Critical Analysis of "Bird on the Wire" by Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen has had a long and illustrious career as a poet and a songwriter. The Canadian songwriter has written many popular songs, and we all have at least one of his tunes stored up in the recesses of our minds. However, there are a certain few of Cohen's that stand above the rest. Songs that were hits, and songs that in fact helped shape the period of time they were created in. "Suzanne", "Bird on the Wire", and "So Long, Marianne" are a couple of these elite creations of Cohen's mind. During this paper I will be analyzing the song "Bird on the Wire", interpreting its meaning and explaining what it is saying. This song was one of Cohen's most famous songs, and was very influential during the '60's- a time of turmoil and unrest. …