New live album: Can't Forget

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Joe Way
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by Joe Way »

I also just love the new album! I was not one of those who complained about the sound quality of "Live in Dublin," but I have to say that the new album sounds fantastic even in my car.

I bought it at "B Side Records" where I have bought just about every Leonard album starting with 1979's "Recent Songs" which is still one of my favorite albums and one of the most emotional for me due to personal circumstances at that time.

On "Can't Forget"-"Night Comes On" is a highlight and Anne & I were privileged to be at one of the few North American concerts where he performed it (Austin). Also, "La Manic" which we heard 3 or 4 times in reheasal in Chicago when we had the privilege of going to the sound check. It is just a great record and one that I am recommending to my friends who are not Cohen fanatics. I think they will like the good natured atmosphere and how great he sounds especially on the blues songs. I'm in total agreement that he sounds fantastic on "Never Gave Nobody Trouble."

Joe
"Say a prayer for the cowboy..."
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ForYourSmile
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by ForYourSmile »

Sometimes I will like to read more personal views.

As in every Cohen's work I tried to study and understand it, for this reason I translate into my language, Catalan, the best I can but with doubts. In my personal website you can see the result; http://perso.orange.es/anmopa9887/lc/cantforget.htm I should be grateful if you inform me of mistakes.

The album complete the official stuff of these tours, maybe not definitively, with special gifts. For one reason or another are "rare songs" http://perso.orange.es/anmopa9887/lc/rarea.htm, some of them are well known but with something different and beautiful.

Stages is a partial version of Tower of Song, this name may confuse the buyer. It closes the album and has something of farewell. Well, I hope the best for him, I know that he feel himself cute for a lot of reasons, and I agree, I am satisfied and happy for him.

I already knew Got a Little Secret, but we do not know if the ticket lost in the snow is to Majorca, Jamaica or for the tropics, changes in each show. But I must said that I've seen snow and I've been very cold in Majorca.

I Can't Forget, Yeah, I attended the concert in Copenhagen on July 5, 2008 in the Rosenborg Castle gardens and I can assure you that I Can't Forget, all that time standing up to see something... a wonderful concert ... but very uncomfortable, if you also add that rained in 2012... these Danes are our heroes and our martyrs, I met them and are really good people. (I also appreciate the respect of their parliament for the right to decide for "mon pays malheureux", I Can't Forget).

Le Manic, has been a real and wonderful surprise. A gift for Quebecers and for the chanson's lovers like me. I understand the gratitude of the Belgian swijngedouw, it sounds as Brel. In this album we hear country, blues and a thousand other influences, but from the beginning I thought that Cohen has European style. Le Manic is a love letter and there is not more powerful poetry than the love poetry and there is not more powerful love poetry than one love letter. It's the simple love letter written by a worker who show his desire and love, It's when each trace on paper is a passionate caress in the distance, (I know, the writing paper is a bit old fashion).

I leave Never Gave Nobody Trouble for the end, it's the real reason for writing this post. And let me write a small political-social thoughts. In my opinion Cohen has a very pessimistic and apocalyptic point of view of society and the future, as I observed in 1992 and with Popular Problems and I didn't like. Never Gave is not optimistic, but he gets into the skin of a excluded, commiserates and understands his anger. Cohen has never been nor pretended to be leftist activist, not at all, but he is not a superstar who lives with ostentation and luxury, he lives in a suit but he is not a lazy bastard. Here he reports the social injustice, abuse and the danger of rupture, he warns us that the war between rich and poor can become destructive. With that song I feel linked to Leonard in social sensitivity, at the end. Just one difference, my concept of the humanity is optimistic, I think that despite all the opposition of the machinery of economic power and selfish individualism, in real democracies with political organization we can get justice, balance, well-being of the majority and everyone can find solidarity for defending rights, not charity, before to choice for desperate acts. (Today is an happy and hopeful day in Spain).
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Goldin
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by Goldin »

Catalan Cohenites are lucky to have such a great informative and still updated website, Antoni!
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by HugoD »

