Embracing Love, Loss, and Lifelong Dreams with Debra Cohen

Rich & Wendy 0:00
Hey, everyone is Rich Bennett. Can you believe it? The show is turning ten this year. I am so grateful for each and every one of you who've tuned in, shared an episode, or even joined the conversation over the years. You're the reason that this podcast has grown into what it is today. Together, we shared laughs, tears and moments that truly matter. So I want to thank you for being part of this journey. Let's make the next ten years even better. Coming to you from the Freedom Federal Credit Union Studios. Harford County Living presents conversations with Rich Bennett. 

Today, I'm going to get kind. 

No, no, no. The truth is. 

Rich Bennett 1:01
Thanks for joining the conversation where we explore the stories and experiences that shape our world. I'm your host, Rich Bennett. Today, I'm joined by an incredible guest whose story is one of resilience, transformation and inspiration. Deborah Cohen is a singer, songwriter, author and advocate who has navigated an extraordinary journey. From her days as a new wave musician in the eighties, 1980s, the best era of them all when it comes to, well, one of the best for music to overcome an addiction and embrace in a spiritual path. Deborah has continuously reinvented herself. She's here to share her experiences from her music career to her fascinating new book, Jewish Palestine Arab Palestine A History of Conflict. And if that wasn't inspiring enough, Deborah's also celebrated her 70th birthday by entering her very first beauty competition to benefit at the National Breast Cancer Foundation. So let's just dive right in, because trust me, if you're, you know, all of you listening, you're going to be blown away by this young lady. And actually, before I even get into you, get a chance. Go to Deborah. That's Debbie. Ah, a Cohen music CEO h e n music dot com. And after you're done listening to this, listen to her videos where she sings or Spotify, too. Wow. 

Debra Cohen 2:33
Thank. 

Rich Bennett 2:33
Wow. At 70 years old now. Well, first of all, she doesn't look 70 and she does not at The voice is just. Deborah, I got your voice. Voices. 

Debra Cohen 2:44
Oh. 

Rich Bennett 2:45
It's a it's amazing. 

Debra Cohen 2:47
Well, thank God. I wish I could make a living. 

Rich Bennett 2:54
Don't we all? 

Debra Cohen 2:55
My tribe. Where is my tribe? 

Rich Bennett 3:00
I want to go back to where before the eighties when you were growing up. Was it your always your dream to be a singer? 

Debra Cohen 3:09
Yes, I always wanted to be a singer. It was the Beatles that got me hooked on music. Back in the Ed Sullivan Show days. 

Rich Bennett 3:17
Oh, yes. 

Debra Cohen 3:18
And not just the Beatles, but, you know, the Supremes and the Motown sound. That's where I got developed an ear for the bass guitar, because it used to be in the good old days when the bass player led the band and had that driving forefront instead of buried in the background sound. But and I still I like, like my latest song that I recorded What If? Which is coming out December 31st, by the way. It's a single, but I put the bass right up there because that's where I like it. Of course, my husband thinks it's like way too loud, so I'm like, Whatever. Different strokes for different folks. So yeah, but I always wanted to be a singer and, you know, like one of these afternoons in my bedroom, I was singing to an Olivia Newton-John song. You know, if not for you, I used to love that song. And I had my little singing session, and then I came downstairs to dinner to join everybody for. They call it supper in Boston area. Supper? What's for supper, Ma? And she said, my mother said, is. Was that you singing upstairs? I said, Yes, Ma, she said. And I thought she was going to give me a compliment, you know. And she said, 

Rich Bennett 4:31
Uh huh. 

Debra Cohen 4:32
she said, You sound like a sick cow. 

Rich Bennett 4:35
Wow. 

Debra Cohen 4:36
So I stopped singing until I just the passion never went away to do that. I tried enrolling in nursing college because my mother wanted me to be a nurse because she said, You can always learn to love a man with money. So she wanted me to marry a doctor, but so I enrolled at Framingham State College. And but two weeks before college started, I dropped out because I'm like, I don't want to be a nurse. I can't even stand the sight of blood, you know? So my mother was so disappointed. And when I enrolled at the School of Contemporary Music in Brookline and start So anyway, I just played an instrument. Didn't sing then because of what 

Rich Bennett 5:20
Right. 

Debra Cohen 5:20
she just, you know, Sorry, but words can't kill you, you know? 

Rich Bennett 5:24
Yeah. Oh, yeah, 

Debra Cohen 5:25
An ad to go to counseling to get over the fear of singing in front of people. And it's been a life long battle of the fear of being criticized because my mother just said it when I was very a tender age. And, you know, parents need to encourage and, you know, if somebody can't sing, then you need to tell them, like any other instrument to take singing lessons. And 

Rich Bennett 5:55
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 5:55
you know, and now she didn't do that. She was just very verbally abusive. So anyway. 

Rich Bennett 6:00
What? 

Debra Cohen 6:00
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 6:02
Elise, She said you sounded like a sick cow. I was told I sounded like a goose with hemorrhoids. 

Debra Cohen 6:06
Oh, my God. Oh, my gosh. That's painful. 

Oh, my God. That's cruel. 

Rich Bennett 6:14
So. So you're going into nursing school and you weren't singing at all. 

Debra Cohen 6:18
No, I stopped singing. 

Rich Bennett 6:19
Not even in the shower. 

Debra Cohen 6:21
Now. I just stopped. 

Rich Bennett 6:22
Oh, 

Debra Cohen 6:23
I didn't want. You know, I was the oldest of nine, and I had to be 

Rich Bennett 6:27
right. 

Debra Cohen 6:27
the built in babysitter when my dad left us when I was 12. Which that's probably why I never had kids, because they didn't have Pampers back then, you know? So I had a dunk. The diaper and the five gallon bucket of water and all those poop. I'm like, you know, it's a 13. It just turned my stomach. I said, You know what? I've been a mother to these siblings. I don't want any now. It's my turn to be a child and live. So, 

Rich Bennett 6:53
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 6:54
you know, I know I believe in the Bible and you be fruitful and multiply and all that stuff. But, you know, I just I had my kids with my siblings. I had to do the mom mama thing. It just. 

Rich Bennett 7:06
Right. 

Debra Cohen 7:06
It traumatized me. Between that and her verbal and emotional abuse and my stepfather molested me. So that was, 

Rich Bennett 7:13
Oh, 

Debra Cohen 7:13
you know, 

Rich Bennett 7:13
my. 

Debra Cohen 7:13
an added bonus anyway. So. 

So I ended up with PTSD. When I finally did go to counseling to want to sing again. All these things came out of that were hidden. You know, if a child has a choice to turn on their parents or, you know, my mother always said, if you know, wasn't by your stepfather, you'd end up in a foster home. So I couldn't tell her that I was molested. I had to keep it to myself because I didn't want to go to a foster home. But, you know, the PTSD, we stuff things when we're abused, we stuff on them. And but I had a strong desire and a dream to still be a singer. So I went to counseling, found this wonderful lady named Sylvia, who helped me to learn how to gain the confidence to sing in front of her, which was a milestone, and then to try to sing in front of other people. But yeah, it's taken me like decades to get over that fear. Horrible thing. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 8:23
So everything that happened as a child, do you think that is what led to the addiction? 

