LEONARD COHEN: DEMOCRACY IS COMING TO THE U.S.A.

A 1992 Interview With the Seer Who Saw This Coming

"It's coming to America first/The cradle of the best and of the worst/It's here they got the range/And the machinery for change/And it's here they got the spiritual thirst/It's here the family's broken/And it's here the lonely say/That the heart has got to open/In a fundamental way/Democracy is coming to the U.S.A." --"Democracy" by Leonard Cohen

My favorite Leonard Cohen album has always been The Future (1992).  It was his darkest, until the threat-fulfillment You Want It Darker, which was released just before his death. I think it’s time to check in again with Leonard after a stunning, disorienting week, revealing fault lines some of us, who worked so hard for so long for a different result, could not imagine. This originally appeared in this Substack on March 16, 2022. I think it’s worth posting again.

The Future has reinforced relevance now, as war envelopes Eastern Europe, especially in a handful of songs, and America's  democratic values are tested as never before. "Democracy" fea…