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Leonard Cohen, AKA - The Nicknames

Sobriquets, Aliases, Bynames, Cognomens, Appellations, Alternative Names, and Monickers Denoting Leonard Cohen




Leonard Cohen is a nickname magnet.

It appears, in fact, that for a journalist to make his bones as a pop music critic, he or she must endow Leonard Cohen with a nickname - and not just any nickname. The prototypic template calls for a descriptive phrase of two to six words that is at least a tad awkward to articulate.

Unable to find a definitive list of Leonard’s nicknames, I’ve begun this patently incomplete catalog here at Heck Of A Guy.1

The references in the footnotes are presented only as examples of these appellations in use; there is no claim that any of these excerpts represents the origin of a given nickname.

While I have not compiled a statistical analysis, my observation is that the most common use of these names is as part of phrases such as “is known as,” “has been called,” and “has been labeled.” Even when they are used alone, these names are typically set off by quotation marks.

Their usage, in short, is rarely casual and often the writer or speaker is consciously using one or another of these titles to make a point, as in this review of Songs of Leonard Cohen, “He [Leonard Cohen] didn’t earn the nickname “the master of erotic despair” for nothing.”

To put things in perspective, the earliest reference to that terms is a reference to an ad in a National Lampoon published over 30 years ago. 2

I have arbitrarily excluded the single-word nicknames, “Len,” “Lennie,” “Leo,” and other diminutives from the list for reasons that seem to me intuitively obvious yet cumbersome to put articulate in print. I have, in an equally arbitrary manner, included nicknames that are so similar that one may well be a derivative of another (e.g., “Master Of Erotic Despair” and “Master Of Romantic Despair”).


The Nicknames

  1. Lord Byron Of Rock ‘n’ Roll3
  2. Bard Of The Boudoir4
  3. The Ladies’ Man5
  4. Grandson Of The Prince Of Grammarians6
  5. Master Of Erotic Despair7
  6. Master Of Romantic Despair8
  7. High Priest Of Pathos9
  8. Poet Laureate Of Pessimism10
  9. Grocer Of Despair11
  10. Prophet of Despair12
  11. Poet Laureate Of Commitophobes 13
  12. Bard Of Bedsits14
  13. Dr. Kevorkian Of Song15
  14. Beautiful Creep16
  15. Godfather Of Gloom17
  16. Prince Of Bummers18
  17. Troubadour Of Travail19
  18. Laughing Len20)
  19. Laughing Lennie21
  20. Captain Mandrax22
  21. Poet of Rock and Roll23
  22. Master of the Egg Salad Sandwich24
  23. Poet of the Holy Sinners25
  24. Poet Of Existential Despair26
  25. Jikan, Jikan The Useless Monk, Silent One27
  26. Poet Of Bedsit Angst28
  27. Gloom Merchant29
  28. Bourgeois Individualist Poet30
  29. Grand Master of Melancholia31
  30. Durable Hipster, 32
  31. Legendary Ladies Man33
  32. Existential Comedian34
  33. Spin Doctor For The Apocalypse35
  34. Grizzled Prophet36
  35. Damaged Priest37
  36. Hippie Icon38
  37. Apocalyptic Lounge Lizard39
  38. Jeremiah Of Tin Pan Alley40
  39. Amiable Gangster41
  40. Poetic Playboy42
  41. Emotional Imperialist43
  42. Restless Pilgrim44
  43. Patron Saint Of Angst45
  44. Smiling Dada Of Despair46
  45. Montreal Mensch47



