Leonard Cohen (2011)

“There are very, very few people who occupy the ground that Leonard Cohen walks on.”

-Bono

The Flame is the final work from Leonard Cohen, the revered poet and musician whose fans span generations and whose work is celebrated throughout the world. Featuring poems, excerpts from his private notebooks, lyrics, and hand-drawn self-portraits, The Flame offers an unprecedentedly intimate look inside the life and mind of a singular artist.

A reckoning with a life lived deeply and passionately, with wit and panache, The Flame is a valedictory work.

“This volume contains my father’s final efforts as a poet. It was what he was staying alive to do, his sole breathing purpose at the end.

“Each page of paper that he blackened was lasting evidence of a burning soul.”

-Adam Cohen

Leonard Cohen died in late 2016.

Excerpted from Leonard Cohen’s Acceptance Address for the Prince of Asturias Award.

Animation by Astral Studio