Words/phrases that Leonard makes his own.....

[Susanne]

Hi Susanne ~ Yep ! Exactly ~ ". . .word Leonard uses and pronounces in his unique way - very conscious and considerate - and so makes it his own. . ." ~ that's how he does it. I really like and appreciate your expounding on how his 'owning' of the word conveys a message in itself. Thanks!

Love,
Lizzy

Glad you like it, Lizzy!

Love, Susanne

[yoav]

What about the use of different birds in his songs?

"The birds they sing at the break of day"
"Like a bird on the wire"
"I thought I saw an eagle, but it might have been a vulture"
"I can't keep track of each fallen robin"
"The dove is never free"
"THe peacock spreads his fan"

Interesting how LC uses these winged beings to symbolize his feelling that no one can really be free. Not even a bird. Do you think he speaks of angels in the same way?
Could be that unlike a bird, he feels that he is "reaching for the sky just to surrender".

[lizzytysh]

Excellent 'sightings' and commentary, Yoav. I love your considered conclusion: ""Could be that unlike a bird, he feels that he is 'reaching for the sky just to surrender'." I love the way that worked into it all so well .

Considering how birds maximize on the benefits of updrafts and jet streams, in order to take and maintain their flights, to float and soar, 'surrender' for them is replaced by 'cooperate with.'

It's very interesting, the things you're finding .

~ Lizzy

[linmag]

I have just enjoyed the privilege of watching a VCD of Leonard's 1988 San Sebastian concert, and it is without a shadow of facetiousness (sp?) that I say that no-one, but no-one, sings la-la-la with as much feeling as Leonard. I was particularly struck by this, both in Dance Me to the End of Love and Joan of Arc. The visual element really added to my understanding of how intensely Leonard feels the songs he is singing, and how draining a long tour of such concerts must have been for him. And I begin to understand what he means when he says that he feels he can no longer "get behind" some of his early songs, to sing them as he feels they ought to be sung.

[lizzytysh]

Linda ~

This isn't the first time you've 'seen' Leonard singing, is it!?! I'm hoping that it's that you're particularly struck by San Sebastian, which I haven't yet seen. I can't believe you'd have gone this long without seeing him, which does, indeed, show a huuuuuuge difference, and makes people immediately aware of just how seriously he takes all that he does. I know what you mean about his concerts being 'draining' on him.

~ Elizabeth

[linmag]

I have seen him perform before, Elizabeth, though this was probably one of the best quality recordings I have seen so far. In some ways it wasn't as good as a concert, because all the chat between songs had been removed, but the visual aspect just emphasised the intensity I suppose. It's easier to overlook on an audio recording, even though it's there in the voice.

[lizzytysh]

Ah, okay, that's what I thought [and certainly hoped], Linda. That's good to know that the quality on that is so high . You're right that nothing comes close to seeing him and hearing him, at the same time.

[Tchocolatl]

True to me that crickets go directly to the heart, poignantly.

Another Cohen cricket concern :

Roshi poured me a glass of Courvoisier. We were in a cabin on Mt. Baldy,
summer of 1977. We were listening to the crickets.
--Kone, Roshi said, you should write a cricket poem.
--I've already written a cricket poem. It was in this cabin two years ago.
--Oh.
Roshi fried some sliced pork in sunflower oil and boiled a three-minute
noodle soup. We finished one bottle of Courvoisier and opened another.
--Yah, Kone, you should write cricket poem.
--That is a very Japanese idea, Roshi.
--So.
We listened to the crickets a while longer. The we closed the light so we
could open the door and get the breeze without the flies coming in.
--Yah. Cricket.
--Roshi, give me your idea of a cricket poem.
--Ha, ha. Okay:
dark night (said Roshi)
cricket sound break out
cricket girlfriend listening.
--That's pretty good, Roshi.
dark night (Roshi began again)
walking on the path
suddenly break out cricket sound
where is my lover?
--I don't like that one.
--cricket! cricket! (Roshi cried)
you are my lover
now I am walking path by alone
but I am not lonely with you.
--I'm afraid not, Roshi. The first one was good.
Then the crickets stopped for a while and Roshi poured the Courvoisier
into our glasses. It was a peaceful night.
--Yah, Kone, said Roshi very softly. You should write more sad.




The kind of experience you are speaking about, Lizzy, I feel it (among others, and others and etc. etc. etc.) with the word "know" in Tower of Song : "I don't ... how the river got so wide". A word that he, in fact, did not pronounce. Most dramatic and efficient.

[catherine]

"Crickets are singing,the vesper bells ringing, the cat`s curled asleep in his chair..." trallalla


Sun is coming out in old Europe.







I love you all and I`m glad I found you,
Yours, catherine

[Arno]

I hope you will forgive this change of subject, but one of the answers about birds sparked it off:

what does he mean when he says

"the peacock spreads his deadly fan!"

I always shiver when he sings it that way, though I dont know what its supposed to mean

Cheers
Arno

[catherine]

Hallo Arno, zwar kann ich Deine Frage nicht beantworten, aber mir geht`s genauso. I feel exactly the same way when hearing that line.










Grüße aus Bonn, schön, daß Du hier bist.

[Arno]

wow, die germanen übernehmen das forum

sorry, hab vorhin nicht auf deinen steckbrief geachtet...

gruß
Arno

[Susanne]

wow, die germanen übernehmen das forum
gruß
Arno

... and here's another one of them...

Hello Catherine and Arno!

Arno, I may be absolutely wrong but connecting the line
"the peacock spreads his deadly fan"
with the previous lines of the song
"And mercy, mercy on our uniform,
man of peace, man of war,... " [live version]
and considering the symbolic meaning of a peacock displaying his fan - 'vanity' -,
the expression "deadly fan" is, moreover, a metaphor within this symbol to me,
a further and more specific exposition of this general meaning.
I feel the line "the peacock spreads his deadly fan" symbolizes the probably most dangerous form of vanity, the display of power and the craving for it, leading to war, destruction and death.
I think Leonard uses it as the last line of Story of Isaac both to emphasize, to literally 'underline' his ideas and to imply that there may be a chance of avoiding violence and war if only the first signs and beginnings of it - the spreading of the deadly fan - are recognized.

Love, Susanne

[lizzytysh]

Hi Catherine ~

I'm glad you found us, too . When you did, we found you . I came across another cricket reference the other night, too ~ but was not in computer mode. I'll relate it another time.

I really like your interpretation of the "deadly fan" and its context, Susanne .

~ Lizzy

[Arno]

Susanne,

thanks for the very helpful interpretation, never looked at it that way before. thanks!


another one that always catches me is from First we take manhattan:

monkey!

the way he speaks it and that laugh... great.
the whole song over he sings in a magnificent voice and stunning energy...

cheers
Arno