Debra Cohen 8:28
Oh, yes, absolutely. Anybody that takes drugs when, of course, you know, 

when I played at a my favorite place to play in Boston was at the Rat. It's no longer in existence Rathskeller. And that's where my band opened up for Joan Jett. You know, that was one of the 

Rich Bennett 8:47
Oh, wow. 

Debra Cohen 8:47
I love rock and roll support. 

Rich Bennett 8:50
Hometown girl. 

Debra Cohen 8:51
Jukebox, baby, you know. 

Rich Bennett 8:54
All right. Maybe not home town, but not far from here. Okay, So. 

Debra Cohen 8:58
So anyway, you know, when you start gaining notoriety as a as an artist, sometimes in the punk or it was called new wave genre, all of a sudden these lines are presented to you for free free lines. 

Rich Bennett 9:13
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 9:13
Free drugs free Dom Perry. Owen I live. I mean, you know, I didn't have money growing up, so, like, the band I was in, the leader came from money and I really dug that scene. I mean, I really dug it, and I found my tribe. 

Rich Bennett 9:31
And the funny thing is, I loved the 80. 

Debra Cohen 9:33
Oh, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 9:35
But it was you think about of the drugs and everything. It was very. 

Debra Cohen 9:38
Oh, it was. It was. 

Rich Bennett 9:40
It's amazing. We're still here. 

Debra Cohen 9:41
Honestly. I mean, I never thought I'd live to 70. I'm like, cause, you know, 

Rich Bennett 9:44
Yeah, 

Debra Cohen 9:45
I live life to the fullest. It was great. And. But anyway, I just got some bad a bad batch or something. And by the time I was 28, because I started professional singing at 22 and I almost died, I thought I was losing my mind. I had lost control of my mental faculties and I knew if I couldn't hold on to my thinking that I was going to become a vegetable or something, you know? 

Rich Bennett 10:16
right. 

Debra Cohen 10:16
So I promised God I was brought up Catholic, didn't know I didn't know. No God. I knew, you know, I knew that day he told us back at the moon Day, me celebrating. I mean, I knew the whole mass in Latin because it was pre-Vatican two, but and it was memorized. I memorized that and that that's probably why I have a love for foreign languages. But anyway, I called out to God and asked him if he would let me live. I promise I will serve you. And that's when I quit cold turkey and started pursuing God by going to Israel and studying the Bible in Jerusalem. 

Rich Bennett 10:55
At 28. 

Debra Cohen 10:56
Well, actually, there's a little bit more of the story at 28. 

Rich Bennett 10:59
Okay. 

Debra Cohen 10:59
Okay. Actually, I'll I'll I'll. I'll throw in the sad part. Okay. 

Rich Bennett 11:05
Oh. 

Debra Cohen 11:06
The guy in the band with the money, you know, 

Rich Bennett 11:08
Uh 

Debra Cohen 11:09
I 

Rich Bennett 11:09
huh. 

Debra Cohen 11:09
fell in love with him. Of course, it was a Cinderella story. I mean, I could just he would take. 

Rich Bennett 11:14
Not the band center. 

Debra Cohen 11:15
No, no, no. But I have worked with the guitar player for Cinderella and. 

Rich Bennett 11:21
Oh, wow. 

Debra Cohen 11:22
According with him. But anyway, his name is Barry. So anyway. Hey, Barry. But anyway, no, I got married to this handsome Greek MP. C is his name. And we just decided we were tired of the drug scene. And, you know, this is when I quit cold turkey. So we bought a piece of land in Bristol, New Hampshire, 19 acres on a mountaintop, and we built a house together and that we were supposed to live happily ever after. But he treated me like a queen before we got married. But something changed. The switch flipped and he became very bossy and, you know, territorial and demeaning, like his apparently father's the same way. I used to ask his mother, who was a nurse, why do you let him talk to you that way? And she says, well, he doesn't really mean it. But I was so raw from being verbally abused by my mother, I couldn't just ignore it. It was like an 

Rich Bennett 12:25
Right. 

Debra Cohen 12:25
another Oh, it was stab in my heart. I couldn't stand it when my own husband would pick on me. Well, 

Rich Bennett 12:33
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 12:33
I mean, he caught my nickname at that time when we were married. Was f a. And he'd snap his fingers. And I was trained to go to the freezer and get a frozen Milky Way for him and bring it to the lounging sofa where he was watching his boob tube of choice. And but fat Faye was fat ass. Hey, Faye, you know. Yeah. I mean, like, I've got pictures of me on the roof hammering nails with the carpenters, and he said you didn't do anything to help build this house. He just 

Rich Bennett 13:08
Why? 

Debra Cohen 13:08
chiseled away at my self-esteem, what little I had. So I'm like, why is. 

Rich Bennett 13:13
Very verbally. 

Debra Cohen 13:14
Yes, just like my mother. And I'm like, Why is he like this? It broke my heart. And so I remember when the house was finished standing in the living room, he had gone to work and it was like a front glass of the house was all glass because we wanted to look at new found like from the top of the mountain 

Rich Bennett 13:33
Mm hmm. 

Debra Cohen 13:33
and the song on the radio Foreigner came on. I want to know what love is. I know you can show me. And I just fell in a ball on my oak living room floor and cried my eyes out because I did not feel loved. And I went to a counselor and asked him if he'd go with me. And he said, I don't. I don't have to go. He said, I don't come from a broken home like you do. 

Rich Bennett 14:05
What? 

Debra Cohen 14:07
So I went to counseling for a year, and every time the therapist tried to talk about my childhood, I bottled up. I didn't I didn't want to talk about my childhood because I didn't think that had anything to do with my 

Rich Bennett 14:19
Right. 

Debra Cohen 14:20
failing marriage. But actually, in hindsight, it had everything to do with my failing marriage. And anyway, so we had an annulment because 

we married as Catholic. That infuriated his parents before we got married. They offered to give him a credit card and live in Greece for a year to get a Greek bride instead of me. 

Rich Bennett 14:45
Why? 

Debra Cohen 14:46
But when they met me, of course, you know, I was Cinderella and, you know, they accepted me. But anyway, so after that failed marriage, I moved to Maine and became a mail carrier. 

Rich Bennett 15:00
Well, how are we in that marriage for 

Debra Cohen 15:02
Three years. 

Rich Bennett 15:03
three? 

Debra Cohen 15:04
And can you believe you can get an annulment if you pay the church enough money? And, you know, he wanted an annulment because he this other girl in town, I could tell she had the eyes for my husband. And sure enough, she got married and she was a French Catholic. So in order for their kids to be Catholic, he could not the rule the church rule 

Rich Bennett 15:27
not be divorced, 

Debra Cohen 15:28
for could not be divorced or married to a Catholic. So 

Rich Bennett 15:33
right? 

Debra Cohen 15:33
at that time I was Catholic, so it was annulled. He had to pay to get an annulment. And I hope they're happy. I still love him, but I couldn't stand the abuse. You were. 

Rich Bennett 15:45
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 15:45
So sad. 

Rich Bennett 15:47
That is. 

Debra Cohen 15:48
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 15:48
Just a wee. I was talking about this the other day with somebody. And a lot of people don't realize, especially in marriages, you hear about spousal abuse all at. lot of people think think that it's physical. All physical. 

Debra Cohen 16:04
Yeah, it's. 

Rich Bennett 16:05
The emotional you know, the the mental abuse can be a lot harder than the physical. 

