Rufus Wainwright: Statement on the Passing of Leonard Cohen
Official Statement By: Rufus Wainwright
I had very few deeply personal experiences with Leonard, enough to count on one and a half hands: a tiny little sparkling horse*. Like for most of us, for me he dwelled in a higher strata inhabited by some living but mostly passed icons who seemed to have this direct line to the galaxy, whilst at the same time knowing exactly when to take out the trash. Formidable in both the sacred and the mundane. But fortunately I now covet these few personal moments, I’m pretty sure it’s about 7 in total (a sacred number of course!) And credit them with grabbing hold and shifting the direction of the restless path my life has always taken. It was never a fundamental shift, just a kind yet brutally strong nudge towards where I really ought to be heading. I would have liked to have had more time to ask him more questions, and certainly now in this pathetic dinghy, adrift in a violent sea, we all need help in maneuvering a truly busted rudder through a series of magnificent typhoons. But it’s OK, it’s all in the music. Farewell Leonard, we need you now up there as much as we did down here.
Love always, Rufus.
*horses are measured in hands.
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