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Genius Annotation

This song was inspired by Nico. Sylvie Simmons sums up the song as follows:

“One of Us Cannot Be Wrong”, Leonard’s wryly humorous song, inspired by Nico, about a man battered but unbroken by lust (…)

In fact, there was a period when Leonard Cohen was in love with Nico:

Although he never won her, he was “madly in love with her”.

Besides “One of Us Cannot be Wrong”, she was also the source of inspiration for lots of other songs:

But in 1967, feeling he “had no skill” and that he “had forgotten how to court a lady,” Leonard went back alone to his hotel room. His thoughts full of Nico, he wrote “The Jewels in Your Shoulder” and “Take This Longing”, then titled “The Bells,” both of which he later played and taught to Nico. She was both “the tallest and blondest girl” in the song “Memories” and the muse for “Joan of Arc” (…) She also inspired “One of Us Cannot Be Wrong.”

(All quotes are taken from: Simmons, Sylvie, I’m Your Man. The Life of Leonard Cohen, Vintage, 2013).

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Leonard Cohen say about "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong"?
Genius Answer

Some brief, enlightening remarks from Cohen’s prologues:

Frankfurt 06/05/70 :

This song was written in the Chelsea Hotel, in the elevator, waiting for my friend to wake up…

Berlin 24/09/74

A song from the other side of the marriage bed. The room is empty, the window is opened, the lover is gone, a laugh is heard in the stadium…

Paris 19/10/74

The window is opened,and the lovers have fled. Maybe they were never there to begin with.They were never there to begin with.

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