Debra Cohen 16:11
Oh, yes, absolutely. You know, I told him, I said, if you ever it got so bad, I said, if you if you ever hit me, I will leave you. So I 

Rich Bennett 16:19
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 16:20
knew I meant it. So he never did hit me, but I might as well have because the words affected me the same way. 

Rich Bennett 16:26
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 16:27
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 16:27
And those are some deep scars. 

Debra Cohen 16:28
Yes. Yeah, they were very deep. And it was such a tragedy because I it could have been happily ever after if he'd treated me like he adored me, which a good husband would do for his wife, instead of beating her down by making her feel worthless and 

criticising my body shape and just plain abuse. Plain abuse. 

Rich Bennett 16:58
There. 

Debra Cohen 16:59
You know, they say that a woman that has suffered a dysfunctional upbringing and I mean, who hasn't ripened in nowadays, but there are some people that actually haven't. But, you know, the woman the girl will look for the negative traits of her father, which my from my dad was emotionally vacant and try to fix them in the husband. That's. 

Rich Bennett 17:25
Right? 

Debra Cohen 17:25
According to psychology 101. So I'm like, Yeah, NPC was a lot like my dad, but my dad wasn't verbally abusive, but then again, he wasn't around at all. 

Rich Bennett 17:38
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 17:39
But anyway, yeah. So to all of those people out there, you know, I just encourage you to find your love, love for yourself. You know that Whitney Houston song? The greatest love of all is to love yourself in not a cat, not in a conceited way, but just to know that you're a gift to this world. Everybody is 

Rich Bennett 18:02
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 18:02
a. 

Rich Bennett 18:02
Oh, yes. Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 18:03
And I don't know why some some kids turn into bad apples. I don't know why, but. 

Rich Bennett 18:09
Because they don't love them. 

Debra Cohen 18:10
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 18:11
Respect themselves. 

Debra Cohen 18:12
Yeah. They they don't know what love is. And 

Rich Bennett 18:15
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 18:15
that's very sad. So we're supposed to show the unloved, the the light inside of us, the love of God. And it's not always an easy thing. I didn't know. I didn't have a working relationship with God back then like I do now. I'm not the same person at all. And, you know, I that's how I lost my tribe, because I would want to talk about the love of God after I, you know, study the Torah and spent time in prayer and realized there's something to this. It's not just a book on a table to collect dust, it's actually living word. And so my tribe, friends of the past are like, What's real? Who are you? You know, What are you talking about? You don't want to smoke a joint with us. What's wrong with you? 

Rich Bennett 19:04
So now I'm living. 

Debra Cohen 19:05
Now I'm high, but I'm high on God. I'm like, okay, yeah, you're next. You know, Go. Go away. 

Rich Bennett 19:12
In your music now you actually it's I always say it's their gospel songs, but it's in relation to God. 

Debra Cohen 19:23
Yeah. Yeah. A lot of it is. I started with the Psalms because that's where I find. 

Rich Bennett 19:27
Right. 

Debra Cohen 19:27
Find a lot of soul food. You know, the the soul. We each have a soul inside of us. Some people call it the spirit, but you got to think about your composition as a human being. You know, I used I never used to. I thought, you know, you see my body, my face, my skin, That's me. I just that's as far as who ever went with me and Catholic school. I had no idea there was this spirit, Irish soul inside of us. You know, I never thought about when you pass on your physical part goes to the ground. It doesn't go anyplace else. But there's something within us that goes on it. It's. 

Rich Bennett 20:06
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 20:07
Turnbull and I had no concept of that. So yeah, I just wanted to talk about feeding my soul. And so I. Another reason that an older person can be beautiful is because if you feed your soul, there's a shining from within that is on my face. And when I don't, it's just like Moshe Rabona, you know, not exactly like when he came down from the mountain. After spending 40 days with God on Mount Sinai, they the people said, Cover your face with something, yet you're so bright. We can't. It hurts our eyes. We can't stand the light. So, you know, if you spend enough time with God, you start shining and it's it's obvious. I mean, I remember going to when I studied essential oils, it was in Salt Lake City with young living. They have an annual convention, and that's that's alternative health medicine. But as soon as I got on the elevator, there was this this other girl or woman that got on the elevator with me. And she looked at me and I didn't know her from Adam. And she said, Oh, I know who you are. You're one of the children of light. And I thought I thought to myself, What if I had no idea of what she was really saying? 

Rich Bennett 21:33
Right. 

Debra Cohen 21:33
She was a witch. And she. 

Rich Bennett 21:36
Oh. 

Debra Cohen 21:36
She can told me she was a witch. And I'm like, Oh, God. Took a few steps away from her because I'm like, I don't know. Whatever you've got, I don't want it, you know? At that time, I, I think I might have still been a Christian back then, but. 

Yeah, I didn't want that. So there's there's 

Rich Bennett 21:53
Now. 

Debra Cohen 21:53
some kind of shining that I attribute to my youthful look, if I dare say. So that's from God. Because if I don't spend enough time in prayer every day and I look in the mirror, I'm like, Wait a minute, I'm losing the light that 

Rich Bennett 22:11
Oh. 

Debra Cohen 22:11
that, you know, takes away those wrinkles. I start looking more like regular skin. If you could grab a hold of that, you know. 

Rich Bennett 22:23
So I take it. I take it each when you went to Jerusalem is when you found your true love for God. 

Debra Cohen 22:29
Yes, exactly. I started studying the they called them the Gnostic Gospels, not the Senate. The Saints. No, not the Gnostic. That's a bad word. The Synoptic Gospels. Synoptic synergy, kind of. And yes, I was still a Christian back then, if that's what you're Catholic, some people say. 

Rich Bennett 22:47
Right? 

Debra Cohen 22:49
And what I was shocked when I found out that Jesus is a Jew. I'm like, I never heard that in my life. And I'm like, What? The disciples were Jews. I'm like, 

Rich Bennett 23:01
Uh 

Debra Cohen 23:01
Well, 

Rich Bennett 23:01
huh. 

Debra Cohen 23:01
some say Luke was a Gentile, but anyway, I'm like, I there's so much stuff I don't know about the Bible. Like, I have to read it for myself because 

Rich Bennett 23:13
Right. 

Debra Cohen 23:13
I used to depend on the priest to educate me in the Catholic Church. And obviously they left a lot of stuff out. And 

Rich Bennett 23:21
No. 

Debra Cohen 23:21
oh my God, yes, they surely enough did. So I'm like, Oh my God, I'm so glad I left them in eighth grade for my confirmation. By that time, I'd seen enough hypocrisy to know that's not my bag. You know what I'm saying? 

Rich Bennett 23:34
Right? 

Debra Cohen 23:35
So anyway, it's been a lifelong journey and it always is because nobody can know all of God. So 

Rich Bennett 23:42
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 23:42
it's never boring. And if you like my younger sister who says now it's like it's just another history book I like. 

Rich Bennett 23:51
What? 

Debra Cohen 23:52
Not just another book. It's not a just another book. It's a it contains the living word of God, I'm telling you. Why do you think I look like this? It's not because I've got fantastic genes. It's because I spend time praying with God, saying his words. So I sing them because I want people to get the life. Choose life and choose life more abundantly. So the sad thing is the enemy has got it. A lot of these people in the church of the synagogue included that really they can't sing. 

