He drew Leonard Cohen’s life, death and underwear
Forward | PJ Grisar | November 17, 2021
An interview with Philippe Girard in Forward
What did Leonard Cohen see at the moment of his death?
No one can say for sure. But it’s possible he was thinking about the time he found his childhood dog dead beneath a neighbor’s porch. Or his cameo on “Miami Vice.” Or his final recording session with his son, Adam. There was a lot of life to reflect on.
Philippe Girard’s new graphic novel “Leonard Cohen: On a Wire,” originally in French and now in English translation, imagines the late poet and musician’s thoughts during his dying minutes. Yet, despite this framing device, and Cohen’s own preoccupation with death, the book isn’t an elegy but a celebration. Moving at a breakneck pace, Girard offers a portrait of the artist as a young and not-so-young man, drawing on Cohen’s creative inspirations, frustrations and personal tragedies.
Cohen’s meetings with muses and record executives — and a homicidal Phil Spector — are complemented by snapshots of his 1973 visit to Israel during the Yom Kippur War and his life on Mt. Baldy and his marriage to Suzanne Elrod. Drawn simply but expressively, this Cohen delivers arch bon mots, wryly lamenting his lack of success and, finally, finding himself humbled by late accolades.
Girard, the author of over a dozen graphic novels and comics, witnessed one belated appreciation of Cohen during a concert in Quebec City in 2012.
“After I think three songs, he stopped the show and said, ‘If I knew you’d love me that much, I would have come sooner,’” Girard recalled. “It was a bit of a shock for me. I realized that maybe he had suffered a loss of affection from his own people.”
Cohen’s words kickstarted Girard’s interest in him as an artist whose work often went unheralded or, in the case of his biggest hit, “Hallelujah,” became successful on someone else’s terms. Girard devoured every book and interview he could find on the late Bard of Westmount, and, while he makes no claim to anything definitive, he hopes “his Leonard” comes close to the truth. Ultimately though, he just hopes his graphic novel gets people to go back to their turntables and spin “The Future” (his favorite album, at least this week).
I spoke with Girard over Zoom about his process, drawing Leonard Cohen in his underwear and why his book is structured like a Star of David. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
PJ Grisar: Can you tell me a bit about your connection to Cohen?
Philippe Girard: I’m from Quebec City, so maybe I came a bit late in the game as far as Cohen is involved. I saw him only once in a show — it was in 2012. I began to think about him probably somewhere around these days. Of course I had the records. I really love his music. But the guy was a bit of a mystery for me. I didn’t know much about his private life.
Did your research lead you to write the book or did you get the idea first?
2016 was a shitty year for me because David Bowie passed away and Leonard Cohen passed away. And those two musicians are the most important musicians in my life. When Bowie passed away, a couple of months later a book came out. And I was a bit disappointed with it. I thought, well, something similar will happen with Cohen I’m sure and I’m going to be disappointed. And then the months came by and no books came out. I felt like this was a beautiful subject. Like a fantastic, beautiful flower in the garden that is only waiting to be picked, but nobody seemed to be willing to pick it. So I said, “All right, I’ll do it. I’ll do it my way. And it’ll be up to my standards.” I had literally piles of notes and photos and lots of stuff, sketches on my drawing table. It came up pretty naturally, actually.
Do you start with a script or with sketches?
Most of the time I draw a storyboard, but in the case of Cohen, he said himself that he led like 1,000 lives and that’s something that is pretty obvious when you read about him. There’s so much stuff to be said that I had to focus on a few things. For some reason, and I don’t know why, I drew a Star of David on a blank sheet of paper on a poster board, and I decided that each point of the star would be dedicated to one decade. And for each decade, I would have one woman, one object, and one song and Leonard’s death was at the center of the star.
Did you learn a lot about Judaism through writing this?
A lot. In Quebec City, from what I know, there isn’t any Jewish community, or if there is it’s not like Montreal. It’s discreet and everybody here speaks French. It’s a different kind of dynamic than in Montreal. I learned a lot about Judaism. The sense of community is one of the things that struck me very strongly, and the resilience, of course. While I was doing the colors for my book, I had a residence in Poland in Krakow and it wasn’t a nice trip. I was dumped there in an apartment for one month and nobody took care of me. I had a schedule, but we did nothing. So up to a certain point, I decided that I would have to take care of my own schedule. So I went in the concentration camps. I went to see the Jewish ghetto in Krakow, but also in Warsaw. Leonard was with me all the time. And I was really sensitive about all this. I’m talking to you about it now and I have shivers.
