Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

General discussion about Leonard Cohen's songs and albums
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B4real
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by B4real »

Vickie, good to know you are safe!
And that’s an interesting thought about what song we would choose for each other ;-)
As for me, you all know the story, I kinda didn't choose Hallelujah, it chose me!
So, in respect of that situation, if it turns out this song is not played at my funeral ... I'm simply not leaving ... :razz:
Vickie wrote: Regardless of your politics regarding climate change...the earth will always be here after all... but wouldn't it be nice if humans could always be here too? Somebody has to keep listening to Leonard, don't you think?
Science says our sun will eventually burn up and die and life here on Earth has a few hundred million years left, maybe at the most a billion. But nevermind, well before that happens I reckon mankind will be set up on a new 3rd rock from another sun in the goldilocks position somewhere in space. Rest assured, I feel certain that our descendants will have taken LC’s music with them. Just imagine that voice floating out among the stars .....like to think it already is :)

A couple of lines from 4’s suggested song, Stories Of The Street comes to mind -

“I balance on a wishing well that all men call the world
We are so small between the stars, so large against the sky”

....gravity and perspective....
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to B4real ~ me
Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy ~ me ...... The magic of art is the truth of its lies ~ me ...... Only left-handers are in their right mind!
its4inthemorning
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by its4inthemorning »

All right people, are you really telling me that there is nothing left to say about Leonard and his work? You're among the brightest, most interesting, and most perceptive people I know (in reality or in cyberspace), and you've had eight months to think about topics, so what say you?

I am as guilty as anyone. I had planned to review the "Live in Reykjavik" CD set and never followed through. This idea occurred to me last year when I listened to the first CD--it was so good that I immediately thought, if I could revisit the past and go to just one concert, it would be this one." As is not uncommon for me (just ask Joann), this project got put on the back burner and languished. A week ago I resolved to complete the project, and did so...to a point. Here are thoughts from my notes:

The tempo of a number of the songs is slower than the versions I am accustomed to, not necessarily in a bad way, but enough so that one needs to adjust to the change. To see if the slower tempo was merely imagined, I checked some of the track lengths with the same songs on "Live in London," and the Reykjavik tracks are definitely longer.

The band members were from a Cohen era that I never experienced live. Cohen always found great musicians and singers, and his band for this 1988 concert represented one of his best line-ups. Most notable (in terms of, "I wish I had gotten the chance to see him/her perform) are Bob Furgo on violin, John Bilezikjian on those strange and beautiful string instruments, and back-up singers Perla Betalla and Julie Christensen. I omit Bob Metzger only because I did have the opportunity to see him perform.

Leonard played his guitar more frequently than he did in his 2008-2013 concerts, probably because the Reykjavik concert included more earlier songs centered on guitar, songs such as "Joan of Arc," "The Story of Isaac," and (Vickie eat your heart out), "The Stranger Song." Listening to Reykjavik made me realize how much more comfortable Leonard was with his guitar back then than he was after he came out of retirement. His guitar play on several songs, most notably "Avalanche," was far more elaborate than when he played that song in later years.

The inclusion of the aforementioned songs, plus some others I had never seen performed, is one reason I wish I could have been at the Reykjavik concert. Another is a personal interest in geology: Iceland sits atop the mid-Atlantic Ocean ridge where two tectonic plates meet. These plates are slowly pulling apart, and as they do, magma from far down rises to fill the void (that is why Iceland is known for its volcanic activity). I've always had a desire to visit Iceland.

An odd bit of trivia regarding the Reykjavik concert is that "First We Take Manhattan" was played twice. Hey, I could take that!

Earlier I said I resumed this project...to a point. That point was in "Coming Back to You" on the second disc, when the audio quality (which had been just superb until then) deteriorated into what sounded like a badly-tuned radio. This put me in such a snit that I turned the player off without even listening to the final seven or so songs. Childish, I know, but I was just crushed that "my best Cohen concert ever" was now hopelessly flawed.

I am sure that you guys can come up with some topics of interest to discuss here including how much or how little your lives are returning to normal.

