“The secret of my career and life”: The author who inspired Judy Collins to become an artist
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“Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash,” Leonard Cohen once said, unintentionally explaining why he became endeared to Judy Collins. Collins aspired to be a concert pianist at first but became a prominent folk singer, playing a crucial role in boosting Cohen’s career and teaching him and countless others about the power of poeticism.
Ahead of the curve since day one, Collins seemed to emerge as a folkish force before Cohen and other leaders like Joni Mitchell seemed to have perfected their own craft. While this seems almost impossible, Collins became a guiding principle without trying, taking everything she had learned in her youth and allowing it to lead the next generation of exceptional singer-songwriters into the light.
What also made Collins a reputable voice wasn’t just her sultry vocal but her ability to spot good music based on instinct alone. Most of the time, she knew exactly what was worth her time and what wasn’t, and that extended to those around her, too. Others sought her approval, knowing how much weight her opinion held from the get-go. As she once said: “I either fall in love with it after I hear [music], or I never want to hear it again.”
As a result, she became a significant catalyst for names like Cohen, knowing that the richness of his voice and the depth of his lyrics were what the music industry needed at the time. Collins recorded several Cohen songs and made it her mission to prove his prowess as a singer and musician, propelling him into his own spotlight and encouraging her to raise the bar even higher within her own writing.
“Leonard said to me in ’66, ‘I don’t understand why you’re not writing your own songs’,” Collins recalled to The Line of Best Fit, saying that it was the push that she needed to “run home to my Steinway piano” and write her first song, ‘Since You Asked’. That moment, writing a song in just 40 minutes, sparked a turning point that saw the boom of the folk era, welcoming other players like Mitchell and others.
However, finding those who inspired such destined greats is no easy feat, but some of Collins’ cherished favourites formed the basis of her own writing, not just in the music world but beyond. For instance, discussing some of these crucial early inspirational figures with The Guardian, the singer expressed the impact that Flannery O’Connor had on her, not just with her book The Habit of Being but in teaching her the power of appreciating the “multifaceted” nature of life.
“I was enthralled with Flannery O’Connor: her struggle and how she continued in the face of her physical adversity with lupus,” she said. “And I was just overwhelmed with this book: mostly letters, which tell us what she was doing every day, how she communicated with her editor, how she spent time feeding the chickens. It talked about the organisation of thought, and the organisation of skill and how you pursue it. If you’re an energised person who has a lot of ideas in many directions, you have to be able to harness them; The Habit of Being helped me understand my multifaceted life.”
On top of this, O’Connor also taught her about the importance of relationships and reaching out even when the other person seems distant. Though it was something she later learned from her therapist, O’Connor showed her what it meant to “make it your enterprise to create relationships” and “make this life as interesting and educational as you can.” Taking this mantra in her stride, she became one of the most wise and knowledgeable figures she could possibly be, guiding the way even when the future seemed uncertain.
However, applying geometry-style pragmatism to her work and worldview, everything became clear. As she put it: “I think that’s also part of the secret of my career and my life: I know how to get to where I’m going.”
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