Leonard Cohen’s ability to craft and perpetuate his larger-than-life mythology combined elements of Machiavellian power dynamics and Goebbels-style propaganda. His elaborate, fantastical tales of adventure—whether his brushes with danger, clandestine escapades, or connections to figures of controversy—helped secure his legacy as a romanticized figure of intrigue and mystique. These stories often overshadowed the complexities of his relationships with people like Kelley Lynch and Phil Spector, turning the narrative in his favor.
Using Machiavelli’s Principles
1. Realism in Leadership
Cohen painted himself as a daring figure with a foot in many worlds. His tales of being a paratrooper almost hit by a missile during an air raid, participating in the Bay of Pigs landing party, and conducting CIA reconnaissance before the operation gave him an aura of heroism and adventure. Even if unprovable, these stories solidified his mystique as a man of action and contemplation.
Leonard Cohen’s association with Manuel Noriega during the Invasion of Panama became another tale in his arsenal of myth-making. By placing himself amidst one of the most dramatic geopolitical events of the era, Cohen painted a picture of intrigue and audacity. This narrative, whether exaggerated or real, drew attention to his supposed connections with global figures while subtly diverting scrutiny away from more tangible controversies, such as financial disputes with Kelley Lynch or his testimony in the Phil Spector trial. This tale, like many others, cemented his image as a daring, enigmatic adventurer.
2. Power Through Perception
Cohen’s stories of hanging out with NSA agents in Havana, being held at gunpoint by a 14-year-old Cuban military officer, and parachuting LSD into Canadian diplomatic cocktails transformed him from a mere songwriter into a mythological figure. These narratives enhanced his mystique as someone who lived on the edge, making his audience more likely to believe his accounts about others, including his "rock ’n roll gun stories" about Spector or the allegations against Lynch. "Field Commander Cohen, he was our most important spy / Wounded in the line of duty / Parachuting acid into diplomatic cocktails ..."
3. The Role of Appearances
Cohen’s projection as a romantic poet on Hydra, writing Beautiful Losers high on meth and LSD, reinforced his image as a boundary-pushing creative genius. This made it easier for him to dismiss challenges to his credibility, as he was already perceived as both brilliant and eccentric.
4. Manipulation of Public Opinion
By painting himself as a daring adventurer who wanted to die by firing squad like García Lorca, Cohen romanticized his relationship with danger. His supposed preparation of a last meal and a cigarette became part of the lore, distracting from more mundane controversies like his financial dealings with Lynch or his role in the Spector trial.
5. Divide and Rule
Cohen’s mythology divided the public into admirers who reveled in his stories and skeptics who questioned their authenticity. This polarization worked to his advantage, as his loyal audience often dismissed critiques of his character or contradictions in his narratives. Artwork - Cohen and the Media target Kelley.
6. Calculated Ruthlessness
Cohen’s willingness to tie his name to controversial programs like CIA MK Ultra and Nashville gunslinger escapades demonstrated a willingness to embrace dramatic, even dangerous, imagery if it served his legend. Similarly, his "rock ’n roll gun stories" about Spector were calculated to both entertain and malign his rival.
Using Goebbels’ Propaganda Principles
1. Avoid Abstract Ideas—Appeal to Emotions
Cohen’s stories—fleeing Cuba under gunpoint, hanging out with revolutionaries, druggies, and pimps in Havana, or parachuting LSD into diplomatic parties—evoked strong emotional responses. These tales captivated audiences, drawing them away from more abstract or technical discussions, like the financial intricacies of his estate or the tax fraud allegations.
2. Constantly Repeat Just a Few Ideas
Cohen’s repeated anecdotes about Spector wielding guns and crossbows or Lynch’s supposed instability became ingrained in public consciousness. Similarly, he consistently returned to the themes of danger, romance, and rebellion in his stories, ensuring their longevity.
