Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

General discussion about Leonard Cohen's songs and albums
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vlcoats
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Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by vlcoats »

its4inthemorning wrote:go through his music in a slow, methodical manner and in roughly the order it was released. ....In conclusion, my prescription is to buy "Songs of Leonard Cohen" and "Songs from a Room" and listen to them once or twice a day for several weeks. If you find yourself craving more, you just might be ready for "Songs of Love and Hate." Good listening, and please post again after completing this induction therapy. 4
You asked me to post after completing the induction therapy but I think it may take a little while. I am still on "Songs of Leonard Cohen" and haven't even opened "Songs from a Room". I am stuck particularly on "The Stranger Song" which I can't seem to move past and don't want to. It hits me right between the shoulder blades. Once I am over my crush on this song, I will be able to give the other songs on the album a chance and can carry on with my induction. Right now, whenever I put on the CD, I just want to listen to it again.
Thanks!
Vickie

***Several pages in the beginning of this thread have been merged from the "I'm new to this Forum" / Jarkko***
its4inthemorning
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

Post by its4inthemorning »

vlcoats,

Very happy to see you have started your immersion therapy.

Yes, the "Stranger Song," this captivating song has captured you! The lyrics are pure poetry, every word and phrase always seemed perfect to me. And the guitar work. I am not a musician, but I understand that the style on this song is rather difficult to master (perhaps that is why he did not play it in his final tours, maybe too hard with 70+ year old fingers).

Another favorite of mine from this album is "Stories of the Street," which for some reason is seldom commented on. After all these listens I still could not tell you what it means exactly. We all develop our own mental images and see where they take us. Favorite lyrics are, "Take me to the slaughterhouse, I will wait there with the lambs."

The original version of Marianne is quite stark and bare compared to the way the song evolved on LC's final tours. Compare the original with the live performance in Dublin in 2013. Albert Noonan recorded this version, he has put many, many excellent LC videos on youtube. (Hope this link works, I am not very proficient with computers.)

https://youtu.be/TC5xv3JKy8E?t=318

I find it interesting to vicariously experience rediscovering LC through you, keep us informed! By the way, where are you from?

4
2010 DECEMBER 10 - CAESARS COLOSSEUM, LAS VEGAS / 2012 SEPTEMBER 28 - L'OLYMPIA, PARIS
2012 OCTOBER 3 - PALAU SANT JORDI, BARCELONA / 2012 DECEMBER 13 - K-ROCK CENTRE, KINGSTON
2013 APRIL 6 - RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK CITY / 2013 JULY 9 - PIAZZA NAPOLEONE, LUCCA
2017 NOVEMBER 4-8 - MONTREAL "TOWER OF SONG" CELEBRATION - RIP, YOU GOT ME SINGING!
its4inthemorning
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

Post by its4inthemorning »

vlcoats, for some reason when I click on the video link, it starts at the very end of the song. To view it all, use the curser to move to the beginning on the time bar as soon as the video opens.

4
2010 DECEMBER 10 - CAESARS COLOSSEUM, LAS VEGAS / 2012 SEPTEMBER 28 - L'OLYMPIA, PARIS
2012 OCTOBER 3 - PALAU SANT JORDI, BARCELONA / 2012 DECEMBER 13 - K-ROCK CENTRE, KINGSTON
2013 APRIL 6 - RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK CITY / 2013 JULY 9 - PIAZZA NAPOLEONE, LUCCA
2017 NOVEMBER 4-8 - MONTREAL "TOWER OF SONG" CELEBRATION - RIP, YOU GOT ME SINGING!
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vlcoats
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

Post by vlcoats »

4,

The link worked for me the 2nd try. Thank you. I like the starkness of the recorded version of Marianne, but watching his face while he sang was a treat. You wonder what he was thinking about onstage that night when he closed his eyes. I wish I could watch more of the videos, but will have to take them in over time. I live in an isolated spot with only satellite internet.

I am not from Idaho, but I live here now on a few acres along the Clearwater River, and we have donkeys. Which makes my favorite part of "Songs of the Street" when he sings of the farm. That song is coming in snippets, but like the other songs on the album, I will get more into each of them I know.

What I find hardest to believe is that among all of the people in my life that I have shared my love of music and poetry with through the years, not one of them ever urged me to listen to him. To me that is just amazing. (Is who I am that hard hard to see?) Somebody somewhere in all these years should have said, "Oh, you need to listen to Leonard Cohen. He is just what you are looking for." But here I am. And like you said, better late than to miss it entirely.

