Cohen pursued a career as a poet and novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s; he did not launch a music career until 1967, at the age of 33. His first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967), was followed by three more albums of folk music: Songs from a Room (1969), Songs of Love and Hate (1971) and New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974). His 1977 record Death of a Ladies' Man, co-written and produced by Phil Spector, was a move away from Cohen's previous minimalist sound. In 1979, Cohen returned with the more traditional Recent Songs, which blended his acoustic style with jazz, Oriental, and Mediterranean influences. Perhaps Cohen's most famous song, "Hallelujah", was first released on his studio album Various Positions in 1984. I'm Your Man in 1988 marked Cohen's turn to synthesized productions and remains his most popular album. In 1992, Cohen released its follow-up, The Future, which had dark lyrics and references to political and social unrest.
Cohen returned to music in 2001 with the release of Ten New Songs, which was a major hit in Canada and Europe. His 11th album, Dear Heather, followed in 2004. Following a successful string of tours between 2008 and 2013, Cohen released three albums in the final four years of his life: Old Ideas (2012), Popular Problems (2014) and You Want It Darker (2016), the last of which was released three weeks before his death.
Leonard Cohen was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Westmount, Quebec, on September 21, 1934. His Lithuanian mother, Marsha Klonitsky ("Masha"; 1905–1978), was the daughter of a Talmudic writer, Rabbi Solomon Klonitsky-Kline, and emigrated to Canada in 1927. His paternal grandfather, whose family had moved from Poland to Canada, was Lyon Cohen, the founding president of the Canadian Jewish Congress. His father, Nathan Bernard Cohen (1891–1943), who owned a substantial clothing store, died when Cohen was nine years old. The family observed Orthodox Judaism, and belonged to Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, to which Cohen retained connections for the rest of his life. On the topic of being a Kohen, Cohen told Richard Goldstein in 1967, "I had a very Messianic childhood. I was told I was a descendant of Aaron, the high priest."
Cohen attended Roslyn Elementary School and completed grades seven through nine at Herzliah High School, where his literary mentor Irving Layton taught, then transferred in 1948 to Westmount High School, where he studied music and poetry. He became especially interested in the poetry of Federico García Lorca. Cohen involved himself actively beyond Westmount's curriculum, in photography, on the yearbook staff, as a cheerleader, in the arts and current events clubs, and even served in the position of president of the Students' Council while "heavily involved in the school's theater program". During that time, Cohen taught himself to play the acoustic guitar, and formed a country–folk group that he called the Buckskin Boys. After a young Spanish guitar player taught him "a few chords and some flamenco", Cohen switched to a classical guitar. He has attributed his love of music to his mother, who sang songs around the house: "I know that those changes, those melodies, touched me very much. She would sing with us when I took my guitar to a restaurant with some friends; my mother would come, and we'd often sing all night.
Cohen frequented Saint Laurent Boulevard for fun and ate at such places as the Main Deli Steak House. According to journalist David Sax, Cohen and one of his cousins would go to the Main Deli to "watch the gangsters, pimps, and wrestlers dance around the night". Cohen enjoyed the formerly raucous bars of Old Montreal as well as Saint Joseph's Oratory, which had the restaurant nearest to Westmount, for him and his friend Mort Rosengarten to share coffee and cigarettes. When Cohen left Westmount, he purchased a place on Saint-Laurent Boulevard, in the previously working-class neighbourhood of Little Portugal. He would read his poetry at assorted nearby clubs. In that period and that place, Cohen wrote the lyrics to some of his most famous songs.
Banjo
Leonard Cohen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Means a lot to me
There’s something that I’m watching
Means a lot to me
It’s a broken banjo bobbing
On the dark infested sea
It’s a broken banjo bobbing
On the dark infested sea
Don’t know how it got there
Maybe taken by the wave
Don’t know how it got there
Maybe taken by the wave
Off of someone’s shoulder
Or out of someone’s grave
Off of someone’s shoulder
Or out of someone’s grave
It’s coming for me darling
No matter where I go
It’s coming for me darling
No matter where I go
Its duty is to harm me
My duty is to know
Its duty is to harm me
My duty is to know
There’s something that I’m watching
Means a lot to me
There’s something that I’m watching
Means a lot to me
It’s a broken banjo bobbing
On the dark infested sea
It’s a broken banjo bobbing
On the dark infested sea
In Leonard Cohen's song Banjo, the singer describes an eerie and unsettling sight he keeps seeing: a broken banjo bobbing on the dark infested sea. Although he doesn't know how it got there, the banjo seems to hold some kind of ominous power over him, as if it's coming for him no matter where he goes. Despite its dangerous nature, the singer feels a duty to understand and confront the banjo.
