Go No More A Roving

Leonard Cohen's recent albums - share your views with others!
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icecreamtruck
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Go No More A Roving

Post by icecreamtruck »

Holy crap! I don't understand why people don't like this song! To me, it is one of the best songs ever written. It is beyond words. It's not loungy like some people have said. It's not laid back. As Sharon Robinson said, it defies catagory and it is what it is. I have no name for the genre. I am a guy who likes loud rock music and I don't find Go No More lacking any intensity at all. It reminds me of Cohen Live quite a bit.

Any comments?
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witty_owl
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Post by witty_owl »

Icecreamtruck, I don't know about one of the best songs ever written but it is to me, a pleasing and inspiring production. Interesting to find that Byron's words are timeless, fitting so well into a contemporary context. I expect that Leonard's music fits it so well because these lyrics speak so pertinently to him at this time in his life.
The song is a great opener for the CD and immediately makes the connection to 10 New Songs. Almost as if this was one that did not quite make it onto the previous CD. Perhaps he wanted 10 New Songs to be entirely original in words and music. He certainly has encouraged Sharon Robinson to stamp her style onto this song. Her arrangement, vocals, harmonies, performance and production are all superb work. And a very expressive sax contribution by Bob Sheppard. Just prior to the sax solo there is an interesting and aurally compelling shift from a major to a minor chord that is slightly unexpected where the line "By the light of the moon" is repeated. There are some who do not like the style and production that Sharon brings to Leonard's work. Probably because of the way sequencers and digital keyboards alter the overall sound; moving it away from the "purist" acoustic guitar sound. Perhaps they fail to appreciate that this is exactly what Leonard wants with his music and he is making the decisions to go in this direction and there are reasons for this. I think time will reveal that 10 New Songs and Dear Heather are the high point in his life's work. But then he may yet produce more!
Technology undoubtedly influences the directions music may take. But technology does not write or compose the music; it can simply help the composer to realise a vision that only ever springs from the heart and mind of the artist. For example- many people criticise the use of drum machines (sequencers) because they are not real musicians and can never create the sound of a live drummer playing a kit. This may be so but in a recording studio a solo songwriter/composer or partnership can do things with a drum machine that could not be done with an acoustic drum kit. Just as the sequencer cannot be the acoustic instrument so the converse is also true and each type of technology has its use and its place.
And to finish this post, I suspect that Leonard just may have a little more roving yet to do.

Cheers, Witty.
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tomsakic
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Post by tomsakic »

I like it. Reminds me on Memories. Some kind of 50s R&B.
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icecreamtruck
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Post by icecreamtruck »

Owl:

I guess in the context of Layton he's saying 'we.'
I didn't say best song ever written just to seem dramatic...I actually think it should find itself soaking in the pool of other accurate and heartbreaking 'ditties.'

It's interesting that Sharon seems to go out of her way to sound more like Anjani on this one. To me it sounds very different to Ten New Songs. The drums are samples in this case. When I first heard them I thought they were real...as they are actually RECORDINGS of drums placed by a computer in the correct spot, rather than synthesised. The whole album seems to favour this approach rather than the 'plastic' textures of TNS. Dear Heather actually pulls off sounding organic in a number of places.
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tomsakic
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Post by tomsakic »

Maybe they are real, because Sharon used the real parts of oud and mandolin (played by Hans Zimmer) for There For You and The Letters for sampling.
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linda_lakeside
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Post by linda_lakeside »

I'm no longer remarking on TNS but I will say, Mr. Owl, when you picked your board-name, you picked the right one!
~ The smell of perfume in the air, bits of beauty everywhere ~ Leonard Cohen.
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witty_owl
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Post by witty_owl »

Now why is that Linda? That you assert I picked the right one. :wink:

Cheers, Witty.
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linda_lakeside
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Post by linda_lakeside »

I assert that you picked the right one because I don't know you very well yet. However, your posts are well written, informative and fun to read. Wise and witty, I suppose.

If I think of any more accolades, I'll jot them down for future encounters (of which I hope there are many).

Cheers,

Linda
~ The smell of perfume in the air, bits of beauty everywhere ~ Leonard Cohen.
MichaelPlater
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No More A-Roving

Post by MichaelPlater »

The song itself is excellent (as are Byron's lyrics). What lets the song down is the horrible synthetic sax-drenched music behind it. If you took Leonard's voice off the song it could be any soulless, session muso dominated song from the 80s. As soon as Leonard's voice comes in, it redeems the song, but only just. It was the one time on "Dear Heather' where I thought the complaints about the album being too "synthetic" were justified.
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Jonnie Falafel
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Post by Jonnie Falafel »

icecreamtruck wrote:Owl:
I guess in the context of Layton he's saying 'we.'

I think it's 'cause Byron used "we" that he sings "we".
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icecreamtruck
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Post by icecreamtruck »

He wouldn't have dedicated it to Layton if it had been "I'll go no more a roving." Do you think I'm dull enough not to realise that it was actually "we" the Byron wrote it? This is what's wrong with the world. Everyone under estimating each other. You didn't need to be snide.
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tomsakic
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Post by tomsakic »

It is autumn of 2000, and Leonard Cohen is in Montreal for the funeral of Pierre Trudeau, with whom he had shared a mutual admiration and a few common traits. He visits the hospital bed of Irving Layton, his dear friend and poetic inspiration, who has been in frail health. They share an illegal smoke in the hospital lobby, and talk turns to their favourite game.
Irving: Leonard, have you noticed any decline in your sexual interest?
Leonard: As a matter of fact I have, Irving.
Irving: I'm relieved to hear that, brother.
Leonard: So I take it, Irving, that you yourself have experienced some decline in your sexual interest.
Irving: I have.
Leonard: When did you first notice this decline?
Irving: Oh, about the age of 16 or 17.
I think that's what this song is about. Indeed "we" :wink:
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Jonnie Falafel
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Post by Jonnie Falafel »

Blimey Icecreamtruck you're a bit oversensitive. My intention wasn't to underestimate anyone and it certainly wasn't meant as a snide comment. It was supposed to be helpful. Isn't it just the simplest explanation of why LC uses "we"? Anyhow, I wouldn't have thought there was any shame to be attached to not knowing some Byron ditty..... but there you go thinking the worst of me.... oh hum.
jurica
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Post by jurica »

i think Tom Sakic has the point:
Byron did use 'we', but Leonard could have chosen some other song which is about 'me' if he wanted. i think he chose this one BECAUSE this 'we', and 'going a-roving' just in the way the interview applies.

icecreamtruck, you shouldn't get offended EVER on this or any other forum. things that are written down have greater impact, and there's no smiling, well meaning face behind them, and therefore we all feel more offended than we would in real life. hell, even this what i'm writting may offend you, since it sounds so 'i'm smart, you stupid, i'll teach you', but if i told you this in person - it would sound completely different.

i'm on this forum quite some time, and i've seen many people leave it because they felt they were offended, when in truth (looking form my perspective) they had no real reason.
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linda_lakeside
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Post by linda_lakeside »

I see things changing, jurica. I've only been here about 6 mos. but something has changed. Unfortunately.

Linda.
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