Genius or salesman for the Samaritans?

Just like The Smiths, lazy people find it much easier to not bother listening but just label him as 'too depressing'.

dougcollins wrote:Just like The Smiths, lazy people find it much easier to not bother listening but just label him as 'too depressing'.

Add Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Portishead and Massive Attack to that list. Or maybe I’m just a miserable sod!

no post

Guitargeorge wrote:Genius or salesman for the Samaritans?

similar style to George Formby!

Genius

Guitargeorge wrote:Genius or salesman for the Samaritans?

Neither he’s just another dead person.

Genius
https://youtu.be/rH1XTOBF0YQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

spamalittle wrote:Genius
https://youtu.be/rH1XTOBF0YQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes, another vote for genius.

I will sleep soundly while "the future" dances through my dreams.

South West Claret. wrote:Neither he’s just another dead person.

Hey!
That's no way to say goodbye.


https://youtu.be/WyLKfVpzqdg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Seems that he was much more famous in the UK than he was in his native country.

Almost 50 years ago now we used to take the p1ss out of a mate of ours who used to like Leonard Cohen

Such a depressing boring voice

mkmel wrote:Almost 50 years ago now we used to take the p1ss out of a mate of ours who used to like Leonard Cohen

Such a depressing boring voice

But listen to the words. Sheer poetry.

So why not just say the words rather than attempt to sing

An early musical influence due to my older sister.....

So Long Marianne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZI6EdnvH-8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Bluelabrador you know he was Jewish?

Where do I start? Give me some tunes. Always wanted to listrn but never have.

Dyched

Listen away:

Suzanne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svitEEp ... EpI07E&t=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cheers!! List a few more and Ill make a playlist.

mkmel wrote:So why not just say the words rather than attempt to sing

I haven’t really listened to Cohen so I'll use Dylan as an example. I find there is something vulnerable when somebody can “write” and is prepared to sing when not having a “good” voice. Dylan doesn’t have a “good” voice. Not one bit. But his voice, his words are powerful.

These words are quite astonishing in their beauty -

Joan of Arc

Now the flames they followed Joan of Arc
as she came riding through the dark;
no moon to keep her armour bright,
no man to get her through this dark and smoky night.
She said, "I'm tired of the war,
I want the kind of work I had before,
a wedding dress or something white
to wear upon my swollen appetite."
Well, I'm glad to hear you talk this way,
you know I've watched you riding every day
and something in me yearns to win
such a cold and lonesome heroine.
"And who are you?" she sternly spoke
to the one beneath the smoke.
"Why, I'm fire, " he replied,
"And I love your solitude, I love your pride."
"Well then fire, make your body cold,
I'm gonna give you mine to hold, "
saying this she climbed inside
to be his one, to be his only bride.
And deep into his fiery heart
he took the dust of Joan of Arc,
and high above all these wedding guests
he hung the ashes of her lovely wedding dress.
La...
It was deep into his fiery heart
he took the dust of Joan of Arc,
and then she clearly understood
if he was fire, oh she must be wood.
I saw her wince, I saw her cry,
I saw the glory in her eye.
Myself I long for love and light,
but must it come so cruel, must it be so brave?
La...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtwUyDPXROQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Near the end of his life, Leonard Cohen appeared on Saturday Night Live. While 90% of Canadians watched Hockey Night in Canada, the rest of us watched him quietly say goodbye to us, and let us appreciate a national treasure one last time.

ontario claret wrote:Near the end of his life, Leonard Cohen appeared on Saturday Night Live. While 90% of Canadians watched Hockey Night in Canada, the rest of us watched him quietly say goodbye to us, and let us appreciate a national treasure one last time.

As some have said, a poet more than a singer. I always think it is terribly shallow to criticise someone for their voice, when their lyrics are so powerful.

Try watching the tribute concert organised by First Aid Kit & Swedish TV. An astonishing mix of music and poetry, without the (so-called) dreary voice. Available on youtube.

mkmel wrote:So why not just say the words rather than attempt to sing

I think you are missing the point a little. He was a poet long before he became famous as a singer/songwriter so yes you can read it as poetry. The best songwriters, for me, write lyrics that can be read out of the musical context and still enjoyed for there beauty and (sometimes) wisdom.
Cohen
Dylan
Hammill
Simon
These are just 4 of many who don't need music to enjoy their words, but sometimes a beautiful or even catchy melody can enhance (not that Cohen wrote too many catchy melodies).

Strangely with Cohen he was unique I think in the fact that he had a very blurred line between religion and sex as many of his songs can be placed in either context and still make sense.