You know, like, I got this. I'm getting a singing circle together in Clearwater, Florida, where I live. 

Rich Bennett 24:39
Right. 

Debra Cohen 24:40
And it's open to anybody that wants to sing Hebrew or English praise songs. And, you know, I'm not a Bible thumper by any means, but I'm just by my testimony telling you it will improve your health to sing. Why do you think in the Jewish Sea Door, which is the prayer book, it's all about singing to God. Christians already got that down. They know how to praise God, you know, especially in the black church. Praise God. I used to love the I. At one time I was a choir leader for an all black church in Cleveland, Tennessee. 

Rich Bennett 25:15
Really? 

Debra Cohen 25:16
Oh, yeah, because. 

Rich Bennett 25:17
Oh, wow. 

Debra Cohen 25:18
Where I really gained my confidence to sing with them because they hold nothing back. I'm like, Mahalia Jackson is one of my heroes. I say, She rose. She's a zero to me. But anyway, God wants us to sing because it brings health, good health. You know, there's wisdom in singing. And so when you sing together, if you say, Oh, you don't want to hear me sing. I'm not talking about talents. I'm talking about the voice of your soul. Inside of you, the real you, not the physical earth suit. But if you look in the eyes of a human being and you see they're the windows of their soul, that soul gets fed by singing praise. And so a lot of people are duped and they don't sing praises because they have convinced themselves they don't have talent. And it's to their detriment, their downfall, because the whole purpose of singing to praise God is for healing. What do you think? 

Rich Bennett 26:30
Feels good. 

Debra Cohen 26:30
What do you think J.C. did when he came to Earth, Right? He fed the people physically and spiritually. So God left his words in a book called the Torah. No, it wasn't the Brit Kaddish, meaning the New Testament that wasn't written till 60 years after he had died. So how could he teach that? He taught the Torah as a Jewish rabbi. And so when you sing parts of the Bible, it brings newness of life. Whoa, whoa, whoa. 

Rich Bennett 27:09
It just it to me. Well, yeah, I'm sure you can. You can 

talk about this a little bit, but with you, because you're originally doing the new Wave music and you were writing the music back then to write 

Debra Cohen 27:25
Yeah, well, I wrote a song and 

Rich Bennett 27:28
a song. 

Debra Cohen 27:28
NBC wrote some songs and we did a lot of covers and pieces, song got on Boston radio, became my my song, got attention from an engineer in New York City who heard it. 

Rich Bennett 27:45
Oh, wow. 

Debra Cohen 27:45
And played it for the band in excess and in excess. Wanted to record my song Dreamin. But we were married at the time, PC and I, when that call came from Honeyman, Das is his name. And so PC and I fought about fought F with an F, 

Rich Bennett 28:05
hmm. 

Debra Cohen 28:06
fought about who was going to get credit for the song. And I said, I wrote the song you didn't write. And I could kick myself in the ass. As for the rest of my life, that's my biggest mistake is fighting over IE. Who cares who got the credit in excess? Wanted 

Rich Bennett 28:24
Right 

Debra Cohen 28:24
to record it. I should have said I don't care who gets the credit. But I didn't want MPC to have control over the royalties of that song 

Rich Bennett 28:33
there. 

Debra Cohen 28:34
because I wanted to feel good about myself. He had beat me down so much I didn't trust him enough to just say, I don't care who gets the credits for the song. You know, a healthy relationship would have said, I would have said that, but I want to hang on to some worth. And so because of that, the song went nowhere. I could kick myself in the butt. And you can still hear those songs. It's on a CD of mine called ATC, spelled out ATC by Deborah Cohen. And you can listen to Boston Nights and Dreamin. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 29:12
So those songs that you were performing back then compared to what you're performing now, how much more joy do you get out of performing now? 

Debra Cohen 29:23
Oh, well, it's night and day. 

Rich Bennett 29:25
might say that. Okay, 

Debra Cohen 29:28
I mean, I don't get any joy out of singing, you know? I don't even know the remember the words to Boston Nights are a Dream and woke up in the morning with a fever. I was thinking about you. That's my words. Dream in the first line. Okay. That didn't get me like elevation of feeling out of that. I just got a little flirtatious coyness out of it. You know, 

Rich Bennett 29:53
well. 

Debra Cohen 29:53
human emotions singing those songs right? But when I sing, you know, raise hell, 

pray, raise hell, 

pray, raise hell, Ma, I get power in the soul. 

Rich Bennett 30:13
What is it about religious music that just when somebody's singing it, you could be just like what you do there? Religious music compared to, say, rocks or whatever. But when you're singing religious music, it seems like you're putting more into it. 

Debra Cohen 30:30
Oh, yeah. That's a good way to 

Rich Bennett 30:31
And 

Debra Cohen 30:31
look 

Rich Bennett 30:31
it sounds 

Debra Cohen 30:31
at. 

Rich Bennett 30:32
it sounds a lot better. It sounds it sounds real. Does that make sense? 

Debra Cohen 30:38
Yes. It's. It's living. It's. It's. 

Rich Bennett 30:40
Okay. Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 30:41
It's living words coming out of my mouth or anybody's mouth that has the faith to believe. So it becomes you're affected by it. The listeners become enlightened, become awakened. It's and the danger of being a vessel for the Holy Spirit, which is what you're feeling, the real, real part of it. It's not me, it's the spirit. Ah, in Hebrew, Shekinah, the Shekinah singing through me. It's that spirit, part of me that your being touched by. That does not happen when you are singing worldly lyrics. 

Yeah. Yeah. It's an awakening of the soul. And. And sometimes it happens when I'm singing publicly. Somebody will come up to me in tears and tell me. I don't know. Even my own rabbi said to me once when I was singing at the BMA, I don't know what happened to me when I was singing with you, but something happened. Some people can't identify what happened. I was singing at a shabu out session for Pentecost they call Christianity. And this lady beforehand, she said, I don't believe I don't get into spirituality. I don't I don't go there as so. So I'm like, okay, you know, I'm not going to force what I believe on anybody, but I offer what I can do with my voice to help others. Well, after I finished singing, she came up to me and gave me a hug, a distant woman. And she said, I believe now I believe something happened to me when you were singing that song mean. I mean, I made sa. I'm like, Yeah, you know, it's not me. And always if I don't, you got to spend enough time with God. When you do sing that way, because there's always the danger of when people give you praise for singing like that, of taking the praise yourself. I'm like, No, I always Barroca Shem, Praise God that God used me to do that for you. Praise God it's not me. And the thing that really turned me off and a lot of Christian churches nowadays is it seems like that line is fuzzy between, you know, you get a praise team up there and they're all decked out in their glam and, you know, it's all about look at me, look at me. And so, you know, you can't get up there unless you know the right person. And it's all about how you shake your booty or sometimes, you know, it's really sad. The teenagers are showing, you know, I'm like, I mean, like the girl's pants are so tight that if she fart, she'd blow a hole on them. You know, 

like, how can it be? 

Rich Bennett 33:47
It's turned. 

Debra Cohen 33:48
How can a bad man be praising God when her butt is, you know, looks real good? It's like plump, like a turkey. Is he really thinking about God? No, I don't think so. No, there ain't no elevation in that. Now. I'm sorry. 

Rich Bennett 34:11
She's. Sure. With you writing songs. 

