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Hi Velvet ~

Your moniker is quite the take-off on Velvet Underground . Will you be blasting away whilst you post ? [Sorry, couldn't resist ~ in fact, land mines are quite a serious issue.]

Welcome to the Forum, at any rate .

~ Lizzy

lizzytysh wrote:Hi Velvet ~

Your moniker is quite the take-off on Velvet Underground . Will you be blasting away whilst you post ? [Sorry, couldn't resist ~ in fact, land mines are quite a serious issue.]

Welcome to the Forum, at any rate .

~ Lizzy

It's really a play on the term "Velvet Goldmine."

Aha! Well, it's serving double-duty [whoops, a military pun with that, too ]. Since I'm not familiar with Velvet Goldmine, I'll take full credit for my original [?] interpretation of it .

~ Lizzy

lizzytysh wrote:Aha! Well, it's serving double-duty [whoops, a military pun with that, too ]. Since I'm not familiar with Velvet Goldmine, I'll take full credit for my original [?] interpretation of it .

~ Lizzy

Velvet Underground is a good reference as well, I agree.

Tee-hee [thanks ].

There's a song by David Bowie called "Velvet Goldmine"...

Lloyd Cole's version finds itself succumbing to the same pitfalls that Jarkko aptly said Elton John did in his version of "I'm Your Man." Cole, by speeding up the song and ridding his version of Cohen's unique phrasing, loses all the pathos and subtlety that made the original so heartbreaking, tender, uncertain, and even somewhat cruel.

It is a rare Cohen cover that surpasses the original in quality and effect. I have found, though, that the covers do have a certain utility to them. They emphasize just how precise and perfect so many of Cohen's songs are and how seemingly effortlessly he imbues them with such a unique character and voice.

Roy Buchanan's version of "Story of Isaac" is another example of a Cohen song being butchered by an arrangement that over emotes and tries too hard to complicate what was already simple and beautiful.

It is a rare Cohen cover that surpasses the original in quality and effect. I have found, though, that the covers do have a certain utility to them. They emphasize just how precise and perfect so many of Cohen's songs are and how seemingly effortlessly he imbues them with such a unique character and voice.

YES! I repeat, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes! That sums it up, Grant. They say that the mark of a true 'professional' is how effortless they make things appear. In this case, it goes beyond true 'professional,' straight on to genius. There are worlds of subtleties within his lines, spaces, and nuances of voice. With what seemed to be 'reasonable' expectations, I've listened to these famed-singer covers that I hear, and have typically been amazed with disappointment.

Ironically [or not], covers by the non-famous delight me more than disappoint. Still, none have surpassed.

I agree with Lizzy in that it takes some adjustment to hear LCs songs done by anyone but him (in my ears, at least). I love Willie's and Johnny Cash's Bird on...I think Bono should be shot for what he did to Hallelujah. Billy Joel as well for what he did to Light as the Breeze (one of my faves).

Linda.

Someone wrote that Billy sings that song as he doesn't know it's about cunningulus. I'd agree

I remember that I almost died of boredom while listening to, what, ten-minutes arrangements of Suzanne by Roberta Flack (later shamelessly stolen by Peter Gabriel on Tower of Song, and equally boring).

To jarkko and John the Shorts - I'll second that! The terminally insufferable Bono and the creatively moribund non-entity, Elton John, have left indelible stains on my cd collection.

Deja vu!!

Well at least I'm consistent: Bono should be shot for Hallelujah. Nasty things should befall Billy Joel for Light as the Breeze and yes, I'll add Elton to the list. Also, I don't like Judy Collins...

Cheers to whoever dragged this out!
Linda.

Or is it drug this out? I doubt it. Maybe it's been here all along???
Surely not! I guess it has...time is moving slower all of a sudden. It seemed like ages ago that this thread was new and it's not. Maybe I'm getting younger, too!

Linda.

I guess I dragged it out - or dug it up. But being new to the site, the corpse seemed fresh. No, I don't know what I mean either.

Excuse me Sir, Madam, I was passing by, I do not want to interfere, please continue....

(Also and moreover I even do not have the gost of the beginning of an idea about a bad cover, (I just do not listen to what I don't like)

Like I said, please do not be disturbed by me, I just want to add something to something about Light as the Breeze that worth to be seen.

Someone wrote that Billy sings that song as he doesn't know it's about cunningulus. I'd agree

(and no Tom, Sakic or what ever tom could it be, I am not after you in any possible meaning of this expression. (please people, this time, do not send false assessments in PM that would bring Tom to think things - thank you Ladies & Gentlemen)

Yep! BUuut Cohen being Cohen, it could also be nothing on my lips but Hallelujah!