Yes he was a genius.

Dyched wrote:Where do I start? Give me some tunes. Always wanted to listrn but never have.

Get a copy of his first album, Songs of....., it tells you all you need to know. Suzanne, Teachers, The Stranger Song, The Master Song and the blissful Sisters of Mercy. It ends with One of Us Cannot be Wrong, a haunting song that fades out with possibly the most heart rending vocal sound ever.

Just wonderful.

One of my favourite artists.got most of his albums....Halleluja and Closing Time.Bird on a wire.Suzanne all brilliant..His songs all written from his own experiences.
Led a very interesting and at times troubled life.His last album was written when he knew he had only months to live.

dougcollins wrote:Just like The Smiths, lazy people find it much easier to not bother listening but just label him as 'too depressing'.

The Smiths are awful and shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as a genius like Cohen

deanothedino wrote:The Smiths are awful and shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as a genius like Cohen

The difference between Leonard Cohen and the Smiths is that Leonard Cohen had something to say that was worth listening to. Morrissey should have pushed that plant into his mouth instead of up his @rse. Pretentious idiot.

spamalittle wrote:Genius
https://youtu.be/rH1XTOBF0YQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ive me back my broken night
My mirrored room, my secret life
It's lonely here
There's no one left to torture
Give me absolute control
Over every living soul
And lie beside me, baby
That's an order!

Give me crack and **** ***
Take the only tree that's left
And stuff it up the hole
In your culture
Give me back the Berlin wall
Give me Stalin and St. Paul
I've seen the future, brother
It is murder

Things are going to slide (slide) in all directions
Won't be nothing (won't be)
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
Has crossed the threshold
And it has overturned
The order of the soul

When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant

You don't know me from the wind
You never will, you never did
I'm the little Jew
Who wrote the Bible
I've seen the nations rise and fall
I've heard their stories, heard them all
But love's the only engine
Of survival

Your servant here, he has been told
To say it clear, to say it cold
It's over, it ain't going any further
And now the wheels of heaven stop
You feel the devil's riding crop
Get ready for the future: It is murder

Things are going to slide (slide) in all directions
Won't be nothing (won't be)
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
Has crossed the threshold
And it has overturned the order of the soul

When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant

There'll be the breaking of the ancient western code
Your private life will suddenly explode
There'll be phantoms, there'll be fires on the road
And the white man dancing
You'll see your woman hanging upside down
Her features covered by her fallen gown
And all the lousy little poets coming round
Trying to sound like Charlie Manson
Yeah the white man dancing

Give me back the Berlin wall
Give me Stalin and St. Paul
Give me Christ
Or give me Hiroshima
Destroy another fetus now
We don't like children anyhow
I've seen the future, baby: It is murder

Things are going to slide (slide) in all directions
Won't be nothing (won't be), nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
Has crossed the threshold
And it has overturned
The order of the soul

When they said (they said) repent (repent)
Repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent)
Repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent)
Repent (repent)

Hallelujah

Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing "Hallelujah"

[Chorus]
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

[Chorus]
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light in every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at somebody who outdrew you
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Leisure wrote:ive me back my broken night
My mirrored room, my secret life
It's lonely here
There's no one left to torture
Give me absolute control
Over every living soul
And lie beside me, baby
That's an order!

Give me crack and **** ***
Take the only tree that's left
And stuff it up the hole
In your culture
Give me back the Berlin wall
Give me Stalin and St. Paul
I've seen the future, brother
It is murder

Things are going to slide (slide) in all directions
Won't be nothing (won't be)
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
Has crossed the threshold
And it has overturned
The order of the soul

When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant

You don't know me from the wind
You never will, you never did
I'm the little Jew
Who wrote the Bible
I've seen the nations rise and fall
I've heard their stories, heard them all
But love's the only engine
Of survival

Your servant here, he has been told
To say it clear, to say it cold
It's over, it ain't going any further
And now the wheels of heaven stop
You feel the devil's riding crop
Get ready for the future: It is murder

Things are going to slide (slide) in all directions
Won't be nothing (won't be)
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
Has crossed the threshold
And it has overturned the order of the soul

When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant

There'll be the breaking of the ancient western code
Your private life will suddenly explode
There'll be phantoms, there'll be fires on the road
And the white man dancing
You'll see your woman hanging upside down
Her features covered by her fallen gown
And all the lousy little poets coming round
Trying to sound like Charlie Manson
Yeah the white man dancing

Give me back the Berlin wall
Give me Stalin and St. Paul
Give me Christ
Or give me Hiroshima
Destroy another fetus now
We don't like children anyhow
I've seen the future, baby: It is murder

Things are going to slide (slide) in all directions
Won't be nothing (won't be), nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
Has crossed the threshold
And it has overturned
The order of the soul

When they said (they said) repent (repent)
Repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent)
Repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent)
Repent (repent)

Leisure wrote:Hallelujah

Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing "Hallelujah"

[Chorus]
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

[Chorus]
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light in every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at somebody who outdrew you
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Very apt username if you have time to type that lot

Dance Me To The End Of Love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Oh dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the wedding now, oh dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand, touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Chobulous wrote:Very apt username if you have time to type that lot

Never heard of copy and paste!

