leonardcohenforum.com

Dear Cohenites,

for those who are unaware of John Bliemer's awe-inspiring concert in tribute to leonard on youtube.com please copy and paste the link below into your browsers for a truly magical and tres cool interpretation of some of Leonard's songs. The Dutch musicians here and the backing choir are quite excellent. Bliemer rocks and I think his interpretations of Leonard's songs are close to the real thing. May I suggest we start a campaign to try and get the John Bliemer concert on DVD? Let me know your impressions. Here's the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmDDyDH1JAo

Hi Mark ~

I've just watched and listened to John Bliemer's poignant cover of The Partisan. It brought tears to my eyes for the sound and timbre of John's gentle voice, his personae, and his soft-sung delivery. He comes across as a gentle soul who has seen, accepted, and come to peace with a lot of what life can bring. He looks to be the kind of interesting man whom I could imagine seeing as I walk past an outdoor cafe table, where he and Leonard are spending the afternoon in lovely conversation. I love his casual elegance.

Such a spirit... he seems to really understand the meaning and nuances within the song and brings life experience to it. And look at all those beautiful children with their exquisite voices in chorus; and learning Leonard's songs at such an early age. Great musicianship and women back-up singers, too.

I would love to have a DVD of this and any other of Leonard's songs that John Bliemer sings. This is just excellent. So natural. He brings the deeper essence of the song to life. I love the authenticity in his voice and the music. This is a really rare treat for me. Thank you so much for posting it, Mark.


~ Lizzy

I agree with you Lizzy,this was great to watch.And with Leonard not touring anymore arrangments like this helps to keep his music alive.
And as you say it would have been lovely to have this on DVD as YouTube is not known for high quality on sound and picture.
Thanks Mark for posting the link!

It also grows on you even more with repeated listenings, Phil. Last night, I listened at least 10 times, one right after the other. I love the way he lifts his glass of water as he walks and sings. There's a "Fiddler on the Roof" life wisdom feeling and visual in his performance. Or, a milder presentation, but just as intense, Zorba the Greek. There's something I've always loved about older men singing their songs of life. Perhaps, my appreciation began with Maurice Chevalier?


~ Lizzy

Lizzy press on the link "More from this user"and you will find more Leonard songs performed by John Bliemer.I'm listning to a nice version of "So long Marianne"right now.

Thanks, Phil... I'll do that tonite. I tried clicking on other songs on the list in the box, but didn't see that link.


~ Lizzy

"That's no way to say Goodbye" sung by John Bliemer is just lovely performed.He sings it so gentle.
It may look like it is John Bliemer himself that has uploaded these videos to YouTube.

Not wishing to be too picky but The Partisan is not a Leonard Cohen song!

Just watched a few of those videos. I thought the Partisan was awful, it might have been a waltz and it seemed to me the singer completely missed the poignancy of the lyrics.I got the impression that he might have been singing anything.
I looked at The Guests and Hey That's No Way... as well but he did nothing for me.
But others can decide for themselves,
Thanks for the link.

Not wishing to be too picky but The Partisan is not a Leonard Cohen song!

You're not being too picky, Red Poppy. What you say is true, but rather than go through all of that, I simply call it a Leonard song, with its being in the context of other Leonard songs and in a tribute to Leonard. I haven't heard other renditions of it, so can't compare, but this is a cover clearly based on Leonard's rendition, so for reference purposes, it's a 'Leonard' song to me . Thanks, though, for clarifying it for any reader here who's unaware that Leonard didn't write it.

Yes... different tastes will enter in here. It's a subtle rendering, and repeated listenings find their way down into you, at least they did with me.


~ Lizzy

Hi Mark and Phil ~

Well, I guess it's just 'us guys' loving these, huh? I'm listening to these Leonard covers by John, one after the other, and enjoying every one. I know there's a slight energy shift that generally happens as we get older and maybe that's part of it? At least with me. Appreciation of the high-energy ones isn't necessarily diminished, but the capacity for appreciation of the low-key tempos and delivery is enhanced. It doesn't have to be dramatic, just sincere. Reminds me, again, of Leonard's poem "How to Read Poetry." These covers are very comfortable for me and even exciting, but in a different kind of way than one might normally associate with that word. I would love to have a recording or dvd or both, of John singing all 18 of these songs, and to go to one of his concerts.


~ Lizzy

Lizzy and Mark
It dosen't bother me that there is no response.I think Johns interpretation
of Leonards songs is among the better i have heard.
Sometimes is seems like linking to YouTube here is like cursing in the church.I logged on to YouTube and sendt a PM to John and told him i liked his performance and got a thankyou back.
By the way look, at the video "That's no way to say Goodbye"the man playing the violin,who does he remind you of?

Hi Phil ~

I agree with you and didn't mean to suggest that it bothered me that there was no response; it was just a comment that suggested that the only response beyond yours, mine, and Mark's was negative; quite negative, in fact.

I couldn't see where one could PM the person who posted the videos. I'm not used to YouTube, at all. Last night, I "Subscribed to" him, but had no idea what that really means... presumably when/where he'll be performing, and that info being sent to my email? But, that's all I saw.


~ Lizzy

Hi Lizzy
Subscribing to John means that you will get notified if he uploads any more videos.You should look more into YouTube Lizzy, there is a terrible lot of videos from times long gone.You do like other music than Leonards?
But one does not know how long the videos will be there,the record companys have found out that people like to watch them and have demanded the deleting of videos.

I could hardly listen to John Bliemers interpretation. Yes he does have a gentle voice and the children are wonderful and the time they put into the
concert is remarkable. Mister Cohen has tattoed his songs into
every suffering word. There is a type of redemption and a forgiveness
in Leonard Cohen's voice. To me Bliemer's rendition is like the Church's
interpretation of Jesus's suffering: Bliemers' you visit on holidays looking for the real thing.