we are ugly but we have the music

[ironymaiden]

"Only in Canada could somebody with a voice like mine win 'Vocalist of the Year'." - Leonard Cohen

i'll not join in the anti-war song meme, but it led me to put on Leonard Cohen today (i think The Captain is an anti-war tune, but it's rather ambiguous). his often cheeseball arrangements can be a bar to entry, and we don't hear him much in the US, but i expect his songs to become standards. (no, Hallelujah is not a Rufus Wainright original.)

i love his way with words, and i love the way his voice has been ravaged by time, so that New Skin for the Old Ceremony and I'm Your Man sound like they could have been recorded by different artists.

Comments

[buhrger]

"Only in Canada could somebody with a voice like mine win 'Vocalist of the Year'."
my favourite line from Len has gotta be

I was born like this
I had no choice
Born with the gift
Of a golden voice

(from "Tower of Song" if i remember correctly)

guys take it funny when i say it

[ironymaiden]

this is mine:
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.

from Take This Waltz

[bdkellmer.livejournal.com]

I love Leonard Cohen. The Partisan is probably my favorite.

[raevnos.livejournal.com]

I don't like young Leonard Cohen recordings, but old Cohen's great. It's all in the changes in his voice.

[pixxelpuss.livejournal.com]

In his books they make no distinctions between lyrics and poems, so I actually read all of his songs as poetry first. Which made the first listening a little strange. I was like "Where did all of this synth come from?"

But yeah, I love him. I like "the Favorite Game".

[jfrog78.livejournal.com]

The story of Issac is probally my favorite. I'm just glad I lived with someone in college who loved Len. That was the first time I heard him on a stormy night. I have been a fan since!

[mr-sadhead.livejournal.com]

God love Leonard Cohen!
I walk around in the rain listening to "Last Year's Man" and feeling sorry for myself. Two great covers of his songs are "Hallelujah" as covered by John Cale (who bears investigating if you love Cohen), and a kickass country-rock version of "Diamonds In The Mine" by the Broken Family Band, which is on the gimme CD included with the current issue of UNCUT (the one with Kiss on the cover).