Fan Thoughts on "Show Me The Place"

[Florian]

@ Greg Ross

Great, thats just Great !!

Florian

[TachyonBill]

Great song!
I can almost sing it by heart already and am thinking of making a cover of it in Dutch...

How could I do that?
Can I have the soundtrack without Leonard's voice to mix it with mine?

Would Leonard approve of an early cover of this song in another language?

Please, help me answer these questions!

Regards and Love, Tach

[Geoffrey]

thank you a thousand times for the views my sorrowful and inadequate cover of leonard's song has received on youtube. there was no lying or acting being presented; every word meant something, a personal prayer, a wish to visit the scene in oslo where my daughter died last june. i needed to go there, and that is what was foremost in my mind during the song. two weeks ago i did finally manage to travel down to the city. it was a very positive experience; am so glad it is now done - that i can now begin building, can move forward a little. well, i just came here now to say this, to explain why 'show me the place' was particularly important to me, and to thank those people who listened to the 'sad old man' stumble through leonard's inspired work. sincerely, geoffrey

[lizzytysh]

... and Leonard's song allowed you that deep, personal expression, the catharsis.

[Geoffrey]

... and Leonard's song allowed you that deep, personal expression, the catharsis.

indeed, lizzie. i apologise for making it more mournful than leonard probably intended, but it was the middle of a lonely december night and felt i didn't have anyone to turn to.

[lizzytysh]

as you already know, geoffrey, leonard puts no limitations or restrictions on his songs... there is much space and many layers for that mournful sound you brought to his song with your voice and your own added verse. it seems you intuitively went to where you most needed to go... with his song that night and with your ultimate trip to the place. leonard would never want to deny you either destination.

[koala_bear]

The new song "Show Me The Place" is just beautiful. Like most of Leonard's songs no matter where you are in life he speaks to you at a very deep level. I have listened to Leonard Cohen since my university days in the 60s and 70s. But I think now all his life experience is reflected in his songs and his voice. I saw Leonard when he toured Australia in 2009 and again late in 2010. In 2009 he performed outdoors on a beautiful clear balmy night and it was an unforgettable experience.
Margaret, Australia

[Zara]

When the word became a man – the suffering began.
I show you the place: neolithic revolution (aka civilization, patriarchy, male gods and warfare)

[lightasabreeze]

Reading all your graphic words of how you feel about Show me the Place, does not leave me much to add.
I felt very sad listening to it, I know that. His words, his deep mesmerising voice and music combined, just
made my unbidden tears fall.

[caudelguille]

This song and the entire album reminds me that the last breathe of Leonard will also be a beautiful, musical and inspired sound. Thanks Mr. Cohen.

[Geoffrey]

as you already know, geoffrey, leonard puts no limitations or restrictions on his songs... there is much space and many layers for that mournful sound you brought to his song with your voice and your own added verse. it seems you intuitively went to where you most needed to go... with his song that night and with your ultimate trip to the place. leonard would never want to deny you either destination.

you and leonard cohen are two of the nicest people; you have that in common.

[lizzytysh]

A Thousand Likes Deep for putting Leonard and I in the same sentence in so complimentary a way, Geoffrey .
Thank you !

[Diane]

Just wanted to say how beautifully concise and powerful I find Show Me The Place, beseechingly addressed as it is to Life/Self/God/Lover.

The song reminds me of If It Be Your Will, in its prayer-like sense of submission. Here It Is, from TNS, could be a possible response to Show Me. Reminds me also of Book of Mercy. From the final verse:

"But you are here. You have always been here. The world is all forgetting, and the heart is a rage of directions, but your name unifies the heart, and the world is lifted into its place."

The line, "show me the place" is repeated over and again, and each time he says it I have a physical sensation of being returned to the only place there is - right here, with what is.

I also find it satisfying that he alludes to science in this song, alongside religion, not as a contradiction.

The spare musical arrangement, solemn almost-reciting-rather-than-singing vocal, and the violin, are all perfectly chosen. I still find Leonard's fondness for swirly synthesiser on some other tracks to be a bit superfluous and mildy detracting, but, with the exception of one or two songs, I am growing to like this album very much.

[DrM]

My wife & I 'discovered' that we liked Leonard's work after we bought "Old Ideas" at a Starbuck's (we had heard one of his songs on the ending of "CSI"). Wikipeda reported that he wrote about sexuality & spirtuality, 'Different Sides' being exemplary of the former, while 'Show Me the Place' & 'Going Home' fit the latter well. So, because of these songs, my wife & I were hooked. she likes the sexual songs best, I like the spiritual ones. It is notable that ads for this album headlined 'Show Me the Place', implying that it is very important to Leonard.

In his words at the 1st Montreal concert 2012, introducing SMTP: "Even though we have no religion, we have an appetite for something like religion. So, in honor of those deep feelings, & those irreplaceable appetites, I offer you this song."

He is saying that religion is man's (ineffective) way to reach out to G-d, but Leonard is more interested in what G-d is like & G-d's reaching out to each one of us. We love Leonard because he is a truth-teller about the ways of men & women, & about the ways of G-d.

Merle, Tallahassee, Fl

[UrPal]

It occurred to me randomly this morning, as things do, that the inspiration for the line "show me the place" from Cohen's song could be an adaptation of the famous line from Doubting Thomas about claims of Jesus' resurrection:

But he said unto them, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe".

I imagined before checking that the line might have been a direct quotation (i.e. that Thomas said something along the lines of "show me the place where the sword pierced his side") but maybe this is my imagined modernisation of the King James bible version or a more modern translation. The mind works in funny ways....