Category Archives: Leonard Cohen

The Leonard Cohen Corrections Agency

The Leonard Cohen Corrections Agency is a privately-funded organization dedicated to the rectification of inaccuracies promulgated by Leonard Cohen, no small task given the Canadian singer-songwriter’s admission that “I don’t want to let the facts get in the way of the truth.”¹

Cases already completed have ranged from cleaning up simple verbal typos such as Cohen’s misidentification of the decade in which he met the young Spaniard who taught him guitar lessons (it was the 50s, not the 60s)² to setting right mistaken references such as the name of the fast food chain that ran the 1984 “Where’s The Beef?” advertising campaign (it was a promotion for Wendy’s not Burger King or McDonald’s as Mr. Cohen stated)³ to spotlighting inconsistencies such as Mr. Cohen taking both sides in a debate about the relationship of his songs and his poems:

… I regard everything I write as being set to music, almost as if I hear a giant guitar accompanying me!⁴

I never did set poetry to music. … I got stuck with that. It was a bum rap. I never set a poem to music. I’m not that hopeless. I know the difference between a poem and a song!⁵

Life, Death, Art, & Misattributed Quotes

The problem begins in a 2001 interview ‘I never discuss my mistresses or my tailors’ by Nick Paton Walsh in the 13 October 2001 edition of The Observer, in which Leonard Cohen is quoted:

‘I don’t think much about [death], but in a certain stage in your life it becomes very clear that your time is not unlimited. Tennessee Williams said: “Life is a fairly well-written play, except for the third act.” I’m maybe at the third act, where you have the benefit of the experience of the first two acts. But how it ends is nobody’s business and is generally accompanied by some disagreeable circumstances.’

I thought this an appropriately pithy expression to warrant its publication as a “Words By Leonard Cohen” post, and as I am wont to do,  checked the source of Tennessee Williams quote.

And I indeed found several references to  that Tennessee Williams quote, but, oddly, every example save one mentioned not only the epigram itself and Tennessee Williams, but also Leonard Cohen offering the quote.

It turns out that the quote is actually worded a bit differently:

Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act.

It also turns out that the source of the quote is significantly different; it was produced by Truman Capote rather than Tennessee Williams.

But pointing out a  mistake made by Leonard Cohen – while great fun – is not my primary mission.

Even at my most pedantic, I find it difficult to view attributing a clever remark made by Truman Capote to Tennessee Williams a signal of the end of civilization as we know it. ⁶

The remarkable thing, it seems to me, is that none of the interviewers or their publications checked the source of the quote.

Cohen, who is known for repeating successful phrases and anecdotes in interviews, has, true to form, used the third act line with other interviewers:

A Happy Man by Mireille Silcott. Saturday Night, Canada: September 15, 2001

“Tennessee Williams had this famous quote: ‘Life is a fairly well-written play except for the third act,’” says Cohen, flicking an ash off the table. “And I’m at the beginning of the third act. The end of the third act — nobody has a handle on that one. But the beginning — there is a certain relief for me here. It is palpable.”

Leonard Cohen returns to music by Robert Hilburn. Chicago Tribune: October 18, 2001

I remember something Tennessee Williams said about life being a fairly well-written play except for the third act. By this point in my life, we have the experience of the first two acts, but we haven’t really encountered what is in store in the third.

Even worse, this has become a popular quote writers have recycled, misattribution intact, into articles about the Canadian singer-songwriter.

The godfather of gloom lightens up for third act by Barry Egan. Independent.ie: March 23, 2008

Asked about death a few years old, Bono’s favourite poet answered with a wisdom that suggested that perhaps he was descended from the Kohanim after all. “I don’t think much about [death],” Laughing Lenny said, ” but, in a certain stage in your life, it becomes very clear that your time is not unlimited. Tennessee Williams said: ‘Life is a fairly well-written play, except for the third act.’ I’m maybe at the third act, where you have the benefit of the experience of the first two acts. But how it ends is nobody’s business and is generally accompanied by some disagreeable circumstances.”

‘I’m blessed with a certain amnesia’ by Jian Ghomeshi. The Guardian: 9 July 2009

In 2001, you said to the Observer that you were at a stage of your life you refer to as the third act. You quoted Tennessee Williams saying: “Life is a fairly well-written play except for the third act.” You were 67 when you said that, you’re 74 now – does that ring more or less true for you still?

The same line is also quoted in, among many others, the following pieces:

• Leonard Cohen: his wit, warmth and wisdom. The Telegraph: 14 Jun 2008
• The Rock& Roll Hall of Fame welcomes a renewed Leonard Cohen by Nate DeMontigny. Precious Metal: March 10, 2008
• Leonard Cohen. World Tour. Europe, USA. Through 13 November 2009, Las Vegas. Another Travel Guide
• The Color Orange and My First Cousin Jesse: Rediscovering Family  by Elizabeth Boleman-Herring. Huffington Post: March 7, 2013.

