If you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine

August 7, 2016 6:18 AM

Marianne Ihlen, 81, died in Oslo on 29 July. She was an old friend and sometime lover of Leonard Cohen, whom she met in the 1960s on the Greek island of Hydra, and was the inspiration for his songs So Long, Marianne and Bird On A Wire. Before she passed away, Cohen wrote her a letter.
posted by acb (12 comments total)

Boy, really dusty in here!
posted by wittgenstein at 6:53 AM on August 7, 2016 [2 favorites]

I might have missed it, but did the article say that Cohen agreed to have the contents of his letter shared with the general public? Because if not, that seems like a kind of questionable thing for a third party to do.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:59 AM on August 7, 2016 [7 favorites]

If Leonard Cohen loved you, you never really die.
posted by phunniemee at 7:00 AM on August 7, 2016 [23 favorites]

For M.

I stayed awake to see you sleep
Some faces die of sleep
Mouths go limp
Gone eyes leave a corpse behind
Maybe I could say goodbye
But you were perfect
You were whole
Your mouth was saying
I won't ever hurt you
Eyelids saying
Be alive be still
I got as far as the window
Something was wrong
The houses were too white
Cliffs too steep
What were the yards doing so clear
I wheeled around
I knew I had made a mistake
I tried to walk I ran
Everywhere I bumped my head
I was picking up prayerbooks
I kissed your sleep

-- L.C., 1960

Previously unpublished, appears in So Long Marrianne: A Love Story, by Kari Hesthamar
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:22 AM on August 7, 2016 [11 favorites]

Love is love is love is love, cannot be killed or swept aside...
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 7:42 AM on August 7, 2016 [4 favorites]

It might be worth listening to the moving CBC interview that this article was cribbed from. I was in tears as I listened to it, and Rosemary Barton sounded choked up too.
posted by Flashman at 8:38 AM on August 7, 2016 [3 favorites]

Lord, Leonard Cohen could write a love song.
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:00 AM on August 7, 2016 [2 favorites]

God dammit, 2016- if you take Leonard too, we are fucking done.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:30 AM on August 7, 2016 [22 favorites]

I'm not ready for a world without Leonard Cohen.
posted by pxe2000 at 11:41 AM on August 7, 2016 [3 favorites]

Additional reading.

> I might have missed it, but did the article say that Cohen agreed to have the contents of his letter shared with the general public? Because if not, that seems like a kind of questionable thing for a third party to do.

Well, in the Facebook link in the article, it says "Leonard asked that this letter to him from Jan Christian Mollestad be used in this memorial," and Mollestad is described as a close friend of Ilene's, so I'm gonna come down on the side of believing Cohen has no objections. I understand the letter referenced is the reply to Cohen, and not the one he wrote, but when I pass, trust that my friends will know what is acceptable for my memory. If Cohen thought he was a jerk for releasing the letter, I'm guessing he wouldn't have praised the reply (assuming he knew).

I see nothing malicious here.
posted by cjorgensen at 12:00 PM on August 7, 2016 [9 favorites]

We played bird on a wire at my dad's funeral. Incredible song and with a gravity far beyond most for me.
posted by deadwax at 3:12 PM on August 7, 2016 [2 favorites]

There is something so beautiful. I want to believe that in forty years my best exes will comfort me when I pass. I'm choked up. Love is love is love is love.
posted by corb at 4:37 PM on August 7, 2016 [5 favorites]