Footnotes


  1. This list originated at LeonardCohenSearch ~back~
  2. My personal preference - unsupported by anything other than my whimsy - is to believe that what was remembered as an ad was actually a Lampoon parody. ~back~
  3. Leonard Cohen Unplugged By Pico Iyer. Originally published in Buzz, Los Angeles, April 1998: The ‘Lord Byron of rock ‘n’ roll,” as he is too often called, has always been a man of surprises ~back~
  4. At 71, Leonard Cohen Finds His Voice Anew By Richard Harrington, Washington Post, July 14, 2006: … the 71-year-old pop icon and bard of the boudoir hasn’t toured in a dozen years ~back~
  5. Leonard Cohen - The Ladies Man In Concert Bootleg Album Title, Date: 1993-05-21; Also, The Return Of A Ladies’ Man by Judith Fitzgerald, originally published in The Globe and Mail, September 25, 2000: The Return Of A Ladies’ Man ~back~
  6. Lunar Refractions: Longing for Perfect Porn Aristocrats and Other Delights by Alta L. Price in 3 Quarks Daily blog, June 12, 2006: Well, to echo the rampant name-calling that follows him everywhere, the Ladies’ Man, the Grocer of Despair, grandson of the Prince of Grammarians, has just published a new old book, titled Book of Longing, … ~back~
  7. Re: Master of Erotic Despair from alt.music.leonard-cohen. 2000/01/28: Michael S. Connaghan wrote: Nearly thirty years ago I purchased my first Leonard Cohen album. I had seen an ad in the National Lampoon that billed L.C. as the Master of Erotic Despair and I was intrigued. ~back~
  8. In Anjani Thomas, Leonard Cohen Finds a New Voice by Alan Light, New York Times, May 21, 2006: Leonard Cohen is not known for being prolific. In a recording career approaching its 40th year, this master of romantic despair has released a mere 11 studio albums. ~back~
  9. ‘I never discuss my mistresses or my tailors’ by Nick Paton Walsh, October 14, 2001: Leonard Cohen is the high priest of pathos. ~back~
  10. Leonard Cohen, busted by Seth A at B12 Solipsism, September 6, 2005: In the course of a long interview by phone from his home in Los Angeles, the man sometimes called the poet laureate of pessimism sounded almost bemused. ~back~
  11. Derived from lyrics of “Field Commander Cohen;” Hydra - Walking in Leonard Cohen’s footsteps by grhomeboy, Homeboy Media News October 8, 2006: On a dismal rainy afternoon in April 1960, after spending three months in a boarding house on Hampstead High Street completing a manuscript, the 25-year-old “grocer of despair” found himself wandering bleakly around London’s East End, his spirits further depleted by raging toothache. ~back~
  12. Zen Robes Retired As Singer Turns 65 by Juan Rodriguez, The Montreal Gazette, September 18, 1999: “He once read an ad in National Lampoon titled Leonard Cohen: The Prophet of Despair. “I laughed my head off,” he told me years ago, “because I thought it was the Lampoon spoofing me. Then I saw the same ad in Rolling Stone, and I wasn’t laughing any more.” ~back~
  13. Zen Robes Retired As Singer Turns 65 by Juan Rodriguez, The Montreal Gazette, September 18, 1999: Yet Cohen is an acquired taste. His voice is a mournful monotone, his songs dirge-like. “Only an extremely inattentive listener would willingly follow Suzanne to her place by the river after hearing Cohen’s song,” sniped The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll. While Europeans, with poetry in the blood, embrace him as a hero (and bona-fide pop star), Americans have marginalized him: “songs to slit your wrists by.” He’s been dubbed “Beautiful Creep” and “the Dr. Kevorkian of song,” “the poet of pessimism” and “bard of bedsits,” “the prince of bummers,” and “the poet laureate of commitophobes.” Leonard Cohen: Several Lifetimes Already By Pico Iyer. Shambhala Sun: The man who has been the poet laureate of commitophobes, who has never found in his 63 years a woman he can marry or a home he won’t desert ~back~
  14. Zen Robes Retired As Singer Turns 65 by Juan Rodriguez, The Montreal Gazette, September 18, 1999: Yet Cohen is an acquired taste. His voice is a mournful monotone, his songs dirge-like. “Only an extremely inattentive listener would willingly follow Suzanne to her place by the river after hearing Cohen’s song,” sniped The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll. While Europeans, with poetry in the blood, embrace him as a hero (and bona-fide pop star), Americans have marginalized him: “songs to slit your wrists by.” He’s been dubbed “Beautiful Creep” and “the Dr. Kevorkian of song,” “the poet of pessimism” and “bard of bedsits,” “the prince of bummers,” and “the poet laureate of commitophobes.” Cohen, Leonard MusicWeb Encyclopaedia of Popular Music: A gloomy poet who became the bard of bedsits. ~back~
  15. Zen Robes Retired As Singer Turns 65 by Juan Rodriguez, The Montreal Gazette, September 18, 1999: Yet Cohen is an acquired taste. His voice is a mournful monotone, his songs dirge-like. “Only an extremely inattentive listener would willingly follow Suzanne to her place by the river after hearing Cohen’s song,” sniped The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll. While Europeans, with poetry in the blood, embrace him as a hero (and bona-fide pop star), Americans have marginalized him: “songs to slit your wrists by.” He’s been dubbed “Beautiful Creep” and “the Dr. Kevorkian of song,” “the poet of pessimism” and “bard of bedsits,” “the prince of bummers,” and “the poet laureate of commitophobes.” Exile on Main Street by Brett Grainger, Elm Street, Canada. November 2001: It’s gotten him a bit of a reputation along the way. “Prince of bummers,” “poet of pessimism,” “troubadour of travail,” “the Dr. Kevorkian of song” - journalists can’t seem to get enough of the cliché of the dark knight, the tortured soul spinning his suffering into gold. ~back~
