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Definitely a Democrat by Michael Dube

leonardcohenfiles.com · 1,206 words · saved by 1 readers

When I first became acquainted with the lyrics and music of Leonard Cohen (his lyric for "Suzanne" did the trick for me, as it did for many people), I was struck by his ability to mix -- if you'll forgive elitism for the sake of argument -- "true poetry" with pop in a way that perhaps only Bob Dylan and Paul Simon had. Allen Ginsberg, after all, once commented that "Dylan blew everybody's mind except Leonard's." I chose "Waiting For The Miracle," a lyric written as Cohen approached his 60th birthday, [as the topic of this paper] because it seemed to possess a great number of strengths and weaknesses. Along these lines, I originally intended to use "...Miracle" as a vehicle for discussing the special potency of and deficiencies inherent in a lyric that was shaped by music. As I read the poem over a number of times, though, nearly all of the weaknesses seemed to vanish. While familiarity breeds admiration (or just breeds; just ask Adam and Eve), my increased respect for Leonard's "Waitin

Definitely a Democrat by Michael Dube W AITING F OR T HE M IRACLE by Michael Dube with Steven Dube When I first became acquainted with the lyrics and music of Leonard Cohen (his lyric for "Suzanne" did the trick for me, as it did for many people), I was struck by his ability to mix -- if you'll forgive elitism for the sake of argument -- "true poetry" with pop in a way that perhaps only Bob Dylan and Paul Simon had. Allen Ginsberg, after all, once commented that "Dylan blew everybody's mind except Leonard's." I chose "Waiting For The Miracle," a lyric written as Cohen approached his 60th birth

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