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.
One of Us Cannot Be Wrong
Leonard Cohen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To make you jealous of me
But the room just filled up with mosquitoes
They heard that my body was free
Then I took the dust of a long sleepless night
And I put it in your little shoe
And then I confess that I tortured the dress
I showed my heart to the doctor
He said I'd just have to quit
Then he wrote himself a prescription
And your name was mentioned in it
Then he locked himself in a library shelf
With the details of our honeymoon
And I hear from the nurse that he's gotten much worse
And his practice is all in a ruin
I heard of a saint who had loved you
So I studied all night in his school
He taught that the duty of lovers
Is to tarnish the golden rule
And just when I was sure that his teachings were pure
He drowned himself in the pool
His body is gone but back here on the lawn
His spirit continues to drool
An Eskimo showed me a movie
He'd recently taken of you
The poor man could hardly stop shivering
His lips and his fingers were blue
I suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes
And I guess he just never got warm
But you stand there so nice in your blizzard of ice
Oh please, let me come into the storm
The song "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong" by Leonard Cohen is an interesting narrative of a distraught and obsessive lover who has gone to great lengths to win over a woman's affection, but to no avail. The lyrics in the opening verse go, "I lit a thin green candle/ To make you jealous of me/ But the room just filled up with mosquitoes/ They heard that my body was free." The singer tries to manipulate the situation by making her feel jealous, but his plan backfires. The mosquitoes represent the nagging and irritable feeling of the woman towards the singer, and she has no interest in him.
Apart from this scene, the singer accuses himself of being manipulative in multiple ways, like putting dirt into her shoes and torturing her dress. He describes how he showed his heart to the doctor, and then the doctor wrote a prescription that mentioned the woman's name, which again shows his obsession. The song becomes even more alarming when he spoke of studying in a saint's school who taught that lovers tarnish the golden rule. The Eskimo showed him a movie shot of the woman, and even though he shivers in the blizzard, he still wants to be near her.
Overall, the song is a commentary on love, obsession, and possession. The singer struggles to come to terms with the fact that he cannot have the woman he desires, and his unhealthy fixation has led him to undertake a series of bizarre and obsessive behaviors. The lyrics from the song delve into the mind of an unstable and potentially dangerous character who has just one aim - to possess the object of his desire.
Line by Line Meaning
I lit a thin green candle
I tried to make you jealous of me
To make you jealous of me
Because I'm afraid you don't love me anymore
But the room just filled up with mosquitoes
However, it didn't work out as planned
They heard that my body was free
Because I'm so lonely and available
Then I took the dust of a long sleepless night
So I collected my own sense of despair
And I put it in your little shoe
And I gave it to you as a kind of punishment
And then I confess that I tortured the dress
I have ruined something beautiful of yours
That you wore for the world to look through
Which was supposed to make you look wonderful
I showed my heart to the doctor
I opened up my feelings to a professional
He said I'd just have to quit
But he couldn't help me overcome my pain
Then he wrote himself a prescription
So he absolved himself of responsibility
And your name was mentioned in it
But he implicated you in my problems
Then he locked himself in a library shelf
And he cut himself off from the world
With the details of our honeymoon
While obsessing over details of our intimate past
And I hear from the nurse that he's gotten much worse
And he seems to be getting more unstable
And his practice is all in a ruin
And his professional life is falling apart
I heard of a saint who had loved you
I heard that someone more virtuous than me had loved you
So I studied all night in his school
So I tried to learn from his example
He taught that the duty of lovers
He believed that lovers have certain obligations
Is to tarnish the golden rule
Which may involve breaking with conventional morality
And just when I was sure that his teachings were pure
And I thought that he had the right idea
He drowned himself in the pool
He ended his own life
