When,Where,And What Was The First LC Song You Heard?

[Irene Teresa]

Hello. IM back.

I truly cant recall the first song - but it would have been probably suzanne or maybe anothr early one and i know i liked it but LC didnt GET to me till much later . And that I recall clearly: It would have been early 1984. I had been in a sort of spirituall retreat from the world the past 2 years and the year before that travleling and having a baby. so this was the first time i heard RECENT SONGS.

I was at my sisters up on the north coast of NSW ( thats Australia ) and was in her ex boyfreinds lovely big room in a reconstructed church with polished floors and lovely windows. He was a good freind and a musican. he sang me a couple of songs from that album ( gypsies wife I think was one ) and I was wow.I LOVED them. I was like whose song is THAT ?? .... He had a gift for me - a copy of recent songs on cassette.

This was when I became a real leonard fan.

The window is my fave song ever.

[martha]

The first time i heard Cohen i was in my early teenage years. The song was Suzanne. I just thought it was a very nice song at the time, nothing more. (I liked the Everly brothers kind if 60s music).
This summer i had to study for my exams so i was at the library every day. i borrowed some cds (LC live, and Songs from LC i think). and i was hooked. i spent the whole summer with books and L. Cohen. I got most of his albums by now.

[lizzytysh]

That's great, Martha ! I love how some attach to Leonard in their younger years and how others, maybe because life has brought them more that they can now resonate with in his songs, bond with him later. Once he's there, he's there, though... and that's what's important!

"Suzanne" was the first song I heard, too, but I was beyond my teenage years and in the midst of a dissolving marriage, when I wanted desperately to be that Suzanne and to be touched. Still, we bridged the divide with Leonard's songs... and, if nowhere else at times, connected there.

You had a wonderful summer... perhaps, you can make this one unique, too, and join us on Hydra in June.

Welcome to the Forum, Martha .


~ Lizzy

[martha]

Thank you for the welcome and the invitation.

[Manna]

My first listening to LC happened through something of a Cyrano story. I was 16, and had an interest in a certain young man. This was in the early 90s, when making a girl a mix tape was part of the teenage courting ritual. "Tim" went to a friend's house to borrow his collection for making this mix tape for me. The friend was our high school art instructor, and so was extremely off limits to me, though I'd also had a crush on him since I was about 11.

"Mr. Arts" had an extensive music collection of all things interesting, folky, artsy, etc. He once drove 8 hours just to get a Bob Dylan bootleg, and then 8 hours driving homein the same day. And having been collecting since the 50s, he had a million LPs. Mr. Arts was aware of the purpose for making the tape, so during the course of producing the mix tape, Mr. Arts made several suggestions, including a live recording of "Memories." (Won't you let me see your naked body?) (I don't think it's the same one as what's on DOALM, but since I don't own this album, I'm not sure.) Having been a pop music radio listener, there was soooo much music on that tape that was just amazing to me. I would get home from school, put it on and just listen to it over and over and over. Randy Newman, Joni Mitchell - I'd heard of them, but hadn't heard them until then. It was intense.

So what happened was that Mr. Arts was really the one who selected all of the songs on that mix tape. And to make the rest of the story succinct, I have been married to Mr. Arts for 8 years. Nothing untoward happened when I was his student. Yes, he's 30 years my senior. Yes, he's an amazing creature, and I am his goddess, and he gets to see my naked body.

Epilog: When I got my hands on my first whole album by the worshipped figure of this site, I was expecting a lot of humor. The religion and sadness of it surprised me, but I knew this was the best work I had ever heard. Every subsequent thing I have learned about the man, the artist, the soul has impressed me without failure.

Post-Epilog: When we moved to our current locale, we went from a 3 bedroom Cape Cod with a very large living room to a small apartment. We had to get rid of all the unessential stuff. Nearly all the LPs are gone. It has caused us both profound regret. Never again, heart.

[lizzytysh]

Dear Manna ~

WHAT an Amazing and Delightful story!!! Such a surprize ending... , though in the sentence preceding its revelatory end, an intuitive feeling moved in on me. So perfectly Leonard, the romance of it all! "Memories" ~ really a perfect song relating to high school. Not untoward for him to have included it.

Still, So happy to hear of Mr. Arts's boundaries and restraint... though I suspect had it been otherwise, you may not have been here sharing it all. The teacher and student ~ such a relationship. Celine and her teacher... and others , as well.

Yes, he's 30 years my senior. Yes, he's an amazing creature, and I am his goddess, and he gets to see my naked body.