3. Give Only One Side of the Argument
Cohen’s narrative omitted inconvenient details, such as the harm caused by his financial mismanagement or the questionable authenticity of some claims. By focusing solely on his daring adventures, he ensured that audiences overlooked contradictions or the perspectives of those he targeted, like Spector or Lynch.
4. Pick Out One Special "Enemy" for Vilification
Cohen focused his storytelling on vilifying Phil Spector and Kelley Lynch. Spector was painted as volatile and dangerous, while Lynch was depicted as a vengeful antagonist. These portrayals deflected attention from Cohen’s own behavior.
5. Propaganda Must Evoke Interest and Be Transmitted Through Attention-Getting Mediums
Cohen’s fantastical stories—whether meeting CIA agents at Bill’s Bar on Hydra or choosing to fight in the Yom Kippur War as a paratrooper—were inherently media-friendly. Their dramatic, cinematic quality ensured they captured attention and spread widely.
Kelley Lynch listens intently as Leonard Cohen shares yet another wild 'good rock 'n' roll' CIA tale, complete with MK Ultra anecdotes, leaving her to quietly wonder if years of drug use might have taken their toll on his vivid imagination.
6. Credibility Alone Determines Whether Propaganda Should Be True or False
Cohen’s reputation as a revered artist and intellectual lent his tales credibility, even when they bordered on the fantastical. His audience was more likely to believe he had dined with spies, fled Cuba under gunpoint, or was met by FBI w/ handcuffs (after fleeing Cuba) when re-entering the U.S. because it fit the image he cultivated.
Aartwork - Kelley Lynch challenges Leonard Cohen over his exaggerated CIA, IRS, FBI, and rock 'n roll stories.
7. Propaganda Must Create an Optimum Anxiety Level
Tales of danger—whether from Spector’s alleged antics or Cohen’s Cuban adventures—kept his audience on edge. This anxiety ensured that Cohen remained a compelling figure, even as the stories overshadowed more mundane issues like financial misconduct. "Every time I hear a car ..." Leonard Cohen
8. Propaganda Must Label Events and People With Distinctive Phrases
Cohen’s "rock ’n roll gun stories" about Spector became shorthand for Spector’s volatility. Similarly, phrases like "beautiful losers," "Hydra mystic," and "Bay of Pigs reconnaissance" became part of the lexicon associated with Cohen.
Key Examples
1. Phil Spector:
o Cohen’s anecdotes about Spector wielding guns and crossbows fit neatly into his pattern of romanticizing danger. These stories not only entertained but also discredited Spector during his trial, where Cohen’s testimony aligned with the prosecution’s narrative.
o By casting Spector as unstable and threatening, Cohen ensured that any scrutiny of his own behavior was secondary to the spectacle of Spector’s alleged volatility.
Artwork - Leonard Cohen recounting dramatic anecdotes about Phil Spector in a courtroom setting
2. Kelley Lynch:
o Cohen’s portrayal of Lynch as vengeful and irrational fit into the same pattern of vilification. He used his tales of dramatic adventures to frame Lynch’s allegations about financial misconduct as part of a broader vendetta against him, ensuring her claims were dismissed.
Artwork - Leonard Cohen in the background framing her through dramatic tales.
o Lynch’s legitimate concerns about tax irregularities and estate mismanagement were overshadowed by Cohen’s carefully cultivated image as a daring, misunderstood genius.
Conclusion
Leonard Cohen’s "good rock ’n roll stories" were more than just entertainment; they were a strategic tool for narrative control. By combining Machiavellian tactics of perception management and Goebbels-style propaganda principles, Cohen shaped a legacy of intrigue and romance while deflecting scrutiny from his own actions. Whether recounting his adventures in Havana, brushes with death as a paratrooper, or "rock ’n roll gun stories", Cohen ensured his mythos remained intact, even as those around him—like Phil Spector and Kelley Lynch—were cast as villains in his larger-than-life tale. Artwork - Leonard Cohen in his white kitchen adorned with religious kitsch, serving popsicles and whiskey to an awe-inspired group of journalists while regaling them with his "good rock ’n roll stories.
