 19–20
Canadian history, 146–47
Carroll, Jim, ix
Carson, Anne, 39
Cash, Johnny, 67
Catherine of Alexandria, 13
Catullus, 203
Cave, Nick, 78
“The Secret Life of the Love Song” (lecture), 75
Chagall, Marc, 217
chansonnier, 57–58
Cheese, Richard, 73
Lounge Against the Machine, 73
Christgau, Robert, 62
Christianity, and compassion, 239
chronos, 43, 44
Cicero, 3
classical theory of concepts, 118
The Cloud of Unknowing, 231, 234–35, 238, 239
Coates, Susan W., 106–7
Cohen, Leonard
as acquired taste, 61
affirmation/negation in, 236
on afterlife, 228–29
“Ain’t No Cure for Love,” 93, 206, 211
“All There Is to Know about Adolf Eichmann” (poem), 162
“Always” (cover song), 51
ambiguity in, 127
ambivalence in, 73, 125
“Anthem,” 16, 22, 47–50, 96, 172, 213
authenticity in, 120–21, 149–50
“Avalanche,” 206
“Ballad of the Absent Mare,” 34, 205, 209, 236
Beautiful Losers (novel), 109, 139, 141–45, 220
Best Reading of, 140
Canadian context of, 143, 145–48, 150–53
Obscenity Reading of, 139
Poetical Reading of, 140, 143
Political Reading of, 146–48, 150–51, 153
Psychological Reading of, 144
Religious Reading
of, 150
Sexual Reading of, 149–50
“Because Of,” 28
“Be for Real,” 44, 46
“Beneath My Hands,” 109
The Best of Leonard Cohen (album), 64
as Biblical prophet, 217
“Bird on the Wire,” 31, 206, 211
Book of Longing (poems), 222, 223, 228–29
Book of Mercy (poems), 24–25, 221, 225
“Born in Chains,” 221
brokenness in, 24–25, 220
and Buddhism, 172, 217–19, 231, 233, 239
“The Butcher,” 206
“Came So Far for Beauty,” 34, 114–15
“Un Canadien Errant” (cover song), 235
“The Captain,” 35
changing lyrics of, 69
“Chelsea Hotel,” 2, 4, 32, 68, 116, 209, 222
“Closing Time,” 40, 50, 89, 93, 171, 206
Cohen Live (album), 69
collapse of irony in, 98–99
“Come Healing,” 222, 223
and compassion, 239
“A Concert for Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Peace,” 226
“crack in the wall” lyric, 49–50
cracks of light in, 16, 48
“Crazy to Love You,” 223
cynicism in, 99
“Dance Me to the End of Love,” 81, 129
darkness/light in, 15–16, 25, 175
dark space in, 186
Dear Heather (album), 56, 182, 184
death in, 134–35
“Death of a Ladies’ Man,” 116
“Democracy,” 5, 21, 22, 40, 49–50, 93, 95, 220
distance/immediacy in, 96, 98, 113, 116
divine disconsolation in, 220
“Don’t Go Home with Your Hard-on,” 35
dreamers/men of action in, 115
“Dress Rehearsal Rag,” 206
embezzlement from, 227
embodied metaphors in, 205–7
emotion in, 204
epistemic humility in, 218–20
“Everybody Knows,” 5, 34, 94, 96, 121, 213, 220
existentialism in, 25
“Famous Blue Raincoat,” 8–10, 29, 67–69, 115, 116, 119, 211
The Favourite Game (novel), 76, 79, 84, 109, 144, 185
femininity in, 27
“Field Commander Cohen,” 31, 205
in film soundtrack, 31
“Fingerprints,” 210
“First We Take Manhattan,” 45
Flowers for Hitler (poems), 155–56, 162–63
as gnostic, 165
normality in, 158–59, 165
radio and phone in, 163–64
symbolism in, 156–57, 163–64
The Future (album), 16, 18, 21, 40, 46, 47, 49, 50, 55, 171
“The Future,” 20, 21, 33, 41, 42, 94, 168, 172, 221
future as apocalyptic in, 40–41
on gender relations, 28
“Going Home,” 29, 67, 121, 228
“golden voice” lyric, interpretations of, 65–68, 71
“The Great Event,” 45
“The Guests,” 36, 205, 236
“The Gypsy’s Wife,” 203
“Hallelujah,” 6, 22, 24, 69, 72–73, 96, 115, 122, 123, 125, 127, 129, 130, 209, 220, 222, 223, 245–51
and “Amazing Grace,” 251
ambiguity of, 248–51
biblical references in, 249
covers of, 72–74, 242
as heretical, 250
as meme, 244–45, 251–52
as religious, 249–51
as secular, 248–49
healing in, 220
“Heart with No Companion,” 34, 206
“Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye,” 6–7, 31, 171, 207, 222
high and popular art in, x–xi
and Hinduism, 217
“Humbled in Love,” 206, 209
I Am a Hotel (film), 203
“I Can’t Forget,” 121
iconography of, 232
“If It Be Your Will,” 6
immanence/transcendence in, 233
imperfection and intimacy in, 96, 99
I’m Your Man (album), 35
“I’m Your Man,” 206
infatuation in, 209
“In My Secret Life,” 122, 205, 208
“Iodine,” 206, 210
irony in, 33–34, 42, 93–95, 98–100, 113
and Islam, 224–26
and Israel, 225–26
“Is This What You Wanted,” 33
