Sorry if this has already been posted: I looked but doing this on an iPhone is fiddly and my eyes aren't so good these days!
Suffice it to say, I agree wholeheartedly!
While the Godfather of Gloom, Leonard Cohen, was in Spain this week to receive the Principe de Asturias Prize for literature, he announced he has recorded enough material for a new album entitled Old Ideas.
This will be the first studio album Cohen's put out since 2004's Dear Heather (which, incidentally, was originally going to be titled Old Ideas). The 77-year old celebrated songwriter said he's unsure if he'll follow the album with a world tour. He just wrapped one up late last year, proving he can still charm the hell out of a crowd at his age.
You might think of Leonard to be an old geezer now but he's actually the classiest man you'll ever come across. In honour of his upcoming release, here's a list of why Leonard is just so damn cool:
1. He wore suits on a daily basis way before Mad Men made it cool. But he won't reveal who his tailor is.
2. He spent five years in the '90s at a Buddhist retreat in Mount Baldy, a mountain in California.
3. He smokes Marlboro Lights, none of this DuMaurier shit!
4. He once chased after Nico from the Velvet Underground. His frustration of not getting any inspired him to pen “Take This Longing”.
5. He’s won over 30 awards for both his literature and music. Definitely puts your Employee of the Month plaque to shame.
6. His middle name is ‘Norman’. 'Nuff said.
7. He keeps mum about his mistresses. With the exception of "Chelsea Hotel #2", of course -- he wrote that one about his affair with Janis Joplin.
8. He was president of the debate society at McGill University. Putting people in their place since ’51!
9. He appeared in a 1986 episode of Miami Vice. The scene involved him, a French woman and an alligator. No more context needed.
10. Phil Spector once put a gun to his head. Spector's now serving a 19-to-life prison sentence for an unrelated incident. But moral of the story: don't fuck with the Cohen.
11. While you were probably made mayor of Foursquare, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson promoted him to Companion to the Order of Canada.
12. Over 200 artists have covered his song Hallelujah.
