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2005-12-14 23:50
From: Orpheus
a review of Essential Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen only became known as a singer by his achronistic birth: time retreating 200 years, he would have made it as a very compitent poet. Cohen is one of the few authors of songs that write anything worth going over, and over, and over... as a poet should be (the other notable poets-who-can-sing: our own 崔健, and, to a much lesser degree, 罗大佑).
But...what a terrible, monotonous voice he had! I once listened to an album of other people singing Chen's songs and, man, ain't I floored by joy! The fact that so many fans are mesmerized by even Cohen's voice, to me, only testifies his great power over us, so that we choose to ignore the less appealing aspects of his art.
I can't help offering the lyrics of one song for you to get a taste of what I am talking about. These are just what I can remember, and certainly not the greatest. An initiation, merely.
Joan Of Arc
Now the flames they followed Joan of Arc
as she came riding through the dark;
no moon to keep her armour bright,
no man to get her through this very smoky night.
She said, "I'm tired of the war,
I want the kind of work I had before,
a wedding dress or something white
to wear upon my swollen appetite."
Well, I'm glad to hear you talk this way,
you know I've watched you riding every day
and something in me yearns to win
such a cold and lonesome heroine.
"And who are you?" she sternly spoke
to the one beneath the smoke.
"Why, I'm fire," he replied,
"And I love your solitude, I love your pride."
"Then fire, make your body cold,
I'm going to give you mine to hold,"
saying this she climbed inside
to be his one, to be his only bride.
And deep into his fiery heart
he took the dust of Joan of Arc,
and high above the wedding guests
he hung the ashes of her wedding dress.
It was deep into his fiery heart
he took the dust of Joan of Arc,
and then she clearly understood
if he was fire, oh then she must be wood.
I saw her wince, I saw her cry,
I saw the glory in her eye.
Myself I long for love and light,
but must it come so cruel, and oh so bright?
This review is helpful to 3 person.
2005-12-15 13:49: dotann
Cohen is a poet indeed, I loved reading his lyrics over and over again, the classics being, "Take This Waltz", "Waiting For The Miracle", "A Thousand Kisses Deep", the metaphors, references, and symbols in his lyrics are as far as lyrics of pop / folk music goes.
It's no coincidence that Cohen liked to use female vocal to accompany his own singing, I wonder if it's because he realized the limitation of his own voice.
To be fair, although I'm not exactly "mesmerized" by his voice, it fits his music style very well. I've heard a tribute album for Cohen by some famous bands including REM, they didn't seem to have captured the spirit in his songs, the only exception being a French version of "The Avalanche". A friend once commended that Cohen sounded French even when he's obviously singing in English, maybe that's why! ;)
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2005-12-15 17:14: JmeDoom
What more recent artists would you compare to Cohen? Elliott Smith or Martin Sexton might be the closest. He holds up because he simply can't be imitated.
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2005-12-15 17:35: Orpheus
Do you know which Cohen song goes like, "your hair on my pillow, like a golden thunder-storm", or something like that?
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2005-12-15 19:00: dotann
That's from "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye"
"I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,
your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm"
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2005-12-15 19:01: Orpheus
Yes, yes, yes! Thanks a lot!
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publisher: Sony
title: Essential Leonard Cohen
media: Audio CD
ean: 0696998688421
nummedia: 2
artist: Leonard Cohen
listprice: USD 24.98
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