Disclaimer: The article and accompanying illustrations present Kelley Lynch as a "haute couture Buddhist" hipster character in an imaginative and stylized portrayal. This depiction reflects an artistic and surreal interpretation inspired by the complex legal disputes and public narratives that followed her split from Leonard Cohen. Artwork - Kelley Lynch meditating at a Tibetan monastery
Copyright © 2024 Kelley Lynch. Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, modification, or use of artwork and/or content in any form is strictly prohibited without written consent. All rights reserved. Artwork - Kelley Lynch and Phil Spector on one of their many eveningn out at the House of Blues VIP Club in Los Angeles.
The Psychology of Leonard Cohen: Con Artist or Troubadour?
Leonard Cohen’s public persona as a poetic troubadour, imbued with mystique and gravitas, masked a far more complex and troubling psychological profile. Beneath the veneer of artistic brilliance and profound melancholy lay patterns of behavior that painted Cohen as a deeply flawed individual capable of manipulation, self-destruction, and ruthless conduct toward others. His life was riddled with contradictions: a man who sought spiritual enlightenment yet indulged in substance abuse; a creator of transcendent music and poetry who manipulated narratives to preserve his myth while marginalizing those who challenged him.
The Web of Lies and Narcissistic Control
Cohen’s mastery of storytelling was not limited to his art; he applied the same techniques to shape his public image and personal narratives. His “good rock ’n roll stories” served as both entertainment and tools for deflection. Whether recounting brushes with death in Havana, gunslinging escapades in Nashville, or CIA reconnaissance missions, these tales elevated Cohen as a daring figure while obscuring less glamorous truths about financial misconduct, drug dependency, and fractured relationships. Cohen’s ability to charm audiences, awe journalists, and deflect scrutiny suggests a calculated use of charisma that aligns with traits often associated with narcissistic personality tendencies. By controlling how others perceived him, he maintained his mythos at the expense of those left in his wake.
Drug Abuse and Alcoholism
Cohen’s life was marked by a reliance on drugs and alcohol, which he often romanticized as part of his creative process. High on meth while wandering New York with a loaded pistol, indulging in LSD experiments, and embracing alcohol-fueled revelry, Cohen turned his self-destructive tendencies into fodder for his mystique. However, these behaviors also point to deeper struggles with impulse control and escapism. His substance abuse blurred the line between reality and fantasy, enabling him to create narratives that resonated with audiences while allowing him to avoid accountability for the chaos in his personal and professional life.
Ruthless Conduct and Exploitation
Cohen’s charm often masked a darker ruthlessness in his dealings with others. His relationship with Kelley Lynch exemplifies this, as he allegedly manipulated narratives to cast her as unstable while obscuring her legitimate concerns about financial misconduct and tax irregularities. Similarly, his testimony against Phil Spector, filled with dramatized accounts of volatility, furthered the prosecution’s narrative while solidifying his own image as the voice of reason amidst chaos. These actions reveal a willingness to exploit and discard those who no longer fit into his carefully crafted persona, suggesting a calculating and self-serving streak.
Financial and Tax Misconduct
Cohen’s financial dealings were often as opaque and chaotic as the narratives he wove. Allegations of tax fraud, mismanagement of intellectual property, and hidden corporate structures like Blue Mist Touring led to ongoing disputes and investigations. These issues were compounded by his ability to weaponize his public image, deflecting accountability onto others, such as Kelley Lynch. The financial irregularities—including missing tax returns and undervalued intellectual property—highlight a pattern of evasion and manipulation that Cohen shrouded in the mystique of artistic disarray. By framing these controversies as part of the price of genius, Cohen ensured they did not tarnish his legacy.
