Who (or what) introduced you to Leonard Cohen?

[Kayleigh]

Hi.
The first time I heard a song from L.C. was in "Natural Born Killers" - in my youth
I was so impressed by his wonderful voice (ok - very SEXY!) - I needed to buy the soundtrack. And then the other CDs followed.

[horo1984]

Hi Kayleigh,

Thanks for sharing, and a belated welcome to the forum!

Hi.
The first time I heard a song from L.C. was in "Natural Born Killers" - in my youth
I was so impressed by his wonderful voice (ok - very SEXY!) - I needed to buy the soundtrack. And then the other CDs followed.

You probably know this, but three of LC's songs are featured in Natural Born Killers - Waiting for the Miracle, Anthem and The Future. Those songs (especially The Future) suit the film amazingly well, considering they were not specifically composed for that purpose.

And yes, I watched the movie with the question "when will the next LC song appear?" constantly at the back of my head


Lester

[MDCitizen]

Well, reading this forum and searching, I find that what I had believed all these years
was not actually so.

In 1967 or '68 I was listening to the radio late at night when I should have been
sleeping (I was only 15 or 16) when I heard Suzanne. I would have sworn that although
the DJ mentioned that Leonard Cohen had written the song, he said it was sung by
John Stewart, who used to be with the Kingston Trio. The very next time we were at
a mall (not an every day occurrence back then in small town New Jersey), I spent all
my babysitting money on Songs of Leonard Cohen. I was never sorry.

But I can't find that John Stewart ever recorded Suzanne, so I wonder whose voice
it was in the wee hours all those years ago.

[horo1984]

Hello MD,

Welcome to the Forum! Thanks for sharing... it's a fascinating story, albeit a little eerie

I spent all
my babysitting money on Songs of Leonard Cohen. I was never sorry.

One of the small compensations of discovering LC 'late' (i.e. after I had already started working) is having the luxury of buying his albums and DVDs without a second thought.

Of course, flying out of Singapore to attend his concerts (like I did last month) requires second, third and possibly fourth thoughts


Lester

[crowded & cold]

Hi Lester,

Thanks for the question.

My thoughts are quite complicated on this on. Seem to have been introduced to LC in many different stages.

First, during the early 70's recall that a few people had "Songs of Leonard Cohen" in their album collection. While the album cover has always stood out in my mind, i never did listen to that album. But knew that LC was that recording artist 100 miles down the road in Montreal.

Then in 1975 our grade 12 english teacher gave us a project to pick a Canadian poet and present their poetry to the class. A good friend at the time, Steve, picked LC and did an outstanding presentation. Wish i could recall which poems Steve picked. The teacher absolutely hated the presentation... I guess that LC was a little to contemporary for his tastes.

Fast forward to the early 90's when LC finally got some airplay here with "Closing Time". In fact in 1993 he was awarded a Juno Award. He joked in his humble acceptance speech that only in Canada would he be able to win "Male Vocalist of the Year".

Finally, thanks to in internet in general and you-tube in particular, find myself being introduced to more Leonard Cohen on a daily basis. One of my greats hopes is that i didn't discover Leonard's music and this forum too late, and that we all may be able to partake of more events like last weekend in Las Vegas once again.

Klyde

[Gullivor]

I first heard Leonard in my early 20's in the movie "Natural Born Killers". I didn't know his name or the songs. In my late 20's early 30's I heard him on a small radio station, it brought back some memories. I bought the soundtrack to "Natural Born Killers" and then "The Future" album. I was hooked!

[1000kissesdeep]

Of course, flying out of Singapore to attend his concerts (like I did last month) requires second, third and possibly fourth thoughts 8

I was ready to fly to Cambodia to attend 27th Nov concert without a second thought. What a shame..Any new dates?

Does LC not consider Singapore as venue? I saw someone commenting on this, I second that comment..Amazing venues and appreciative audience here..and yes Boogie street too..I think a lot of the audience in Phnom Penh would have been from Singapore and HK anyway..

[almarks]

I recall hearing Leonard about thirty years ago, my sister had one of his albums, can't remember which one, maybe greatest hits? To be honest, I was not impressed at first, but gradually the voice began to grow on me. Many years later, a colleague at work remarked "I'm your man" when I asked him to work over the weekend to get a job finished. He said that Leonard Cohen had an album out with that title, so I went to a record store and bought the cassette; that was my reintroduction to Leonard and the cassette was playing in my van for many years. I then started buying other LC records and cassettes, now I have virtually all the cds and dvds available. Never thought I would see the great man live, so what a treat the tours have been! 5 concerts, 4 in 2008 and one in 2009, maybe more in 2012?

[stella s.]

Well, it happened in 1981. I was 15 then and I didn't listen to music very often. Sometimes I would turn on the radio, sometimes I listened to my parents' records (The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel ..), but music didn't really touch me. I was a passionate reader, I loved poetry but I didn't know yet that a there existed a perfect combination of poetry an music, that would change my attitude about listening to music completely.

