Leonard Cohen Gives a Great Speech on How His Love Affair with Music First Began (2011)

Sev­er­al weeks back, we fea­tured Ladies and Gen­tle­men… Mr. Leonard Cohen, the 1965 film that doc­u­ment­ed the life and times of the young poet who had­n’t yet start­ed his leg­endary song­writ­ing career. Now comes a lit­tle post­script. Speak­ing last Fri­day at the Prince of Asturias Awards, Mr. Cohen recalls the defin­ing lit­tle moment when he shift­ed towards music and song­writ­ing. He calls it the moment that explains “How I Got My Song,” and it’s all bound up with Spain and tragedy. The 11-minute talk is filled with humil­i­ty and grat­i­tude in equal parts. You can find a tran­script here. H/T Metafil­ter

Relat­ed Con­tent:

Leonard Cohen Reads “The Future” (Not Safe for Work)

Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man. Watch the Film

Learn Span­ish with our Col­lec­tion of Free Lan­guage Lessons