THOM SENT THIS: Young Leonard Cohen Reads His Poetry in 1966 (Before His Days as a Musician Began)

Many a singer-songwriter who first rose to prominence in the 1960s has taken the label of "poet," usually applied by adoring fans, no doubt to the objection of a fair few serious poetry enthusiasts. But who among them could deny Leonard Cohen's status as a poet? Though best known as a musician, Cohen has also racked up indisputable writerly credentials, having published not just the novels Beautiful Losers and The Favorite Game but many books of poetry including Death of a Lady's Man, Let Us Compare Mythologies, and Flowers for Hitler. Some of them include not just poems written as poems but song lyrics — or perhaps works that began as songs but became poems. Surely his albums contain songs that began as poems. Those interested in figuring out Cohen's simultaneous development as a poet and songwriter would do well to listen to his early poetry readings, like that of "Prayer for Messiah" at the top of the post.

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