Less than a month before his death, Leonard Cohen sat down in front of an audience of journalists with his son and producer of You Want It Darker, Adam Cohen, for an interview with KCRW's Chris Douridas on Oct. 13. The interview was part of an exclusive listening session for You Want It Darker in the Canadian Consulate in Los Angeles. In the beginning of the interview, Cohen referenced his previous interview with The New Yorker, in which he had stated that he was ready to die. "I may have exaggerated," Cohen corrected. "One is given to self-dramatisation from time to time." Then he elaborated, "I intend to live forever."
The father and son spoke eloquently about the experience of working together on the latest album. Adam said, "For me to have had the privilege, and the little capacity to be able to help, not only an artist of this magnitude, but who also happens to be my father, was one of the more outstanding things that's ever happened to my little life."
"We're actually not that tight a family," Leonard interjected, to laughs from the crowd. "I've expressed my gratitude to my son," he said, "It was a great privilege to have someone of this skill bringing this album to conclusion."
Journalists from around the world presented their own questions to Cohen directly, all in various states of starstruck awe. The questions covered a range of topics prevalent in Leonard's work, from family to religion. Leonard spoke of his songwriting process, and the many aspects of it that are entirely out of his control. "I've always said, if I knew where the good songs came from, I'd go there more often," he said. Leonard also acknowledged Dylan's Nobel win, saying "To me, it's like pinning a medal on Mount Everest for being the highest mountain." He presented the lyrics for an exclusive song about the hummingbird, a reoccurring theme in Leonard's work, to a round of applause from the crowd. "I would say the hummingbird deserves the royalties on that one," he said. The interview came to a close with Leonard spoke of one of the most impactful lyrics from "You Want It Darker;" "Hineni, hineni/I'm ready, my lord," lyrics that have become all the more impactful in these weeks following his death. "That declaration of readiness, no matter what the outcome, that's a part of everyone's soul... This is just a part of my nature and, I think, everybody else's nature to offer oneself at the critical moment, when the emergency becomes articulate. It's only when the emergency becomes articulate that we can locate that willingness to serve." He paused. "That's getting too heavy, I'm sorry," he apologised, making the audience laugh.
"Thanks for coming, friends," he said graciously at the end. "I really appreciate it, I really appreciate your standing up when I came into the room. I hope we can do this again, I intend to stick around till a hundred-and-twenty."
Listen to the full interview below.