New Song from Chicago

[mutti]

Thank you Albert for the video!
Really appreciate it..
Leslie (Mutti)

[lizzytysh]

Wow, Albert. Thank you for capturing this for yourself and us. As others have already said, but it sure bears mentioning, again... excellent quality .

Thank you, especially, to you, Leonard for performing it Live ahead of its official production and release. Chicago, with its own Chicago Blues, seems the perfect city to have performed it in for the first time.

Though relayed relatively simply, the complexities of love are never lost on Leonard. This is how I experienced listening to and hearing Leonard's new song:

Leonard, again, with his skillful artistry weaves fine, silver threads of subtlety to delineate and convey the very real process of healing. Love, heartbreak, loss, the good, the bad, appreciation, and acceptance. In nuanced ways and through implication, he conveys a sort of former 'prisoner' of relationship, with the constraints that are inevitable in some measure in every single one, through compromises and goodwill, as we accommodate someone else and form a somewhat different definition of 'self,' as it conjuncts another, alongside all that is and was good with the love; to one who became prisoner to the heartbreak, the loss, and the memories... and when in the depth of the blues, whether one will survive seems purely an academic question... but the blindfold as he stood before the death squad was with mercy finally removed... and now, finally, cheerfulness in its most subdued form starts breaking through, with the smallest appreciations from where the healing begins... what finally becomes an energizing immersion in self. We relocate our own true center of independence, and whatever happens to be there, and we feel good about it... the kitchen, the coffee, and the smoke.

In the colours chosen for the backdrop, I love how it begins with Leonard alone standing with his guitar, immersed in the blues. Then, the song's message opens up more and he and the set are covered over by the grey... that grey zone we all know when we grieve loss, yet cannot get to the vibrancy of life without going through it. I especially like how the backdrop behind the grey remains solidly present in vibrant red; that symbol of passion and love still in the background. The love remains in another form as the prisoner reaches toward interpersonal and personal healing.

This song comes to us and resolves without condemnation. Deep appreciation for what was and genuine appreciation for what remains. I've experienced my interpretation of this song in my life. I love how he says "Feels so good baby, to see you smilin' back at me."

I love it.


~ Lizzy

[swan13]

Albert, once again you are a star.
Thanks for this post, just perfect to watch and listen to on this wet Sunday afternoon.

RainDog, thanks for lyrics.

Liz

[donalagata]

*

[SuzanneT]

Albert,
Thank you for the video .. but mainly thanks to Leonard for a great new song.
If all the new things so well, we really look forward to!
The text is wonderful, amazing, amazing .. .
I never heard anyone else so deeply human to talk about life, love ....
I Love you Leonard!

[FOXWOOD]

I would once again add my thanks to Albert.
Why has no one yet given this man an award?

[lizzytysh]

Hi donalagata ~

I sure wish I could've been there with you, too. What a thrill for you to experience Leonard's singing a new song of his Live . WoW. I'm glad to hear that my interpretation of his lyrics works for you, too. For quite some time now, I've taken great care to explicitly designate that what I say about Leonard's lyrics is strictly my own interpretation. I know too well how, when asked in interviews the meaning of any particular song, what he says and how he expresses it, have all too often borne no resemblance to anything I've said or would have thought . One might think that the blues as written by Leonard would be fairly straightforward [as my interpretation would suggest], but ha , we must remember who it is we're trying to interpret here . For me, though, in what seems his widening/broadening view of...

It's like the same old broken heart, but it feels like it belongs to someone else.
I've got the same old broken heart, but now it feels like it belongs to someone else.

... where the situation begins to get reframed, is that process of detachment [not necessarily the literal Zen form, but the one that's attached to acceptance of relationships ending] coming into clearer perspective. I remember those times; but, I think Leonard does better with them than I do .

Even rereading the lyric about "fire up a little danger to my health" could be the coffee itself, or maybe even refers to cooking something 'unhealthy' for breakfast on a gas stove, rather than having a cigarette. One just never knows for sure with what Leonard writes ... the way he seems to like it. For now, though, what I've said is how I hear this wonderful song.

Perhaps, FOXWOOD, someone ought to create an award befitting Albert's fine videos. There may be nothing in existence that's awardable, as it seems he does it on an unofficial, love-based basis.