Still worse, the exact line as misquoted by Leonard Cohen and credited to Tennessee Williams, has almost certainly been lifted from a Cohen interview and been used in an article about Michael Jackson.⁷

So, now you know Truman Capote is responsible for “Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act,”  that, as far as I can determine, Tennessee Williams did not come up with his famous quote “Life is a fairly well-written play except for the third act,’” that Leonard Cohen makes the occasional error, and, that, apparently, one can’t rely on interviewers and publcations to check the information they receive before presenting it to the reader.

1. See Leonard Cohen Tells Sexologist About His Dog, His Mother, His Impermanence, Seduction, Men As Cocker Spaniels, and Rules Between Men & Women [↩]
2. Leonard Cohen: The Prince Of Asturias Awards Speech With Annotations & Commentary [↩]
3. Rarely Viewed Video – Leonard Cohen On His Atrocious Voice, Dylan, Lead Belly, Ice-T, Songwriting, Love, & Where’s The Beef [↩]
4. Leonard Cohen Seventeen. March 1968 [↩]
5. “Porridge? Lozenge? Syringe?” by Adrian Deevoy, Q Magazine, 1991 [↩]
6. For one thing, the two are easy to confuse. Capote and Williams not only shared many qualities but also knew each other and occasionally hung out together. [↩]
7. The boy in the bubble, the man in the mirror by Peter Murphy. Hot Press: July 3, 2009 [↩]

The Leonard Cohen Collection At The University Of Toronto’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

Ever wonder what’s in the University Of Toronto’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library Leonard Cohen manuscript collection – and how much that institution paid for those papers? Well, here are a few items acquired by 1966, …¹

Then, as we learn from He’s Our Man by Stacey Gibson (U of T Magazine: Autumn 2006),

Almost half-a-century later, Canada’s most revered poet has contributed more of his literary past to U of T: a staggering 140 banker’s boxes that trace his life from bohemian writer to iconic singer-songwriter to Buddhist monk. “U of T’s been very kind to me over the years – and when I really needed it. They bought manuscripts when I was about 25 years old – and they did that twice – so I feel very grateful to the university and to the library,” says Cohen, 71. U of T archivist Richard Landon and his wife, Massey College librarian Marie Korey, packed the first 99 boxes during a visit to Los Angeles in 2005. Cohen and his partner and musical collaborator, Anjani Thomas, also sifted through the papers, which were housed at his daughter’s antique store.

The day before Passover, Cohen sang part of the Seder service to the U of T couple and regaled them with stories over dinner. (Cohen, who lived for many years at Mount Baldy Zen Center in L.A., said his teacher, Joshu Sasaki Roshi, taught him the art of contemplation. He, in turn, taught Roshi how to drink single malt scotch.) The newly acquired literary treasures include manuscripts of Death of a Lady’s Man and Stranger Music, and a handbound copy of The Spice-Box of Earth (inscribed “For Mother with love, Leonard. December 1965, Montreal”).

There is correspondence with poets Irving Layton and Allen Ginsberg, and photos taken at a studio session with Phil Spector and Joni Mitchell in the 1970s. There is also an abundance of fan mail that ranges “from the serious to the seriously disturbed,” jokes Landon.

For those interested in (modestly) more detail, a brief description of the contents of the boxes of his material can be downloaded in PDF format at Leonard Cohen Papers 1953-ongoing.

Leonard Cohen Archive pictured here at the University Of Toronto’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. Photo tweeted by mkirschenbaum

Bucks For Books

To discover We now turn to Build a literary legacy for yourself: Smart aspiring writers have their archives ready by Robert Fulford (The National Post: 24 May 2005):

The US$2.5-million [Norman Mailer received from the University Of Texas for his papers] will no doubt be welcome in the Mailer household, where the word “alimony” retains its terrifying power, but it’s probably no more heartening than the US$3,000 Leonard Cohen received from the University of Toronto 45 years ago. Cohen was not yet a singer or novelist, just a good poet with no money and a flair for titles, such as Let Us Compare Mythologies (1956). But he delivered. He sent poetry manuscripts, galley proofs, letters from McClelland and Stewart, a CBC contract for a 30-minute program and anything else he could find. The $3,000 he received covered his expenses for a year on Hydra, his favourite Greek island.

Like most universities, Toronto can no longer pay for manuscripts. But Cohen and many others donate their files in return for a tax credit that can be spread, if desired, over several years. This means that collections at several big universities, notably McMaster, Calgary and Toronto, continue to grow.

Credit Due Department: Photo atop this post found at University Of Toronto Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library web site. No photographer given.

1. From A hot market for manuscripts by Robert Fulford. Toronto Daily Star: April 21, 1966. [↩]