Listen to "Almost Like The Blues"

This section is dedicated to the new studio album and the Dublin concert video
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POZEST
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Re: Listen to new Leonard Cohen song

Post by POZEST »

MarieM wrote:Okay, official version of Almost Like The Blues:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VYXECtjOos

This is where I first heard thd song this morning in its entirety.
CohenFan08
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Re: Listen to new Leonard Cohen song

Post by CohenFan08 »

Love it.

Do we know if that is the Webb's doing backing vocals?
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Re: Listen to new Leonard Cohen song

Post by username »

I feel like there was progress made regarding the production when Old Ideas came out. He finally had a better sound with some actual live instruments. "Almost Like the Blues" feels like a regression. The production is just not good. compare Leonard's song to Beck's "Heart is a Drum". Beck's album "Morning Phase is so beautifully produced and elevates the lyrics".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6Zp84XH6Eo
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Vansingel
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Re: Listen to new Leonard Cohen song

Post by Vansingel »

I like it. It grows with listening.
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jarkko
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Re: Listen to new Leonard Cohen song

Post by jarkko »

Do we know if that is the Webb's doing backing vocals?
No, it's Charlean Carmon. The tour band was not involved in making this album but Alex plays violin on some tracks.
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blonde madonna
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Re: Listen to new Leonard Cohen song

Post by blonde madonna »

Feeling a bit down on my return from Dublin summer to Melbourne winter and LC provides a gift to lift me. Downloaded the song from iTunes for less than the price of a ...
Thank you Jarkko for the info about the back up, had thought it might be Anjani.
Thank you username for the Beck link, wonderful!

As for my initial reaction: it's different listening to a studio production with the memory of his wonderful live performances fresh in my memory, I probably need more time. That said, love the black humour in coupling 'my bad reviews' with all the depressing facts of today's news.
Last edited by blonde madonna on Fri Aug 22, 2014 3:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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blonde madonna
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Re: Listen to new Leonard Cohen song

Post by blonde madonna »

Interesting, Charlean Carmon, best known on google for voicing Katy Kat on All Stars Battle Royale.
On the very long flight home I watched '20 feet from stardom' and it has given me a new appreciation for back up singers, Lisa Fischer in particular.
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jarkko
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Re: Listen to "Almost Like The Blues"

Post by jarkko »

Here are the original lyrics from the master himself.
Also posted at www.leonardcohenfiles.com/popularproblems.html
ALMOST LIKE THE BLUES

I saw some people starving
There was murder, there was rape
Their villages were burning
They were trying to escape
I couldn't meet their glances
I was staring at my shoes
It was acid, it was tragic
It was almost like the blues

I have to die a little
Between each murderous thought
And when I'm finished thinking
I have to die a lot
There's torture and there's killing
And there's all my bad reviews
The war, the children missing
Lord, it's almost like the blues

So I let my heart get frozen
To keep away the rot
My father said I'm chosen
My mother said I'm not
I listened to their story
Of the Gypsies and the Jews
It was good, it wasn't boring
It was almost like the blues

There is no G-d in Heaven
And there is no Hell below
So says the great professor
Of all there is to know
But I've had the invitation
That a sinner can't refuse
And it's almost like salvation
It's almost like the blues
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MarieJolie
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Re: Listen to "Almost Like The Blues"

Post by MarieJolie »

May I ask an obvious question? I definitely hear "There is no God in Heaven" does G-d symbolize something else? on another line, I neatly hear "Though I let my heart get frozen"... is it all due to my italian ears perhaps? :roll: Leonard's diction was never clearer than this... Thanks everyone for helping me, I'm translating the lyrics... can't stop thinking of it this morning!
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Re: Listen to "Almost Like The Blues"

Post by jarkko »

G-d is the way to write God. There is a whole thread about this at viewtopic.php?f=5&t=35102&hilit=Write+g+d
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peter danielsen
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Re: Listen to "Almost Like The Blues"

Post by peter danielsen »

I was right after alle with "thought" and not "plot" and "so" not "though"
Congratulations Peter, you still have the gift
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Re: Listen to "Almost Like The Blues"

Post by Citizen_Kane »

peter danielsen wrote:I was right after all
Yes, you were indeed. Congratulations :D. Maybe I'm in need of hearing aids :shock:
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susanne30072009
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Re: Listen to "Almost Like The Blues"

Post by susanne30072009 »

Wonderful! I was surprised about the numbers of instruments! I can't hardly wait to have to whole CD...
And a Tour titled with "Popular Probelms" in 2015 would be a Highlight - and fits exactly in our times...
I'm so thankfull, that Mr. Cohen still likes to write and sing new Songs, try out different styles, tunes etc.
A wonderful Song and I'm sure, the others will have the same high standard....

Uwe + Susanne, Switzerland
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peter danielsen
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Re: Listen to "Almost Like The Blues"

Post by peter danielsen »

About the production. I somehow agree with the critique on the production. After many albums with a very modest production perhaps we have to accept that there is some point in Leonard Cohens album sounding like this. Offcourse the lyric is in focus, but I dont really understand why some of the fine muscians from the tours is not invited. Doesnt Leonard Cohen want to be played more on air? Many of the song from the past could have been big hits, Light as a breeze for example - if it wasnt for the sound of a keyboard presets. I guess I might be missing the point, cause also "the book of longing" shows this strange mix of cheap production with wonderfull lyrics and then only black and white reproductions of his drawings. I acknowledge as I say I might be missing the point - it would not be the first time - but still it would be lovely with a record where the songs is in focus and not a rarther sparse production. Maybe there is wisdom in the words: "you loose your grip and then you slip, into the masterpiece". Forgive me if Im totally wrong
Peter
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Mabeanie1
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Re: Listen to "Almost Like The Blues"

Post by Mabeanie1 »

peter danielsen wrote: I dont really understand why some of the fine muscians from the tours is no invited.

Peter
Surely it's a question of practicalities as much as anything else. The members of the band are scattered all over the world, with their own diary and life commitments and it would be almost like organising a tour to get them together. This would of course have delayed the album's release and I suppose Leonard feels more urgency to get things done as he approaches his 80th birthday than he did earlier in his career. Alternatively you would have had different electronic files whizzing their way around the world with delays if Leonard wants something played a different way so it all has to be done again. Then someone has to put everything together in the studio .... No, much easier for Leonard to do his own thing at home or in a nearby studio, just calling in local friends to play as needed. Alex of course is the exception but it would not have been too hard to get just one person to add their parts via electronic files, assuming of course that this is how it was done.

Wendy
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