leonardcohenforum.com

it’s still quiet in here
and I’m still in the same city
they aren’t very nice to me
maybe they think I’m American

if the Germans had won the war
Captain Kirk would speak German
but what is much more likely
Captain Kirk will speak Chinese

it is a strange stubbornness
has kept me here these years
and lead me to wait
on the bank of the Yangtze

Not bad! I like both the sly humour and the prophetic voice.

Hi jim ~

Yes! I like this very much.
Just one query though - wouldn't it add a bit more contextual complexity
to make the Star Trek reference to Captain Picard (as an English
actor playing a French-born character)?
Just a thought.

~ Makera

captain kirk was the orignial! the prototype. he is more of an icon than picard.

also, william shatner went to the same university as leonard cohen.

originally those lines read:

the crew of the Enterprise would speak German

which is more accurate, but also more cumbersome.

i have considered changing the last line in the second stanza to:

Captain Kirk will be Captain Wang

what do you think?


jim

Haha! Yeah, I like that!

Or, 'Captain Kirk will be a Wang'?
I always thought Shatner was such a 'wang' anyway.

~ Makera

wow, midnight actually LIKES something. or have we just simply discovered that he's a star trek fan?

Nope not a Star Trek Fan. But I can't get enough of that egomaniac William Shatner and his new album. Has Been. Teratogen, go to:

http://www.shoutfactory.com/selection/1 ... 4e8c2.html

and listen to the clip to: "You'll Have Time".

It has a kind of goth sensibility. You'll like it.

thanks for that link midnight.

Have Shatner and Cohen known each other socially? Both of them grew up in the same area, went to the same university and wound up living in LA, and there's just a couple of years difference between them.