A lovely testimony to your relationship, Manna... may your 8 become 58.

I know too well the loss of a record collection. At the time, it felt unright, but it took the years that followed to realize its full impact. Profound regret. I know the feeling... including this "Never again, heart." Some albums seem to simply be irreplaceable... and, then, there's the heavenly sound of an LP .

Thanks for sharing this great story, Manna . As you know, your husband's taste in music is sublime... being entrenched in the music of those people at that age, helped to make you who you are, as well .


~ Lizzy

[A.Borissenko]

Well considering me own age there wasn't much chance previously to hear his music, let along understand it... which is why the first time I heard a Leonard Cohen song was:

Year: 2004

Song: There Ain't No Cure For Love

After that I sadly took a break from Leonard Cohen (listening to a few of his songs)... and listened to 2000's music.... until ofcourse... I realized that I hate it and dug back into what music I listened to previously (my brother didn't actually like it ) and I researched Leonard Cohen... afterwards I bought his first 5 albums... and since then... I've been trying to find out as much as I can about the great man... read The Favorite Game, reading Beautiful Losers... you know the works (found these forums )... won't get into it

-->Andrei

[lizzytysh]

Well, welcome to the Forum, Andrei !

I guess you understood "Ain't No Cure for Love," then, yes? Not as much to figure out with that one. I always love the members who knew nothing of Leonard and, then, buy everything they can find . Good on you .


~ Lizzy

[Cohen Kid]

I heard a tape of my parents, a few years ago... while in the car, helping out because my grandmother was moving. hehehe... I remember so clearly... I thought 'wow, this is sad music, depressing, and quiet: I LOVE IT! hahahaha

It was a tape of Greatest Hits, and I love those tracks... but some tracks I knew since I was a kid. I must have heard SO Long Marianne somewhere, as it sounded familair when I heard the tape, some 6 years ago

[Itana]

The first time i heard Cohen... it was when I was with my friends.
I was drinking wine and smoking cigarette, sitting in the dark...
The first song i heard was Suzzane

[lizzytysh]

Hi Itana ~

Welcome to the Forum . I love the setting for your first hearing Leonard... and with "Suzanne" being your first song . I can only imagine how it must have felt for you to listen to that song with wine, cigarette, and darkness... amongst friends. Were you at someone's house or in a dark corner of a club somewhere? What was their reaction to the song and to Leonard?

Was your first listening more recently or around the time the album was made?

Great photo for your avatar. Is that you? Looks like it belongs on the cover of a foreign film dvd.


~ Lizzy

[Beccka]

Seems like a lot of people have 'Suzanne' as their first song. Add me to the list.

It was 1986 and I was four. The song was on a tape that my mother's boyfriend made for her. A few weeks after hearing the song we went on a trip to the beach and I spent the time looking for 'heroes in the seaweed.' The only one I found was the boyfriend (who later married my mother and is the only person my siblings and I call Dad.) When he figured out what I was talking about, he made me a tape that just had "Suzanne" on it, over and over. I wore it out.

When I was in second grade I got punished for singing the song in school (the teacher said it was 'dirty') and didn't listen to it again for ten years. By which time I understood her interpretation but thought she was ridiculous.

[Manna]

Whoa, Beccka, age four, looking for heros in the seaweed. That is so darling! I could understand if your teacher had punished you for singing certain other LC songs, but Suzanne? Oh, come on! It's so innocent!

I have a three-almost-four year old who goes around singing Hallelujia from time to time.

[lazariuk]

Hi Beccka

Sorry that you got punished but you story was so sweet.

I'll give one in return.

When my son was very young, about 5, he overheard me telling a joke. It was very simple and easy to remember. I felt that I could tell it when he was around because no words were inappropiate and he was much too young to be able to tell what it was about.

The joke was as follows:

Two nuns were taking a shower
One says "Where's the soap?"
The other says "It sure does"

He liked watching people laugh and since it was an easy joke to remember the next time we had people over he decided to tell the joke.

He knew from experience that it was a joke that came with a delayed laughter and so he stood watching the people with a look on his face that seemed to say that he expected them to laugh and it somehow made it look like he understood the joke.

When the adults that he was telling the joke to finally got the joke the look on their face that accompanied their laughter made it even more amusing for him and got him more interested in telling the joke again. It probably also added something to his enjoyment how much the whole situation was making his father laugh without failure.

This year I told him about the joke and he got to share how funny I found the situation he had created.

[Beccka]

lazariuk, I had to Google the joke to get it. Just when I think my mind is hopelessly corrupt...