Joe Jackson - Hallelujah: A Conversation with Leonard Cohen

A Conversation with Leonard Cohen

Copyright: Joe Jackson 2020

The author has asserted his moral rights.

The cover photograph was taken by Colm Henry.Contact: Patrick Donald Photography Gallery. Dublin 086 7808669

Design and layout by Joe Jackson for Pyramidof Light Press

KEEP INTOUCH

Published by Pyramid of Light Press, Dublin,Ireland.

4, Arnott Street,

Dublin 8,

Ireland.

The right of Joe Jackson to be identified asthe author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance withthe copyright, design, and patent acts pertaining. All rightsreserved. No reproduction, copy, or transmission of this work maybe made without written permission from the author. No paragraph ofthis work may be reproduced, copied, or transmitted, save withwritten permission of the author, or in accordance with theprovision of the copyright acts pertaining. This work is madeavailable subject to the condition that it shall not, by way oftrade or otherwise, be lent, sold, hired out or otherwisecirculated without the authors prior consent. Any person who doesany unauthorised act in relation to this work may be liable tocriminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Joe Jackson is an author, journalist,broadcaster, and podcaster. His books include Troubadours andTroublemakers (Ireland Now: A Culture Reclaimed)Boyzone, Our Story, Other Voices, Other Rooms, APersonal History of Folk Music co-authored with singer NanciGriffith, and David Norris: Trial By Media.

He hasalso published a series of anthologies as Ebooks, starting in 2012,with Gabriel Byrne: The Joe Jackson Interviews Plus . This was followed by similar volumes based oninterviews with Bob Geldof, Tori Amos, and The Chieftains. Hisother Ebooks include From Darkness to Light , a selection of inspirational interviews.

Jackson s articles and interviews have beenpublished globally in magazines such as Rolling Stone,Playboy, and Humo. He has interviewed roughly 1,000musicians, artists, and politicians and worked for Irelands mostprestigious media outlets, such as RTE Radio 1, The IrishTimes, and Sunday Independent.

These books areavailable from joejacksoninterviewer.com and Amazon.com,Smashwords, Apple stores, Barnes and Noble, etc. He can becontacted at joejacksoninerviewer.com or via his Facebook page JoeJackson Journalist.

The Joe Jackson Interviews Podcast isavailable from all major podcast servers.

The Irish Timeson JoeJackson

Jackson is a tenacious interviewer. Just ashis subjects start to relax, he throws them that question from hellyou wouldnt have the nerve to ask, Tell us about thewife-beating, Richard? - this, more or less to Richard Harris,whose self-deprecating halo was starting to glint. Is killingchildren in Warrington part of your peace strategy? - that,paraphrased, to Gerry Adams...Match him against someone he believesis a hypocrite, and he enters the fray like a latter-day Danton.Ben Briscoe, then Lord Mayor of Dublin, storms off in a huff whenJackson queries his remarks on homosexuality and Charles J.Haughey. But musician Christy Moore, writers Tom Murphy and PaulDurcan, open their hearts because they sense they can trust him and you never doubt it. Jacksons research is impeccable; hiscommitment is everywhere.

(Medb Ruane, The Irish Times.)

A manswork is nothing but a slow trek to rediscover, through the detoursof art, those one, or two, great and simple images, in whosepresence his heart first opened.

(AlbertCamus)

I feelit is the duty of one who goes his own way to inform society ofwhat he finds on his journey of discovery.

(CarlJung)

Thanks alot, man, that was a great, great interview. It wasdeep.

( Leonard Cohen to Joe Jackson March1 st 1985)

He[Leonard Cohen] was quite taken aback by how deeply you researchedhis work and gratified that you had. So many of these interviewsare so shallow.

(Geoff, Cohen s tour manager, to Joe Jackson March1 st 1985)

Themagnificent Colm Henry photograph on the cover of this book wastaken to accompany the interview I did with Leonard Cohen on March1st, 1985. But what do I mean when I say that meeting myhero of roughly eighteen years until that point rerouted my life?The book itself will detail that story. However, let me walk youinto its plot this way.

When I woke up that morning, I wasnt aninterviewer. I was just a Cohen fan who had somehow cajoled theeditor of a magazine into allowing me to interview Leonard. Simplybecause while listening to Hallelujah from his latest albumVarious Positions something told me that this time around,rather than merely see and photograph and tape him in concert inDublin, as I had done in 1972, 1976 and 1979, I must meet and talkwith the man.

After I did, and as I left his hotel room, Icouldnt help but hear in my mind that line from Leonards song,The Smokey Life, the ground is gone. It was. My feetdoggedly refused to touch the carpet in the corridor of that hotel.I felt transcendent. And, no, we hadnt done drugs together, apartfor the perpetual hit of two people truly communicating inconversation.

Within ten minutes, I took out my notebookand wrote three sentences that included the line, thus begins mycareer as an interviewer. And later that night, I looked at aquote I had pinned on a wall in my bedsit and decided that as partof my new career I must seek out more of my heroes to talk with.The quote in question came from Albert Camus. He had once said, Amans work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover through thedetours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whosepresence his heart first opened.

So, you see, a day that began with me beingsimply a Leonard Cohen fan nervous about his first interview, thenended with me setting off on a quest inspired by the encounter. Idcall that a classic case of a fans life being rerouted by meetinghis hero. Wouldnt you?

Either way, in time that decision led to meinterviewing roughly 1,400 celebrities not all my heroes, Ihasten to add, though some became so after we met - for all majormedia outlets in my homeland of Ireland. And it led to me becomingan author, co-writing, for example, with Nanci Griffith, herPersonal History of Folk Music, Nanci Griffiths OtherVoices, an IMRO-award nominated radio presenter/producer andperforming on stage my multi-media one-person show, RichardHarris Revisited. And to think it all began with a one-hourchat with Leonard! How could I not celebrate the life and work ofthe man at every opportunity?

And I have. We did two more interviews,which I will publish in my next Cohen anthology. I made a one-hourradio documentary about the man for my series People GetReadyanother for my series, The Joe Jackson TapesRevisited. In fact, on the morning of November 7th2016, I sent Leonard an email letting him know that he was part ofmy upcoming Christmas series. I also thanked him yet, again, forinspiring me to become an interviewer and kick-starting my career.Later that same day, I learned that he had died.

Twoweeks earlier, I had performed on stage Richard Harris Revisited,my multi-media show based on taped interviews I did with Harris. Idecided that the next show I write and perform must be in memory ofLeonard and based on the taped interviews we did, mainly the first.I worked on the script, tentatively titled Conversations withLeonard Cohen, on and off for four years, and finally finished itin early 2020. However, the global spread of COVID-19 forcedme to put on hold plans I had already made to launch the show inDublin.