Leonard Cohen on Australian Radio

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AlanM
Posts: 576
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:42 am
Location: Adelaide, Australia

Leonard Cohen on Australian Radio

Post by AlanM »

This morning as I was listening to my favourite podcast, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Leonard's name mentioned and a soundbite played.
"A Word In Your Ear" is a weekly talk back show on ABC Queensland, in which Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex discusses aspects of the English language. The programme originally broadcast on October 13 was about pronunciation and Leonard was used as an example of the different sounds of the indefinite article - either long or short.
The soundbite was the chorus of the studio version of "Anthem" There is a crack, a crack in everything, where LC uses a long A followed by a short A. The clip was played a second time after a brief discussion on the 2 pronunciations within a few seconds. Professor Sussex then said "I wish I had a voice like that", which I thought was a lovely comment.

However... There seems to be no consistency in which way Leonard sings these As. I presume he made a choice depending on how he was phrasing the whole line. Even within the one version of the song, the pronunciation varies from chorus to chorus.
Studio version: Long, Short; Long, Long; Long, Long.
Live in London: Long, Long; Long, Long; Short, Long.
Live in Dublin: Short, Long; Long, Long; Short, Long.

Now there's a bit of trivia to brighten/dull your day!

Alan
Too much Leonard Cohen is never enough.
London 1972, Adelaide 1980, 1985, 2009
Sydney 2010; Adelaide 2010
Sydney 2013 X2; Melbourne 2013; Adelaide 2013
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blonde madonna
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Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:27 am

Re: Leonard Cohen on Australian Radio

Post by blonde madonna »

Had a listen to it myself. The ABC commentator quite rightly said it wouldn’t matter how you said it with a voice like that.
I’ve always wondered about the way he pronounces “iron cross” in Memories, emphasising the “r” in a way I’ve never heard before.
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