FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Leonard Cohen's posthumous album (2019)
JudasPriest
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by JudasPriest »

Lyrics that are served with majesty and land with emotional punch.
JudasPriest
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by JudasPriest »

Being a Dylan nut, I've been humming it to the melody of Mississippi - kind of reminds me of that track in ways I can't really explain. There's an emotional resonance to the fluidity of the language although hat's off Leonard, your writing here is even richer.
cohenadmirer
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by cohenadmirer »

Great poem , perhaps a great song too !

In an interview with Rolling Stone around the time of Popular Problems, he explained how he knows when a song is working. "You can pretty well tell," Cohen said. "We play it for select people, like my daughter – there's a few people who aren't afraid to tell you that it isn't working. We had another song on the album, which was called 'Happens to the Heart,' which will be on the next album. It's a very good lyric, a very good tune, but we didn't nail it. So we didn't put each other on about it – not for more than a week or two."
Leonard's work resonates
Brighton 1979; Dublin , Manchester june 2008; glasgow, manchester Nov 2008; Liverpool july 2009 ; Barcelona Sept 2009 ;marseille, lille september2010: Ghent August 2012;Barcelona October 2012;Montreal x2 November 2012: 2013; Saint John NB April 2013; Brussels June 2013;Manchester August 2013; Leeds , Birmingham September 2013; Amsterdam September 2013
JudasPriest
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by JudasPriest »

The only problem with serving us up this gem now is that if any of the lyrics from the tracks on You Want it Darker don't measure up to this baby (a tall ask surely) I'll be saying to myself if only Happens to the Heart was on there... Flip side is it's something to dream about one day and worst case, presumably the version he didn't "nail" is in the can somewhere and may one day see a release?

In any event, many thanks again Leonard, my day is richer by reading it.
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lindyasimus
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by lindyasimus »

What a gift.

Thanks for all you do to make this a space where Leonard is moved to share such a thing.
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joyezekiel
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by joyezekiel »

I can certainly hear Leonard's voice here. My immediate thought was that it is more like the "old" Leonard..... did anyone else feel this? I love it.

Joy
1976 Leicester 2008 London O2/Cardiff 2009 NYC/Austin/Weybridge/Nashville 2010 Ghent x 2/Las Vegas x 2 2012 Ghent x 2/Austin/Montreal/Quebec City/Boston x 2 2013 Memphis/New Orleans/Winnipeg/Birmingham/London O2/Amsterdam/Auckland
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linmag
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by linmag »

I can imagine this spoken over a quiet backing track like the spoken version of A Thousand Kisses Deep that Leonard did live, or like Vilanelle For Our Time - please?!
Linda

1972: Leeds, 2008: Manchester, Lyon, London O2, 2009: Wet Weybridge, 2012: Hop Farm/Wembley Arena
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Joe Way
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by Joe Way »

Excellent poem, thank you Leonard for sharing it here.
"Say a prayer for the cowboy..."
Gentle Reader
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by Gentle Reader »

Thank you, Mr. Cohen.
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MagnumOfChampagne
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by MagnumOfChampagne »

Authoritative and slyly funny. Beautiful!

Thank you.
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Hartmut
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by Hartmut »

yopietro wrote:http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... s-20150317

"We had another song on the album, which was called 'Happens to the Heart,' which will be on the next album. It's a very good lyric, a very good tune, but we didn't nail it."
Thank you, this is what I was thinking of.
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mydoglorca
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by mydoglorca »

joyezekiel wrote:I can certainly hear Leonard's voice here. My immediate thought was that it is more like the "old" Leonard..... did anyone else feel this? I love it.

Joy
Yes, yes, yes Joy. Very much so.
It would make a brilliant song. Hoping for a new book soon too, it's been a long time.
Jill
1976 Bristol 1979 Birmingham 1988 RAH x 2, 1993 RAH x 2 & Madrid, 2008 Edinburgh, London O2, Cardiff, Bournemouth, RAH 17 Nov, Birmingham, Manchester 30 Nov, 2009 Weybridge, Liverpool, Dublin 19 & 20th,2010 September -Marseille, Tours, Lille, 2012 12 & 14 Aug Ghent,Wembley x22013 O2, Antwerp, Bournemouth, Manchester
angusshoorcaan
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by angusshoorcaan »

A beat poem from one of the greatest beat poets. Marvellous.
holydove
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by holydove »

Wow, what an amazing poem!! Beautiful, touching, funny, sad, so incredibly rich, with so many layered images. . .I certainly do hope we will hear Leonard singing or reciting this on the next album. . . or the next next album!! Thank you so much for this very special gift, Mr. Cohen! And thank you to Jarkko for posting.
Last edited by holydove on Fri Aug 26, 2016 1:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
Janetld
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Re: FROM LEONARD: HAPPENS TO THE HEART

Post by Janetld »

Wonderful, like others I am hearing it sung or recited, but until that day I will read and read and think.

Thank you so much, Leonard and Jarkko.
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