Depression is a battle many musicians fight. The darkness itself can be an incredible muse if it’s not debilitating. Listen to the great words of Leonard Cohen and let yourself be happy enough to produce your art.
“Good work is produced in spite of suffering… as a victory over suffering.” – Leonard Cohen
For more info: leonardcohen.com
This entry was written by , posted on January 2, 2012 at 8:17 am, filed under political and tagged Depression, Leonoard Cohen. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
I read a great book called “The War of Art” that deals with this topic. That artists often put off making their art, but they’re only happy after they’ve forced themselves to work on it.
True for me.
Interesting topic. I recently stopped drinking after dealing with some dark points in my life that were fueled by depression and I always thought when i was drinking that I couldn’t be a good artist without it. It is hard getting the balance between debilitating depression and the kind that breeds genuine beauty and emotion.
That was an awesome song.
One of my all time favorites.
What a GREAT posting… thanks for sharing (again), Mr. Chesler. It took me many many years to realize that I (can have) lows that were actually acute/mild depression. It’s something I still struggle with… but am at least now more consciously aware of. My relation – and in many odd ways attractions to all things dark have been very deep and since early childhood. It’s clearly part of my nature/aesthetic. For all the dark places it’s taken me, I think music was actually my relief/savior in more ways than not. When I am deep into work on a piece or a live performance it is a joy and exhilaration like nothing else despite the difficulties in getting to those moments from time to time. Music, and working on it, literally makes me feel more “alive”.
I wish you – and all of us – a great start into this brave new year!