Song Lyric of the Day (Leonard Cohen, on Being ‘A Bird on the Wire’)

“Like a bird on the wire

Like a drunk in a midnight choir

I have tried in my way to be free.”— Leonard Cohen, “Bird on a Wire,” from his Songs From a Room LP (1969)

Remembering Canadian poet-novelist-singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen (1934-2016).

For a short but quite interesting consideration of how his work evokes “the human and the transcendent and spiritual,” see this blog post from the magazine Commonweal by Lisa Fullam. To experience how another artist has interpreted his songs, listen to the wondrous Jennifer Warnes on “Famous Blue Raincoat” (heard on this YouTube clip).

(Photo of Leonard Cohen on Canada Day, 2007, taken by Cory Doctorow from London, UK.)