When the poet and singer Leonard Cohen announced that he was abandoning his music career, a transformational event was to turn that around. In October 1973, Cohen decided to give a concert tour at the front lines of the Yom Kippur War. With nothing but a guitar and a group of local musicians, Cohen met hundreds of young soldiers, an experience neither he or the soldiers and civilians would ever forget. In this masterful account, Matti Friedman draws on Cohen’s previously unpublished manuscript to bring this riveting story to life.
Did you know?
Cohen’s song ‘Lover, Lover, Lover’ reflected on the war and his experience in the Sinai, and was his first new song in years. It beings:
I asked my father
I said “Father change my name
The one I’m using now it’s covered up
With fear and filth and cowardice and shame.”
Listen to the song here
Matti Friedman writes…
“Cohen knew his music might be the last thing they heard. This isn’t Woodstock. It isn’t a night out. Everyone’s sober. The stakes are high.”
Listen to Matti Friedman discussing his book on our new JLF Player here
Why do we love it?
We love this book for its rare and intimate glimpse into Leonard Cohen’s incredible and impromptu tour to the front lines of the Yom Kippur War. As he sang for young Israeli soldiers, his music offered them comfort. A fascinating read for history and music lovers alike of the experience that released Cohen’s creative block and sparked some of his greatest and most beloved work.