Leonard Cohen letter to Marianne Ihlen, Saint Jean-sur-Richelieu, 26 June 1961

Leonard Cohen met Marianne Ihlen on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960. The pair shared a long and chaotic romance that inspired a catalogue of Cohen songs — like So Long Marianne, Bird on the Wire, and Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye — and left behind a legacy of over 50 love letters.

Cohen admits that although it’s been a year since they last saw each other, he is unable to move on — and is departing Hydra the next day to see her in Norway. He writes, ‘I must see again what happens to us when we are together, perhaps it will be nothing, perhaps everything. Anyhow, we shall see and speak and touch and if it is nothing we shall say so. If it is nothing I’ll get on with my life and you with yours and all we’ll keep of one another will be a few months of sun and a long journey north. At least we will be able to say goodbye, something we have never managed.’

He wouldn’t manage that goodbye until the very end of their lives, when he heard that she was dying and wrote her a final letter in 2016. It ended, ‘You know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.’

Anna Torv as Charmian Clift So Long, Marianne - Episode 1

First glimpses of Anna Torv and Thea Sofie Loch Næss in "So Long, Marianne", as Charmian Clift and Marianne Ihlen [x]

You can call me Charm

Alex Wolff and Anna Torv on set of “So long Marianne” Hydra,April 2023 📸 Nikos Zotos

So Long Marianne - Leonard Cohen (1967)

"We met when we were almost young

deep in the green lilac park.

You held on to me like I was a crucifix,

as we went kneeling through the dark."

Leonard Cohen - So Long, Marianne

ANNA TORV as Charmian Clift in SO LONG, MARIANNE

"You know, in classical literature, the muse is always described as young and beautiful. And when she ages, she just loses her currency...and eventually just fades away."

ANNA TORV as Charmian Clift (So Long, Marianne - Ep 2) | [Ep 1]

Flowers for Hitler, L Cohen

Can't wait to watch this show!!!

"Who shall I say is calling?"

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