leonardcohenforum.com

lizzytysh wrote:It always challenges me to try to imagine Leonard being heard and processed through the mind of an eight-year-old child.

I guess you know what I mean, eh Yankovic ?

I first heard of leonard cohen only about a year ago..
Last summer I went to visit my at the time boy friend Sean in Belmar NJ where he was staying. He put on some Leonard Cohen music and than put the speakers in the windows and than we went out to the porch to lay in the hammock togehter.

Every time I listen to the songs that were played I can't help but think of that afteroon....it was Leonard Cohens Essential Albulm...

I personaly started writing when I was only 5 years old..the sad thing is I am not published....

Oh any aol users I started a leonard cohen chat room in aol its under member created chats arts and entertiainment at the bottom of hte list right now lol. Hope to meet some of you soon.

I first listened to Mr. Cohen on Wednesday morning
Wednesday morning can't believe my ears
...more seriously, it was way back when I was 12, and the song
was Suzzane.

Ever thought about how would your life have looked, or how you (as a person) would have been, if your path in life hadn't crossed with this great man's work?
I know I wouldn't feel complete.

That sounds like a luxurious introduction, Songbird . The remastering of the songs themselves also lends itself to that.

A22catcher ~ I've answered this before, but not with you asking, so one thing I can say for sure is that my determination against bitterness would require more resolve from other sources. Leonard's words and music have helped tremendously in avoiding that particular downward spiral of emotion. I've relied on his songs ~ singing them through tears ~ for processing and catharsis, to take me beyond getting stuck in that incredibly sorrowful space.

Bird On A Wire [for understanding the position of another]
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye [for myself]
So Long, Marianne [for myself]
Alexandra Leaving [for any future needs ]

These immediately come to mind, though I know there are others. I may have a glitch now and then, where anger holds the potential for bitterness, but the lessons-learned go deeper than the incidents, and it's not long before I'm looking at the anger as not being worth it ~ much less regression into bitterness. Now, I can just think the songs .

I think this may be where the poets and songwriters write poems and songs. I read their poems and sing their songs, and write about other things.

~ Lizzy

I first heard him when I watched McCabe and Mrs Miller in my cinema class 3 years ago. I really didn't like him because I thought that the music interrupted the story. It was not a good introduction.
My boyfriend is a huge Leonard Cohen fan and he re-introduced me to him in a better way in October. He made me listen to The Future and Chelsea Hotel from the Blossoms of Heaven, Ashes of Hell bootleg, and also Alexandra Leaving from the last album.

Hi Kathleen ~

Welcome to the Forum .

I've never been comfortable with the movie, either. For me, it felt more like a contrived 'showcase' for Leonard's music than anything else, despite the 'drama' of some portions of it. It didn't help that the songs were ones I had internalized many years before, so hearing them in the context of the movie felt very anachronistic to me. I'm glad you had your boyfriend as back-up for a proper introduction . Some of those bootlegs make great introductions.

~ Lizzy

I heard of him through Nirvana's Pennyroyal Tea but didn't know who he was. From that it was Jeff Buckley's amazing cover of Hallelujah that I went out and bought Greatest Hits. From there I've bought every available album and have acquired several bootlegs.

The man is simply a genius. What I would do to go back in time to the 60's/70's and see him live with his acoustic guitar...

My first time was in 1972 listening You Know Who I Am, from an odd CBS disk.

Since there I am bewildered. Yes... log time ago.

Before, I have listened Suzanne in Catalan (a significant disk of Toti Soler) and Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye by Roberta Flack (Memories: for close dancing in teenager's parties )

Welcome to the Forum , learner who loves LC, and is doing very well; oh, I mean ForYourSmile ~ there's a song from the 50s that immediately follows with the phrases, "Oh, I would doooo anything......yes, I would do anything......" ~ so, your name has very pleasant associations for me, right from the beginning. You've been listening to Leonard for a long time. I'm glad you found your way from Barcelona to here .

~ Lizzy

Isn't that 50's song "For Your Love?" and the next stanza says "for your Kiss.." I don't remember it saying "For Your Smile." but there's a Cohen line, "Here's a man still working for your smile."("I tried to Leave You.")

Ah, the memory, she fades . Yes, I think you're right, Lightning. In fact, I'm certain you're right. "For your love....." ~ "For your kiss...." ~ they must have left out a perfectly good verse with "For your smile...." . "Still working for your smile" ~ yes .

Thanks for clarifying all that.

~ Lizzy

Thanks a lot.

Yes!

"Goodnight my darling
I hope you're satisfied
The bed is kind of narrow
But my arms are open wide
And here's a man
Still working for your smile."

This man knows the marriage.

'The Future' on the soundtrack to Oliver Stone's 'Natural Born Killers' of all things...

I heard it and I knew it was the future gem of my CD collection, so I promptly went out and got the 'Greatest Hits' not really knowing much about LC or even the names of songs, etc. Imagine my surprise after hearing a husky-voiced apocalyptic song to be greeted with the sound of acoustic love-tunes! But I loved it (and those FANTASTIC sleeve notes)and haven't looked back since.

cdb

Well said, cdb ~ and welcome to the Forum !

~ Lizzytysh