ako, this is a thread that calls into question the greatness of an album thats generally accepted as a classic, posted in a forum of music-lovers. its kind of like posting a thread about crazy shit that has gotten into your house in a forum of people who love to discuss inane bullshit all day.
Just listened to Songs of Leonard Cohen yesterday and was once again blown away. I really like the production on that album. Sparse but effective. I do, on the other hand, prefer this one:
My personal opinion on Mr. Cohen aside, I cherish the audacity of that first post. I always appreciate a good "Hey ... your goddamned icon just ain't doin' it for me!"
ako, this is a thread that calls into question the greatness of an album thats generally accepted as a classic, posted in a forum of music-lovers. its kind of like posting a thread about crazy shit that has gotten into your house in a forum of people who love to discuss inane bullshit all day.
i guess i didnt know this album held so much weight. i bought my girlfriend two copies of this lp (reissue, then original)...not really my bag but im not too into stuff like this really. i'll agree with your first post, but i couldnt tell you if a song had great lyrics or if a novel was good or not or anything like that because im not much for the english language in general, and past the lyrics which are, id guess, this albums main selling point, it doesnt really have much to offer for a guy like me.
This hipster nonsense is so boring. Are any of you wearing sweatbands or unicorn tees right now? Or are they so one year ago?
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
I'd rather hear his songs from the late '80s.
Yes, that just happened.
Not so shocking. This album is known to be eurotrash heat:
I have mixed feelings about this record. The songs are great, but the production/arrangements really date the album as a whole. Or, at least, they did last time I listened to it, which was quite a few years ago. It might sound like an 80's-retro masterpiece now.
Not so shocking. This album is known to be eurotrash heat:
Tell me more about this so-called Eurotrash heat.
I actually really like the production, although, yes, it sounds pretty dated. Dating myself a little bit, the first time I heard Cohen was in the movie Pump Up the Volume, and the first time I ever owned a piece of his music was on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack .
I can definitely get down with his earlier work, but I have to be pretty damn sad to put it on the turntable, and sometimes that Songs of Love and Hate will take me over the top, reaching for a knife to slit my wrists.
I've been meaning to check out his most recent record. Is it any good?
Songs of Leonard Cohen is one of my favorites ever. I find the writing to be genuine, insightful, and crafted without much adherence to a format or archetype. Perhaps I'm relating on a 'soul borther' level (dude is definitely Jewish), but his writing, and the arrangements (especially Master Song, when that organ comes in for a hot second) on that album really do it for me. Br>Some stand out lyrics for me off of that album:
Let's not talk of love or chains or things we can't untie
Your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm
An ape with angel glands
I lit a thin green candle/ to make you jealous of me/ but the room just filled up with mosquitos/ they heard that my body was free/ then I took the dust of a long sleepless night and I put it in your little shoe/ and then I confessed that I tortured the dress that you wore for the world to look through (actually this whole song, One of us Cannot be Wrong, is ridiculously good writing)
(one more from One of us..) An eskimo showed me a movie/ he'd recently taken of you/ the poor man could hardly stop shivering/ his lips and his fingers were blue/ I suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes/ and I guess he just never got warm/ but you stand there so nice in your blizzard of ice/ oh please let me come into the storm
Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water/ And he spent a long time watchng from his lonely wooden tower/ and when he knew for certain only drowning men could see you/ he said all men would be sailors then until the sea shall free them/ but he himself was broken/ long before the sky would open/ forsaken, almost human/ he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone.
To really get academic on the last one, he (a Hebrew man) is taking the biggest Christian story and spinning it in a way that makes it engaging to me. The topic is not only a massive taboo, from the perspective of a writer its an incredibly difficult topic to work with because it is already overflowing with meaning, and significance.
Mandrew,I totally respect your opinion, but I heartily disagree with it.
I never liked Leonard Cohen until I grew older. I love him now. Not for everyone.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
I never liked Leonard Cohen until I grew older. I love him now. Not for everyone.
