Leonard Cohen says he is ready to die.
In an interview with The New Yorker, the 82-year-old Canadian music icon spoke frankly about the end of his life.
“I hope it’s not too uncomfortable,” he said. “That’s about it for me.”
Ahead of the Oct. 21 release of his album You Want It Darker, Cohen spoke to writer David Remnick, who revealed the poet and singer is not in good health.
“I don’t know how many other things I’ll be able to get to, because at this particular stage I experience deep fatigue,” Cohen admitted. “There are times when I just have to lie down. I can’t play anymore, and my back goes fast also.
“The big change is the proximity to death. I am a tidy kind of guy. I like to tie up the strings if I can. If I can’t, also, that’s O.K. But my natural thrust is to finish things that I’ve begun.”
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Cohen said he’s not sure he will have time to record his unfinished songs.
“Maybe, who knows? And maybe I’ll get a second wind, I don’t know,” he told Remnick.
“I’ve got some work to do. Take care of business.”