4
Last edited by its4inthemorning on Wed May 19, 2021 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
2010 DECEMBER 10 - CAESARS COLOSSEUM, LAS VEGAS / 2012 SEPTEMBER 28 - L'OLYMPIA, PARIS
2012 OCTOBER 3 - PALAU SANT JORDI, BARCELONA / 2012 DECEMBER 13 - K-ROCK CENTRE, KINGSTON
2013 APRIL 6 - RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK CITY / 2013 JULY 9 - PIAZZA NAPOLEONE, LUCCA
2017 NOVEMBER 4-8 - MONTREAL "TOWER OF SONG" CELEBRATION - RIP, YOU GOT ME SINGING!
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B4real
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by B4real »

Ah, Curt, I know you aren’t talking about me in your opening statement ;-)
Most people here these days seem to be content to read and not comment – maybe they don’t have anything to say. You know, that’s OK but it does make for a quieter place.

Btw - Leonard used to very often play the same song twice in concert in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s.

In case you haven’t heard it, here’s the Reykjavik concert unofficial soundboard recording.
I don't think it will assault your eardrums :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3N4aJCFj2g


Speaking of Reykjavik, Iceland, I am reminded of a poem in LC’s posthumous poetry book, The Flame -

Flying Over Iceland
over Reykjavik, the “smokey bay”
where W.H. Auden went
to discover the background
of all our songs,
where I myself was received
by the Mayor and the President
(600 miles an hour
30,000 feet
599 miles an hour
my old street number on Belmont Ave)
where I, a second-rater
by any estimation,
was honoured by the noblest
and handsomest people of the West
served with lobster
and strong drink,
and I never cared about eyes
but the eyes of the waitress
were so alarmingly mauve
that I fell into a trance
and ate the forbidden shellfish
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to B4real ~ me
Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy ~ me ...... The magic of art is the truth of its lies ~ me ...... Only left-handers are in their right mind!
its4inthemorning
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by its4inthemorning »

Bev,

Thanks for posting "Flying Over Iceland," I had forgotten about if from "The Flame." It mentions 599 being his old street number on Belmont avenue. In two visits to Montreal we drove up to (it is up the mountain a bit) Belmont Street to see the home, the last time being with Vickie and Dave at the Memorial Event). Being there made the mind wander from thought to thought. Here is where a young boy buried a remembrance to his father somewhere in the back yard, here is where a boy had a dog companion who went missing and had died. (Like your father or your dog just died.) The house is a nice home--large, but hardly ostentatious--in a friendly looking neighborhood. If one could choose, it would be a nice place to grow up in. Standing in front of the house by the driveway (Vickie has a photo of us standing at that spot), one can look up to the park behind the house, the one with the tennis courts. This is the park where, one day, he encountered the the Spanish guitarist who taught him, as Leonard said, "those six chords...that have been the basis of all my songs, of all my music." I wonder if those living at 599 Belmont today know of all of the home's secrets.

The Reykjavik concert link that you provided unfortunately contains the same lapse in quality in "Coming Back to You" and "Suzanne." I wish that whoever is in custody of Leonard's works would get those tracks cleaned up and release an unflawed version of the concert.

I forgot to mention something in my comments on the concert. In "Everybody Knows" Leonard changed the end of one of the verses to "Everybody knows the Jews are clever, everybody knows the blacks are blue." The "blacks are blue" part fits the depressing nature of the other verses, but the "Jews are clever" part certainly does not. I wonder what his thinking was here.

And Bev, I was most certainly referring to you in my statement, bright, interesting, and perceptive.

4
2010 DECEMBER 10 - CAESARS COLOSSEUM, LAS VEGAS / 2012 SEPTEMBER 28 - L'OLYMPIA, PARIS
2012 OCTOBER 3 - PALAU SANT JORDI, BARCELONA / 2012 DECEMBER 13 - K-ROCK CENTRE, KINGSTON
2013 APRIL 6 - RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK CITY / 2013 JULY 9 - PIAZZA NAPOLEONE, LUCCA
2017 NOVEMBER 4-8 - MONTREAL "TOWER OF SONG" CELEBRATION - RIP, YOU GOT ME SINGING!
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vlcoats
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by vlcoats »

Sorry for not saying much lately... I don't get much time to check out the forum now that school is in person again, and I am still getting the donkeys settled from our second move since leaving Idaho.

The "Jews are clever" is the same as saying all of the other thing like "the Captain lied". Obviously not all Captains lie, and obviously, not all Jews are clever.