Received the album about a week ago and have listend to it about 40 times :lol: . Have to say it is absolutly superb. Night comes one and Joanne of Arc are exceptionally outstanding to me. An other gemstone added to his beautifull collection of albums.
Lille 2010, Dublin 2012, Mannheim 2013, Rotterdam 2013, Montréal 2017
Happiness is just the side effect of a meaningful life.
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by stephencharlton »

gallina wrote:
MarieJolie wrote:Hi everybody! Does anyone know where I could find the lyrics of "Stages" and "Choices"? Thanks for your help!
ALL of the lyrics are in the booklet. From the first to the last word. You just have to buy the CD ;-)
If you buy cd from Amazon UK you get the mp 3 for free !
2008 Manchester
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DBCohen
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by DBCohen »

I waited patiently for the album to arrive (rather than tasting bits and pieces from it on the Web) and listened to it repeatedly with great pleasure. I’m not much interested in reading journalists’ reviews, but I do appreciate Forum members’ opinions and enjoyed reading them here, so I thought that after a long absence I would contribute my two pennies worth.

As several people have said before, the sound on this album is truly great, especially considering the fact that many of the tracks were recorded during soundcheck; the performance is also perfect (or nearly so), so this is in fact one of the most satisfying albums that has come out since the tour began. I guess that at some point they had this idea that “while we are all here together let’s use the opportunity and record some songs for later release” (I hope another such album will be released, including tracks from the memorable soundcheck at Pula). Another commendable fact about the album is the inclusion of several musical styles, as well as the revival of some old songs that were not performed (or very rarely so) on the long tour; there are also two songs released for the first time, and two covers. Following are a few thoughts on each of the songs.

1. Field Commander Cohen – An old favorite (first released 1974) and a very nice rendition. As has been noticed, LC changed some of the lyrics, as he often does during concerts. In this case the substantial differences are in the last verse; the original version reads:

Ah, lover come and lie with me, if my lover is who you are,
and be your sweetest self awhile until I ask for more, my child.
Then let the other selves be rung, yeah, let them manifest and come
till every taste is on the tongue,
till love is pierced and love is hung,
and every kind of freedom done, then oh,
oh my love, oh my love, oh my love,
oh my love, oh my love, oh my love.

The current version is:

Lover come and lie with me, if my lover is who you really are.
And be your sweetest self at first ‘til you conceive a deeper thirst;
then go to where the selves are from; summon them and let them come,
‘til love is pierced and love is hung,
and every taste is on the tongue,
and every kind of freedom done,
then oh my love, oh my love, oh my love.

The most meaningful change is in the second line; while in the original version the (male) speaker is going to ask for more, in the new version it is his (female) partner who is going to “conceive a deeper thirst”. This is surely in line with LC’s depicting of himself as resigned to old age, a tendency that goes as far back as “Tower of Song” (1988), continues through “Because Of” (2004), and of course through the Old Ideas album and the tour (although the energies displayed by him over these years are hardly expected of a man of his age).

2. I Can’t Forget – One more song from the I’m Your Man album (1988), which means all songs from this album were revived on the tour except for (understandably) “Jazz Police” (correct me if I’m wrong), compared with some other albums, in particular – inexplicably, and most painfully for me – Recent Songs, of which very few songs were performed (Dear Heather fared worse, with zero revivals). Here we have a very nice rendition during a concert in Copenhagen with LC thanking the audience.

3. Light As The Breeze – From The Future (1992), another album which was covered almost fully during the tour (save for a track or two). It is known among the aficionados as LC’s ultimate cunnilingus song; later “Darkness” carried on the theme, but there the speaker seems to end up badly, while here “…for something like a second, I’m cured and my heart is at ease”. Certainly a worthwhile revival.

4. La Manic – It’s nice hearing LC singing in French for a change (two previous, partial French renditions were on “The Partisan” and “Un Canadien Errant”), and the chanson (by Georges Dor, 1966) is memorable. A great treat for the Canadian (especially the Quebecois) fans, but not only for them.

5. Night Comes On – From Various Positions (1984, and only the fourth out of 9 songs on the album to be heard on the tour, if I’m not mistaken) and another great one happily revived. A rare case in which LC brings together in one song, with great love, both his parents and his children, and, with much more ambivalence, his partner (from whom he was already separated at the time). I believe there is only one slight change to the lyrics, in the second line, where he adds “my mother” instead of “she”.

6. Never Gave Nobody Trouble – This one is new to me and I like it; it sounds very much like an old Blues song (from the 1950’s or so) in both music and lyrics. The “political” contents are reminiscent of some songs on The Future album, but one can also go further back to “Diamonds In The Mine”, for example, and further still to his 1960’s poetry. The atypical musical style demonstrates his ability to constantly renew his art.