His body is gone but back here on the lawn
But his ideas and influence remain
His spirit continues to drool
But his ideas have become pathetic and base
An Eskimo showed me a movie
A stranger showed me a film
He'd recently taken of you
That he'd made of you without your knowledge
The poor man could hardly stop shivering
But he was so cold and miserable
His lips and his fingers were blue
That he was on the verge of frostbite
I suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes
I guess he was caught off guard by your natural beauty
And I guess he just never got warm
And he was unable to overcome his physical discomfort
But you stand there so nice in your blizzard of ice
But you are still beautiful and distant as ever
Oh please, let me come into the storm
Please let me be a part of your life again
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Leonard Cohen
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Joe Mac Pherson
THIS SONG: Many of you wonder about its meaning, the lyrics, who it is for and the way it ends, in anguish. The answer to all of these questions is one very particular, challenging, intellectual, darkly poetic and at the time, ravishingly beautiful woman: NICO. Leonard Cohen was absolutely entranced by her, in awe of everything about her including her very distant aloofness, prolonged silences, her statuesque beauty, the depths of her voice. SHE, however, wanted no ideas or ideals of romance with him. Her taste in men was rather definite- she preferred men with an Edge to their personas. Men like Alain Delon, the French Cinema Star. He didn't marry her, but he's the father to her only child, Christian Aaron "Ari" Boulogne. There's Bob Dylan; and Brian Jones, who was quite involved with her and helped her get her first record contract. He played lead guitar on her 1965 debut single I'm Not Sayin. There's Jimmy Page, who cowrote, along with Andrew Loog Oldham, that record's B-Side- The Last Mile- and Page also produced the track, arranged and conducted the music- and got additional extra guitar notes courtesy of Mr. Jones. It was Brian Jones who first brought Nico to Andy Warhol's Factory in Union Square, and Warhol saw her as a Force Majeure. It was Warhol who decided, Nico should work with his Factory band, The Velvet Underground. Warhol put her in his films, struck by her otherwoldly presence and stunning beauty.
In 1967, Brian Jones and Nico drifted through the crowds during the Monterrey International Pop Music Festival.
There's Lou Reed, who wrote Femme Fatale, All Tomorrow's Parties, and I'll Be Your Mirror, for her. There's Jim Morrison- in more ways than you can imagine or maybe you can; Jackson Brown, who wrote These Days for her, John Cale, who evidently appreciated her tenure with The Velvet Underground so much, he went on to arrange and play diverse instruments for her 1968 album, The Marble Index. There's James Osterberg, better known as Iggy Pop, who is prominently featured in Nico's music film Evening Of Light- which is the final track on The Marble Index.
In 1970, John Cale produced, arranged and played diverse instruments for her third release, Desert Shore. The last track on side 1, Le Petit Chevalier, is sung by Nico's son, Ari. In 1974, Cale produced, arranged and played almost every instrument, while collaborating with Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music, also Brian Eno, for Nico's album The End. On side 1, track 3, You Forget To Answer is Nico's ode to Jim Morrison. On side 2, track 2, The End, is her version of The Doors song.
In 1978, Siouxsie & The Banshees were strong supporters of Nico, asking her to open for them on tour. The equally dark Goth band, Bauhaus, also admired Nico, and Yes, she performed live with them on stage.
Patti Smith was a great admirer of Nico. When Nico's harmonium was stolen in Paris, Patti Smith bought it back from a Parisian shop, and presented it to her. With emotional gratitude, Nico offered to repay her, but Smith politely refused, telling her it's a gift- which reduced Nico to tears.
In 1982, Nico collaborated with The Invisible Girls, a trio featuring Martin Hannett- producer for Joy Division, New Order, The Names, and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark; Paul Burgess of The Icicle Works; and Steve Hopkins, who worked with the Punk poet, John Cooper Clarke, and Morrissey. Together, Hannett, Hopkins and Burgess performed all instrumentation for Nico's glacial record, Procession. The stark, rather frightful cover gives Nico top billing, with The Invisible Girls in deliberately, almost invisible lettering at the bottom of the record.