I see there is a section for each album in the index, so I will post there next time. Thanks again for sharing him so graciously.

Vickie
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LisaLCFan
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

Post by LisaLCFan »

vlcoats wrote:...What I find hardest to believe is that among all of the people in my life that I have shared my love of music and poetry with through the years, not one of them ever urged me to listen to him. To me that is just amazing...
Hi new person!

I think it is best that you have found Leonard Cohen in your own way and in your own time. I do not think that he is the kind of artist that a person can be "urged" to listen to -- it is almost as if his music finds you when you are ready for it. Music affects us in different ways at different times, and perhaps had someone recommended Leonard Cohen to you years ago, he may not have resonated with you then (despite what you may think now!). Of course, since we cannot change the past anyway nor do we truly understand how the universe works, this is all just an hypothesis, but in my own experiences with music, it seems to me the sort of thing that cannot be forced, and we must simply be thankful when we do stumble upon life-changing music, and then enjoy it as fully as we can. It sounds to me as if you are definitely doing the latter with Leonard Cohen's music. Welcome to his world!

Lisa
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vlcoats
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

Post by vlcoats »

Lisa,

Thank you for another gracious welcome to your site. You are right of course-- there is no way of knowing if I would have listened to anyone's advice. I didn't even listen to my own thoughts on the matter. I knew he was there, I had a feeling I should listen, things kept reminding me... and still I didn't listen until now. But here I am, and although forcing the issue has helped me squeeze more out of life, your are again right that this is probably the sort of thing that cannot be forced.

It is comforting to know that I don't have to try to explain how I feel about him because everybody here already knows. I am still lost in his first album. One reason I haven't opened the second is because the cynic in me can't imagine it will be as good. Thankfully she is often wrong.

Thanks again Lisa (and 4). I am rarely late for anything, and you have made me feel better, like maybe I'm not so late after all.

Vickie
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

Post by lizzytysh »

Glad to see all of you new people on this thread. Will greet each of you later when I can be at a regular computer. 💕
Thanks for posting!!
"Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken."
~ Oscar Wilde
its4inthemorning
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

Post by its4inthemorning »

Vickie,

Re fear of opening second c/d, I understand what you mean. But, these albums are like ordering dessert: just because you love ice cream, you still have to try others, otherwise you would never experience cheesecake!

I hear Idaho is beautiful, it is someplace we've always wanted to see (but not in the winter). Your farm sounds idyllic, keep all the animals warm.

BTW, you said you would post elsewhere in the forum in the sections for each album. I looked for those sections, but do not see them.

4
2010 DECEMBER 10 - CAESARS COLOSSEUM, LAS VEGAS / 2012 SEPTEMBER 28 - L'OLYMPIA, PARIS
2012 OCTOBER 3 - PALAU SANT JORDI, BARCELONA / 2012 DECEMBER 13 - K-ROCK CENTRE, KINGSTON
2013 APRIL 6 - RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK CITY / 2013 JULY 9 - PIAZZA NAPOLEONE, LUCCA
2017 NOVEMBER 4-8 - MONTREAL "TOWER OF SONG" CELEBRATION - RIP, YOU GOT ME SINGING!
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

Post by vlcoats »

its4inthemorning wrote:BTW, you said you would post elsewhere in the forum in the sections for each album. I looked for those sections, but do not see them.
Yes, I found out there wasn’t a section for each album after all. I was hoping that as I go through them, I could see what others have said and share my own thoughts too. I am especially curious how everyone felt when they first heard his voice and his music.

I am simply overwhelmed. First of all, there is his voice itself. There is nothing I can say about it that hasn't already been said. I can only add my love for it to yours… goosebumps and all. I have read that he didn’t share much in the way of explanation of his lyrics, but why should he have? I for one don’t care so much what he really meant. Every phrase can stand alone for the image it creates. (“curling up like smoke above his shoulder”), and just the sound of how he put them together is enough. Sometimes I feel that even if they were in another language (which at times it seems they are) I might love them all the same. His voice when he sings “blueprint” (“Songs of the Street”) has nothing to do with the word itself. But it’s true also that I love the lyrics for what they say to me, or more how they make me feel. Every so often (not often enough) you will read a particular book or even just a passage from an author or an old poem or watch a movie or a certain light hits you over some hills and it just gets you, like it is a bridge to that thing that fills you with such an emotion you can’t describe, but you know you are so happy and sad to feel it all at once and you just think, “there it is again” and you're glad it’s still there and you can hold it in your hand for a moment. That is how listening to Leonard Cohen makes me feel.