PS - And that's not one of his songs!

Leisure wrote:Never heard of copy and paste!

PS - And that's not one of his songs!

I'm the archetypal technophobe

Thought his last album was superb

mkmel wrote:So why not just say the words rather than attempt to sing

Bob Dylan beat him to that one

Genius. Lucky enough to see him play live at Hammersmith Odeon in the 80s

https://youtu.be/6B2iq3Psz8M" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Well worth a watch if you are a fan of Cohen.

There’s no question Leonard Cohen was the master of ‘dark songs’, none of this…… ‘ohh isn’t life wonderful sitting the sun all day’ nonsense. I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Cohen live in London, Ontario several years ago, an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Canadian K.D. Lang is famous for her rendition of Cohen’s “Hallelujah”

Incidentally, one of his former backup singers, Jennifer Warnes, did a more upbeat version of his songs on an album titled “Famous Blue Raincoat”. Ms. Warnes also won a Grammy for “Up Where We Belong ”, a duet with Joe Cocker, another of my all time favourite artists.

Funny how “six degrees of separation" tends to runs true.

exilecanada wrote:There’s no question Leonard Cohen was the master of ‘dark songs’, none of this…… ‘ohh isn’t life wonderful sitting the sun all day’ nonsense. I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Cohen live in London, Ontario several years ago, an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Canadian K.D. Lang is famous for her rendition of Cohen’s “Hallelujah”

Incidentally, one of his former backup singers, Jennifer Warnes, did a more upbeat version of his songs on an album titled “Famous Blue Raincoat”. Ms. Warnes also won a Grammy for “Up Where We Belong ”, a duet with Joe Cocker, another of my all time favourite artists.

Funny how “six degrees of separation" tends to runs true.

Never had the pleasure of seeing him in concert. When did you see him?

deanothedino wrote:The Smiths are awful and shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as a genius like Cohen

Ha ha ha...you're making a joke yes ? I hope so because to say The Smiths are awful would otherwise indicate you have ears made of cloth.

Cohen is great btw.

OK it's Morrissey but you get the idea...

The Smiths....THE band of the Eighties


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ytrv2c32kM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hi Stalbansclaret, I met Donald today while walking in Wycoller. He was in a small group and seemed in good form.
I hope you don't mind me posting this on here.

JohnDearyMe wrote:Never had the pleasure of seeing him in concert. When did you see him?

2009 if memory serves. "Closing Time" ended up on his album "Songs From The Road".

[quote="Leisure"]Dance Me To The End Of Love

Beautiful words , originally written in tribute to the holocaust camps

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Oh dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the wedding now, oh dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand, touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love[/quote

The Enclosure wrote:https://youtu.be/6B2iq3Psz8M

Well worth a watch if you are a fan of Cohen.

Cheers, Enclosure.
Hadn't seen that before.

First of all, it's k. d. lang, not L. D. Lang. Another affected "artist'. Calls herself the Alberta Rose. Just another cowboy hick, to me. The first show after Trump was elected, SNL chose to open the show with Kate McKinnon playing an abridged version of "Hallelujah". Interesting.

Stalbansclaret wrote:Ha ha ha...you're making a joke yes ? I hope so because to say The Smiths are awful would otherwise indicate you have ears made of cloth.

Cohen is great btw.

Sorry it clearly upsets you so much, but The Smiths are dire.

bluelabrador16 wrote:Hi Stalbansclaret, I met Donald today while walking in Wycoller. He was in a small group and seemed in good form.
I hope you don't mind me posting this on here.

Not at all that's good to hear...thanks. He is doing well notwithstanding having pretty much no short term memory nowadays and we have a good care regime for him with the help of one of my mum's old friends and my brother's partner who is acting as a paid carer 4 days a week. My brother and I cover alternate weekends with me timing my trips north to coincide with home games !
You will have seen him with his "Strollers" group which is his regular Tuesday thing.
Cheers !