The house on Belmont Street remains as Curt described in my memory as well. The Westmount area itself though did feel very much apart from the rest of Montreal. I remember wondering why a Spanish guitarist might have been wandering about up there.

I do really like what I have had the chance to listen to of the Reykjavik concert so far, but in general, I am not as fond of his live music as those who got to see Leonard in person might be. I admit there are some very special live performances though. I like the Field Commander Cohen Tour songs, the Live in Dublin album, and various songs here and there on other live recordings. For instance, Who By Fire is always done well, but the live versions of FBR have never matched the studio version in my mind. Ditto for Diamonds in the Mine. The musicians and back up singers that tour with him are much in my peripheral vision, if I notice them at all.... except for Javier of course. (I wish he and Adam would make some new music together). When Leonard starts introducing everyone on the live albums, I usually just fast forward to the next song (shockingly rude of me I know!)

As for getting back to normal...I think our idea of what's normal has been forever changed in the past couple years. Independent of the pandemic, many things will never again be the same. Thankfully, we will always have Leonard's work to sustain us and draw from.

Vickie
its4inthemorning
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by its4inthemorning »

Vickie, I think you are absolutely correct that the reason you do not generally pay attention the the other singers and musicians is because you've never seen a live performance. I never paid much attention either (except perhaps to the female singers and Javier's predecessor John B) until I watched "Live in London" where the others on stage were well-covered, but even then you were looking at shots of individuals rather than the whole band. It was only when I actually attended a concert that I came to truly appreciate the efforts of the others. After all, with his generous introductions and mentions, Leonard encouraged just that.

If you listened to most or all of "Reykjavik," Vickie, did you also notice the slower tempo of many songs, and Leonard's more elaborate guitar on "The Stranger Song?"

I have a topic that I would enjoy hearing others' opinions on. Both on this forum and elsewhere I have noticed that the most-often mentioned favorite album by Leonard is SOLAH. Now I have not seen an actual poll, although I am sure some exist (our archivist will find one I am sure), but that is my recollection. Anyway, I am curious to hear others' views as to why SOLAH attained and holds such high popularity among Cohen fans. Is it because of its roster of songs or their relationship to one another, its arrangements and production, specific songs, or what? Speculate away!

Oh, here is a bit of trivia that may have been mentioned before on this thread, if so, I apologize. Perhaps by having transitioned from reading poetry to singing lyrics, Leonard lyrics were always clear and his diction was perfect. However, there is one instance I know of where on an album he mispronounces a somewhat common word. Do you know the song and word I am referring to?

4
2010 DECEMBER 10 - CAESARS COLOSSEUM, LAS VEGAS / 2012 SEPTEMBER 28 - L'OLYMPIA, PARIS
2012 OCTOBER 3 - PALAU SANT JORDI, BARCELONA / 2012 DECEMBER 13 - K-ROCK CENTRE, KINGSTON
2013 APRIL 6 - RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK CITY / 2013 JULY 9 - PIAZZA NAPOLEONE, LUCCA
2017 NOVEMBER 4-8 - MONTREAL "TOWER OF SONG" CELEBRATION - RIP, YOU GOT ME SINGING!
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B4real
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by B4real »

Hi 4, and all,
4 said: All right people, are you really telling me that there is nothing left to say about Leonard and his work? You're among the brightest, most interesting, and most perceptive people I know (in reality or in cyberspace), and you've had eight months to think about topics, so what say you?
B4 said: Ah, Curt, I know you aren’t talking about me in your opening statement ;-)
I was thinking of your first sentence :razz:

4 said: The Reykjavik concert link that you provided unfortunately contains the same lapse in quality in "Coming Back to You" and "Suzanne." I wish that whoever is in custody of Leonard's works would get those tracks cleaned up and release an unflawed version of the concert.
Maybe our resident sound engineer can fix that :)

4 said: Now I have not seen an actual poll, although I am sure some exist (our archivist will find one I am sure), but that is my recollection. Anyway, I am curious to hear others' views as to why SOLAH attained and holds such high popularity among Cohen fans. Is it because of its roster of songs or their relationship to one another, its arrangements and production, specific songs, or what? Speculate away!
I did discover a Favourite Studio Album Thread with a poll - https://www.leonardcohenforum.com/viewt ... rite+album

