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

[lizzytysh]

Someone [was it Tim Robbins?] said that no one says "naked" like Leonard Cohen. There are certain words/phrases that have that same impact on me. These are four of the many for me:

(1) Heroic ~ "heroic sons and daughters of Iceland"
(2) Naked ~ "she stands before you naked"
(3) Mosque ~ "and the mosque"
(4) Dove ~ "the holy dove be caught again"..."the dove is never free"

If you have any, what are some of yours?

~ Elizabeth

[Richard]

I like the idea of your post but I have a question.
Which song/poem is the word 'mosque' used in. Perhaps this is a misheard lyric from Take This Waltz: "..with the photographs there, and the moss."

For me there are many words that have this special impact when they are sung by LC - too many to list.

Richard

[lizzytysh]

Hi Richard ~

I have some additional evidence for your theory. When I wrote that, I kept wondering, "What song is that from!?!" It's a sung word, for sure. I went through the printed song lyrics that I have, and since I gave "The Essential" to my former sister-in-law, when I went to visit her in New York [figuring I could pick myself up another copy], I didn't have that on hand. I tried thinking of it 'topic-ly' and wasn't coming up with which song has it , either. I'd wanted to quote more of the line, but I was stuck on "and the mosque."

Well, let me tell you , if it is from that, he sure knows how to make moss sound holy So you, my dear Richard, will be the first to know if/when I find the 'misheard' in another context. However, I do think you're right, and thanks for pointing it out.

Does anyone know where that thread is? I want to contribute. One could be overlooked, but with two, you just gotta go.

So, what are some of yours that just kinda take your breath away and your spirit a little deeper?

~ Lizzy

[Susanne]

That's a fascinating thought, Lizzy!

The words that come to my mind at once are wounded and wound.
... all these wounded boys...
... with a terrible wound...
They sound like cries of pain to me - like grief-stricken moans of a deeply-hurt soul.

Love, Susanne

[lizzytysh]

Thanks for your reply, Susanne ~

"grief-stricken moans of a deeply-hurt soul"

Well said, and I like it even more that you described why/how the word/s so affect you. I agree.

~ Lizzy

[Rhodes]

A word I always associate with LC is 'kneeled' (in 'Lady Midnight'), but that is probably because I have never known anyone else to use it. My (Canadian) wife thinks it is used in Canada, though.

[yoav]

I like the way LC uses the word "cricket".
1. "Now the crickets are singing" ("night comes on").
2. "I sing this for the crickets" ("a bunch of lonesome heroes")
3. "The crickets are tearing his heart with their song" ("ballad of the absent mare").
Have I missed any crickets?
Don't we all feel sometimes like a small creature, all alone in the cold night, singing our hearts out, not sure if anybody is really listening?

[lizzytysh]

Hi Yoav ~

Yes, I think we all do [really]....at least I do, sometimes . As I'm recalling, wasn't his Haiku related to crickets? It's an interesting choice of small creature, too. Crickets really create a particular kind of atmosphere all on their own. I'll have to go check his Halloween poem and see if there were any crickets in it, too.

Hi Rhodes ~

I see "kneeled" as kind of a knightly term, too. There are aspects of Leonard that are chivalrous like the knights of olde, so it really seems fitting. Here, the only real association I have with the word is what men used to do when they proposed marriage...more of an archaic practice now, but still done on rare, romantic occasion .

[Susanne]

Don't we all feel sometimes like a small creature, all alone in the cold night, singing our hearts out, not sure if anybody is really listening?

That's very beautiful and deep-felt, Yoav - and it is true!

Love, Susanne

[lizzytysh]

Yes, Susanne, I agree with your response to Yoav.

[kleinschmidt]

Leonard's Haiku poem is related to crickets:

Silence
and a deeper silence
When the crickets
hesitate

I guess another way of saying what you said about crickets Elizabeth

But back to the favourite words. My favourite word when used by Leonard are these:

1. Again. (Once AGAIN....love calls you by your name). I just love the way he sings the word Again.

2. Shelter (the stranger song)

3. Child

4. lover

5. Vienna

And so on and so on. This is truly a can of butterflies

[lizzytysh]

Ah, there's that beauteous can of butterflies, again . Yes, "There's a concert hall in V-i-i-i-e-n-a ~ !":D Thanks, too, for bringing Leonard's haiku here, too.....I was thinking it was crickets. I hadn't noticed them thematically, before Yoav mentioned them.

[lizzytysh]

Ah, there's that beauteous can of butterflies, again . Yes, "There's a concert hall in V-i-i-i-e-n-n-a ~ !":D Thanks, too, for bringing Leonard's haiku here.....I was thinking it was crickets. I hadn't noticed them thematically, before Yoav mentioned them.

[Susanne]

I think another word Leonard uses and pronounces in his unique way - very conscious and considerate - and so makes it his own, is golden...

"... his golden arm dispatching cards but now it's rusted... "
"... 'Where are you golden boy, where is your famous golden touch?'... "
"... I was born with the gift of a golden voice... "

I feel Leonard uses this word in a self-ironical and wistful way, signalizing the pain and sadness about the loss of former values or the entire lack of them.

Love, Susanne

[lizzytysh]

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