Master Song

Album: Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • According to Judy Scott, author of Leonard, Marianne, and Me, "Master Song" could be about John Starr Cooke, a spiritual guru who was friends with Cohen's girlfriend, Marianne Ihlen, subject of another song on the album, "So Long, Marianne." When Cohen and Ihlen were living together in Montreal, they had a falling out, and Ihlen left for Mexico, where she stayed with Cooke. Cohen called, asking her to return, and she did.

    Matters of love drove much of Cohen's works, and it is especially acute here. In Scott's interpretation, Cooke is the "master," a title often bestowed on mystics and guru types.
  • "Master Song" is part of Cohen's first album, Songs Of Leonard Cohen. By this point, Cohen had already published various books of poetry and a novel called Beautiful Losers. The album was modestly successful but gained more followers in later decades as Cohen's music entered the popular fray. Released on Columbia Records and recorded at their studios in New York City, the album was re-issued in 2007.
  • Cohen offered an opaque explanation of this song when he performed it on the BBC in 1968, saying, "It's about the Trinity. Leave that for the scholars. It's about three people."

Comments: 1

  • Thelma from New Yorkinteresting song
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

History Of Rock

History Of RockSong Writing

An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.

Don Brewer of Grand Funk

Don Brewer of Grand FunkSongwriter Interviews

The drummer and one of the primary songwriters in Grand Funk talks rock stardom and Todd Rundgren.

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Tim and his brother Richard are the Furs' foundation; Tim explains how they write and tells the story of "Pretty In Pink."

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.