Leonard Cohen Facts

There are other good lines in Anthem, aside from the crack in everything, such as,

"while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud. "

It is Christian to say your prayers in private(Matthew6:5-6), so this line highlights the fact that those in 'high places' or positions of power in the world are acting in a hypercritical way when they pray out loud to be seen as righteous people.

"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering "

Spread the truth now, and not to worry to first become perfect. If we wait for perfection we will never get round to it.




The line "a crack in everything" comes from a book by Jack Kornfield on Buddhism. The story is that a young man who had lost his leg came to a buddhist monastary thing, and he was extremely angry at life, and always drew these pictures of cracked vases and damaged thing, because he felt damaged. Over time, he found inner peace, and changed his outllook, but still drew broken vases. His master asked him one day: "Why do you still draw a crack in the vases you draw, are you not whole?" And he replied
"yes, and so are the vases. The crack is how the light gets in"




Leonard Norman Cohen, CC, GOQ (born 21 September 1934) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships. Famously reclusive,[2] having once spent several years in a Zen Buddhist monastery, and possessing a persona frequently associated with mystique,[3][4] he is extremely well regarded by critics for his literary accomplishments, for the richness of his lyrics, and for producing an output of work of high artistic quality over a five-decade career.[5][6][7]

Musically, Cohen's earliest songs (many of which appeared on the 1967 album, Songs of Leonard Cohen) were rooted in European folk music.[8] In the 1970s, his material encompassed pop, cabaret and world music. Since the 1980s, his high baritone voice has dipped into lower registers (bass baritone and bass), with accompaniment from a wide variety of instruments and female backup singers.Over 2000 renditions of Cohen's songs have been recorded. Cohen has been inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. While giving the speech at Cohen's induction into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 10 March 2008,Lou Reed described Cohen as belonging to the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters."[9]




Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Cohen