Leonard Cohen Appreciation Thread

[Snowbunny]

Hallelujah

Now I've heard there was a secret chord
that David played and it pleased the Lord,
but you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth
the minor fall, the major lift;
the baffled king composing Hallelujah!

Your faith was strong but you needed proof.
You saw her bathing on the roof;
her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you.
She tied you to a kitchen chair
she broke your throne, she cut your hair,
and from your lips she drew the Hallelujah!

You say I took the Name in vain;
I don't even know the name.
But if I did, well, really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light in every word;
It doesn't matter which you heard;
the holy, or the broken Hallelujah!

I did my best; it wasn't much.
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch.
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you.
And even though it all went wrong,
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah!

Arguably the best song ever written or covered by a million or so artists.

What's your favourite Leonard Cohen song?

C'mon! Even if you don't like his voice how can you not love his beautiful lyrics.

Snowie

[Snowbunny]

Bumpety-Bump!

Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she's half crazy
But that's why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you've always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you've touched her perfect body with your mind.
And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will 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
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body with his mind.

Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she's touched your perfect body with her mind.

[Slosh]

all the insects stuck on you, they pray for you
and they're raising their babies inside of you
and they're building their cities between your toes
planning summer vacations up to your nose

Time to jack this thread. Wayne Robbins & The Hellsayers appreciation (because it's NP)

[Snowbunny]

all the insects stuck on you, they pray for you
and they're raising their babies inside of you
and they're building their cities between your toes
planning summer vactions up to your nose

Time to jack this thread. Wayne Robbins & The Hellsayers appreciation (because it's NP)

Hijack away! That's a great song. Old school lyrics, tho. Spider lyrics were cool back in the day of Mercury Rev - All is Dream.

[Swish]

all the insects stuck on you, they pray for you
and they're raising their babies inside of you
and they're building their cities between your toes
planning summer vacations up to your nose

Time to jack this thread. Wayne Robbins & The Hellsayers appreciation (because it's NP)

big wet bottle in my fist
big red rose in my teeth
I'm a perfect piece of ass
like every Californian
so tall I take over the street
with high beams shining up my back (or somethin' like that)
a wing span unbelievable
I'm a festival, I'm a parade
and all the wine is all for me

I double jacked this thread because The National "Alligator" is NP.

Deal with it!
Swish
a

[Snowbunny]

a

Heheheh... love your avatar, Siwash!

It was very good once I added an extra shot of vodka.

Snowie

[Snowbunny]

Famous Blue Raincoat

It's four in the morning, the end of December
I'm writing you now just to see if you're better
New York is cold, but I like where I'm living
There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening.
I hear that you're building your little house deep in the desert
You're living for nothing now, I hope you're keeping some kind of record.

Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You'd been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without Lili Marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody's wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane's awake --

She sends her regards.

And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear --

Wasn't this written about someone famous?

[dean_martin]

Like a baby,
stillborn
Like a beast
with his horn
I have torn everyone
who reached out to me.

From Bird on a Wire
(gets my vote for best use of similes in a song - ever)

[tentoze]

Well, it could be different in 5 minutes, but "Take This Waltz" is it right now.


Now in vienna there’s ten pretty women
There’s a shoulder where death comes to cry
There’s a lobby with nine hundred windows
There’s a tree where the doves go to die
There’s a piece that was torn from the morning
And it hangs in the gallery of frost
Ay, ay, ay, ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz with the clamp on it’s jaws

Oh I want you, I want you, I want you
On a chair with a dead magazine
In the cave at the tip of the lily
In some hallways where love’s never been
On a bed where the moon has been sweating
In a cry filled with footsteps and sand
Ay, ay, ay, ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take it’s broken waist in your hand

This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz
With it’s very own breath of brandy and death
Dragging it’s tail in the sea

There’s a concert hall in vienna
Where your mouth had a thousand reviews
There’s a bar where the boys have stopped talking
They’ve been sentenced to death by the blues
Ah, but who is it climbs to your picture
With a garland of freshly cut tears?
Ay, ay, ay, ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz it’s been dying for years

There’s an attic where children are playing
Where I’ve got to lie down with you soon
In a dream of hungarian lanterns
In the mist of some sweet afternoon
And I’ll see what you’ve chained to your sorrow
All your sheep and your lilies of snow
Ay, ay, ay, ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
With it’s I’ll never forget you, you know!

This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz ...

And I’ll dance with you in vienna
I’ll be wearing a river’s disguise
The hyacinth wild on my shoulder,
My mouth on the dew of your thighs
And I’ll bury my soul in a scrapbook,
With the photographs there, and the moss
And I’ll yield to the flood of your beauty
My cheap violin and my cross
And you’ll carry me down on your dancing
To the pools that you lift on your wrist
Oh my love, oh my love
Take this waltz, take this waltz
It’s yours now. it’s all that there is.

