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Thread: RIP Leonard Cohen

  1. #11
    Stuck on the Border NightMistBlue's Avatar
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    Default Re: RIP Leonard Cohen

    And from the same song, "I said to Hank Williams, 'How lonely does it get?' Hank Williams hasn't answered yet."

    That actually got a laugh at the concert I attended!

  2. #12
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    Default Re: RIP Leonard Cohen

    Quote Originally Posted by NightMistBlue View Post
    And from the same song, "I said to Hank Williams, 'How lonely does it get?' Hank Williams hasn't answered yet."

    That actually got a laugh at the concert I attended!
    I saw this DVD from a couple of years ago. After his modest keyboard "solo" in that song he received big applause and he couldn't help laughing. It was a very funny moment in a warm way. The audience and him were so connected.

  3. #13
    Stuck on the Border buffyfan145's Avatar
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    Default Re: RIP Leonard Cohen

    RIP Leonard Cohen. This year has just been so sad with all these deaths. I'm glad he did live a long life and he was such an amazing songwriter. "Hallelujah" is one of my all-time favorite songs too, especially Jeff Buckley's version. It's just a beautiful song. I remember "The West Wing" used it in one of my favorite examples of a TV series using a song to score scenes too in a music montage. That was just so well made and it made me love the song even more. It also makes me think of Glenn and the others who died this past year as "Hallelujah" was the song they used for the In Memoriam tribute at the Emmys back in September.
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  4. #14
    Stuck on the Border NightMistBlue's Avatar
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    Default Re: RIP Leonard Cohen

    Quote Originally Posted by chaim View Post
    I saw this DVD from a couple of years ago. After his modest keyboard "solo" in that song he received big applause and he couldn't help laughing. It was a very funny moment in a warm way. The audience and him were so connected.
    He was very droll. The concert I attended fell on a Wednesday night. He thanked everyone for coming "On a Wednesday, the most festive night of the week" said in his deep, deadpan voice.

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    Default Re: RIP Leonard Cohen

    Quote Originally Posted by NightMistBlue View Post
    He was very droll. The concert I attended fell on a Wednesday night. He thanked everyone for coming "On a Wednesday, the most festive night of the week" said in his deep, deadpan voice.

  6. #16
    Stuck on the Border NightMistBlue's Avatar
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    Default Re: RIP Leonard Cohen

    OT: was surprised to see Mr. Cohen with a cigarette on his recent album cover. I didn't realize he was a smoker (I don't say this in a judge-y way; I'm a smoker myself).

    He was noticeably out of breath while speaking recently http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/new...ity-faith.html
    Last edited by NightMistBlue; 11-11-2016 at 04:04 PM.

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    Default Re: RIP Leonard Cohen

    Quote Originally Posted by NightMistBlue View Post
    I saw him three years ago, and he sang for 3 hours! He had more stamina than many much younger folks in the audience.

    Brilliant songwriter. I first got into his music in 1990, after hearing "Suzanne" on a low-power college radio station. Even with the fuzzy signal, the crystalline beauty of that song just stopped me in my tracks.

    If anyone would like a good introduction to his music, may I recommend "Songs of Leonard Cohen" from 1967 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_Leonard_Cohen

    The 1992 tribute album "I'm Your Fan" by various artists (R.E.M., The Pixies, John Cale, Ian McCulloch) is also highly recommended.

    Excuse the cranky critic in me for a moment: Headline News paid tribute to Mr. Cohen this morning by playing a montage of the many young singers and bands who have covered "Hallelujah," all of them over-singing and over-emoting with faux passion. I couldn't help but smile drolly thinking of Cohen's advice to songwriters and performers in his book Stranger Music, advice recommended by Don Henley, against such bathetic displays. Yet, of course, these bands were paying tribute to the man and that is surely appreciated by all.

    Ending on a positive note: Ian McCulloch of Echo & the Bunnymen is a fine singer and a longtime admirer of Leonard Cohen. He's done outstanding covers of "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" and "Lover, Lover, Lover"

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZcNmIb3tS4

    There is only one version of Hallelujah & that is Leonard's himself. The song should be sung totally straight exceept for the lines leading to the chorus - 'the baffled king composing Hallelujah' etc.

    While he was a very accomplished songwriter he never had Dylan's depth or range of subjects. An over-reliance on the word 'beauty' (yes, even in Hallelujah itself) and an over-reliance on cloying female backing singers didn't help his records.

    Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
    Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
    Everybody knows the war is over
    Everybody knows the good guys lost
    Everybody knows the fight was fixed
    The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
    That's how it goes
    Everybody knows

    RIP.

  8. #18
    Stuck on the Border NightMistBlue's Avatar
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    Default Re: RIP Leonard Cohen

    John Cale did a superb cover of Hallelujah: it is stark, just his voice and a piano, and very moving. It's understated but deeply felt.

  9. #19
    Moderator Brooke's Avatar
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    Default Re: RIP Leonard Cohen

    RIP Mr. Cohen. Obviously a legend.

    I was never a fan and didn't know he penned "Hallelujah", but I love that song and have heard many covers of it that brought me to tears. I will take a listen to his version.
    https://i.imgur.com/CuSdAQM.jpg
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  10. #20
    Moderator Brooke's Avatar
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    Default Re: RIP Leonard Cohen

    And in honor of the man

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q

    What a deep voice! Beautiful!
    https://i.imgur.com/CuSdAQM.jpg
    "They will never forget you 'till somebody new comes along"
    1948-2016 Gone but not forgotten

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