Later, Nico and John Cooper Clarke were living together, but not as lovers. Two moody, intense individuals with mutual interests, including heroin. In 1984, John Cooper Clarke and Nico toured together.
AND, there's David Bowie- who wrote Heroes, for HER. I know that detail personally because I met Nico in 1979, and we conversed for almost an hour. I was 24 at the time, completely struck by her imperious majesty. As our conversation came to a close, she took my black Sharpie and signed the covers of Chelsea Girl and Desert Shore, for me.
In 1985, John Cale produced Nico's final studio album, Camera Obscura.
PLUS, there's Marc Almond, formerly of the English early Eighties duo, Soft Cell. As a solo artist, he wrote a song for her and ask her to sing on it: Your Kisses Burn, from his fourth album The Stars We Are, released in 1988. Her presence, her voice in this song is like frozen ice palisades of Antarctica. Your Kisses Burn was Nico's last recorded studio performance. I met Marc Almond in 1988, along with his manager, and heard all the details about the song, and Nico as its inspiration.
In 2002, Marianne Faithfull, someone else I was fortunate enough to meet in the 1990's, released her 16th album, Kissin Time. Track 6 on the album is Song For Nico, cowritten by Dave Stewart, musician, songwriter, producer and one half of Eurythmics. Stewart performs on this track. He and Marianne Faithfull are steadfast admirers of Nico.
But Nico never, ever held any interest in Leonard Cohen. Not even in the early days of her singing career, in 1962, when she sang at The Blue Angel in New York City's Greenwich Village. A young Leonard Cohen was there to see her perform, in addition to a young, promising folk singer named Bob Dylan. They were equally enchanted by her, but Nico definitely showed no romantic or primal, sexual desires for Leonard. Years later, he composed One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong. This is his song for Nico, The Eternal Queen of Goth, Love Unobtainable, and Music Of The Night.
itamar marle
lyrics:
I lit a thin green candle to make you jealous of me,
But the room just filled up with mosquitoes, they heard that my body was free
Then I took the dust of a long sleepless night and I put it in your little shoe
And then I confess that I tortured the dress that you wore for the world to look through
I showed my heart to the doctor. He said I'd just have to quit
Then he wrote himself a prescription, your name was mentioned in it
Then he locked himself in a library shelf with the details of our honeymoon
And I hear from the nurse that he's gotten much worse and his practice is all in a ruin
I heard of a saint who had loved you, I studied all night in his school
He taught that the duty of lovers is to tarnish the golden rule
And just when I was sure that his teachings were pure he drowned himself in the pool
His body is gone but back here on the lawn his spirit continues to drool
An Eskimo showed me a movie he'd recently taken of you
The poor man could hardly stop shivering, his lips and his fingers were blue
I suppose that he froze when the wind tore off your clothes
And I guess he just never got warm, but you stand there so nice in your blizzard of ice
Oh please let me come into the storm
Segi gise
forever engraved, i know the lyrics are posted but!
a subtle heartbreak, those painful voices at the end that fade out and come back, like haunting ghosts of winter (i always imagined it was the voices of eskimo man horrified by the cold), and the scenery! the eskimo man, the saint who drowned himself in the pool and what he thought was the duty of lovers (to tarnish the golden rule, did he died by not obeying the duty or did he die because he did - tarnish the golden rule, what is the golden rule!?), the doctor who gives him a prescription with her name - it's full of lust for love but both the (and i don't mean to get pretentious here) eternal suffering and heartache of people, it hurts how beautiful it is but also makes me shiver with whole new specter of emotions where i'm just so glad to be alive, and all the banality is gone and even though the hurt is still there, since of course i have my projections on these words and music, leonard's wise, ancient, heartbroken and gentle voice, my past and present lovers and ruined relationships, it's still a hurt and sadness that makes me recognize the joyful, beautiful sides of love and life that you can treasure and hold close to your heart. it's amazing when you feel a surge of empathy through a song full of pain and hurt! he really was in love with nico i see! well, i feel it!