How how hard or easy was it to actually start writing the book? Because it's two different types of writing. 

Debra Cohen 34:26
Yes, of course. As an author? Well, you know, I had always fancied writing a book about my own experiences, because when I started telling people about it, they were like, you've got to write a book. And I, you know, I'd just never get around to it because I my songs come to me in my dreams and I. 

Rich Bennett 34:44
God hasn't told you to yet. 

Debra Cohen 34:46
No, I just. I'm, like, busy writing songs. Like, I've got that. My next song is going to be from a psalm. I already know what that's going to be. I heard the melody in my sleep and I'm just trying to find the time. But on October 7th, last year, 2023, when I learned about the invasion of the Palestinian terrorists in over the border of Israel and massacre, there were 3000 people at that Nova music festival and there was a distance of 3.3 km miles. But these Palestinians in Gaza came over regularly. They, you know, try to stab Jews, run over Jews, so send rockets with Jews, and the whole world expects them to come up, come up with a peace deal, which I shake my head and think, you're sure you guys. Yeah. So anyway, I developed a real burden. I it really it was beyond feeling sorry for somebody. It was a burden. And I had had that kind of burden in my life one time in my life before, when I lived in Cleveland, Tennessee, when I went to university, I got a burden for the Sudanese Christians that were being persecuted by the Arabs in the north of the Muslims. And it burned me so much I couldn't stop talking about it and found a connection with UNHCR, CAIR, which is a branch of the U.N. that helps refugee refugees and ended up resettling a family from southern Sudan into my home to rescued this family of Christians. Couple with three kids, maybe four kids. They lived in my house for three months until they were able to get an apartment on their own. 

Rich Bennett 36:36
Mm hmm. 

Debra Cohen 36:37
And that was you know, that's that was something that I just did because of that burden, that feeling. 

Rich Bennett 36:42
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 36:43
And I didn't have that again until October 7th of last year. I'm like, Oh, what are you going to ask me to do now, Lord, you know. 

Rich Bennett 36:51
Right. 

Debra Cohen 36:52
I know I can write a book because a lot of this propaganda that's out there now with the college kids flying flags for Hamas on American soil, I'm like, They're terrorists. So they're learning this from their professors. I'm like, Oh, my God, you know their needs. I've tried to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before, and it's 

Rich Bennett 37:15
Right. 

Debra Cohen 37:16
so confusing. It's I mean, to most people, they don't talk about it because they don't understand it. So you end up taking the side of your friend or, you know, whatever stirs your emotions the most, 

Rich Bennett 37:29
Mm. 

Debra Cohen 37:30
you know. And so I thought I need to write a book with an outline. Explaining a series of events that happened because I saw this video that was published in 2022, Birth of a Conflict. And I'm like, 

Rich Bennett 37:48
Oh, 

Debra Cohen 37:48
Oh my God, this is so clear. What happened? So I thought, you know, what's happened with the Palestinians? Why don't they have statehood? It's it's so obvious. And these are facts from secret documents that were hidden in the U.K. archives that were uncovered by a scientist by the name of Wagner. And he published a 140 page document that tells what happened during British Palestine, which was ruling over all of that Middle East land there. And it it's right there in black and white about all these Palestinians that were interviewed and, 

Rich Bennett 38:28
right. 

Debra Cohen 38:28
you know, with the King Fahad or whatever, Fahad of Saudi Arabia. And I'm like, oh, my God, you know, I need to write a book. So to help people. And so I released it this year, 2024, and I really want to get it into the school systems because it explains in clear chronology exactly what happened and why the Palestinians don't have their land and the land they want. I should say they want Israel. They don't want any other land. They were offered Transjordan. They were offered parts of Jerusalem. And if if I could play a two minute speech by Bill Clinton, it would make it really clear for you, Could I do that? 

Rich Bennett 39:18
Sure. 

Debra Cohen 39:18
Oh, good. Let's play. So, Bill. Bill Clinton made this public announcement. I don't know why he waited until the Trump Harris campaign to release this, but he stood on Harris's podium and gave this speech. And I hope that you'll be able to hear it and just 

tell me the truth and say he promised me he was going to accept the peace deal that we had worked out, which would have given the Palestinians a state on 96% of the West Bank and 4% of Israel. And they got to choose where the 4% of Israel was. So they would have the effect of all the same land of all the West Bank. They would have a capital Jerusalem, they would have 

the. 

I can hardly talk about this 

and they would have equal access 

all day, every day to the security towers that Israel maintained, all from the West Bank to the Golan Heights. 

All of this was offered, 

including, I would say, the Jew and a chaplain in East Jerusalem and two of the four quadrants of the old city of Jerusalem confirmed by the Israeli prime Minister, Ehud Barak, and his cabinet. 

And they said no. 

And I think part of it is that Hamas did not care about a homeland for the Palestinians. They wanted to kill Israelis and make Israel uninhabitable. Well, I got news for them. They were there first before there was their faith existed. They were there in the time of King David in the southern. Most tribes had Judea and Samaria. 

Rich Bennett 41:31
Huh? 

Debra Cohen 41:32
So that was a powerful speech by President or former President Clinton to actually come to the podium at the Harris Convention and tell the Americans the truth about why the Palestinians. Are claiming lives. They're not even Palestinians, that the Jews were Palestinians, if you want to put it that way. 

Rich Bennett 41:57
Right. 

Debra Cohen 41:57
Golda meir, her passport, says she's a Palestinian. So they the palace Arabs, these Arabs were offered land 

President Reagan time of King Fahd. They offered a Palestinian state to Yasser Arafat, who also refused. The Saudis claim the Palestinians are displaced Mongols, Turks, Circassians, Armenians and gypsies and go so far to say they are not descendants of Ishmael. In the Bible. and and there's this whole lie about the Temple Mount, the mosque. 

Rich Bennett 42:48
Uh huh. 

Debra Cohen 42:48
There's no such thing as Al-Aqsa mosque, which in Hebrew, in Arabic is Al-Quds. There's no such thing as an Al Aqsa mosque in the Koran. Located at the Temple Mount. In the Koran. The holy book of the Muslim. It tells you. It states. The Al-Aqsa is located in Jarana, 29 kilometres from the city of Tyre, where there's two mosques. They're called the the real Al-Aqsa was built built and the Adina Wood, the Al-Aqsa mosque in TAF was built in 682 A.D. by Heysham, which was 

after the Prophet Muhammad's death because his life was 570 A.D. to 632 A.D. So Muhammad died before the Al-Aqsa mosque was in. Tai if according to their Koran. So the whole thing is a fabricated lie about. 

Rich Bennett 43:59
Right. 

Debra Cohen 43:59
About the Al Aqsa. Well, actually didn't it used to be Solomon's horse stables that's underneath there right now. So if you want to get factual about what's on the Temple Mount, you know, the Temple Mount King, David's reign. You can see under the ground and see the foundation of the Temple Mount, the Jewish Temple Mount. But you can't look under the foundation of the Temple Mount and find any remnants of any 

Rich Bennett 44:27
Right. 

Debra Cohen 44:27
any mosque. It's all fabricated lies. So you know, I'm sorry to be so, like, pointed about these truths, but I don't understand knowing what Clinton said, knowing what Reagan has said, knowing what Saudis know. You know, I've spoken to Egyptians who snicker because they really know the Palestinians are are not really Palestinians. They're they're actually Jordanians and Egyptians. Their leader, Yasser Arafat, was Egyptian, and they're 60 something percent of the people in Jordan are are Palestinians. 