No one can say for sure. But it’s possible he was thinking about the time he found his childhood dog dead beneath a neighbor’s porch. Or his cameo on “Miami Vice.” Or his final recording session with his son, Adam. There was a lot of life to reflect on.
Philippe Girard’s new graphic novel “Leonard Cohen: On a Wire,” originally in French and now in English translation, imagines the late poet and musician’s thoughts during his dying minutes. Yet, despite this framing device, and Cohen’s own preoccupation with death, the book isn’t an elegy but a celebration. Moving at a breakneck pace, Girard offers a portrait of the artist as a young and not-so-young man, drawing on Cohen’s creative inspirations, frustrations and personal tragedies.
Cohen’s meetings with muses and record executives — and a homicidal Phil Spector — are complemented by snapshots of his 1973 visit to Israel during the Yom Kippur War and his life on Mt. Baldy and his marriage to Suzanne Elrod. Drawn simply but expressively, this Cohen delivers arch bon mots, wryly lamenting his lack of success and, finally, finding himself humbled by late accolades.
Girard, the author of over a dozen graphic novels and comics, witnessed one belated appreciation of Cohen during a concert in Quebec City in 2012.
“After I think three songs, he stopped the show and said, ‘If I knew you’d love me that much, I would have come sooner,’” Girard recalled. “It was a bit of a shock for me. I realized that maybe he had suffered a loss of affection from his own people.”
Cohen’s words kickstarted Girard’s interest in him as an artist whose work often went unheralded or, in the case of his biggest hit, “Hallelujah,” became successful on someone else’s terms. Girard devoured every book and interview he could find on the late Bard of Westmount, and, while he makes no claim to anything definitive, he hopes “his Leonard” comes close to the truth. Ultimately though, he just hopes his graphic novel gets people to go back to their turntables and spin “The Future” (his favorite album, at least this week).
I spoke with Girard over Zoom about his process, drawing Leonard Cohen in his underwear and why his book is structured like a Star of David. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
PJ Grisar: Can you tell me a bit about your connection to Cohen?
Philippe Girard: I’m from Quebec City, so maybe I came a bit late in the game as far as Cohen is involved. I saw him only once in a show — it was in 2012. I began to think about him probably somewhere around these days. Of course I had the records. I really love his music. But the guy was a bit of a mystery for me. I didn’t know much about his private life.
Did your research lead you to write the book or did you get the idea first?
2016 was a shitty year for me because David Bowie passed away and Leonard Cohen passed away. And those two musicians are the most important musicians in my life. When Bowie passed away, a couple of months later a book came out. And I was a bit disappointed with it. I thought, well, something similar will happen with Cohen I’m sure and I’m going to be disappointed. And then the months came by and no books came out. I felt like this was a beautiful subject. Like a fantastic, beautiful flower in the garden that is only waiting to be picked, but nobody seemed to be willing to pick it. So I said, “All right, I’ll do it. I’ll do it my way. And it’ll be up to my standards.” I had literally piles of notes and photos and lots of stuff, sketches on my drawing table. It came up pretty naturally, actually.
Do you start with a script or with sketches?
Most of the time I draw a storyboard, but in the case of Cohen, he said himself that he led like 1,000 lives and that’s something that is pretty obvious when you read about him. There’s so much stuff to be said that I had to focus on a few things. For some reason, and I don’t know why, I drew a Star of David on a blank sheet of paper on a poster board, and I decided that each point of the star would be dedicated to one decade. And for each decade, I would have one woman, one object, and one song and Leonard’s death was at the center of the star.
Did you learn a lot about Judaism through writing this?
A lot. In Quebec City, from what I know, there isn’t any Jewish community, or if there is it’s not like Montreal. It’s discreet and everybody here speaks French. It’s a different kind of dynamic than in Montreal. I learned a lot about Judaism. The sense of community is one of the things that struck me very strongly, and the resilience, of course. While I was doing the colors for my book, I had a residence in Poland in Krakow and it wasn’t a nice trip. I was dumped there in an apartment for one month and nobody took care of me. I had a schedule, but we did nothing. So up to a certain point, I decided that I would have to take care of my own schedule. So I went in the concentration camps. I went to see the Jewish ghetto in Krakow, but also in Warsaw. Leonard was with me all the time. And I was really sensitive about all this. I’m talking to you about it now and I have shivers.