I lit a thin green candle to make you jealous of me
But the room just filled up with mosquitos
They heard that my body was free
Then I took the dust of a long sleepless night
And I put it in your little shoe
And then I confess that I tortured the dress
That you wore for the world to look through
I showed my heart to the doctor: he said I just have to quit
Then he wrote himself a perscription
And your name was mentioned in it!
Then he locked himself in a library shelf
With the details of our honeymoon
And I hear from the nurse that he's gotten much worse
And his practice is all in a ruin
I heard of a saint who had loved you
So I studied all night in his school
He taught that the duty of lovers
Is to tarnish the golden rule
And just when I was sure that his teachings were pure
He drowned himself in the pool
His body is gone but back here on the lawn
His spirit continues to drool
An Eskimo showed me a movie
He'd recently taken of you
The poor man could hardly stop shivering
His lips and his fingers were blue
I suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes
And I guess he just never got warm
But you stand there so nice, in your blizzard of ice
Oh please let me come into the storm
Batta's Universe 🍀
I lit a thin green candle
To make you jealous of me
But the room just filled up with mosquitoes
They heard that my body was free
Then I took the dust of a long sleepless night
And I put it in your little shoe
And then I confess that I tortured the dress
That you wore for the world to look through
I showed my heart to the doctor
He said I'd just have to quit
Then he wrote himself a prescription
And your name was mentioned in it
Then he locked himself in a library shelf
With the details of our honeymoon
And I hear from the nurse that he's gotten much worse
And his practice is all in a ruin
I heard of a saint who had loved you
So I studied all night in his school
He taught that the duty of lovers
Is to tarnish the golden rule
And just when I was sure that his teachings were pure
He drowned himself in the pool
His body is gone but back here on the lawn
His spirit continues to drool
An Eskimo showed me a movie
He'd recently taken of you
The poor man could hardly stop shivering
His lips and his fingers were blue
I suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes
And I guess he just never got warm
But you stand there so nice in your blizzard of ice
Oh please, let me come into the storm
Juan Camacho
I lit a thin green candle
To make you jealous of me
But the room just filled up with mosquitoes
They heard that my body was free
Then I took the dust of a long sleepless night
And I put it in your little shoe
And then I confess that I tortured the dress
That you wore for the world to look through
I showed my heart to the doctor
He said I'd just have to quit
Then he wrote himself a prescription
And your name was mentioned in it
Then he locked himself in a library shelf
With the details of our honeymoon
And I hear from the nurse that he's gotten much worse
And his practice is all in a ruin
I heard of a saint who had loved you
So I studied all night in his school
He taught that the duty of lovers
Is to tarnish the golden rule
And just when I was sure that his teachings were pure
He drowned himself in the pool
His body is gone but back here on the lawn
His spirit continues to drool
An Eskimo showed me a movie
He'd recently taken of you
The poor man could hardly stop shivering
His lips and his fingers were blue
I suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes
And I guess he just never got warm
But you stand there so nice in your blizzard of ice
Oh please, let me come into the storm
KingMinosxxvi
This may be the single most beautiful song ever written.
Davey Saturn
yup. i think it is.
Mursalin Mosaddeque
Amen.
C B
It shouldn’t be but it is...somehow it is 😭
C B
The Eskimo verse is particularly mind blowing
Jamie
"oh please let me come into the storm"
Maayke Langelaar
It was in 1967 when I heard this song and I was hooked immediately. Thank you dear Leonard for all those beautiful words all through the years
Sailent predato
You mena you heard it on the very last days of 1967? when this song came out, i don`t believe you.
I$AACKIB
How old are you?
Deirdre O'Flaherty
This is a beautiful haunting song which I'm addicted to, some funny parts of this song which only a brilliant mind can write and sing.