Con Artist Tendencies and the Rock ’n Roll Ruse
Phil Spector’s observation that Cohen was a “closet Partridge Family groupie” rather than an artistic equal to figures like John Lennon hints at a deeper insecurity masked by bravado. Cohen referred to Lennon dismissively as a “sloganist,” yet his actions often betrayed a yearning to belong to the elite echelon of cultural icons. Cohen’s infamous “Sieg Heil” gesture during his German tour, his flamboyant arrival on stage atop a white stallion in Aix-en-Provence, and his request to perform for mental asylum patients encapsulated the extremes of his persona. These theatrical moments, often incoherent or controversial, highlighted a con artist’s flair for spectacle, distracting from his more pedestrian flaws. Artwork - An illustration featuring a young Phil Spector in the studio.
Romanticizing Danger and Violence
Cohen’s fascination with guns and danger wove seamlessly into his art and life. He likened firearms to beautiful women, describing their allure with poetic reverence. This obsession led to dramatic episodes: a Cuban officer holding him at gunpoint, Phil Spector’s studio antics involving guns or a crossbow, or Cohen himself wandering armed through New York until disarmed by Marty Machat. These tales, filtered through Cohen’s myth-making lens, amplified his image as a daring adventurer. However, they also served as tools of propaganda, reframing recklessness as artistic complexity and deflecting scrutiny from his financial and personal controversies.
Ethiopia and the Cold War Lens
Cohen’s travels to politically charged regions like Ethiopia allowed him to cast himself as a witness to history. By connecting these experiences to his archetypal vision of conflict, Cohen solidified his image as a “Cold War troubadour.” His songs like “There Is a War” framed these narratives as universal truths, obscuring mundane issues like his financial mismanagement or disputes with collaborators like Kelley Lynch. Cohen’s ability to weave political chaos into his mythology ensured his audience remained focused on his larger-than-life persona.
Propaganda Through Poetic Adventures
Cohen’s tales—whether recounting Bay of Pigs reconnaissance or encounters with Castro’s forces—served as forms of artistic propaganda. These stories amplified his mystique while ensuring that dissenting voices, like Kelley Lynch’s, were drowned out. His ability to romanticize even his most flawed behaviors transformed personal contradictions into testaments of his complexity, ensuring his myth endured.
Natural Born Tall Tales
Leonard Cohen played a pivotal role in both the cases of Kelley Lynch and Phil Spector, orchestrating narratives that bore striking similarities to the chaotic, media-fueled spectacle of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. Much like Mickey and Mallory Knox, whose infamous exploits were distorted and amplified by sensationalist media, Cohen’s "good rock ’n roll stories," blending fiction, propaganda, and autobiographical art, became the foundation of his public persona. By leveraging awe-inspired journalists eager to regurgitate his tales without question, Cohen carefully constructed a narrative that obscured his personal contradictions while amplifying his mystique. Artwork - Kelley and Phil Spector
This mastery of perception management had profound consequences for those around him, particularly Lynch and Spector. As Cohen cast himself as a daring artist-philosopher, Lynch was framed as vengeful and irrational, and Spector as volatile and dangerous. These portrayals, much like the hyperbolic legends surrounding Mickey and Mallory, ensured that public focus remained on the chaos Cohen curated rather than the truths he sought to conceal. This strategy not only distracted from Cohen’s own controversies but ensured his myth remained unchallenged, preserving his legacy at the expense of truth, accountability, and the reputations of those caught in his orbit.
Adding to this web of manipulation was Cohen’s peculiar connection to Natural Born Killers. Oliver Stone, who Cohen later falsely accused of having sex with Lynch (to stir up a custody matter involving her younger son)—an allegation both Stone and Lynch have publicly denied—had once invited the pair to a private screening of the film. Cohen reportedly dismissed the movie as “not violent enough” in his comments to Lynch, revealing a disconnect between the satirical carnage on screen and his own appetite for darker, more symbolic depictions of chaos.
Yet, the film’s themes of media sensationalism, myth-making, and public fascination with violence clearly left an impression on Cohen. He recognized the storytelling opportunities it presented and seamlessly wove similar tactics into his own narratives, ultimately constructing the dramatic and manipulative legends that defined his public persona and deeply influenced the outcomes of the cases involving Lynch and Spector.