“I Tried to Leave You,” 209
jealousy in, 210
Jesus in, 220, 232
“Jewish Men,” 34
“Joan of Arc,” 12
and Judaism, 172
and Judeo-Christianity, 217–21, 231–33
Juno award, 55
“The Land of Plenty,” 205, 213
“Last Year’s Man,” 37, 206
“The Law,” 221
“Leaving Green Sleeves,” 211
Let Us Compare Mythologies (poems), 167
“Light as the Breeze,” 46, 114, 206, 222
“Love Calls You by Your Name,” 206
love in, 97–98, 209–10
“Love Itself,” 171, 219, 228
“Lover Lover Lover” 34, 225
masculinities in, 27–29, 31, 32, 35–37
“Master Song” 34, 115–16
“Memories,” 35, 203, 206
in Miami Vice, 31
mind-body complexity in, 214
monastic life, 171–72
nakedness in, 46–47
“Night Comes On,” 114, 171
and nothingness, 239–40
Old Ideas (album), 39, 56, 67
Old Testament in, 34
“On That Day,” 213
“The Order of the Unified Heart” (symbolic order), 223
“Our Lady of Solitude,” 114
“Our Lady of the Torah”
(poem), 221
“Paper Thin Hotel,” 206, 210, 214
paradoxes of, x–xi
“The Partisan,” 34
persona of, 40, 42, 67, 68
as philosophical, 3
as poet, ix
as pop star–poet, ix–xi
Prince of Asturia Award for Literature, 82
as prophet, 217, 229
prophetic persona of, 40, 42
rabbinical heritage of, 172, 218
Recent Songs (album), ix, 56, 231–33, 235, 236, 238, 240
review criticism of, 59–60
romantic love in, 117, 120, 122, 222–23
sacred and profane in, 222
and self-deception, 113, 116–17
self-interest in, and misogyny, 129
sexy irony in, 93–96
“Sing Another Song, Boys,” 61
as singer, 55–56
“A Singer Must Die,” 4, 168, 211
as singer-songwriter, 57–58
“Sisters of Mercy,” 210
“The Smokey Life,” 206
as Socratic, 5
“So Long, Marianne,” 170, 209
Songs of Leonard Cohen (album), 56, 75
Songs of Love and Hate (album), 68
Spanish influence on, 82
spiritualization of love in, 113–14, 121–22, 130–31
cost of, 115–16
stereotype of, 15
on stereotypes, 33–34
as Stoical, 6–7
“Stories of the Street,” 61
“Story of Isaac,” 22, 34, 206, 221, 225
Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs, 172
“The Stranger Song,” 37, 115
and surrealism, 157
“Suzanne,” 67, 93, 101, 110–11, 129, 130–31, 191–92, 199–201, 203, 209, 220, 221, 232, 241
body-perfect in, 110–11
covers of, 127–28
as teleological, 197
“Tacoma Trailer,” 51
“Take This Longing,” 106
“Take T
his Waltz,” 171
“Teachers,” 205, 206, 210
Ten New Songs (album), 56
“There Is a War,” 29, 81, 209
“A Thousand Kisses Deep,” 10–11
time in, 40, 43–46, 49, 51
apocalyptic, 41–42
and beginnings, 47–48
and waiting, 43–45
“Tonight Will Be Fine,” 207
“Tower of Song,” 55, 65–66, 71, 74, 98–99, 121, 170, 211
“The Traitor,” 114, 116, 206
transcendental approach of, 117–19, 122
Various Positions (album), 24, 56, 238, 242, 249
“Villanelle for Our Time,” 206, 210
as vocal stylist, 57
voice quality of, 62–63
“Waiting for the Miracle,” 18, 19, 40, 43–45, 47
and war, 225
“Who by Fire,” 108, 132–34, 135, 220
“Why Don’t You Try,” 209
“The Window,” 205, 219, 231, 237
“Winter Lady,” 31
“Wishing Window,” 206
and women, 170 projections on, 129–30
“women, song, religion” in, 39, 46
“You Do Not Have to Love Me,” 116
“You Have Loved Enough,” 206
“You Know Who I Am,” 235
Collins, Judy, 67
In My Life, 127
consciousness, 198–99
and embodiment, 198
and teleology, 200
“conversational maxims,” 71
Crumb, Robert, 233
cultural evolution, 243
the Dæmonic, 83
Dante Alighieri, 233
“dark space” (Minkowski), 184
Darwin, Charles, 204
The Origin of Species, 242–43
Davidson, Donald, 119
Dawkins, Richard, 245, 252
The Selfish Gene, 243
“dead letter,” 237–38
death, Epicurean view of, 11–12
death wish, 185
DeCurtis, Anthony, 62
“deep song,” 82, 84
Deigh, John
“Primitive Emotions,” 207
Del Rey, Lana, 67
democracy/individual conflict, 4–5
Democritus, 11
De Mornay, Rebecca, 44, 170, 223
Dennett, Daniel, 245–48, 251, 252
Breaking the Spell, 245
Derrida, Jacques, 49, 125, 134
Descartes, René, 125, 193
de Sousa, Ronald, 212, 214
The Rationality of Emotion, 210
Dharma, 218
The Diary of Anne Frank
(play), 160
Dickens, Charles, 227
Dickinson, Emily, 168
Diefenbaker, John, 146
DiFranco, Ani, x
Dionysian magic, 80
Dionysius the Areopagite, 236
Mystical Theology, 234
Dionysus, 80, 127