Rich Bennett 45:12
Wow. 

See, and this is something that. 

Because you see both sides arguing. And when I say both sides, people here in America, 

Debra Cohen 45:28
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 45:29
Americans arguing about this, and don't know what it is, why they don't want to actually dive into it and do the research and find the truth. 

Debra Cohen 45:39
They're being brainwashed by their professors. 

You know, like. And what do you mean? I can tell you, as a college student, I went back to college after I tried to get signed by an A&R record label in the nineties, and I was told I was too old. So I salvaged my life at that point. Took a break from music to be a public high school teacher. So I graduated from college when I was 50. And the thing is, you know, like if the professor says, I had this one professor in English Lit and she wanted me to interpret the poet. What was her name? Emily Dickinson. And, you know, the class was about interpreting poetry. And the professor said this this is what Emily Dickinson means. And I said, Well, I don't agree with your interpretation of poetry. And, you know, there is more than one interpretation of poetry. It depends, though, 

Rich Bennett 46:38
Right. 

Debra Cohen 46:38
You know, it means to you how it resonates with you and. 

Rich Bennett 46:43
Right. Just like if art. 

Debra Cohen 46:44
Yeah. So the professor said if you don't on the test, write the answers to the interpretation of the poetry. The way I'm interpreting it, you won't pass this class. 

Rich Bennett 46:57
While that. 

Debra Cohen 47:01
So there are professors. Like that who say, if you don't believe my way, you're not going to pass this class. So it becomes contagious in the university campus. They 

Rich Bennett 47:15
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 47:15
they have to believe unless you're rebellious. But who doesn't want to pass their classes? 

Rich Bennett 47:24
So that all that's going to be coming up, coming from somebody above them, I would think. 

Debra Cohen 47:29
Now? Of course. Of course. You know. Or I don't know, you know, who knows what. But it's political. You know, 

Rich Bennett 47:36
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 47:37
I as a teacher, I know I public high school teacher. If you don't, you know, rub elbows with the right people, your profession is miserable. 

Rich Bennett 47:47
I'm sorry, but that is something that needs to be taken out of the schools is politics. 

Debra Cohen 47:51
Yeah, well, you know what? Trump is going to take it away from the feds and put the responsibility for our public schools back in the States. So hopefully the states and the relationship with the populations will be symbiotic, and they'll get together for the sake of the children in the classroom instead of leaving it up to the teacher to be responsible for everything that's going on. 

Rich Bennett 48:16
Right. She said the very important. Where can they actually get the ball? 

Debra Cohen 48:21
Well, the simplest way to get it is just to go to my website. Deborah Cohen Books. Deborah COAG and books dot org. Because it's available, it's several places you can get it on Amazon. If you're wondering about if the book is any good as far as the the the content. You can read the reviews. I've got over 100 reviews on Amazon. 

Rich Bennett 48:47
I. 

Debra Cohen 48:48
Yeah. Which is nice and it's in it's on Ingram SPARC so you can get it and as a matter of fact you can get it for a free download if you go to my other website, my music website. Deborah Cohen Music dot com and look on the navigation bar for the words. Something like new book or book. Click on that and it'll take you to a subscribe button for my newsletter and I don't send them very often, so don't know, don't be waiting for a one. But the whole idea is, you know, if you submit that information to subscribe, you get a free PDF download of the book. 

Rich Bennett 49:29
Okay. 

Debra Cohen 49:30
So you don't have to buy it. You can get it for free. 

Rich Bennett 49:33
You want to educate people that 

Debra Cohen 49:35
Yes, I do. I want people to understand, 

Rich Bennett 49:36
I love that. 

Debra Cohen 49:37
you know, that, you know, Israel is not is the scapegoat for a lot of. 

Rich Bennett 49:42
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 49:43
You know, misinformation. We got to get you know, we need to be United States, you know, one nation under God. We need to be united. 

Rich Bennett 49:53
Yes. 

Debra Cohen 49:53
So you've got to tear down these walls of ignorance and propaganda that have taken a hold of our youth and, you know, get the facts. You know, they used to be a show. I used to like car 54. Where are you? 

Rich Bennett 50:06
Fred Gwynne. Yes. 

God. 

Debra Cohen 50:11
Just the facts, ma'am. Just give me the facts and then once you have the facts. Yeah, personally, once I got the facts, I know how ludicrous and absurd it is to impose a two state solution with the Jews and these neighbors that are trying to kill them every day. What? Yesterday they killed. They killed a 12 year old. That in Jerusalem, I guess it was, you know. They're still firing rockets from Gaza. So, you know, like how lo what how how do you expect to make peace with these people? 

Rich Bennett 50:46
Right? 

Debra Cohen 50:47
You know, 

Rich Bennett 50:47
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 50:48
it's a sad thing. It's a sad thing to think you can impose that on any people, you know. And that's the same things going on with Syria. They're uncovering now that whatever his name is that fell Assad is that his name? He ran to Russia. He's hiding in Russia. But the leader of former leader of Syria. But they're uncovering all of these underground prisons of Syrians that have been I mean, been tortured. It's a torture chamber in Syria. Nobody's been speaking about that, though. You know what? 

Rich Bennett 51:20
Oh. 

Debra Cohen 51:20
Let's keep blaming Israel for everything. I think Iran is somehow blaming Israel for the torture jails underground in Syria. Don't ask me how they come up with that. But anyway, yeah, so I just want regardless, some people don't like Trump, you know. Okay, I understand you have the right to choose, but it's done. He's going to be in office January 20th. Trump has given Hamas an ultimatum. He please return the hundred Israeli captives by the time Trump is in office. That's what he's declared. So I want for Hanukkah, which, by the way, is the same day as Christmas this year, 

Rich Bennett 52:02
Mm hmm. 

Debra Cohen 52:03
a Hanukkah miracle, because I still believe in miracles of God. Please return the hundred people that are stuck in Hamas captivity. And if you don't want to pray for them because you still side with the Palestinians, well, then try praying for the Syrians that are still hidden in underground prisons that are trying to be rescued and they're having to bore through concrete walls to get to these bored Syrians. I mean, pick your battle. You can't fight for the whole world. So pick one that has compassion. And please don't be flying those Hamas or Hezbollah flags on American soil because you know what? You're a traitor. That's what I'm sorry. You know, and you need to go live wherever Hamas is. 

Rich Bennett 52:55
Yeah. 

Something I'm looking at at the time, something I definitely want to hit on. You know, where the. 

Debra Cohen 53:04
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 53:05
So what made you decide? To celebrate your 70th birthday by entering a beauty competition and. And y for the National Breast Cancer. 

Debra Cohen 53:21
Good question. Thank you so much for asking me. And, you know, when you get older, personally, I'm speaking about me, my feelings. It's a scary thing to think as a woman, especially now. You know, men don't have wrinkles. They have character lines. 

wrinkles. Men have character lines. So. 

Rich Bennett 53:46
Never heard that. 

Debra Cohen 53:47
Oh, well, that's the truth. Women won't tell you that. But I'm telling you that because I'm at that age where I'll just say, What? What do you want to hear? You know. 