7. Joan Of Arc – The oldest song on this album, from Songs of Love and Hate (1971), an album from which only two other songs were heard on the tour (“Avalanche”, relatively rarely, and “Famous Blue Raincoat”, more constantly, although not from the very beginning). It is a beautiful rendition, although I must admit I never came to terms with the Web Sister’s voices or phrasing; they are good, no doubt, but one can’t forget that the combinations of the young Sharon Robinson & Jennifer Warnes, and then Julie Christensen & Perla Batalla, were much better. I must also admit that I rarely like any cover of an LC song, with one great exception: Jennifer Warnes; she is the one and only great singer of LC’s songs except for himself (Judy Collins must also be remembered, but her renditions were not as unique as JW’s). So when I hear the Sisters I can’t help hearing in my other ear Jennifer Warnes’s version of the song, which is truly sublime. Still, the combination of LC with the Sisters here – which no doubt follows his rendition with JW on her album - works very well, so one shouldn’t complain too much. Also, LC seems to have had a very rare lapse, when he sang: “no man to keep her armour bright / no moon to get her through this very smoky night”, instead of the other way around. The lyrics in the booklet, which otherwise follow his rendition on the album in every word, has the correct version; when putting together the album they either didn’t notice the mistake, or, more likely, decided to include this recording because it was the best they had of the song (like the previous track and the two following ones, it was made during soundcheck). Still, I guess it is possible, although not very likely, that he made the change deliberately.

8. Got A Little Secret - A second new song on the album (although familiar for some time) and a rare case in which LC shares the credit not only for the music (with Mitch Watkins) but also for the lyrics (with Felicity Buirisky, whose song he must have heard years before, as indicated on the Forum; LC graciously shared the credit, although in my view the “influence” was rather flimsy, and if anything, probably owes more to the Beatles’ “Do You Want To Know A Secret”). The song sounds a lot like the songs on the Old Ideas album, both musically and thematically, and is very likeable.

9. Choices – A second cover on the album (song by Billy Yates). I guess LC couldn’t resist including a Country Music song; after all, he started as a Country singer in his teens, and his admiration for the genre generally, and for Hank Williams particularly, is well known. I would have preferred another original song, but he’s the one who’s picking them…

10. Stages – This track starts with a very nice introduction (indeed, “cute”), to “Tower Of Song” (various other introductions were heard during the tour, but this was the most elaborate one, I guess). Too bad that the song itself, which was in a rarely heard jazzy tempo here, was cut short – I can’t imagine why.

(This was posted earlier in the wrong place; sorry!)
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Joe Way
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by Joe Way »

Dear Doron,
It is always a great pleasure to see that you have made an appearance with your always insightful comments. As I mentioned earlier, I really like this album. It has a certain quality that I can't quite put my finger on...light-hearted isn't really the correct phrase-perhaps "good-natured" is more like it. I think the version of Field Commander Cohen is the best that he has done.

Night Comes On is one of my favorite songs and contains what I consider one of his finest lines..."She stands in the luminous air." It is very moving when one considers that he was living on Hydra while his mother was dying of cancer back in Montreal. The images from the last verse evoke Hydra so well with the crickets, Vesper bells and Bill's bar. I wish it were still there when we visit next week, but the song will be with me regardless.

You probably know this already but the song, "Choices" was a tribute to George Jones who was a singer greatly admired by Leonard who passed away while Leonard was on tour. I also think the song itself holds some meaning for Leonard as I understand he played it from memory in a rehearsal and quickly added it to the set list.

As I mentioned, Anne & I were so fortunate to have heard "La Manic" in rehearsal. Arlene had attended a sound check in Austin and mentioned that Leonard was practicing a new song in French that she didn't recognize. When we heard it, I was brought back to Leonard's comments from his ceremony being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. He quoted Georges Dor and the song "La Manic" with the lines, "if you knew how long the time seems here at La Manic, you would write to me more often." It was clear that he was preparing this for his return to his native Quebec.

We hope you and your family are all well and like Leonard and Georges Dor, we should write more often.

Joe
"Say a prayer for the cowboy..."
DBCohen
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by DBCohen »

Hi Joe,

Thanks for your comments and the additional information. I also think that “good natured” is a good designation for this album. Wishing you a great time on Hydra and also wishing I could be there with you… We’ll keep in touch.

