Old Ideas

Leonard Cohen released a new album this year, at the ripe old age of 77.  For those of you who don't know who Mr. Cohen is, his biggest claim to fame is that he was the writer and original performer of the song "Hallelujah" that was popularized by Jeff Buckley in the mid-1990's and is featured in a bunch of movies during those sad or inspirational or thoughtful moments.  He's basically a poet who recites his poetry with a gravelly voice and accompanied by a few background singers.  It doesn't sound like much, but boy does it work.

Many people listen to music for the beats or as background noise or myriad other reasons.  I like music for the lyrics.  There's something incredible to be said about intense lyrics that say everything that you've wanted to say but never knew how.  As much as I like to fashion myself as a wordsmith, the words rarely come out the way that I want them to.  Oftentimes it seems that the things that I really want to say were first uttered in a song.  Sometimes it makes me feel like my words or emotions are therefore not genuine, since a songwriter had to come up with the words and a catchy hook and some rollicking drums.  Perhaps, I've thought, I'm just hanging off the coattails of someone else, one who is successful and positive and always knows the right words to say.  Maybe I'm just inspired by those words.  Whatever it is, it seems like there's always a song that is describing me at a particular point.  Whether I am happy and excited or depressed or melancholy or confused or hurt or angry or ready for a laugh, there's always music and lyrics to help me cope.  Yeah, that could be it...maybe it's some sort of coping mechanism.  It's similar to when you are talking to people and want to extract a bunch of different opinions because you want well-rounded advice.  Listening to all these songs is like that.  Everyone of these songwriters have had such varied experiences and I'm just gathering advice from them, in order to make my own decisions.  I don't know what it is, but everyone (I think...I hope?!) knows a little of what I'm talking about.  Music provides a soundtrack for our life.  There's always a song that sums up the feelings.

And sometimes there're a few songs:

These songs provide a startling dichotomy.  The first song, to me, is advocating one thing, while the second song is saying something entirely different.  These songs are inspiring to me.   They make me think, about my life and my choices and my desires and my needs.  But at the end of the day, they are not my ideas.  Only I can come up with my own life plan.  Songs, as much as they've become part of the fabric of my life, do not define me.  They are not me.  They are not any of us.  Life is not a four-minute song, just as it's not a two-hour movie.  Life is something else entirely.  Just as Mr. Cohen has two old ideas about love and life, so too will I have my own ideas, much like anybody reading this will have his/her own ideas.  Those thoughts and ideas can be influenced by outside factors, but they shan't define us.

Mr. Cohen has some ideas for his life.  I'm glad he shared them with me.  I will ruminate upon them and perhaps I will learn something and grow a bit.  But the ultimate idea, the final choice, lies solely with me.  I've made my decision.  There's no going back now.