I was the same when I was a kid - "Fuck that miserable old hippy". An ex-girl used to make me listen to "Songs From A Room" "Songs Of Love and Hate" or "Various Positions" whenever I went round to her place "until you get it", and eventually I did. I know more women who like Leonard Cohen than I do women who like, say, Dylan - anyone else find this? He definitely had something that appealed to the ladies, as far as I can figure out.
mandrew
2,720 Posts
Comments
Tell me you're kidding.
ako,
this is a thread that calls into question the greatness of an album thats generally accepted as a classic, posted in a forum of music-lovers. its kind of like posting a thread about crazy shit that has gotten into your house in a forum of people who love to discuss inane bullshit all day.
Just listened to Songs of Leonard Cohen yesterday and was once again blown away. I really like the production on that album. Sparse but effective. I do, on the other hand, prefer this one:
It's brutal and to me the writing is much better.
Carry on.
so who counts as a good lyricist/poet in your world?
i guess i didnt know this album held so much weight. i bought my girlfriend two copies of this lp (reissue, then original)...not really my bag but im not too into stuff like this really. i'll agree with your first post, but i couldnt tell you if a song had great lyrics or if a novel was good or not or anything like that because im not much for the english language in general, and past the lyrics which are, id guess, this albums main selling point, it doesnt really have much to offer for a guy like me.
what i'm saying. i don't see what's so compelling about his music.
i foresee getting a bunch of "if you have to ask, you'll never know" responses
Yes, that just happened.
Not so shocking. This album is known to be eurotrash heat:
I have mixed feelings about this record. The songs are great, but the production/arrangements really date the album as a whole. Or, at least, they did last time I listened to it, which was quite a few years ago. It might sound like an 80's-retro masterpiece now.
im confused, or was this a joke i dont get
Tell me more about this so-called Eurotrash heat.
I actually really like the production, although, yes, it sounds pretty dated. Dating myself a little bit, the first time I heard Cohen was in the movie Pump Up the Volume, and the first time I ever owned a piece of his music was on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack
I can definitely get down with his earlier work, but I have to be pretty damn sad to put it on the turntable, and sometimes that Songs of Love and Hate will take me over the top, reaching for a knife to slit my wrists.
I've been meaning to check out his most recent record. Is it any good?
why are you mad?
Br>Some stand out lyrics for me off of that album:
Let's not talk of love or chains or things we can't untie
Your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm
An ape with angel glands
I lit a thin green candle/ to make you jealous of me/ but the room just filled up with mosquitos/ they heard that my body was free/ then I took the dust of a long sleepless night and I put it in your little shoe/ and then I confessed that I tortured the dress that you wore for the world to look through (actually this whole song, One of us Cannot be Wrong, is ridiculously good writing)
(one more from One of us..) An eskimo showed me a movie/ he'd recently taken of you/ the poor man could hardly stop shivering/ his lips and his fingers were blue/ I suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes/ and I guess he just never got warm/ but you stand there so nice in your blizzard of ice/ oh please let me come into the storm
Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water/ And he spent a long time watchng from his lonely wooden tower/ and when he knew for certain only drowning men could see you/ he said all men would be sailors then until the sea shall free them/ but he himself was broken/ long before the sky would open/ forsaken, almost human/ he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone.
To really get academic on the last one, he (a Hebrew man) is taking the biggest Christian story and spinning it in a way that makes it engaging to me. The topic is not only a massive taboo, from the perspective of a writer its an incredibly difficult topic to work with because it is already overflowing with meaning, and significance.
Mandrew,I totally respect your opinion, but I heartily disagree with it.
Like his novels, this record is stuck in that brooding, romantic, how-many-girls-can-I-lay-with-my-poetry? groove imo.
He also has that cult of personality thing going on here in Canada which can be very tiring as well.
Roberta Flack's version of this is straight
I was the same when I was a kid - "Fuck that miserable old hippy". An ex-girl used to make me listen to "Songs From A Room" "Songs Of Love and Hate" or "Various Positions" whenever I went round to her place "until you get it", and eventually I did. I know more women who like Leonard Cohen than I do women who like, say, Dylan - anyone else find this? He definitely had something that appealed to the ladies, as far as I can figure out.
He's what? 70? This is one his more recent gals
Please see getting into panties with poetry note above!!
And if he cant, he'll have Charlie Daniels do it for him.
Tha may very well be, but he'll still bore me with his music.
Don't hate hte player, hate the game! His pimp hand probably weighs a ton.
Anyone singing his songs is better than listening to him.