Leonard Cohen Just Says No

May 19th, 2007 · 1 Comment

Julie Christensen’s Political Anatomy

Among many other musical accomplishments, Julie Christensen has frequently worked with Leonard Cohen, performing, for example, as vocalist on two of his world tours. So, it is not surprising that she went to him for assistance with song writing. In discussing the creation of her latest album, Christiansen recounts this exchange with Cohen:

One of the first songs that came was the one that eventually became the title track. I started writing it a few years back around the time of Independence Day. I asked Leonard Cohen to help me write because he was the only person I knew who could give it the weight that it deserved. But when I told him the opening line, which goes “Between my thighs/Is all my country,” he responded,

“I can’t help you there, darling.
You got yourself into this one, so you’re on your own.”¹^,²

Footnotes

It is disconcerting to realize that Leonard Cohen saying “No” to a beautiful woman is more seductive than me saying “Yes” - or “Yes, yes yes, a million times yes.” ↩
One needn’t worry about Ms Christensen’s song; she reports that “… in the end, that one just propelled itself forward.” ↩

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