En los anales de la música y la literatura, pocos nombres resuenan con la intensidad y profundidad de Leonard Cohen. Con una carrera que abarcó más de cinco décadas, este polifacético artista dejó una huella imborrable en la cultura contemporánea. A lo largo de su vida, Cohen fue poeta, novelista, cantante y compositor, y en cada una de estas facetas brilló con una luz propia y singular.
Leonard Norman Cohen nació el 21 de septiembre de 1934 en Westmount, Quebec, una ciudad cerca de Montreal, Canadá. Descendiente de inmigrantes judíos de Polonia y Lituania, Leonard creció en un ambiente que valoraba tanto las tradiciones religiosas como las artísticas. Su padre falleció cuando él tenía apenas nueve años, una pérdida que marcaría profundamente su vida y obra.
Desde una temprana edad, Cohen mostró un interés particular por la literatura. Durante su adolescencia, se sumergió en las obras de poetas como Federico García Lorca y Walt Whitman, cuya influencia sería evidente en sus propias composiciones. Estudió en la Universidad McGill, donde comenzó a desarrollar su propia voz poética y publicó su primer libro de poemas, Let Us Compare Mythologies, en 1956.
Antes de conquistar el mundo de la música, Cohen ya era un poeta y novelista reconocido. En 1961, lanzó su segundo libro de poesía, The Spice-Box of Earth, que le proporcionó una reputación nacional como escritor. Le siguieron dos novelas: The Favourite Game (1963) y Beautiful Losers (1966). Esta última, con su
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It's not the wind that keeps you up,
It's not the snow
It's not the moon
coming like a headlight
through your window
It's not the thumbnail of a screen
That scrapes away your dream
It's just this man,
Taking what he needs,
From the store room,
It's not the news of burning towns
That ruins your mind
like a spoon you turn and you turn
But it won't unwind
Though these wars you did not start
They don't tear your sleep apart
It's just a man,
Taking what he needs,
From the store room,
And now this woman by your side
Well she's is asleep
And there's nothing you can give her,
and there's nothing you want to keep
You don't even try to prove that the noise is
neighbours making love.
It's just a man,
Taking what he needs,
From the store room,
Well go to sleep and change the locks
When you wake up
Share your toast maybe
spill some coffee from your cup
Oh there's nothing left to choose
And there is so much more to loose.
There's this man,
Taking what he needs,
From the store room,
It's not the wind that keeps you up,
It's not the snow
It's not the moon
coming like a headlight
through your window
It's not the thumbnail of a screen
That scrapes away your dream
It's just a man,
Taking what he needs,
From the store room,
It's not the news of burning towns
That ruins your mind
like a spoon you turn and you turn
But won't unwind
No these wars you did not start
They don't tear your sleep apart
It's just a man,
Taking what he needs,
From the store room,
And now the woman by your side
Well she's awake
But there's nothing you can give her,
and there's nothing you want to take
You don't even try to prove that the noise is
neighbours making love.
It's just a man,
Taking what he needs,
From the store room,
Oh go to sleep and change the locks
When you wake up
Share your toast maybe
spill a little coffee from your cup
He's got nothing left to choose
And you've got so much more to loose.
It's just a man,
Taking what he needs,
From the store room,