Vale: Leonard Cohen

[Horace]

I know the passing of this great man has been noted elsewhere on this board, but in my opinion well worth its own thread.

I saw him a couple of times in concert as well as spent a lot of time listening to the great man's music at the music room at Melbourne University.

Hard to believe he has gone and so soon after the passing of Marianne Ihlen, described as his "muse" in this obituary for Marianne.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/08/19/marianne-ihlen-leonard-cohens-muse--obituary/

This bit from the obituary is scarily predictive.

When he heard she was dying of leukemia he wrote to her and said.

“Well. Marianne, it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine.”

“And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and for your wisdom….but now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.”

I suppose their hands have met and they are on that road together now.

 

[The Filth Wizard]

Had a good knock.

May very well have had a claim on Dylan's Nobel Prize too. He was a beautiful lyricist.

And he would have forgotten things we only dream about.

 

[Ocha905]

Discovered him and his latest album 'You want it darker' last night and it's great. I'll be looking into his considerable discography any pointers?

Rest in peace.

 

[Tas]

RIP

 

[The Filth Wizard]

Discovered him and his latest album 'You want it darker' last night and it's great. I'll be looking into his considerable discography any pointers?

Rest in peace.

Various Positions is excellent. It's got Hallelujah and Dance Me To the End Of Love which is great.

The Essential Leonard Cohen is also one of the most perfect compilations you can find as far as career coverage goes.

 

[shintemaster]

That's a really touching writeup Horace. Dust Ninja's have attacked my eyes...

 

[Hojuman]

Just leave this here. Vale Leonard.

 

[Kimbo]

Vale the man with the golden voice.
Do dum dum, da do dum dum.

 

[The Other Dean]

Discovered him and his latest album 'You want it darker' last night and it's great. I'll be looking into his considerable discography any pointers?

Rest in peace.

Bloke struggled to make a bad album, but as with any artist that has produced such a large body of work, there is always going to be a certain degree of conjecture over his career highlights. Saying that, there's a few albums from the first half of his career that have received near-universal praise and are generally considered "essential listening" for anyone with an interest in his work - the brilliant 1967 debut, Songs Of Leonard Cohen, the sublime Songs Of Love And Hate, and the even sublimer I'm Your Man.

Personally, I also rate New Skin For The Old Ceremony and The Future (a fantastic album that suffered only by virtue of having to follow up the all-conquering, I'm Your Man).

I'm not as well versed in his later stuff, but can vouch for Old Ideas and, in particular, 2014's excellent Popular Problems.

Ridiculously gifted artist, and the world is a poorer place for his passing.

 

[RobZombie]

Various Positions is excellent. It's got Hallelujah and Dance Me To the End Of Love which is great.

The Essential Leonard Cohen is also one of the most perfect compilations you can find as far as career coverage goes.

Various Positions also has The Captain and If It Be your Will.

From his earlier records, the debut "Songs of Leonard Cohen" and "Songs of Love and Hate" are essential LC albums. Between them they have Suzanne, Sisters Of Mercy, So Long Marianne, Hey That's No Way to Say Goodbye, Avalanche, Famous Blue Raincoat (one of the most perfect songs ever written), Sing Another Song, Boys and Joan of Arc.

From Later on, "I'm Your Man" is great.

 

[andana]

Discovered him and his latest album 'You want it darker' last night and it's great. I'll be looking into his considerable discography any pointers?

Rest in peace.

Last Years Man
Bird On A Wire
concerts with Sharon Robinson & The Webb Sisters

 

[RobZombie]

Bloke struggled to make a bad album, but as with any artist that has produced such a large body of work, there is always going to be a certain degree of conjecture over his career highlights. Saying that, there's a few albums from the first half of his career that have received near-universal praise and are generally considered "essential listening" for anyone with an interest in his work - the brilliant 1967 debut, Songs Of Leonard Cohen, the sublime Songs Of Love And Hate, and the even sublimer I'm Your Man.

Personally, I also rate New Skin For The Old Ceremony and The Future (a fantastic album that suffered only by virtue of having to follow up the all-conquering, I'm Your Man).

I'm not as well versed in his later stuff, but can vouch for Old Ideas and, in particular, 2014's excellent Popular Problems.

Ridiculously gifted artist, and the world is a poorer place for his passing.

Yeah, said it better than me. Shoulda just waited.

 

[Le Grille]

I'm your man is my favourite LC album.

 

[Horace]

That's a really touching writeup Horace. Dust Ninja's have attacked my eyes...

Yes, the same happened to me shinte when I read it a few weeks ago.

His message to Marianne so beautifully encapsulated the wonderful talent that he possessed.

Worth visiting his facebook page. In his recent interview there just around a week ago, he looked very old, very frail and I rather suspect that he might have had an inkling that his time was not too far away.

https://www.facebook.com/leonardcohen/

 

[ferball]

I'm your man is pretty damn good.

 

[Gasometer]

I know the passing of this great man has been noted elsewhere on this board, but in my opinion well worth its own thread.

I saw him a couple of times in concert as well as spent a lot of time listening to the great man's music at the music room at Melbourne University.

Hard to believe he has gone and so soon after the passing of Marianne Ihlen, described as his "muse" in this obituary for Marianne.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/08/19/marianne-ihlen-leonard-cohens-muse--obituary/

This bit from the obituary is scarily predictive.

