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Post by beth on Feb 17, 2013 21:21:02 GMT -5
There's always been a little controversy in regard to Cohen as songwriter. Those who believe he's too maudlin ... Mr. gloom and doom .... often disdain the general tone without considering the (considerable) talent he displays. Those who like him are generally loyal fans for whom he can do no wrong. I'm one of the few who fall somewhere in-between.
This is my favorite. The relationship he had with Janis Joplin through his eyes.
Chelsea Hotel No. 2
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel, you were talking so brave and so sweet, giving me head on the unmade bed, while the limousines wait in the street. Those were the reasons and that was New York, we were running for the money and the flesh. And that was called love for the workers in song probably still is for those of them left. Ah but you got away, didn't you babe, you just turned your back on the crowd, you got away, I never once heard you say, I need you, I don't need you, I need you, I don't need you and all of that jiving around. I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel you were famous, your heart was a legend. You told me again you preferred handsome men but for me you would make an exception. And clenching your fist for the ones like us who are oppressed by the figures of beauty, you fixed yourself, you said, "Well never mind, we are ugly but we have the music." And then you got away, didn't you babe... I don't mean to suggest that I loved you the best, I can't keep track of each fallen robin. I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel, that's all, I don't even think of you that often.
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Post by beth on Feb 17, 2013 21:32:09 GMT -5
I think almost everybody, even those who aren't fans, gives credit where credit is due when it comes to Hallelujah. This is the best Hallelujah video.
"Hallelujah"
I've heard there was a secret chord That David played, and it pleased the Lord But you don't really care for music, do you? It goes like this The fourth, the fifth The minor fall, the major lift The baffled king composing Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Your faith was strong but you needed proof You saw her bathing on the roof Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you She tied you to a kitchen chair She broke your throne, and she cut your hair And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Baby I have been here before I know this room, I've walked this floor I used to live alone before I knew you. I've seen your flag on the marble arch Love is not a victory march It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah There was a time when you let me know What's really going on below But now you never show it to me, do you? And remember when I moved in you The holy dove was moving too And every breath we drew was Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Maybe there’s a God above But all I’ve ever learned from love Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you It’s not a cry you can hear at night It’s not somebody who has seen the light It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah You say I took the name in vain I don't even know the name But if I did, well, really, what's it to you? There's a blaze of light in every word It doesn't matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah I did my best, it wasn't much I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you And even though it all went wrong I'll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah
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Post by beth on Sept 10, 2013 23:26:41 GMT -5
Dance Me To The End Of Love"
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon Show me slowly what I only know the limits of Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the children who are asking to be born Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love
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Post by maggie on Sept 11, 2013 11:56:41 GMT -5
I love him. Not just saying that I actually do Saw him at the Brighton Centre in November 2008 .... can't describe how wonderful he was. [Sigh]
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Post by beth on Sept 13, 2014 13:01:51 GMT -5
A new interview. Leonard Cohen Offers Rare Peek Into His Process at 'Popular Problems' Preview By Steve Appleford | September 11, 2014 Leonard Cohen has yet to conquer the struggle of songwriting, and he doesn't expect to anytime soon. "If I knew where the good songs came from, I'd go there more often," he said last night, receiving laughs at a private preview of his 13th studio album, Popular Problems, at the Canadian Consulate in Los Angeles. "Being a songwriter is like being a nun: You're married to a mystery. It's not a particularly generous mystery, but other people have that experience with matrimony anyway." Elegantly dressed in a black suit, with a fedora resting on his knee, Cohen sat with Grammy Museum executive director Bob Santelli to discuss the new nine-song collection, out September 23rd, days after his 80th birthday. The song he struggled with the longest, he said, was "Born in Chains," an understated gospel meditation that he's worked on for decades. "That's been kicking around for 40 years," he said with a smile. "I've rewritten the lyric many times to accommodate the changes in my theological position, which is very insecure." Good interview! The rest is here www.rollingstone.com/music/live-reviews/leonard-cohen-offers-rare-peek-into-his-process-at-popular-problems-preview-20140911?utm_source=regular&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&email=fph7467@fuse.net
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