Attached Link: http://www.theworld.org/globalhits/index.shtml

I know it's come up here now and then so I thought this story on The World (from Public Radio International) was interesting. A guy in Canada is campaigning to have Leonard Cohen's lyrics recognized via the Nobel Prize for Literature, no less. It was a very interesting story and from what I heard, I'll have to go out and buy a few of his CDs. jon

 
~jon
My Blog - Mad Utopia Writing in a new era.

Hey, I love his stuff! A friend of mine once commented that when Bob Dylan sings out of tune, at least he sounds charming, but Leonard Cohen out of tune is just irritating. :) Well, Leonard Cohen's singing (if it can be called that) has inspired tons of comments, but his lyrics are very interesting, sometimes very poignant, though often hard to understand, and some of his imagery has flashes of absolute brilliance. (my opinion only) Well, well! Who would have ever thought... Incidentally, the first four stanzas of my poem 'No Kaddish for the Bourgeouise' in my gallery, were actually a song I'd written long ago inspired by Cohen. Noone liked it because I tried to sing like him :) I would say that i think lyricists are writers. Maybe I'm saying this because I write songs myself and am currently part of a forum working on this to convey truth through music. Songwriting is really a far more profound art than is often understood. Thanks for the article, Jon. I was very interested and intrigued.

I am a song writer as well. I was even talked into letting some one play and sing one of my songs at my wedding reception. Everyone loved it except me of course since I am sure that everything I write is crap. Some of my best works however start as a poem and then I pick up my guitar and it becomes a song. My opinion is (most) songs are just another form of poetry. So if you can win Nobel Prize for Literature with a poem then I don't see why it can't be recognized. Winning the award may be different but as I am not too familiar with Leonard Cohen's work.

Written words are writing. Writing is a catagory of the Nobel Prize. Therefore......

In considering whether lyricists are writers, the Medium is not necessarily the Message. A story well told is a story well told. I think that this is a very, very interesting consideration and a good choice to start. This could open the door for others. Van Morrison comes to mind. As you dig into LC's music also check out 'Famous Blue Raincoat' by Jennifer Warnes. All LC songs here and covered very well by a beautiful lady. The ones that stand out are 'First We Take Manhattan', check out SRV's guitar work on this one. 'Joan of Arc', a duet with LC and 'Song of Bernadette', which she co-wrote with LC. The following year, LC released 'I'm Your Man', which is also a good one.

I'd say that lyricists are definitely writers. I don't consider myself a song writer, but I write poetry from time to time. A couple of my poems have been turned into songs by another artist here, so I think lyricists definitely fally right in line with writers :)

Attached Link: http://nobelprize.org/literature/

From the Nobel Prize website: The Nobel Prize in Literature has recognized the whole spectrum of literary works including poetry, novels, short stories, plays, essays and speeches. The key here is whole spectrum. Of course lyricists are writers. Unfortunately, looking over the list of eligible nominators, the guy in Canada seems to have his work cut out. Not just anyone can nominate a candidate. Thus his nominating campaign. I think it's great that he has finally started a campaign to get someone nominated from the field. Someday, I'm sure, a great lyricist will win. Who knows, it may even be Leonard Cohen. jon

 
~jon
My Blog - Mad Utopia Writing in a new era.

Leonard Cohen is a world renowned POET!!!!!! What's wrong with people who don't know that? The music came later & is something he decided to delve in!