One day I was lying in front of my radio, day dreaming and not really listening to the music pouring out of the radio. But then I heard something that changed everything, a song that was so sad and so full of remorse that I started crying - "I have torn everyone who reached out for me". I learned that the song was called "Bird on the Wire" and the artist was Leonard Cohen. Next day I went to a record shop (for the first time in my life!) and bought "Songs from a Room". I loved and still love every song on the record. During the next few months I bought all the other Leonard Cohen records.

Some time later I read that Leonard Cohen was not only a singer but also I writer, a poet, a novelist. Being a passionate reader, I tried to get some of his books. This was a hard task, because it was the pre-internet-era and you couldn't buy canadian books in Austria. But I was trying hard and I found three books in the university library in Vienna. So I photocopied "Flowers for Hitler", "The Spice Box of the Earth" and "Beautiful Losers" to own them.

[Tony Crosbie]

Got the loan of a casette of Leonard's years ago from a work colleague. I think it was Songs from a Room. I stepped in that day and am there still. He allowed me keep the casette as well, as I remember. I have loved Leonard music from the early days.

There is a crack in everything - that's how the light gets in - sublime.

[hestia]

Isle Of Wight

[Cheshire gal]

I first heard and saw Leonard and his wonderful music just one year ago today. It was April 12, 2010 so this is my first Anniversary I by chance was watching our local Boston Public TV that night and there it was.... The Live in London Concert, in full, was broadcast. I honestly could not believe it Needless to say it has changed my life forever
I immediately went online to look for some information about Leonard and came across this Forum. I joined the next day and have had the pleasure to interact with some very nice people. Thank you to them and thank you to Jarkko for making all this possible.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Forum and have so much catching up to do with everything 'Leonard'. He is truly the greatest singer/songwriter and poet. There will never be anyone to take his place.


-Marie

[WinterMute]

Fittingly, it was a beautiful blond girl called Jayne who first played me Leonard's work, she had the greatest hits album on very scratchy vinyl... This was 1980 maybe 1979, and we had not been together very long, a matter of weeks.

I was the bassist and singer in a pretty heavy-weight rock band, and my listening habits revolved around Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rush, ELP etc. She was very nervous about playing me Leonard's work, as she felt I would ridicule it, so she sat me down on the floor in front of her stereo late one evening and made me promise not to say anything and most especially not to laugh until she'd played a couple of the songs... I promised, not wanting to upset her.

She played Suzanne, Famous Blue Raincoat and Take This Longing, then the rest of the album straight through, by the time we got to Take This Longing, we were naked and making love, our first time, Cohen's words and delivery setting the tone for our relationship from that point.

I didn't laugh, I was mesmerised, particularly by Take This Longing, still my favourite Cohen track, I felt he was singing my life, a feeling I'm sure many of us have shared. Jayne and I spent a couple of very happy years together before University parted us.

My wife and I danced our first dance at our wedding to Take this Waltz, to which we danced in the isles at the Albert Hall in 1992...

Mr. Cohen, I have much to thank you for.

[Yorkshire Lad]

I stumbled on Leonard in a mundane way but boy did it change my life . I had just finished an evening shift at work and as was normal on that particular shift my wife went to bed before me . I would always try to unwind after work listening to music . I was just about to turn off the tv when a programme called Horizon came on . They were doing a slot about Leonard to promote the release of his new album "I'm your man " .I didn't look at first but the music was so addictive I abandoned my own choice and sat and watched . He was stood in front of a limosine with a suit on and I can remember thinking this guy is cool . The next day I went out and bought I'm your man and after listening it over and over again I went and bought as many of his back catalogue as I could get my hands on and the rest they say is history .
Yorkshire Lad

[Johnnyzgb]

Greetings from Zagreb!
I'm new here,so I'll make my first post on this topic,as a start:)
My home is the place where i've been introduced to mr. L.C. My parents are great fans and they played his music very often..I heard his songs for the first time when I was about 14 years old,as far as I can remember,but I guess I was too young and too unsofisticated untill my 20 that I can understand and feel him..Now I'm 23,and I understand him so much more,I feel his words so much easier,and there are so many songs in which I can find myself.I like all his albums,just some of them have more and some of them have less legendary songs.But they are all art,and perception of art is different in every individual person:D
His books of poems are amazing,I have many of his posters too.Went to just one concert,in my hometown Zagreb,Croatia,but it was unforgettable expiriance!I keep that ticket as a religious artifact:)
With time,I've learned many of his lines and songs pretty much by heart,so I introduced(and still am) many of my friends with his body of art.And many of them like it pretty much!
I mean,Cohen is one of few ever,that never made a bad song:)
his songs are inspiration.His songs are soundtrack of love.His songs are sanctuary and hope.Comfort for broken heart.And expression when we don't know how to express our complexed emotions.
The man is institution:)