In this thread exists these words about SOLAH –
https://www.leonardcohenforum.com/viewt ... te#p370888

...and 4’s words about this album at the very beginning of this thread –
4 said: "Songs of Love and Hate," his third album and my favorite.
https://www.leonardcohenforum.com/viewt ... te#p364115

...and Vickie’s response then to 4 about this album - https://www.leonardcohenforum.com/viewt ... te#p364254

Maybe now on reflection, thoughts could have changed or in fact, remained the same :)

4 said: However, there is one instance I know of where on an album he mispronounces a somewhat common word. Do you know the song and word I am referring to?
To my ears, the first word that comes to mind is LC says 'PERscription' instead of 'PREscription' in One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong on his first album Songs Of LC 1967. And I'm guessing that's not the word you're thinking of ;-)
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to B4real ~ me
Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy ~ me ...... The magic of art is the truth of its lies ~ me ...... Only left-handers are in their right mind!
its4inthemorning
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by its4inthemorning »

B4, you are amazing!

The poll you found does show SOLAH as "winning," but the sample size is small.

You also linked the review of SOLAH by Rob Marenghi. I recalled this review as soon as I saw it, it was really a very excellent piece, as good or better than most "professional" music reviews. Strangely, that seems to have been his first and only forum post. I was afraid to read it again as it would smother my own thoughts on SOLAH in case I reply to my own request for thoughts.

But maybe we've all said all we had to say on SOLAH.

Bingo--yes I was referring to perscription/prescription! It's funny, the odd things one may notice on a recording that others may not. Another may be Leonard's singing "flake" in FBR, where the ending K is so pronounced.

As temperatures warm up here, it occurs to me that it is late autumn down there and your days are getting shorter. Hope your summer was nice, or at least tolerable.

4
2010 DECEMBER 10 - CAESARS COLOSSEUM, LAS VEGAS / 2012 SEPTEMBER 28 - L'OLYMPIA, PARIS
2012 OCTOBER 3 - PALAU SANT JORDI, BARCELONA / 2012 DECEMBER 13 - K-ROCK CENTRE, KINGSTON
2013 APRIL 6 - RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK CITY / 2013 JULY 9 - PIAZZA NAPOLEONE, LUCCA
2017 NOVEMBER 4-8 - MONTREAL "TOWER OF SONG" CELEBRATION - RIP, YOU GOT ME SINGING!
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AlanM
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by AlanM »

I'm baaaack!
its4inthemorning wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 6:03 pm Bingo--yes I was referring to perscription/prescription! It's funny, the odd things one may notice on a recording that others may not. Another may be Leonard's singing "flake" in FBR, where the ending K is so pronounced.
4
But yet the K in awake is often suppressed. {I see Jane's awake}

4, I have listened to my version of Reykjavik 1988 and it is all good. Maybe check out the link to the soundboard version.

Vickie, I must take exception to your attitude to the various live recordings available to us.
I suggest that you pick a song that you have several versions of, including both live and studio and listen to them in a batch. It allows you to compare arrangement alterations, lyric alterations, phrasing changes, etc. An enlightening experience, I assure you. I often choose "unplugged" songs, such as Avalanche, A Singer Must Die, etc.
FYI to make this easier, I have named all my LC albums with the year at the start, so my phone or computer plays in date order. Thus 1988 Reykjavik; 1988 San Sebastian; 1993 Zurich...
Which brings me back to the beginning of this comment. Recently I was listening to Avalanche ( I who rule the seven seas) and was impressed by Leonard's guitar playing on 1993 Zurich. Not being a musician, I don't know if I am describing his technique correctly, but he put a lot of vigor into plucking the lower strings and it gave a more intense feel to the song, if that is possible.
Have a listen, even if it is just that version of that song. You won't regret it.

I confess, not for the first time, that Perla and Julie are my favo(u)rite "Angels".