When he heard she was dying of leukemia he wrote to her and said.

“Well. Marianne, it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine.”

“And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and for your wisdom….but now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.”

I suppose their hands have met and they are on that road together now.

So many olds I have known lose a partner and die of broken hearts within months

 

[ferball]

I've heard it said that Leonard Cohen's lyrics are a bit like Ulysses - capable of predicting referring to everything that ever happened ever.

He was a remarkable song writer. One of the best ever.

 

[ferball]

BTW sorry about the crap vid. The original seems to be banned from youtube. Youse should all be listening to the song anyway.

 

[motlopfan]

Thanks for this thread Horace. I am a huge fan of Leonard's and saw his last three concerts in Melbourne, just extraordinary. 3 hours of sheer joy.
What a band and amazing backup singers in Sharon Robinson and the Webb sisters.
The media concentrate on Hallelujah but true fans know that was just one of hundreds of outstanding songs. He wrote the best lyrics, love "the Johnny Walker Wisdom running high" in Closing Time. Often think of that when my favourite family drunks are solving the problems of the world.
Apparently he struggled physically in recording "You want it Darker".
Vale Mr. Cohen, love you forever.

 

[Horace]

Thanks for this thread Horace. I am a huge fan of Leonard's and saw his last three concerts in Melbourne, just extraordinary. 3 hours of sheer joy.
What a band and amazing backup signers in Sharon Robinson and the Webb sisters.
The media concentrate on Hallelujah but true fans know that was just one of hundreds of outstanding songs. He wrote the best lyrics, love "the Johnny Walker Wisdom running high" in Closing Time. Often think of that when my favourite family drunks are solving the problems of the world.
Apparently he struggled physically in recording "You want in Darker".
Vale Mr. Cohen, love you forever.

Cannot agree more, motlopfan. His last concert here in Melbourne was just a magnificent performance. I marveled at how fit and well he looked and how long he performed for. I probably have greater memories of that performance than I have of any other concert I've ever been to.

Listening to "You want it darker" last night just further confirmed the magic of his words. On the ABC last night they played most of the tracks, before playing that most beautiful song "Marianne". Listening to it again so soon after he died just made the words even more poignant than ever before and as a love song it has always been most beautiful.

They finished with the last track on "You want it darker" and if that is not a portent for his looming death, then I don't know what is. But just about every track is littered with references to his pending demise. For example, "I'm ready, I'm ready my lord" and "I'm out of the game" and "I'm leaving the table". What an extraordinarily brave effort to write such lyrics for that last album, which I believe he knew would be his last.

 

[The Other Dean]

LC special - 'I'm Your Man' - on ABC2 right now.

 

[sbdan]

Discovered him and his latest album 'You want it darker' last night and it's great. I'll be looking into his considerable discography any pointers?

Rest in peace.

I don't want to direspect the great man, but my favourite album was sung by other people. "I'm your fan" was the first cd i ever bought (early 90s i think) and an absolutely brilliant compilation.

 

[The Other Dean]

LC special - 'I'm Your Man' - on ABC2 right now.

Thanks for the tip, dude. Wasn't a bad watch.

For those who missed it, the doco centred around the 2005 LC Tribute Concert at the Sydney Opera House, interspersed with some excellent snippets of interviews with the great man (and other musos reflecting on Cohen's work and legacy). Opera House concert footage featured some superb interpretations of his songs by Nick Cave, Beth Orton, Antony (of Antony & The Johnsons, who did a great version of "If It Be Your Will"), Jarvis Cocker, The Handsome Family, and others, culminating in this fine reading of "Hallelujah" by Rufus Wainwright, his sis Martha, and Joan Wasser (of Dambuilders/Joan As Police Woman/lots of other stuff fame).



Doco ended with this piece of awesomeness. Could be my favourite thing U2 have ever done.

 

[Horace]

Thanks for the tip, dude. Wasn't a bad watch.

For those who missed it, the doco centred around the 2005 LC Tribute Concert at the Sydney Opera House, interspersed with some excellent snippets of interviews with the great man (and other musos reflecting on Cohen's work and legacy). Opera House concert footage featured some superb interpretations of his songs by Nick Cave, Beth Orton, Antony (of Antony & The Johnsons, who did a great version of "If It Be Your Will"), Jarvis Cocker, The Handsome Family, and others, culminating in this fine reading of "Hallelujah" by Rufus Wainwright, his sis Martha, and Joan Wasser (of Dambuilders/Joan As Police Woman/lots of other stuff fame).



Doco ended with this piece of awesomeness. Could be my favourite thing U2 have ever done.

Simply superb, especially the U2 and the great man's version of Tower of Song.

 

[RobZombie]

I don't want to direspect the great man, but my favourite album was sung by other people. "I'm your fan" was the first cd i ever bought (early 90s i think) and an absolutely brilliant compilation.

I loved that album and played the hell out of it. Spoils all other tribute albums forever (though there's a Tom Waits one called Step Right Up that's pretty good).

The only - only - reservation I have with it is John Cale plucking a quirky but likeable obscure album track out for treatment that ended up preserving one particular interpretation in amber and inspiring insipid performances on TV talent karaoke shows for decades.

And don't get me started on Jeff ******* Buckley.