When Nothing Sticks

Look elsewhere

Nothing I read is grabbing my attention these days. I read, but I’m not absorbing. I wait for the sparks to tickle the inside of my brain, but feel a soft mold growing on the peripheral instead. The same goes for my writing.

I wonder if the well is empty. I need to switch it up. My day job has been taking a lot of headspace lately. So I decide I should read some poetry.

At the library, I find two books that, ironically, have lots of sketches sprinkled throughout the pages.

The first is a collection of poems by Leonard Cohen, titled Book of Longing. I remember a former boss who was a big fan of his. It was around the time when Cohen announced he was going back on tour at age 73, after his manager had stolen all his money. I was working in Montreal, Cohen’s hometown, where the news made quite a splash.

I was vaguely familiar with his music then, especially since Shrek and fellow Canadian Rufus Wainwright had released popular covers of Hallelujah a few years earlier.

My boss played her favourite song for me, Dance Me to the End of Love. She smiled dreamily as we listened to his deep, sultry voice. I understood at that moment that he must have been quite attractive in his youth. That’s when she informed me that Leonard Cohen was much more than a singer-songwriter; he had been a poet long before.

Coincidently, there was a documentary about Cohen’s life playing at my local movie theater this week. So I borrowed the book, went to see the film, and learned a lot about Cohen’s life.

The poems, if I’m to be honest, didn’t impress me much, but the documentary is sublime. It’s a great origin story (see my previous post). I hadn’t realized how spiritual Leonard Cohen was, or how much he loved women (the deep, sultry voice thing probably came in handy).

Here are some interesting things I’ve learned:

• Cohen took at least seven years to write Hallelujah and wrote more than a hundred verses for the song.
• Columbia Records refused to release the album in the US, so some no-name recording studio eventually produced it. The song literally went unnoticed for years.
• Hallelujah’s verses have changed multiple times since its original release. It’s an astonishing example of how a piece of writing can continue to live after being published.

Fascinating, isn’t it? Like I said, the documentary tells a great origin story. And while Leonard Cohen grew up in a privileged and wealthy environment, benefitting from being a man in a white male-dominant industry, he still faced his fair share of struggles as a creative, and human being. Watch the documentary if you can.

The second book I borrowed was Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions. I loved Cat’s Cradle and wanted to read more of his books when I learned Vonnegut has a character named Kilgore Trout, who makes recurring yet inconsistent appearances in several of his books. Trout, a supposedly unappreciated science-fiction writer, is always writing wildly absurd stories, like this one, which convinced me I should read Breakfast of Champions:

“Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne.”

I mean, how can I NOT be reading this book??

Yet, I haven’t felt the delight I was hoping to get from Breakfast of Champions. Maybe I haven’t gotten far enough. I seem to crawl forward even though the style and structure make the book easy to put down and pick up again. Vonnegut even draws funny sketches in the pages. (Cohen also peppered his book with personal illustrations.)

And so I wonder…why aren't things sticking?

Is it them or is it me? I suspect it’s the latter.

After writing this post, I picked up Cohen’s and Vonnegut’s books again and things began sticking to my brain once more. I’m excited to finish Breakfast of Champions now.

Ear candy this week

In a further attempt to reignite my brain, I’ve started listening to the award-winning audio-drama podcast, The Left Right Game. It’s produced by QCode, a studio that partners with top creative talents, A-list celebrities, and audio technology like Sonos to bring a cinematic experience to your ears. Think of a Netflix series adapted to audio. The surround sound experience is impressive when you listen with headphones. I find what’s most interesting about the writing here are the pauses and what’s left unsaid. Typically, this works fine for television and film because you have the visuals to assist you. But with audio, it gets slightly trickier. I have to pay more attention, otherwise I sometimes get lost in the untold actions.

There are ardent house music fans living under my roof. House music has a rich history which I highly recommend reading up on if you’re not familiar with it. Earlier this year, Beyoncé came out with a new track called Break My Soul, which renewed interest in the genre. Soon afterwards, tons of podcasts were analyzing the song, its influences, and what it meant for the genre. I listened to a few to understand what all the hype was about before listening to the track. After the second time, I was hooked. Since then, it’s become my weekly anthem when I need a little boost.

Beyoncé received 9 Grammy nominations this week. She’s tied with her husband, Jay-Z, for the most nominations throughout a career, with 88 nominations each. Paul McCartney is second on the list with 81 Grammy nods. It’s sort of mind-blowing when you think about the powerhouse they’ve become. This Rafael Saadiq song, featuring Jay-Z, appeared on my playlist a few days ago. The intro has an old-school Jay-Z feel which I love.

Back to Leonard Cohen… I was listening to this cello rendition of Hallelujah by Sheku Kanneth-Mason while writing this post. Kanneth-Mason is a young, talented British cellist who performed at Harry and Meghan’s royal wedding. I highly recommend listening to his other albums if you’re not feeling Cohen’s voice, but are still in the mood for something sensual.

Happy writing, happy creating.

G.G. Law

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