leonardcohenforum.com

*still in the corner*

You see! I knew I wasn't insane!

Thomson certainly made this song his own and its definitely in my top ten of covers
but to me he will never equal the raw acoustic original version that Leonard
created .
Although I'd like to know if anyone has actually heard a version where Leonard
whistles in tune , I know it adds to the humour of the song but should he be that funny ?.......
LC gets my vote .

KjeXXXer wrote:*still in the corner*

You see! I knew I wasn't insane!

You just pipped me at the post KjeXXXer. I was litterally in the process of typing a rather roundabout kind of apology for making you stand in the corner, and penning a 'get out of jail free (and brimmimg with innocence) card' for you when my laptop did something very odd and logged me off . When I logged back in you had posted first

So, with hand on heart, you have permission to come to the front of the class

(I still think Cohen's version is better)

Hi Grecian,

glad you could join us. I see you survived the family dinner this afternoon. Hope you remembered to vote, seems we need all the help we can get at this stage! The only version I have heard Cohen sing is on Songs From a Room and he does a Da Da Da thing and whistles at the end of that. Not quite sure what he meant by it, whether it was intended to add humour or lightness. I'd love to hear a live version of the song but I haven't been able to get one yet.

Cohen whistles in the version I've got, which is the re-issue of Songs From a Room.


Thank you, Bird. However, I still maintain that the original is just another song, while the cover uncovers (pardon the pun) the great song that it could be.

When they poured across the border, I was cautioned to surrender. THIS I COULD NOT DO!

Count me as a cover fan - and one who finds fascinating the spectrum of interpretations, particularly reflecting a song from a master. The artist to whom I enjoy the honour of serving, Canada's Allison Crowe, has recently added guitar music to her repertoire. This means she's now including more than her, piano-based, covers of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and "Joan of Arc" in her set. "Tonight Will Be Fine" is gaining favour and is now in her set - thanks to Teddy Thompson's folk/country arrangement.

(And it was here, temporarily - like a flower that blooms. Now, it's heard back on the live stage.)

Sláinte mhaith!

Hi Adrian.
I like Allison Crowe's cover but it IS very like the Teddy Thompson cover.

I hope this is not going to be like Hallelujah where nearly every cover seems to be a cover of the Jeff Buckley or John Cale covers. That gets boring.

hi ~

Indeed, my sense is that Teddy Thompson has created the country/folk arrangement of this song for a new generation - and that's certainly how Allison chose to play it. Conversely, you'll find her version of Hallelujah is very unlike the Cale and, especially, Buckley versions. And, as the music disseminates, especially thanks to forums such as YouTube, which eliminate the controls of the corporate major labels, one can witness, different, and similar, schools of performance - of these songs, and more - emerging. It's quite the time!

I've been thinking about this Teddy vs. Leonard bit - This Evening may be OK.

When a teacher-student relationship has been successful, the student will be able to outdo the teacher. A student of art will make paintings that are better than the teacher's; a student of martial arts will learn to beat his teacher; a student of mathematics will be able to prove a theorem that his teacher couldn't, etc, and so on. The teacher cannot teach everything, he can only teach what he knows. The student takes what is taught, and learns it, but he also adds his own life to it, and he has his own creativity. And then we say, "The student has become the teacher."

And I was wondering if people think that applies to this.
There's more for me in debate than in a vote.

Manna wrote: There's more for me in debate than in a vote.

And this thread allows for both.

On the student and teacher thing, the student may not necessarily have the genius or sense of originality of the teacher, and therefore may be bound or limited in their attempts to surpass the teacher. Or they may simply just be rubbish. (and no, i'm not saying Thompson is rubbish, I think he is very talented, even though his whiney nasal-y(?) voice get on my nerves).

I didn't notice until I listened to them side by side, but at least one thing that makes TT's version sappier (more pathetic*, more whatever you call it) is that he changed the time signature. He waltzes it while Leonard's is squarish.

*warning: I don't use pathetic the way most people do. One of my habits is to look up words in dictionaries for fun. Yes, I'm a nerd. I don't remember what it said for pathetic, but I do remember that it undid the negative connotation that had been instilled in me from the countless times my older sister had called me pathetic.

waltzing's for dreamers and beautiful losers in love

sad s sad ad simply sad
needs pity
needs help
needs love
needs self
needs light
needs sight
needs fecking glasses

needs to look
in the mirror
of lite.
of life
.of love

xxx

So manna, when you wash yourself would you reckon that was bathetic?

But ?
she is all ,
Ready,
Taken?

bathetic...