~ Lizzy

[donalagata]

Hi Lizzy,
I think what you wrote in regard to this song fits Leonards life as it has unfolded before us . We can all relate to the lyrics as we listen to them one way or another we connect to the song and the story it is telling. I also understand love found and then love lost and finally the calmness which follows with acceptance...... I wish I had your gift of writing with such beauty and elegance.... I have always been stuck in a left brain pattern of thinking.... I will never be the artist , poet or singer but I appreciate all of the wonders of these talents and admire those who have them....

This new song is definitely another layer to Leonard's genius.....
I am so happy to have been there to hear it. Leonard is so amazing.......
Best Wishes,
donalagata

[sturgess66]

"That other blues song" finds its way onto another blog - The Awl -

http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/leonard-c ... blues-song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oamvw_WFiZc

Here's Leonard Cohen debuting a new tune, provisionally referred to as "That Other Blues Song," in Chicago last week. If you're a fan—and if not, bite me—you should watch this before it gets yanked. (You can find the debut of another new one here ( http://1heckofaguy.com/2009/08/06/compl ... available/ ), but it seems like it might have been yanked.) Enjoy.

—Balk

Published at 9:50 am, Monday, Nov 2, 2009

[Absent Mare]

Feels so good baby, not to love you like I did.

No longer the desperate, needy, grasping for the Beloved
Still loves the Beloved, but now in a new way


It's like they tore away my blindfold, and they said "we're gonna let this prisoner live."

I was blind, but now I see
No longer imprisoned in the seeker’s paradigm
Free, alive, released from egoic bondage


Feels so good baby, just to wake up in the morning by myself.

Waking up as One, complete, no separation
A new morning, fresh, no longer longing for the Other


Cup of coffee in the kitchen, fire up a little danger to my health.

Chop wood, carry water
Boogie Street


I've got the same old broken heart, but now it feels like it belongs to someone else.

Same emotional landscape, no longer identified with it
Heart still very much involved, impersonally


Feels so good baby, to see you smilin' back at me.

Still delights in the Beloved, receives Grace


It's so good baby, not be each others’ VIP.

No longer has to play a part, no longer needs the Beloved to play a part
Very Important Person = Ego


Feels so good, I don't know why, but it just is.

Don’t-know mind
What is, is


Hallelujah!

[sturgess66]

From Consequences of Sound -
http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/11/0 ... ard-cohen/

What’s this? New songs from both Paul McCartney and Leonard Cohen!?!?

By Alex Young on November 2nd, 2009

What’s this? New songs from both Paul McCartney and Leonard Cohen!?!?

These days, its pretty rare to hear new songs from either Paul McCartney and Leonard Cohen. It’s even rarer to hear them on the same day. But on this day, November 2, 2009, that is exactly what has happened.

[Go to link to hear audio of song]

Since Beatlemania is still in the back of our minds, let’s go with Sir Paul first. As Spinner reports, a new song by the legendary musician, titled “(I Want To) Come Home”, recently leaked onto the Internet. The selection apparently comes from the soundtrack of the forthcoming film Everybody’s Fine, which stars Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell.

McCartney says (via Uncut) ( http://www.uncut.co.uk/news/paul_mccartney/news/13756 )that he identified with De Niro’s character in the film, and easily wrote the song in just one evening, saying: “I could definitely identify with Robert De Niro’s character because I have grown-up kids who have their own families.” If only we could all be so talented.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oamvw_WFiZc

The origins of Mr. Cohen’s new song are a bit more unclear, but according to The Awl, the singer/songwriter referred to the tune as “That Other Blues Song” moments before debuting it at performance in Chicago last week. If you’re counting, it’s the second new song ( http://1heckofaguy.com/2009/08/06/compl ... available/ ) to have surfaced since August. In other words, it looks like ol’ Leonard is up to something…

[lizzytysh]

Thank you SOOOooooooo much, Absent Mare!!! Didn't I tell ya, donalagata ? And it has absolute clarity!

Man of Many Layers ~ Leonard Cohen


~ Lizzy

[mnkyface]

I haven't watched it yet. Haven't even read the lyrics. (well I saw a few words but then started scrolling really fast .) oh, how sweet it will be at the concert. 11 days!!!!! I can do this... This kind of self discipline is unheard of for me.

[sue7]

There's a link to a Youtube video from Asheville last night on the concert thread, with a somewhat different version of the song.
A new verse in the middle/towards the end, and a different arrangement, with more organ at the beginning and an organ solo, and without the guitar solo at the beginning.
viewtopic.php?f=39&t=19789&p=203247#p203247

[matisse01]

WOW!!!!!! Thanks for sharing this wonderful video. He just cannot ever ever disappoint with any song written, it's incredible.