You know, I wasn't always like I used to be a people pleaser. I wouldn't say things, you know, I I'm I mean, I'm learning to have tact, unlike my mother. If if it doesn't help the person to feel better, don't say it, you know, or or find a nice way to say it to them one on one, not in front of a crowd. But anyway, so I thought, I need to, like, give myself a lift, not a facelift. I have not had one, but a lift to feel good about aging because there's such a stigma in our culture. And the, you know, they they put you in a nursing home and that's where you spend your final years. I'm like, Oh, my God. Whose idea was that? That's not a good idea. I mean, so I mean, I think that, you know, if you have parents that took care of you, then you're going to have to take care of them at some point. So, you know, come on. Fair is fair. But anyway, I thought, I want to do something to feel good about aging. So I always say, if somebody says you're old, I say, no, I'm older, but I'm not old. I'm never going to be old. Old is a mentality and unforced. 

Rich Bennett 55:02
Frank Sinatra said it best. 

Debra Cohen 55:04
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 55:05
Good heart. 

Debra Cohen 55:05
yes, absolutely. So I thought, you know what? I got this inkling because I received an email inviting me to this fab over 40 beauty contest, fab over 40. And I thought, well, I don't know. Being turning seven is kind of a stretch. I don't know. You know, the doubt comes in. You know, I can't you know, I put on weight after colvera you, I'm like, fat. And oh, my doctor says I'm obese. I'm like, Oh my God, I don't know if I can do the. I thought, you know what? Why the hell not? Sorry to say the word, Hal, but they have. 

Rich Bennett 55:39
Took. 

Debra Cohen 55:40
Why the heck not? Okay, so I. I got accepted into the competition. And, you know, I thought, you know, this breast cancer is a worthy cause. So I don't have any particular reason for pitching for the Breast Cancer Society. But, you know, I'm. 

Rich Bennett 55:58
came here in. 

Debra Cohen 55:59
Women supporting women, you know, get on, you know, do something nice for somebody else, you know? Okay. So if you've got everything going for yourself, think about helping somebody else. I'm like, Yeah, okay. So I'm going to help the Breast Cancer Foundation and I'm going to try to feel good about myself because I was in a kind of a funk. You know, sometimes I get in a funk, okay. 

Rich Bennett 56:18
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 56:19
So I thought it gave me a great lift. I'm like, all of a sudden I start prison and primping every morning and, you know, getting my outfits on and taking selfies and. 

Rich Bennett 56:30
I love it. 

Debra Cohen 56:30
You know, posting them because you have to post it on the Fabio. I forget what the website is now because it's fab over 40. If you just do a Google search, I think the. Anyway, so I compete and every competitor it's a competition. Every beauty contestant has a website right under the fab over 40 umbrella and I placed in the semifinals. And then the following week I placed in the top 15. 

Rich Bennett 57:03
Wow. 

Debra Cohen 57:04
The following week I placed in the top ten and then the following week, which was last month. I placed in the top five and I'm like, then. Then I, you know, kind of do want to check with my spirituality self thinking. Okay, I've been really excited about this. And all of a sudden I don't have that excitement in me anymore to do this. And I'm like, I thought, okay, maybe I'm just having an off day. But it stayed with that feeling, stayed with me for three days and I thought, you know, I feel like God is distancing himself from me. I'm like. 

Rich Bennett 57:41
Interesting. 

Debra Cohen 57:42
Yeah. So I'm like, I dropped out and I don't know where they're at. I think they're going to announce the winner on December around Christmas time or earlier. So you can still see it going on. But after I dropped out, I wondered to myself, why am I dropping out? So I'd like to read my lyrics if I have time. 

Rich Bennett 58:05
Sure. 

Debra Cohen 58:06
I got a song out of it, out of the whole experience. I got a song, so let me just read my words. I started wondering, you know what? If I hear the voice tell me where I should go. Even though it's not clear, I really want to know what you are saying. Is your voice blocked by my fear? I see your mystical movements in my eyes, but I can't really hear you. What did the Beatle Paul mean when he said, Let it be? Should I just wait for answers until they come to me? What if I did this instead of that? Looking back at where I've traveled, I hope I don't ask that as if I haven't lived my life to the fullest and should have done so much more. This life will test you. We're meant to struggle by asking which way to go, which door? Why did the Clash ask me if I should stay or I should go turn up the volume just to feel the shivers and my feet just follow the music I can feel is all that matters. It takes me where I should go. What if I try to find you lost in nature's beauty before my eyes I see and smell the great greatness of this world. But not where the answers lie. Maybe if I am still a whole lot longer, I'll hear that still small voice telling me what I've been looking for. But still, it's all about my choice. But sounds are coming nearer and I don't think I can listen on my own. But yet I know the answers are in the music. It cannot be for known. And those are the lyrics I got for the song called What If? After I dropped out of the beauty contest. In that song, what if. Will be available December 31st at the end of the year when everybody questions. Have they done the right thing this past year? What am I supposed to be doing? Or where am I going? Or at the end of your rope, thinking at the white throne, What if I had done this? And that's what the song is about. So if nothing else, in the beauty contest, I got another song. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:31
Well, in my opinion, you already won the beauty contest. 

Debra Cohen 1:00:37
Oh. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:38
When you entered it, you took that step. You did something you didn't think you would ever do. 

Debra Cohen 1:00:45
True. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:47
You got the song out of it. And to me that's winning. 

Debra Cohen 1:00:50
Oh, that's great. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:51
I mean, if you take that step to do something, it's like I told remember I told you about my friend Julia at 40 entered a beauty contest. 

Debra Cohen 1:00:59
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:01
And I even told her, I said, Julia, just remember, if even if you don't get that crown, you still won because you're doing something that you had doubts about. 

Debra Cohen 1:01:11
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:12
But you're doing it. 

Debra Cohen 1:01:13
Big doubts. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:14
And that's the thing, because a lot of people won't. A lot of people are afraid to take that step. 

Debra Cohen 1:01:19
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:20
And you're not. 

Debra Cohen 1:01:21
Well, you know, the interesting lesson that I've learned, which is wisdom, is when you are afraid of doing something and you do it anyway, it doesn't mean that the fear is going to go away while you're doing it. It's that you overcome your fear, even though it's still there. And that's 

Rich Bennett 1:01:43
hmm. 

Debra Cohen 1:01:44
part of the struggle of life. Things that you really want to do that are reasons why you're here on this planet and you don't do them because of those negative voices or the feeling of fear. You know, if that desire stays with you, then I encourage all of you to examine in prayer. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:05
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 1:02:05
Is this what I'm meant to be doing? Is this where I should go? And, you know, you take the first step and just see what the reason is, you know? Sometimes it's not even the reason why you want to do it. The real reason comes out like, I don't know the real reason I had to do that at 70, except that I wanted to be able to say I did it. But maybe somebody will see my competition one page and say, I need to do something. Or maybe they'll say, Oh, I want that song. Which please, please do, please. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:41
Well, I'll make sure I put a link, put a link to it, because it's going to be on Spotify, right? 

Debra Cohen 1:02:45
Oh, yeah, yeah. And actually right now you can get it on Bandcamp. Yeah. Deborah Cohen Music dot, Bandcamp dot com if you want it early, but yeah, it'll be streaming on December 31st. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:59
Okay. So before I get to my last question, is there anything you would like to add? 