As for “The Songs of Leonard Cohen”, my favorite track remains “The Stranger Song” but I have come to love them all nearly as much, especially “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” which had me from “sleepy golden storm”. I also love “Songs of the Street” not only for “blueprint” but “one hand on my suicide one hand on the rose”. Who comes up with that kind of stuff? I have never been so proud of a fellow Canadian and Jew. I love the guitar in “Teachers”. Basically, I just love every word of that album. I am going to listen to it for the remainder of the weekend and will take the leap into “Songs From a Room” on Monday.

One last thing. I have read that his music has been called, “music to slit your wrists to” and worse and that it has a following of depressed, melancholy people. I have been called a lot of things, but never depressed and any bouts of something like melancholy have always been enjoyable for me, so I can’t even say for sure if I have suffered from it at all. Even my husband said Leonard Cohen’s music was “depressing sounding”, although he hasn’t really heard it beyond once when I forced him to listen to “The Stranger Song”. So tell me, is it true? I prefer to think that his fans are thoughtful and maybe just easily hypnotized by the right combination of lyrics and music like me.

Thank you again for being so kind.
its4inthemorning
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

Post by its4inthemorning »

Vickie, I told my wife that I had posted several times on the forum with a new LC fan from Idaho, and her reply was, "She probably thinks you are a stalker." Please know that's not the case! I usually check out the forum a few times a week, but since LC's death I have done so more often, maybe for comfort, like leaving flowers at a loved one's grave.

Had to respond to your last post, because it begs for an answer. In my personal life, I have only "turned" two people to Leonard Cohen (one, thank the Lord, is my wife Joann, who to be honest needed no convincing). Most friends or relatives said "He's just not my cup of tea," and a few did express the feeling that his music is too depressing. In 2010 or so, after I had totally forgotten about LC for more than twenty years, I discovered he was not only alive, but was still recording and performing! This led (through this very forum) to our having the good fortune of seeing him perform live six times in Europe, Canada, and the US. Before, during, and after these concerts we met hundreds of his fans from all over the world, and let me tell you, NONE OF THEM appeared in any way to suffer from depression; to the contrary, we will always remember those concerts as festive and happy events. I do not know how anyone (even if he favored different music genres) could fail to make a place for LCs music and lyrics, but that is just the way it is. Maybe it is related to the fact that almost no one today is into poetry.

You mentioned the lyric "blueprint" from "Songs of the Street." For another "blueprint" reference, consider the following sentence:

"And the corners of the blueprint are ruined since they rolled far past the stems of thumbtacks that still throw shadows on the wood."

No one but Leonard could have composed this sentence, and no one but Leonard would have included it in the lyrics of a song. ("last Year's Man" from "Songs of Love and Hate," his third album and my favorite.)

Curt (4)
2010 DECEMBER 10 - CAESARS COLOSSEUM, LAS VEGAS / 2012 SEPTEMBER 28 - L'OLYMPIA, PARIS
2012 OCTOBER 3 - PALAU SANT JORDI, BARCELONA / 2012 DECEMBER 13 - K-ROCK CENTRE, KINGSTON
2013 APRIL 6 - RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK CITY / 2013 JULY 9 - PIAZZA NAPOLEONE, LUCCA
2017 NOVEMBER 4-8 - MONTREAL "TOWER OF SONG" CELEBRATION - RIP, YOU GOT ME SINGING!
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

Post by vlcoats »

Curt,
I have never been so interesting as to have a stalker, but if I did, I would be flattered to think it would be a Leonard Cohen fan! How lucky are you to have a wife who shares this with you. I did just today ask my husband to listen to the album with me again, and he actually said he liked it better the second time, so I won't give up hope. You are equally lucky to have been able to see him live. I know if it were not too late for me to do the same, I would be begging my husband to indulge me, no matter where we had to go. As it is, I am already eyeing a trip to Hydra if we ever make it to Europe... telling my husband, but they have donkeys on Hydra!
Thank you for the assurance that everyone who listens to Leonard Cohen isn't dark and suicidal. I knew it just couldn't be true. I was also encouraged to hear that his third album is your favorite. Everything I have heard about his second album makes me hope I will love it as much as the first, but I have been holding my breath about the rest. Part of me wants to get all of his music and listen to it NOW, but I want to take each song a piece at a time and make it last.
As for poetry, I have never known many people besides myself who were into it, but that might be my blue collar upbringing. I hope you are wrong about no one being into it any more. I am a librarian at a high school and I know they are very into their music, and to them even the worst of it is poetry I think. Not that I don't listen to new artists. Our son has introduced me to some great ones. But one thing for sure, although I have only started to listen to Leonard Cohen, already I feel that there will never be another poet like him, no matter how bad the world needs one.
Thank you again and I will write again after listening to "Songs From a Room".
Vickie
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

