posted
Okay, I know Leto's out there somewhere. Any other Leonard Cohen fans?
It's Sunday, the house red is bittersweet, and the rain keeps coming down. He's 69, and the voice is even deeper and more rumbly than before. Pull up a chaise lounge, ease back in your most stylish attire, and raise a glass ... to men who live long and age even better.
quote:Ah you hate to see another tired man lay down his hand like he was giving up the holy game of poker And while he talks his dreams to sleep you notice there's a highway that is curling up like smoke above his shoulder. It is curling just like smoke above his shoulder.
posted
You know, it's really strange - I've been hearing of Leonard Cohen pretty much my whole life, and as far as I know, I've never, ever heard one of his songs. How'd that happen?
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quote:I saw Adam leave the Garden with an apple in his hand, I said "Now you're out, what are you going to do?" "Plant some crops and pray for rain, maybe raise a little cane. I'm an orphan now, and I'm only passing through."
quote:And you're weak and you're harmless And you're sleeping in your harness And the wind going wild In the trees
quote:It's true that all the men you knew were dealers who said they were through with dealing Every time you gave them shelter I know that kind of man It's hard to hold the hand of anyone who is reaching for the sky just to surrender, who is reaching for the sky just to surrender.
quote:And the sun pours down like honey On our lady of the harbour And she shows you where to look Among the garbage and the flowers
posted
I first heard about Leonard Cohen by Graeme Allwright... If I remember well, he comes from New-Zealand and came in France and fell in love with a French woman. He used to sing Leonard Cohen's song, translated in French. I heard the translations, and by then wanted to hear the original version. There's one song of Leonard Cohen I think a lot of you know : the one that has been used in Shrek , the "Halleluya".
quote: Baby I've been here before I know this room, I've walked this floor I used to live alone before I knew you...
He isn't the one who sings it in Shrek, but it's still his song and I think you can have an idea of the style through that.
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Suzanne, for Anna. "She is wearing rags and feathers, From Salvation Army counters ..."
lma, try Alexandra Leaving:
quote:Upheld by the simplicities of pleasure, They gain the light, they formlessly entwine; And radiant beyond your widest measure They fall among the voices and the wine.
posted
From the title, I assumed you were having a movie marathon with The Hudsucker Proxy, Raising Arizona, Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou?, and so on.
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posted
Jon Boy, those Coens spell their name differently.
By the way, anyone who thinks they haven't heard Leonard Cohen is wrong. I GUARANTEE you that everyone on this board has heard and liked both "Sisters of Mercy" and "Everyone Knows," even if their only encounter with the latter is by way of Christian Slater.
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Though for my money, the definitive version of Halleulya would have to be the recording on Jeff Buckley's Grace album.
But my all time fav. Cohen number:
"The last time I saw you, you seemed so much older, Your famous blue raincoat Was torn at the shoulder.."
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quote: It's four in the morning The end of November I'm writing this know just to see if you're better New York is cold and I like where I'm living There's music on Bleeker St all through the evening..
Now I'm going to have Leonard Cohen in my head all day! Blast you CT!
I think Leonard's great, if a bit seedy. Great music for driving alone at night too.
I have a pretty good CD called 'Bleeker St: the sounds of Greenwhich Village' (or something similar) which is covers of Leonard Cohen & other songs of that time/place... sure, not as good as the original, but quite interesting and nice for a bit of a change.
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quote: Like a willow, like a fountain She stands in the luminous air And the night comes on And it's very calm I lie in her arms and she says, "When I'm gone I'll be yours, yours for a song."
quote:imogen: "a little seedy". Or, if you prefer, a different kind of seedy.
Thanks CT!
The first time I actually listened to the lyrics of Chelsea Hotel No.2 I was kinda startled. I had thought it was much more innocent...
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quote: By the way, anyone who thinks they haven't heard Leonard Cohen is wrong. I GUARANTEE you that everyone on this board has heard and liked both "Sisters of Mercy" and "Everyone Knows," even if their only encounter with the latter is by way of Christian Slater.
I may have heard them but I still can't dredge up any tune from the titles. But I did grow up under a rock too.
posted
Has anyone else heard the live version of Buckley's "Hallelujah" cover where, rather than saying, "I used to live alone before I knew ya" he sings "I used to live with Leonard before I knew ya".
Great stuff... and a good go at all those who thought he wrote it.
Tangent: I think one of the amazing things about Jeff Buckley was that he often did covers but managed to re-interpret them and make them his own in a way that few other musicians are usually able to do with the work of others. Cool stuffs.
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posted
I'd like to back up JB on the Coen brother's reference. I mean, some words conjure up a phonetic trace more than a spelling trace. All I know is it's spelled different from the last name of "Facts of Life" star Mindy Cohn. Or is it Kohn?
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posted
Leonard Cohen is by far my favorite singer and songwriter. I have never been moved by anyone else the way I have been moved by him.
I like Jeff Buckley's cover of Hallelujah better than anyone else's cover of any LC songs, but it still doesn't hit me the way LC singing it does.
Chelsea Hotel #2 always reminds me of Janis Joplin. I never thought of it as seedy.
quote: quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's four in the morning The end of November I'm writing this know just to see if you're better New York is cold and I like where I'm living There's music on Bleeker St all through the evening.. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hate to be nitpicky, but it's actually:
quote: It's four in the morning, the end of December I'm writing you now just to see if you're better New York is cold, but I like where I'm living There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening.
posted
Fair enough Mrs M - I wrote it from memory, at work
(Edit: Which really doesn't excuse all my mistakes.. except, it's November now so I guess that's why I had that. And I think he performed on Bleeker St... but still, pretty disgraceful)
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