Debra Cohen 1:03:04
Well, I just want to thank you for a genuine conversation. Just like you said, it would be coffee and conversation and. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:12
Yeah, but I forgot my coffee. I have water. 

Debra Cohen 1:03:14
You. I got to have Java in the morning and I just want to wish everybody a healthy, happy New Year as we're coming into the new Year. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:25
Mm. 

Debra Cohen 1:03:26
And I really wish that you would all stop saying I can't sing because I want you to know that social prescribing is becoming an active part of the United States, as well as 17 other countries endorsed by who? The World Health Organization and your doctors eventually are going to be able to proscribe non-medical local community groups where you can participate to benefit your holistic health body minds. Yes. And so in where I am in Cleveland, I almost said clean water like Cleveland and clear. 

Rich Bennett 1:04:13
Clear 

Debra Cohen 1:04:14
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 1:04:14
water. 

Debra Cohen 1:04:14
My God. Dyslexia. Hello. I hate with that. It checks in all the time when I don't want it to. Okay. I'm too, too thinking too hard. But yeah, I want you to be able to go to your doctors and ask for a non medical group, local group called Social Prescribing. And so look that up. I'd like you all to look that up and start asking your doctors for social prescriptions to get this thing rolling. And I think that who's the one that just won a RFK is a well, Robert Kennedy didn't he got it, Robert, that just went over to the Republican side and. 

Rich Bennett 1:05:01
I believe so. 

Debra Cohen 1:05:02
And he's going to be doing something. 

Rich Bennett 1:05:05
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 1:05:06
So. 

Rich Bennett 1:05:06
Something with health. 

Debra Cohen 1:05:07
Yeah. Something. What? How so? He's. He's on board with social prescribing. So write to your senators and congressmen to support this, because not just singing, but it's the arts in medicine, 

Rich Bennett 1:05:20
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 1:05:20
arts and medicine and, you know, community. We got to rebuild this country and it can start here by your your efforts that way. So that's what I wish for all of us, that we would get on board with social prescriptions. 

Rich Bennett 1:05:37
I like that. So my last question for you. What's the next big thing for Denver, Colo. 

Debra Cohen 1:05:44
The next big thing. I mean, are are you talking like dream or reality? 

Rich Bennett 1:05:52
Dreams can become. Really? 

Debra Cohen 1:05:53
Well, dreams. I wish. I wish that I could make a living at what I love to do as a musician. I really wish. But there are so many other musicians out there because of technology. Anybody can call themself a musician. I wish I could find my tribe. So, you know, if if you check out my music on Spotify, I wish you would just like or follow me. And I really wish I could build my singing community in Clearwater, Florida, and meet you there. I wish. 

Rich Bennett 1:06:34
I think your wishes are going to come true. 

Debra Cohen 1:06:37
It's. 

Rich Bennett 1:06:41
I wish my wishes were. Like, sounds like this sounds like a song. 

Debra Cohen 1:06:46
It could be, you know, but I think Stevie. Stevie Wonder wrote I wish first. I think that's one of my 

Rich Bennett 1:06:52
Oh, 

Debra Cohen 1:06:52
favorite songs. 

Rich Bennett 1:06:53
yeah. But he didn't write. He didn't write. I wish my wishes were. 

Debra Cohen 1:06:56
That's true. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:06:57
No, I'm getting tongue tied now. Never mind. Gee, 

Debra Cohen 1:07:00
I told you, it's contagious who you hang around with. 

Oh, yeah. By the way, the Shmurda shirt. I wish you would buy my merch. So if you. Now, if you. 

Rich Bennett 1:07:11
Oh, that's on your Web site. 

Debra Cohen 1:07:12
Oh, yeah. Amazon. Yeah, you can. 

Rich Bennett 1:07:14
Okay. 

Debra Cohen 1:07:14
Cops mugs. Great, Chris. Anybody that loves the Rolling Stones needs to go to this website on Amazon. You have to do a search because they make it hard for you to find my muse. 

Rich Bennett 1:07:25
Right. 

Debra Cohen 1:07:26
If you look up Deborah Cohen music, you might find my profile in a roundabout way, but the quickest way to find my Schmidt to Schmidt, the Schmidt T-shirt is just on Amazon to search DCM merch. It stands for Deborah Cohen amusement, 

Rich Bennett 1:07:41
Right. 

Debra Cohen 1:07:41
DCM merch, and then write the words Schumacher It's spelled s, c h, 

a t a, and you'll go right to it. Just look for DCM merch. Schumacher AD 

Rich Bennett 1:07:56
I love it. 

Debra Cohen 1:07:57
Oh, please do. I'd love to see you wearing a hat. Yes, yes, yes. And is a Yiddish word. You didn't ask me what it means. Well, we have to ask Mick Jagger what it means because he's the one that sang the song. We didn't tell the people what the name of the song was because we talked about this. 

Rich Bennett 1:08:13
I thought we did. 

Debra Cohen 1:08:14
talked. 

Rich Bennett 1:08:14
Oh, Shattered. 

Debra Cohen 1:08:15
Yes. Yeah, we talked up. 

Rich Bennett 1:08:17
Oh, that's right. 

Debra Cohen 1:08:18
Offline. Yeah. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:08:19
That's right. 

Debra Cohen 1:08:20
That's my attachment. It's a Yiddish word that Rolling Stones have. It's my favorite Rolling Stones song. So I had to make the T-shirt. Of course, when I found out what it means, I'm like. 

Rich Bennett 1:08:30
I may get in touch with me. Tell me what it means. 

Debra Cohen 1:08:34
Yeah, Really? There's more than one meaning. But Mick Jagger, you have let us know you were on Seventh Avenue and you were singing about the big Apple. So we want to know what you mean by smarter, smarter, better. 

Rich Bennett 1:08:47
You know, the funny thing is, all the times I've heard I saw, I thought he was saying, What's the. What's the matter? 

Debra Cohen 1:08:53
Of course, he I think he probably worded it exactly for that reason to disguise the Jewish 

Rich Bennett 1:09:00
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 1:09:00
word in there. I'd like to know who he knew that was a Jew that told him about that, because, you know, you'd have to know Yiddish. It's a Yiddish Jewish word. 

Rich Bennett 1:09:09
Yeah. 

Debra Cohen 1:09:10
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:09:10
Wow. 

Debra Cohen 1:09:11
Yeah. Trivia. 

Rich Bennett 1:09:12
Well, on that note, I'm going to go listen to Shattered. 

Debra Cohen 1:09:16
Oh, groovy. Groovy, dude. You are. What? 

Rich Bennett 1:09:20
Deborah. 

Debra Cohen 1:09:20
You'd. 

Rich Bennett 1:09:21
Thanks so much. It's been a pleasure talking with you. 

Debra Cohen 1:09:24
Pleasure. Thank you so much. God bless you. 

Rich Bennett 1:09:27
You do. 

Rich Bennett 1:09:29
Thank you for listening to the conversations with Rich Bennett. I hope you enjoy today's episode and learn something from it as I did. If you'd like to hear more conversations like this, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. And if you have a moment, I'd love if you could leave a review. It helps us reach more listeners and share more incredible stories. Don't forget to connect with us on social media or visit our website at conversations with Rich Bennett. Com for updates, giveaways and more. Until next time, take care. Be kind and keep the conversations going.