Alan
Too much Leonard Cohen is never enough.
London 1972, Adelaide 1980, 1985, 2009
Sydney 2010; Adelaide 2010
Sydney 2013 X2; Melbourne 2013; Adelaide 2013
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vlcoats
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by vlcoats »

AlanM wrote: Vickie, I must take exception to your attitude to the various live recordings available to us.
I suggest that you pick a song that you have several versions of, including both live and studio and listen to them in a batch. It allows you to compare arrangement alterations, lyric alterations, phrasing changes, etc. An enlightening experience, I assure you.
I have to admit Alan, there is a live version of Hallelujah that I have heard where Leonard's voice hit me in the gut when he slowed down and it dipped lower than low at the end of "Now you never show it to me... do you."
Now, every time I hear a live version of Hallelujah, I listen for that low dip, but I can't ever seem to find it again. I wonder if for some reason, I was just in some kind of mood while listening to Leonard that one day and it only struck me as extra special, and I have actually heard it again but now I can no longer recognize that dip (if that makes sense).

By the way, nice to have you here Alan, even if you only came to chastise me, haha!

As for SOLAH and why it seems extra special, I think it comes down to the first few moments and the intro to Avalanche. He promised something extra special with that intro, and then he delivers it throughout the whole album. I remember Alan (or was it someone else?) once saying that he groups the first 3 albums and the last 3 albums together in his mind, and I have to agree with him on that. If something happened and I could no longer listen to those albums again, I would be devastated. If I also lost Recent Songs, I might stop breathing...what horrible thoughts! I know that sounds over dramatic, but if anyone in the world can understand how I feel, it would be you here.

Now I need to listen to Avalanche, Zurich 1993

Vickie
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by vlcoats »

B4real wrote: Maybe now on reflection, thoughts could have changed or in fact, remained the same :)
I forgot to answer B4's comments about SOLAH.......
Looking at what I said in this thread before is a bit like seeing pictures of myself when I was younger... in many ways. ;-) Yes, I still feel very much the same about SOLAH... except to reiterate that the studio version of Diamonds in the Mine is by far the best... and that "Sing Another Song Boys" is more and more a favorite as well.

Oh.... I forgot to mention something to you all. Pre-Covid, I had signed up for email notices from the Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) in San Francisco because we had planned a trip to go down and see the MAC's travelling exhibition of Crack in Everything. Our trip was cancelled, along with the exhibition, due to Covid. However, they have recently announced that the Leonard Cohen exhibition is now rescheduled for Aug 5 2021- Feb 22 2022. But, they are now calling it Experience Leonard Cohen and it only has four exhibits. One is the video montage, where we sat on the floor and watched (very awesome) videos of his life and work. Two is an exhibit of paintings on porcelain by Judy Chicago. Three is the montage of various men singing "I'm Your Man". Four is billed as "reflections on Leonard Cohen’s life, spirituality, and musical practice in real time." It appears to be more of a live exhibit, similar to the interpretations by artists we saw in one of the rooms in the MAC (Anyone there when we were would remember a woman on the floor performing). Exhibits 1 and 3 appear to be the only ones travelling from the MAC Crack in Everything exhibit. I am not sure if this is the same thing they did in Copenhagen when it went on the road before the pandemic, but I am a little disappointed that it will not have more of what we saw in Montreal. We might still go to it though.

Vickie
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B4real
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by B4real »

Thanks Vickie!
My comment was really a reflection on reflections ;-)

If you do decide to go to the exhibition, I'm sure you'll let us know all about it 8)

Vickie said: Now I need to listen to Avalanche, Zurich 1993
I know I've said this before but this is my favourite live visual version of Avalanche - everything about it is perfection - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1sbKFCVKoE
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to B4real ~ me
Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy ~ me ...... The magic of art is the truth of its lies ~ me ...... Only left-handers are in their right mind!
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by vlcoats »

After watching the 1988 San Sebastian version of Avalanche again, I was about to ask Bev what made it her favorite... but then I saw she said "everything about it was perfection", so it sounds like the answer to that would be 'everything'. I do love Leonard's live performances in the 80's... including Reykjavik. After burning it to a CD, I have been listening to it during my work commute, and it has been a much needed shot in my arm.

Speaking of shots in the arm (ba-dum-dum! :D ) .....I do remember that 4 asked about our getting back to normal in a recent post, and others commented on getting vaccinated (or opting out), so I thought I would respond to say that Dave and I have received both of our vaccines some time ago. What is so weird to me, is that although the vaccines were in hot demand at first in the USA, most everyone here that wants to get vaccinated has received both of them. Now they are enticing people to take the plunge by giving them out for free on our state ferry system (a commuting option in the Puget Sound), at baseball games, and bars, lol! Yet my cousin in Canada (a country which has been much more responsible than the USA regarding the spread of Covid) cannot get both of her vaccines and only received the first one because she cares for my elderly aunt with cancer. It is amazing to me that a country so close (emotionally and physically) to the USA as Canada is somehow unable to receive the same access to the vaccine as us. My cousin says it is because they have to buy it, while we are involved in the manufacture of it it ourselves. It makes me wonder how available the vaccine is in other countries, and why or why not?

