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As much as I love Bob Dylan, I wouldn't have been upset had Leonard Cohen been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He's written two novels, several volumes
by hobochili 10y ago
As much as I love Bob Dylan, I wouldn't have been upset had Leonard Cohen been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He's written two novels, several volumes of poetry, and, of course, has made his own irreplaceable poetic contributions to American songwriting.
- rbadaro 10y agoHe would definitely deserve it. But he's Canadian so his contributions would more correctly be classified as going towards Canadian songwriting.
- hobochili 10y agoHaha... Valid point. I'd have to explore the intricacies of Canadian songwriting before I could confidently make the assertion, but my feeling is that Cohen's songwriting falls in line with the American tradition.
- nathancahill 10y agoI've explored the intricacies of Canadian songwriting. J Biebs.
- Kluny 10y ago(Biased Canadian) I'd say Cohen is entirely Canadian. He has this very self-deprecating humor that you don't really get from Americans.
- hobochili 10y agoI'll concede that Cohen is a Canadian songwriter. It's interesting to me, though, that he launched his music career in New York.
- dmix 10y agoThat's where all the good record labels and record producers were. All good Canadian musicians/actors/directors go to the US. They largely leave Canada behind without much mention of Canada during their careers besides Drake and to a lesser extent Neil Young being the exception. Leonard's first album had amazing production by american producer John Simon (who also worked with The Band, Simon & Garfunkel, Janis Joplin), probably the best in Cohen's entire career, so he chose well deciding to work out of Columbia's studio in NYC... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_Leonard_Cohen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_Leonard_Cohen
- kmonsen 10y agoI'm struggling with the use of the word American here, both you and the parent posters. In my opinion all Canadians are just as much Americans as anyone from the USA. Not sure what else you can call someone from USA, so I guess it makes a bit of sense.
- luckydata 10y agoLast time I checked Canada was in the Americas but I get your point.
- Kluny 10y agoI know, but Canadians never call themselves Americans.
- j1vms 10y ago> As much as I love Bob Dylan, I wouldn't have been upset had Leonard Cohen been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. I would not be surprised that one of the lesser reasons Dylan was awarded this year was to open the door to others including Cohen in future years. Not to mention that Dylan's awarding might have the more subtle effect of encouraging contemporary musicians, if they are not already doing so, to commit to more enduring songwriting than otherwise just making a weekly Top 40.