Leonard Cohen: 'I am ready to die'

Leonard Cohen has once again demonstrated his ability to speak with calm clarity on the subject of death. In a new interview, in which the 82-year-old discusses his future as an artist, he says: “I am ready to die. I hope it’s not too uncomfortable. That’s about it for me.”

According to the article, published in the New Yorker, Cohen has a vault of unpublished poems and unfinished lyrics to finish and record or publish.

“The big change is the proximity to death,” he says. “I am a tidy kind of guy. I like to tie up the strings if I can. If I can’t, that’s OK. But my natural thrust is to finish things that I’ve begun.”

He goes on to say, however, that he might never be able to release his incomplete tracks: “I don’t think I’ll be able to finish those songs. Maybe, who knows? And maybe I’ll get a second wind, I don’t know. But I don’t dare attach myself to a spiritual strategy. I don’t dare do that. I’ve got some work to do. Take care of business. I am ready to die. I hope it’s not too uncomfortable. That’s about it for me.”

Cohen goes on to describe how he “is filled with many fewer distractions than other times in my life and [I’m able] to work with a little more concentration and continuity than when I had duties of making a living, being a husband, being a father. Those distractions are radically diminished at this point. The only thing that mitigates against full production is just the condition of my body.”

Much of the New Yorker piece focuses on Cohen’s relationship with Marianne Ihlen, the subject of songs such as Bird on a Wire and So Long, Marianne, who died earlier this year.

In August, Cohen’s final letter to his dying muse described his peace with death. “We are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon,” he wrote.

Elsewhere in the interview, Cohen continues his philosophical attitude towards life and death – and describes his fortunate position as he nears the end of his time:

For some odd reason, I have all my marbles, so far. I have many resources, some cultivated on a personal level, but circumstantial, too: my daughter and her children live downstairs, and my son lives two blocks down the street. So I am extremely blessed. I have an assistant who is devoted and skilful. I have a friend or two who make my life very rich. So in a certain sense I’ve never had it better … At a certain point, if you still have your marbles and are not faced with serious financial challenges, you have a chance to put your house in order. Putting your house in order, if you can do it, is one of the most comforting activities, and the benefits of it are incalculable.

You Want It Darker is out on 21 October.