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its4inthemorning wrote:No one but Leonard could have composed this sentence, and no one but Leonard would have included it in the lyrics of a song. ("last Year's Man" from "Songs of Love and Hate," his third album and my favorite.)
Hello Curt, I have to quickly write to say I have just started on "Songs of Love and Hate" (I posted with my impression of "Songs from a Room" on another thread) and I can see already why you say it is your favorite! I have only heard 5 songs on it so far, but I am so overwhelmed by it that I had to stop listening to write you! It had me from the first minute like a runaway train! I just had to tell you how much I love it. Vickie
PS- I don't think I will every get "The Stranger Song" out of my head/heart no matter what. Also, I got the DVD, "I'm Your Man". Would you recommend I watch it after I have heard more of his music? (if I can wait...)
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

Post by its4inthemorning »

Vickie,

So, you took the leap into SOLAH! Here are a few of my comments on the first five songs:

Avalanche--Such a captivating song, I just love his guitar work (which he was still able to replicate during the 2008-2013 concerts). I know there are some interesting threads discussing the meaning of Avalanche on this site.

Last Year's Man--This is where the exquisite "blueprint" lyrics appear (in fact we listened to it here last night). Love "the wilderness gathering in its children" towards the end.

Dress Rehearsal Rag--By far, IMO, LC's most depressing song, but that has never prevented me from listening to it, some very clever lyrics as you probably noticed.

Diamonds in the Mine--One of those rare LC songs that I never cared for very much. I recall reading that it was written while he was in Nashville and Susanne Elrod (mother of his children, not the Suzanne by the river) was not writing to him enough.

Love Calls You by Your Name--Another favorite from our favorite album. A few years ago a group of amateur musicians/LC fans from Europe (Netherlands I believe) made a "rock" cover of this song which I thought was superbly done. If you wish, I will hunt down the link so you can listen to it (I often wonder if Leonard ever heard this cover, and if so, what he thought).

Except for Avalanche, I do not think LC played any of these songs in any of his 2008-2013 concerts,

Would, of course, like to hear your thoughts of SOLAH.

Curt
2010 DECEMBER 10 - CAESARS COLOSSEUM, LAS VEGAS / 2012 SEPTEMBER 28 - L'OLYMPIA, PARIS
2012 OCTOBER 3 - PALAU SANT JORDI, BARCELONA / 2012 DECEMBER 13 - K-ROCK CENTRE, KINGSTON
2013 APRIL 6 - RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK CITY / 2013 JULY 9 - PIAZZA NAPOLEONE, LUCCA
2017 NOVEMBER 4-8 - MONTREAL "TOWER OF SONG" CELEBRATION - RIP, YOU GOT ME SINGING!
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

Post by vlcoats »

its4inthemorning wrote: Would, of course, like to hear your thoughts of SOLAH
Thank you for sharing your comments on Songs of Love and Hate. What an awesome album, each track so different but still with themes that intertwine like Joan of Arc and 4 o’clock. I love how he does that. I had noticed it before, with the color green in a few songs of Songs of Leonard Cohen and again the color of Nancy’s stockings is green in Songs from a Room

The songs......You called it “taking the leap” into SOLAH, and that is exactly what it felt like when I first heard Avalanche. Like I had jumped in and wouldn’t be getting out. It was amazing and another favorite of mine. I remember you saying that he didn’t play The Stranger Song during his last tours perhaps because it would be difficult for older fingers, but yet he played Avalanche. That is interesting. I have avoided reading threads about song meaning because I wonder sometimes if people try to see things that aren’t there, and also, I want to come to my own conclusions. I am having questions about some of these lyrics thought, so I might. To me the avalanche is that overwhelming something, that everything important, that LC is able to tap into with his art, and he bears that ability like a hump on his back while others worship him for it and come to him as if they have something in common with him. But they aren’t like him, because they can only be a part of the avalanche when he shows it to them; they can’t see it without him. Another thing I love about Avalanche is that my husband actually liked this one!!