[opt80]

I have to say Hallelujah and Suzanne are my favs.

I have Hallelujah by 3 different artists,Jeff Buckley(best) Patricia O'Callaghan(very good and a damn good name) and blues singer Poppa Chubby.
The song has sarcasm and pathos,and as Toze will attest to,these are some of my favorite components of a song

Alan

[Dusty Chalk]

I dig his voice, but not real interested in his lyrics. The only one I even partially remember is "The Future".

[ForeverAutumn]

I have to say Hallelujah and Suzanne are my favs.

I have Hallelujah by 3 different artists,Jeff Buckley(best) Patricia O'Callaghan(very good and a damn good name) and blues singer Poppa Chubby.
The song has sarcasm and pathos,and as Toze will attest to,these are some of my favorite components of a song

Alan

Alan, you have to hear this song sung by k d lang. Her voice is haunting. She recorded it on her last CD, Hymns Of The 49th Parallel. The whole CD is a tribute to some of the greatest Canadian songs ever written and this is certainly one of them.

Although I agree with you about Cohen's voice. I do enjoy his songs when sung by others.

[Swish]

Heheheh... love your avatar, Siwash!

It was very good once I added an extra shot of vodka.

Snowie

Maybe I'll swipe that from you too while I'm at it.

Swish Baby

[ForeverAutumn]

Siwash. Isn't that something you do to clean the ocean?

[Slosh]

Siwash. Isn't that something you do to clean the ocean?

Sounds more like a sound you make while polluting the ocean.

pollution, all around
sometimes up, sometimes
down
but always around

are you coming to my town, pollution?
or am I coming to yours?

we're riding different buses you and I, pollution
but we're both using petrol

bombs!

[Snowbunny]

Sounds more like a sound you make while polluting the ocean.

pollution, all around
sometimes up, sometimes
down
but always around

are you coming to my town, pollution?
or am I coming to yours?

we're riding different buses you and I, pollution
but we're both using petrol

bombs!

Isn't that from Sesame Street?

Hey! You live in Bethlehem, don't you? Do you ever see the Virgin Mary in grilled cheese sandwiches?

[Snowbunny]

Maybe I'll swipe that from you too while I'm at it.

Swish Baby

Sure! Contrary to the smart-ass comments from the peenut gallery it is actually a rock named by the Squamish Nation (Vancouver/Whistler area) after a purification ritual.

If you have a good imagination you can see Davey running by the rock along the seawall in Stanley Park.

Siwash Rock

This rock used to be a blend of sandstone and molten material. The main sandstone mass eroded more quickly than the volcanic mass leaving the pinnacle.

[Slosh]

Isn't that from Sesame Street?

I guess me and Stone are the only people around here with some culture. I only speak this way to appear more sophisticated!

Hey! You live in Bethlehem, don't you? Do you ever see the Virgin Mary in grilled cheese sandwiches?

I know a few Marys, none of which are the least bit virginal, but I see Jesus everyday at work. People keep saying, "Hey Zeus" to him for some reason. Wonder if that makes him mad? I called him Buddha once but he didn't react. Maybe he's comfortable with his girth.

[Monkey]

I guess me and Stone are the only people around here with some kind of smelly culture growing between our toes. I only speak this way because I'm always constipated!

God, I'm bored. I might as well be listening to Genesis. I'm so hungry I could eat my own ear wax. And we all know how horrid that is, right kids?

[Davey]

If you have a good imagination you can see Davey running by the rock along the seawall in Stanley Park.

Naked!

[ForeverAutumn]

it is actually a rock named by the Squamish Nation (Vancouver/Whistler area) after a purification ritual.

Sea? I was right!

[opt80]

Alan, you have to hear this song sung by k d lang. Her voice is haunting. She recorded it on her last CD, Hymns Of The 49th Parallel. The whole CD is a tribute to some of the greatest Canadian songs ever written and this is certainly one of them.

Although I agree with you about Cohen's voice. I do enjoy his songs when sung by others.

I was in Indigo one nite and they had played Kd's version. There was a little girl sitting on a window seat,while her mom browsed nearby.The child was no more than 4 years but she was singing " Hallelujah" over and over again.priceless

Alan

[Slosh]

Hey! You live in Bethlehem, don't you? Do you ever see the Virgin Mary in grilled cheese sandwiches?

Saw the Virgin Mary she was crying blood
Tears congregate into a mighty flood
Gave her some directions to a specialist,
An eye doctor to help her cyst
She took the wrong turn to the family planning


x-mas lyrics

[Snowbunny]

Naked!

That's so cute! Is that actually a real book?

Here's one for you: