We are ugly, but we have the music
after hearing this interview today I'm upset I am going to miss the concert on Sunday.
Titles
I had the title "poet"
And maybe I was one for a while
Also the title "singer" was kindly accorded me
Even though I could barely carry a tune
For many years I was known as a monk
I shaved my head and wore robes and got up very early
I hated everyone but acted generously and no one found me out
My reputation as a ladies' man was a joke
It caused me to laugh bitterly through the ten thousand nights I spent alone
From a third story window above the Park du Portugal
I watched the snow come down all day
As usual there's no one here- there never is
Mercifully the inner conversation is cancelled by the white noise of winter
I am neither the mind, nor the intellect, nor the silent voice within- that's also cancelled.
And now, gentle reader, in what name, in who's name do you come to idle with me
In these luxurious and dwindling realms of endless privacy?
~ Leonard Cohen, transcribed from an interview, so apologies if I erred in the arrangement