I love the lyrics in Last Year’s Man too. My favorite thing about the verse you mention is the Jesus/Cain correlation. I have always found it interesting that men say women are attracted to ‘bad’ boys like Cain. Is it because men themselves want an excuse to be like him or because they despise him? I also love the verse about Bethlehem and Babylon and the lyrics, “skylight is like skin for a drum I’ll never mend”… where does that come from?

I like Dress Rehearsal Rag partly because it captures such a depressing time in anyone’s life and a crossroad I have never been able to imagine coming to. People close to me have though, like my father, my sister, and my son, so I am curious about it and wonder about what it would be like to feel that way. I do love the lyrics about the memory of the girl with chestnut hair and how it makes him clench his fist.

You are right; it is hard to like Diamonds in the Mine as much as his other songs. The way he growls it out is like he doesn’t even want us to like it and doesn’t like it so much himself either! When I played it for my husband, he just looked at me and said, “Okey Dokey then!”

I would love to see the link for that rock version of Love Calls You by Your Name! It is one my favorites on the album too. He really gets me with the intimate way he says “And here, right here”. I could listen to that again and again. I love the way the music and lyrics gain momentum and then recede over and over. Leonard Cohen is just so good. (I have a hard time thinking of him in the past tense, I can't imagine how much you all miss him)

You didn’t talk about the other 3 songs, 2 of which are also favorites of mine (this album has so many!).
I was immediately taken by Famous Blue Raincoat. I knew from Simmons biography that there have been covers of this song, and I wasn’t sure if I would recognize it. The beautiful melody felt more than vaguely familiar but not the words. My parents are gone and my sister said they never listened to him, so I don’t know where I heard it. I would have been 12 or 13 at the time, so it could have been anywhere I guess. Of course the lyrics are what I love about it most. The line about the gypsy thief with the rose in his teeth makes me wonder if it was a letter to himself. He signs it L. Cohen, but he called himself a gypsy boy in Song Long Marianne, and he sounds so remorseful saying that he never tried to take away the trouble from Jane’s eyes. That sounds like the type of thing we might accuse other people of, not ourselves. Regardless, it is a beautiful and haunting song and the images are powerful.

The introduction to Sing Another Song Boys was jarring after that, but he certainly did a good job of sounding bitter. I am very curious what this one is about. For now, the La la la’s at the end are my favorite part.

Joan of Arc, was a great ending for the album. I like how he says she complains “I want the kind of work I had before, a wedding dress or something white to wear upon my swollen appetite” and how she winces and cries in the end. It is sad and of course well known and inevitable how she dies, but so pretty the way he puts it and again a very haunting song.

Your post closed by saying “Except for Avalanche, I do not think LC played any of these songs in any of his 2008-2013 concerts”. Did you mean just the first 5 songs or all of the songs on the album?

Last of all, I am still curious if you think I should wait to watch the DVD I’m Your Man until I have made it through all of his albums to the point in time it was made? I don’t want to spoil anything, but I also want to watch it badly! I am having a hard time not typing in “Leonard Cohen” when I go to You Tube, because I want to stay chronological. I also am having a hard time not reading all of the threads on this forum, but I want to wait and read them when I have caught up to them all.

Thank you again.... and sorry for the long post.
Vickie
its4inthemorning
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Re: Hello, I'm new to this forum... (introducing yourselves)

Post by its4inthemorning »

Vickie, don't have the time to immediately respond other than to (hopefully) put a link hear for the "Love Calls You by Your Name" by Ricky & Slinger. Haven't heard it in a year or more, that's what I am going to do right now.

Leter!



https://youtu.be/8iQzwxPJGZQ?t=81
2010 DECEMBER 10 - CAESARS COLOSSEUM, LAS VEGAS / 2012 SEPTEMBER 28 - L'OLYMPIA, PARIS
2012 OCTOBER 3 - PALAU SANT JORDI, BARCELONA / 2012 DECEMBER 13 - K-ROCK CENTRE, KINGSTON
2013 APRIL 6 - RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK CITY / 2013 JULY 9 - PIAZZA NAPOLEONE, LUCCA
2017 NOVEMBER 4-8 - MONTREAL "TOWER OF SONG" CELEBRATION - RIP, YOU GOT ME SINGING!
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