  16. Zen Robes Retired As Singer Turns 65 by Juan Rodriguez, The Montreal Gazette, September 18, 1999: Yet Cohen is an acquired taste. His voice is a mournful monotone, his songs dirge-like. “Only an extremely inattentive listener would willingly follow Suzanne to her place by the river after hearing Cohen’s song,” sniped The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll. While Europeans, with poetry in the blood, embrace him as a hero (and bona-fide pop star), Americans have marginalized him: “songs to slit your wrists by.” He’s been dubbed “Beautiful Creep” and “the Dr. Kevorkian of song,” “the poet of pessimism” and “bard of bedsits,” “the prince of bummers,” and “the poet laureate of commitophobes.” Reward for a Ladies’ Man by Jamie Lee, The Ottawa Citizen. December 14, 2007: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame finds a place for the ‘beautiful creep’
    Beautiful Creep    By Richard Goldstein. Village Voice, December 28, 1967: “My songs are strangely romantic,” he admits, “but so are the kids. I somehow feel that I’ve always waited for this generation.” He pulls out a letter from a young girl who wonders over his unremitting despair. He frightens her because she senses that he has achieved an understanding of life, but he is sad despite it. She prays that the comprehension he seeks will not bring her such misery. She prays for him, and for herself, that he is really blind. And she ends by calling Leonard Cohen a “beautiful creep.” Real tears form in the corners of his eyes, but modestly they do not flow. He sighs for real. “That’s what I am - a beautiful creep.” He excuses himself and you grab for the letter when he is gone. That too is real. ~back~
  17. We love Leonard Cohen The Independent, 20 May 2004: The most gifted songwriters of our time are paying tribute to the Godfather of Gloom this weekend. Fiona Sturges celebrates his enduring appeal. ~back~
  18. Zen, Lawsuits, and Poetry By Phoebe Hoban, New York Magazine, May 14, 2006: With his deadpan delivery and dark lyrics, Leonard Cohen could be called the creator of his own musical genre: song noir. Even his friend Leon Wieseltier once memorably dubbed him “the Prince of Bummers.” ~back~
  19. Exile on Main Street by Brett Grainger, Elm Street, Canada. November 2001: It’s gotten him a bit of a reputation along the way. “Prince of bummers,” “poet of pessimism,” “troubadour of travail,” “the Dr. Kevorkian of song” - journalists can’t seem to get enough of the cliché of the dark knight, the tortured soul spinning his suffering into gold. ~back~
  20. Leonard Cohen and the Death of Cool By David Sprague. Originally published in Your Flesh magazine, 1992: [Leonard Cohen speaking] I was reading the reviews of this in England, and there they were calling me Laughing Len and saying they oughta sell razor blades with this record) ~back~
  21. Rock’s Backpages Audio, February 1988: Laughing Lennie talks to Mat Snow about songwriting, meditiation and religion, the collapse of literary culture, and the misperception of him as a Gloom Merchant ~back~
  22. The Fiction Of Leonard Cohen by T.F. Rigelhof, Originally published in Paragraph: Canadian Fiction Review, Volume 19, No. 4, Spring 1998, pp. 2-5: He’d never played with professional musicians and was so heavily into tranquillizers that he’d picked up the nickname Captain Mandrax. ~back~
  23. The Return of Leonard Cohen by Mick Brown, Sounds, July 1976: The poster outside the Colston Hall, Bristol announced the appearance that evening of “The Poet of Rock and Roll” ~back~
  24. Contributed by Anjani via email, 20 March 2008 ~back~
  25. Leonard Cohen: Poet of the Holy Sinners By Jay Michaelson. Jewish Daily Forward. Apr 20, 2007: Leonard Cohen: Poet of the Holy Sinners ~back~
  26. This Is The Album Introducing Leonard Cohen to the World by Barron Laycock, Amazon Reviews - Songs of Leonard Cohen, June 10, 2000: He known as the “poet of existential despair”, a man of soaring visages and terrible nightmares, all put to beautiful and classic melodies. ~back~
  27. ”Jikan The Useless Monk” is a self-reference Leonard Cohen uses in “The Book of Longing” poems, combining his given Dharma name of “Jikan” (Silent One) with his own descriptive phrase, “The Useless Monk” ~back~
  28. Cohen’s Way by Mat Snow. The Guardian, 1988. There’s a new comic touch to the poet of bedsit angst ~back~
  29. Rock’s Backpages Audio, February 1988: Laughing Lennie talks to Mat Snow about songwriting, meditiation [sic] and religion, the collapse of literary culture, and the misperception of him as a Gloom Merchant ~back~
  30. Leonard Cohen’s Nervous Breakthrough By Mark Rowland. Musician, July 1988: So I went down there [Cuba] and immediately found myself accurately described as a “Bourgeois Individualist Poet.” I said, “That’s right. Suits me to a tee.” ~back~
  31. Cohen Regrets By Alastair Pirrie. New Musical Express, March 10, 1973: Leonard Cohen, Grand Master of Melancholia, slipped quietly in and out of London last month ~back~
  32. Ten or More Questions I Should Have Asked Leonard Cohen by Ira B. Nadel. 2 July 1993: [Nadel: All of the following adjectives have been used to describe you; are any correct?