I know this post might seem a stretch from our Leonard conversation, but not really..............my reason for saying that is because there has been so much going on lately... the pandemic, the BLM movement worldwide, climate change, etc.....and I sincerely wish that Leonard was still alive, because I would dearly love to hear what his response (or lack of it) would be to all of this. Maybe he could help put some things into perspective. I am so jealous of anyone who grew up with his help and insight. I have heard that Adam might be recording now. Maybe he will share his thoughts in his father's stead, not that I would blame if he didn't go there. It isn't the job of our entertainers and fellow sinners to also be our emotional counselors and spiritual advisors, but I think we all might agree that Leonard was all of those things to us and more.

Part of me feels that maybe Leonard might say all of this is a just a blip in man's existence, and in the realm of a thousand years, events become history, none more important than another. But the other part of me believes he would have had his own perspective on it. Like Dave said to me... it is all just news and history unless something in it impacts you personally, then you open your eyes and see how it changes your life and other's. Again... perspective.

I wish he was still alive, while at the same time agreeing with those that might respond, "But he is."

Vickie
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by its4inthemorning »

Vickie, I liked the last two paragraphs of your post a lot.

Given the range of topics Leonard discussed in his work, all of them important, some controversial, it was always hard for me to understand how he could, almost to perfection, avoid taking sides publicly as our culture became more and more fragmented. What Leonard truly believed about the issues of his days remains enigmatic, and each person can find reasons to feel that Leonard shared many of their own views. In reality, he was such a complex and questioning person that it is doubtful he would ever allow himself to be pigeonholed into any political dogma.

I too hope that Adam records more music, but imagine how tough it must be for him to follow in his father's footsteps.

Bev, "Avalanche" a la San Sebastian is now my favorite version of that song as well! Thanks for posting the link. Building on what Vickie said, opening SOLAH with "Avalanche" certainly does give the listener advance warning that what is to come will not be quite like anything he has heard before. For myself (to steal a line from the master), "it was that song, it was that hook, that formed the base of my lifetime admiration for Leonard Cohen and his work."

4
2010 DECEMBER 10 - CAESARS COLOSSEUM, LAS VEGAS / 2012 SEPTEMBER 28 - L'OLYMPIA, PARIS
2012 OCTOBER 3 - PALAU SANT JORDI, BARCELONA / 2012 DECEMBER 13 - K-ROCK CENTRE, KINGSTON
2013 APRIL 6 - RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK CITY / 2013 JULY 9 - PIAZZA NAPOLEONE, LUCCA
2017 NOVEMBER 4-8 - MONTREAL "TOWER OF SONG" CELEBRATION - RIP, YOU GOT ME SINGING!
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Re: Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

Post by B4real »

Yes, it’s hard to go past Leonard’s visual performance of Avalanche at San Sebastian 1988. No matter how many times I look at this video, I still get goosebumps. His entire presentation is in complete accordance with the essence of the song. In conjunction with the compelling delivery of the words, his body message and exquisite guitar playing express the feeling of the song so perfectly. The way he unblinkingly holds his head, transfixed straight ahead and never once looking around or down at his guitar during the song reinforces its impact. It appears nothing can distract him from his purpose. As I said, “perfection” and this was my attempt to explain it :)

Btw - I had my first AZ Covid jab over 10 days ago and had some unwanted reactions to it. A few of them are persistently hanging on but now in a bearable degree and I’m OK.

It’s the 1st day of winter here tomorrow ;-) Maybe it will bring me some pleasant surprises with the changing of the season. I love winter here. You know, John Lennon sings of diamonds in the sky, Leonard Cohen sings of diamonds in the mine, but looking out my window all I see are diamonds in the sea. Such an eye-catching reflection of sparkling light upon the ocean at this time of the year!
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to B4real ~ me
Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy ~ me ...... The magic of art is the truth of its lies ~ me ...... Only left-handers are in their right mind!
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