What started your Leonard Quest?

General discussion about Leonard Cohen's songs and albums
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linda_lakeside
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Post by linda_lakeside »

Hello to the Newbies! We all discovered Leonared in our own way, but the stories are always similar. 'Heard Leonard, now transfixed'. And with that, we are LC fans forever!

Mara, love your avatar.

Linda.
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lizzytysh
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Post by lizzytysh »

Raining in France. Perfect backdrop for discovery of Leonard.

Teratogen ~ I tried to get to your link. The page could not be displayed :( .

Reuben and the other new ones ~ Welcome. So good to see you here, and to see how it is you got here :D

~ Lizzy
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Teratogen
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Post by Teratogen »

sorry, lizzy. try it now. i just noticed i misspelled something in the link, that's why it didn't work. haha. thanks for letting me know.
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John Etherington
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My "Leonard Quest"

Post by John Etherington »

I can't remember if I've posted this before , but here goes...I bought "The Rock Machine Turns You On" around Christmas 1968, and I thought the whole album was a revelation. However, the outstanding track for me was "Sisters of Mercy". I knew it was the most important song I had ever heard, and that in some way my whole future life was contained therein! At the time, I hadn't seen a picture of Leonard, and I imagined that he looked like Patrick McGoohan (Danger Man). Don't ask me why. Not long after, I was listening to The John Peel show, and he said "next week we have Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen" (chanting his name like a mantra). I perceived there and then that something truly awesome was afoot. Following that, I purchased "Songs From a Room" at the time of its release (quickly followed by "Songs of Leonard Cohen") . I never looked back.
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linda_lakeside
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Post by linda_lakeside »

It's funny you should say that. At some point I said the same thing either in this or an old thread. I bought SFAR and never looked back. Those exact words. I'll bet we're not the only ones.

Linda.
John Etherington
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Post by John Etherington »

Hi Linda,
I've been away from the board for a while, but I seem tointuitively return, when there's some action. Maybe I read your post some time ago, and it left a subliminal impression...in which case I'm guilty of subconscious plagiarism! Nice to know that we've had the same experience though.
All good wishes, John E
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niffin
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Post by niffin »

My Getting Hooked Story is about a man looking a lot like Leonard....but Leonard was first; I heard Dance me to the end of love on the radio and simply LOVED it & it became a PART of me - and still is some 20 years later.And the other man - eyeing me like LC in the video.......whhhoooohaa...fell right then & there & we had a stormy relationship going on for three years - listening to everything LC & dancing to that song.........- went to Stockholm for two concerts- ... .. broke up & licking (my) wounds.....
Anyhow, that man & I are still friends but we're not close at all.
"But we will always have Stockholm..." :oops: :wink:
And why are you so quiet now, standing there in the doorway?
RMHenderson
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1970

Post by RMHenderson »

In 1970, I was just back from Vietnam and strung out on drugs. I listened to his first album hundreds of times and even learned to play a few of them on guitar. Deep and beautiful. I also quickly figured out that the ladies who liked LC were......easy. Of course, I mean that in a good way.

When CDs came that was the first one that I bought. I'm still waiting for the remastered from the original tapes version.
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linda_lakeside
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Post by linda_lakeside »

I also quickly figured out that the ladies who liked LC were......easy. Of course, I mean that in a good way.
Well, of course!! There couldn't possibly be a bad way to take it!

Cheers,
Linda.
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Shane
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Post by Shane »

"Waiting For the Miracle" from Natural Born Killers Soundtrack.
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Tri-me
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Post by Tri-me »

Welcome to the forum Breezie....copied this from my first post
I have been a big fan since grade 11 in 1982. I was taking guitar in high school my teacher busted a string on my bass guitar attempting to tune it. He felt very bad. Being the brat that I was (am) I told him that it would be ok if he gave me his Songs From a Room album. I loved and still love The Story of Issac and the entire album.
I remember being captivated when I heard this song, his voice the guitar playing, I have to say that it is my favourite because it is the song that brought Leonard Cohen into my life. ahhh. I have also been enjoying hearing Leonard Cohen stories from my friends. Last week a friend told me that she say him in Montreal wearing a trench coat. A man that lived here and has since moved to Toronto say him in a bagel shop and was amazed, could not talk. Another friend who lives in Montreal said that he is spotted in his neighbourhood from time to time... A woman I worked with in Toronto 16-17 years ago told me that her mom would read letters written to her by "Uncle Leonard" she lived in New York.
Waiting for a miracle to come a chance to meet Leonard Cohen.
Cheers & DLight
Tri-me (tree-mite) Sheldrön
"Doorhinge rhymes with orange" Leonard Cohen
Fljotsdale
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Re: What started your Leonard Quest?

Post by Fljotsdale »

breezie wrote:Fairly recently I just found out about this amazing poet/songwriter named Leonard Cohen. It started with a song called Light as the Breeze. I had to find out who wrote that song. (the version was actually sung by Billy Joel). I found the album "The Future"..and the rest they say is history. I have a lot of work to do to catch up though.
It was last year. I was on a forum I vist regularly, where I am a Mod, and one of the other Mods had the first verse of Everybody Knows in his sig. The words appealed to me instantly, and I demanded to know who wrote them, so he sent me the full text of the lyric and the name Leonard Cohen.
Without hearing him sing even once, I went and bought The Essential Leonard Cohen, just on the strength of the written lyrics of Everybody Knows.

I have almost all the CDs issued (just missing 1), The book of collected poetry, Stranger Music, the novels The Favourite Game, and Beautiful Losers (which is a bit heavy going, not finished it yet, can only do it in bite-size chunks).
I have virtually stopped listening to anyone but Leonard Cohen.

Obsessive? Who, me? Nah! :lol:

The fact that my younger daughter has taken to saying "SHUT UP about *&%$#ing Leonard COHEN!!!" means absolutely nothing...
Only just found this video of LC:
http://ca.youtube.com/user/leonardcohen?ob=4" target="_blank

This one does make me cry.
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lizzytysh
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Post by lizzytysh »

I have virtually stopped listening to anyone but Leonard Cohen.

Obsessive? Who, me? Nah! :lol:

The fact that my younger daughter has taken to saying "SHUT UP about *&%$#ing Leonard COHEN!!!" means absolutely nothing...
:lol:
Fljotsdale
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Post by Fljotsdale »

No, really! :wink: :lol:
Only just found this video of LC:
http://ca.youtube.com/user/leonardcohen?ob=4" target="_blank

This one does make me cry.
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linmag
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Post by linmag »

Keep plugging at it, Fljotsdale! :) When I first joined this forum, my husband would leave the room every time I played Leonard Cohen, and my daughter insisted that she couldn't stand his voice. She now has a playlist of selected Cohen favourites on her hard drive, though she 's very sheepish when I catch her playing it. I dragged my husband along to the meeting on Hydra earlier this summer (not exactly kicking and screaming, but only because that's not his style!). He enjoyed it so much that he agreed to go with me to Berlin next year, and I have several witnesses to prove it if necesssary :).
Linda

1972: Leeds, 2008: Manchester, Lyon, London O2, 2009: Wet Weybridge, 2012: Hop Farm/Wembley Arena
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