Doron
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by Tchocolatl »

You guys have a nice serene friendly conversation here and please believe me (and only me) : I don't want to splash a peeble in your pound.

It is nice and interesting to read all the personal comments. Allow me to add one.

The concepts of moon and man is easely interchangeable in the song. But the point of view under the change is heavy with meaning. From a feminist (not against anybody this term may be heard as a scary raging burning bra being by many men, and women as well) point of view, for example. A grown up woman, nowadays, may easely find her own way, helped by a little ray of the moon or two. For the first line, I let it to your agile imagination.

So for myself I prefer the evolution in the lyrics.
***
"He can love the shape of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of the heart. It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love."

Leonard Cohen
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Jean Fournell
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by Jean Fournell »

___________________________________________________
Therefore know that you must become one with the bow, and with the arrow, and with the target
to say nothing of the horse.

... for a while
... for a little while...

(Just a filthy beggar blessing / What happens to the heart)
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by DBCohen »

Hi Tchoc,

Long time no see (here I mean; we never actually met in the real world, did we?). As a card-carrying feminist I have no problem accepting your interpretation: the man to scrub her armor, the moon (Luna) to guide her on; fine and sensible. I still think he made a mistake, though (otherwise the booklet would have followed the change), but there’s no need to go to war over this; vive l’evolution.
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by ForYourSmile »

According my information Cohen sang Joan of Arc in 2012 tour in concert:
• Rose Garden Arena, Portland, OR, USA on November 11, 2012
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=39&v=z9L7uS7RcXQ video by Arlene Dick
• Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC, Canada on November 12, 2012

In Portland remains the original version, then there is not a "deliberate change" for the tour, it would be an exception only for the soundcheck of Quevec, a lapse unconsciously or consciously, but it is published in an official album, then it is his signed and accepted work, though the lyrics in the booklet. If it was a mistake he liked or seemed funny or interesting. Or "Leonard Cohen has found his way to the 2012 version", as told me a poet -

- Jean, thank you for your beautiful work.

The powerful Joan of Arc and the desired and unreachable Joan of Arc came riding through the dark.

The change of meaning is certainly very feminist, women "may easily find her own way, helped by a little ray of the moon or two" for sure.

My favourite Joan of Arc is Julie Christensen.
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by Vicomte »

ForYourSmile wrote:
My favourite Joan of Arc is Julie Christensen.
And mine as well, by a long chalk.....
I guess it all started for me sometime around Christmas 1967 and now, goodness me, it's.........2018 and over fifty years later.
No one ever listens to me. I might as well be a Leonard Cohen record.
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by vickiwoodyard »

I think you get used to one version of a song and a new version throws you. I felt that way about the Webb Sisters version of Joan of Arc. Didn't feel right to me. Something about the la la la la la la's was sung differently. A small thing but something fans notice. Sometimes the oldies are the goodies.
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Re: New live album: Can't Forget

Post by Tchocolatl »

Jennifer is a favorite of mine.

It seems that both the subject and Leonard Cohen have the gift to exalt the imagination, Jean. Thanks to share !

Doron, we may, who knows, not us.
It is very fine to see you here, though.
I am not a warrior. Believe me.
This is not solely what I have in mind. But I won't develop all what I have in mind. I spare you this. Just a little thing, maybe.
Cohen addressed the gender politics of Joan of Arc:

[Joan of Arc] might be [a sexist song] but I think it is on the side of women. But more accurately…it is just a song about the total gift of total giving and the total consummation of the spirit in that kind of experience. It takes in the whole shot to be man and woman.
Source : http://cohencentric.com/2015/03/26/abou ... rc-part-1/

And it is rare that a figure of a woman is used to represente the human gender. Moon or man ? It is the same under that light.

After all, being socially equal and strong does not mean that a woman (or a man) never needs another one, or that in an effort toward social justice, men should all become servile.

But Cohen often stands where people will be in centuries. For the majority, the song may be a recurrent symbol about all kinds of injustice and violence done to women. I don't think that a song about Saint Sebastian would gather the same reactions, for example. So to change the moon and the man, that puts in light the individual, the destiny of the individual, and not the gender's.

Well. If it is a mistake, it is a beautiful one, a creative one.
He changes the lyrics sometimes, and all is not in the booklets. He may take liberties with his own song, while preserving the classics.
***
"He can love the shape of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of the heart. It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love."

Leonard Cohen
Beautiful Losers
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