Conclusion: The Legacy of Narrative Control
Early in his career, Leonard Cohen cultivated the image of a glorified revolutionary, a poet-musician whose romantic escapades with women were as legendary as his haunting melodies, earning him the enduring title of "Lady’s Man." His charisma knew no bounds—whether attempting to start a riot high on acid in Israel or romantically entangling himself with muses who inspired his most iconic works.
But by 1988, a remarkable transformation began. With a relationship with French fashion photographer Dominique Issermann influencing his style, Cohen shifted from countercultural provocateur to an almost elder statesman figure on the world stage. Gone was the brooding bohemian, replaced by a suave, tailored persona who appeared equally comfortable in boardrooms as on concert stages.
Cohen seemingly reinvented himself as a James Bond-like figure, seamlessly blending artistic gravitas with whispers of espionage. This metamorphosis gave rise to whispers of new roles—perhaps a diplomat with ties to global powers, or even a figure operating under the guise of diplomatic immunity with connections to intelligence agencies like the Mossad or Cuban intelligence. Artwork - Leonard Cohen as Francois Zolan, a French INTERPOL agent. 1980s Miami Vice.
Whether myth or reality, Cohen’s evolution from LSD-laden cocktail parties to potential covert diplomacy added yet another layer to the enigma that was Leonard Cohen, ensuring his legacy remained shrouded in intrigue. Artwork - Cohen and Kelley attend a diplomatic affair.
Leonard Cohen’s "good rock ’n roll stories," blending fiction, propaganda, and autobiographical art, served as the cornerstone of his public persona. Despite his creative genius, Cohen's mental instability and relentless substance abuse clearly took a toll, coloring both his behavior and the narratives he constructed.
By leveraging awe-inspired journalists eager to regurgitate his tales without question, Cohen carefully constructed a narrative that obscured his personal contradictions while amplifying his mystique. This mastery of perception management, coupled with his role as a propagandist of his own myth, had profound consequences for those around him, particularly Kelley Lynch and Phil Spector. As Cohen cast himself as a daring artist-philosopher, Lynch was framed as vengeful and irrational, and Spector as volatile and dangerous. These portrayals not only distracted from Cohen’s own controversies but ensured that his myth remained unchallenged, preserving his legacy at the expense of truth and accountability. Artwork - Kelley and Phil Spector, Elaine's New York
Deflection Through Drama: Leonard Cohen’s Tactical Narratives in the 1970s and 2000s
Leonard Cohen’s relationship with Kelley Lynch and his stories about Phil Spector may have been strategically interwoven with his financial dealings, particularly his offshore accounts and potential tax evasion during the 1970s. Both events coincided with a time when Cohen’s finances were under scrutiny, suggesting that his dramatic narratives may have served as a smokescreen to divert attention from his financial vulnerabilities. His penchant for constructing elaborate tales often amplified his mystique while deflecting focus from more pressing, and potentially incriminating, issues. This tactic allowed Cohen to maintain his public persona as a creative genius while shielding himself from deeper examination of his actions.
Cohen’s concern about the IRS during the 1970s appears to have resurfaced in recent years, particularly in relation to Kelley Lynch. The IRS Criminal Division reportedly opened an investigation and met with Cohen’s representatives—includingn Robert Kory, Michelle Rice, and Mike Mesnick—three individuals who played significant roles in dismantling Lynch’s life for Cohen’s benefit and their own enrichment. This pattern of using dramatic narratives to obscure financial misconduct highlights Cohen’s calculated approach to managing his public image while sidestepping accountability.
Disclaimer: The article and accompanying illustrations present Kelley Lynch as a "haute couture Buddhist" hipster character in an imaginative and stylized portrayal. This depiction reflects an artistic and surreal interpretation inspired by the complex legal disputes and public narratives that followed her split from Leonard Cohen.
