大象传媒 Scotland - 大象传媒 Scotland - Son recounts 鈥榟ilarious鈥� moment Leonard Cohen lied to Bob Dylan

Son recounts 鈥榟ilarious鈥� moment Leonard Cohen lied to Bob Dylan

They were known to have huge mutual admiration for one another, but when two of the greatest poet-songwriters of the 20th century met for coffee in Paris, Cohen felt the need to partially cover up the truth about his song-writing methods.

Leonard Cohen, Canadian singer, songwriter and poet passed away in 2016 at the age of 82. Cherished by fans around the world, he was nicknamed the "godfather of gloom" — although in a new interview with his son, Adam Cohen, Janice Forsyth finds out he was actually a very ‘light’ and ‘humorous’ person.

Singer-songwriter Adam Cohen

Fans of Cohen's music will be delighted to know that Adam has recently completed a new album of songs by his late father entitled, Thanks For The Dance, being released later this month.

Speaking to Janice on The Afternoon Show, Adam was able to shed some light on how he ended up with a familiarity with his dad's working methods enabling him to finish off the songs.

"As I grew older and he [my father] grew older and frailer he was trying to... bring me into the fold."

"At first... he was just consulting with me."

"Further and further, I got a real sense of familiarity with his process. With the chiseling with the polishing. With the never being content. With the high, high level of devotion that he had. Discipline."

Leonard Cohen's son Adam on finishing up a new album of his father's songs

Cohen's musician son recalls when his dad lied to Bob Dylan about the song, Hallelujah.

Leonard and Bob

Adam then tells the story of an amusing moment between Cohen and perhaps his closest creative peer, Bob Dylan.

"A lot of people have made the comparison between Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen over the years and there's some hilarious stories."

"Like the two of them are sitting in a cafe in Paris and Dylan says to him, ‘How long did it take you to write Hallelujah?"

"And my father completely lied to Dylan and said, ‘Oh you know couple of years.’ "

"I think it was [actually] seven years", says Adam.

"And then my father returned the favour and said, you know, ‘How long did it take you to write Like a Woman?’ and Dylan said ‘Fifteen minutes’.

"And that's very much about process I think. Dylan had this quality where he would ‘from the hip’, you know spit and polish, spit and vinegar and then this old man of mine was much more like chiseling marble."

You can listen to the whole interview between Janice Forsyth and Adam Cohen on 大象传媒 Sounds.