The lyrics suggest a few different interpretations. Some listeners speculate that the broken banjo represents death or mortality, as the singer wonders if it was taken "out of someone's grave" and feels like it's coming for him. Others see it as a symbol for the darker, more dangerous aspects of life, as the banjo's "duty is to harm" and the singer feels a responsibility to learn from it. Whatever its meaning, Banjo is a haunting and thought-provoking song that leaves the listener with more questions than answers.
Overall, the lyrics to Banjo are characterized by their mysterious and somewhat ominous tone. Cohen's use of repetition and vivid imagery (such as the "dark infested sea") adds to the sense of unease and uncertainty. The song is open to interpretation, but there's no doubt that it leaves a lasting impression on the listener.
Line by Line Meaning
There’s something that I’m watching
Leonard Cohen is keeping an eye on something, which is very important to him.
Means a lot to me
The thing Leonard Cohen is watching is very precious and valuable to him.
It’s a broken banjo bobbing
The thing Leonard Cohen is watching is a broken banjo that keeps floating on the sea.
On the dark infested sea
The sea on which the broken banjo is floating is very dangerous and contaminated.
Don’t know how it got there
Leonard Cohen is unsure about how the broken banjo got in the sea.
Maybe taken by the wave
It is possible that the broken banjo was carried away by the waves and landed in the sea.
Off of someone’s shoulder
Another possibility is the broken banjo might have fallen off someone's shoulder and ended up in the sea.
Or out of someone’s grave
It could be that the broken banjo was kept in someone's grave and came out when the grave was disturbed.
It’s coming for me darling
Leonard Cohen senses that the broken banjo is heading towards him.
No matter where I go
Leonard Cohen feels that he cannot escape from the broken banjo as it will find him anywhere he goes.
Its duty is to harm me
Leonard Cohen believes that the broken banjo has a purpose to cause him harm.
My duty is to know
Leonard Cohen feels that it is his responsibility to find out why the broken banjo is coming for him.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: LEONARD COHEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Maria Spadini
mi piace così tanto che prima di andare a lavorare mi ascolto un CD che ho registrato
Rosie ellen Hollingsworth
My beloved beloved one
What does your silence mean
I don't understand
I just woke up again
I fell asleep at ten or so
From utter exhaustion
I have been washing
Out fits in the bathroom sink
Apart from that my beloved one
I stare up at the ceiling
And watch the planes
In the distance through my bars
Maybe on of them is you
But they never are
It's just me alone
With you in my thoughts
All day everyday of you
Were are you my darling
Now all I have as well
Is silence from you
I LOVE YOU I LOVE I LOVE YOU
Are you leaving me know
You are my mate
I need you I need you
I live only for you
So it's late
No matter
You are my mate
Why oh why
Do you not hear me
I'm calling I'm calling
Out too you
Were are you my mate
A year of calling
Out crying and calling
For my mate
Hear my calls of despair
One mate can't exist without the other
I'm calling I'M CALLING FOR MY MATE
PLEASE HEAR MY CALLS
OF DESPAIR OF TEARS
I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU
I send these words too you on the Northern Star
That she might carry them too you
I LOVE MY BELOVED MATE
I WILL CALL AGAIN WEDNESDAY
MAY BE YOU MIGHT HEAR ME
I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY ESSENCE MY LOVE MY BELOVED ONE
MH G
Nice words . Is it you that written this poem Rosie Ellen? Its a beautiful verse . bless from Maria helene ganekind
Norman Irion
Sweet Sweet Wonderful Leonard
Ady Simm
👌👏👏
James Freeman
No words... that voice
Anshu Dhamiwal
its duty is to harm me, my duty is to know... :))
ari anna
Absolutely mesmerising voice...THIS IS REAL MUSIC. ....Not those Gaga and Bieber CRAP we get shoved down our throats!!!