    bard of the bedsits
    apocalyptic lounge lizard
    durable hipster
    Jeremiah of Tin Pan Alley
    legendary ladies man
    amiable gangster
    existential comedian
    poetic playboy
    spin doctor for the Apocalypse
    emotional imperialist
    grizzled prophet
    restless pilgrim
    damaged priest
    the Godfather of Gloom
    hippie icon
    patron saint of angst
    the prince of bummers

    [Cohen] “All of them.” ~back~

  33. Ibid ~back~
  34. Ibid ~back~
  35. Ibid ~back~
  36. Ibid ~back~
  37. Ibid ~back~
  38. Ibid ~back~
  39. Ibid ~back~
  40. Ibid ~back~
  41. Ibid ~back~
  42. Ibid ~back~
  43. Ibid ~back~
  44. Ibid ~back~
  45. Ibid ~back~
  46. An Epic Display From Smiling Dada Of Despair By Barry Egan. Independent. June 15 2008: An Epic Display From Smiling Dada Of Despair ~back~
  47. An Epic Display From Smiling Dada Of Despair By Barry Egan. Independent. June 15 2008: Watching the Montreal mensch on stage at the Royal Kilmainham Hospital on Friday night, you could also add wise man, Zen-prophet, soothsayer, visionary, seer, bard, guru, godhead, high priest, soul-counsellor, troubadour, non-manic street preacher, chronicler of pain, Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk and holy man to that list. ~back~

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