Leonard Cohen explains about his singing
And, since he’s Leonard Cohen, he explains it very, very well:
And what about the charge that his singing causes people to feel suicidal?
Exactly.
As for me, I happen to think that Leonard Cohen’s renditions of his own songs are better than any cover versions I’ve ever heard, although some of the covers are awfully good. I know that a lot of people disagree with me.
I was going to say that he talks like a Canadian. And then I remembered that he was.
His music aside. He seems in a general sense to be a level headed, balanced man for an artist. I though have an idea that his politics are not mine, the impression I get is that he is at a basic level a respectable individual.
If he is a “misery monger” as the reviewer says some have labeled him, at least he is not a whiner.
He looks to be something like what Dustin Hoffman might have been, if Dustin had grown up and become a man.
“I though”
“Though, I …”
i find that jim Croce is the guy to go for to amplify your mood… if your happy, he is ok… if your sad, he can get you to kill yourself… and its odd… (i told a friend this when i have her his album since she liked time in a bottle, and with it the warning “dont listen if your in a bad or sad mood”)
on another note:
Milt Moss, a comic actor who delivered the rueful catchphrase “I can’t believe I ate that whole thing” in a memorable commercial for Alka-Seltzer in 1972, died on Sept. 26 in Manhattan. He was 93.
as usual, you are wrong. LC’s version of “Hallelujah” is Ok, but this is the definitive version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4.
When
When I saw Hank Balz’s comment I thought “oh no, the Tim Buckley one.” Sure enough…
Just goes to show how different tastes can be. I’m with Neo in preferring LC in every case as far as I know. Covers of “Hallelujah” have come close to ruining the song for me, and Buckey’s is a big offender. He’s a great talent but his version is to my taste way overblown.
Oops, I mean Jeff Buckley. Showing my age. Tim was his father.
The first time I heard Hallelujah was as the soundtrack to a slide show of the early war in Afghanistan. It was Jeff Buckley’s cover and I found it quite moving. I still like Buckley’s version a lot (I tend to be a sucker for “overblown”). I also like k.d. lang’s version a lot and I’ve heard a few others that are quite good. But I’m going to have to go with Neo here as I think this is the definitive version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q
Has anyone besides me noticed that none of the covers I’ve heard include the final verse?
And even though it all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of song
With nothing on my tongue
But Hallelujah
Suds 46:
Cohen himself sang at least 2 versions of the song, with different verses, so there’s a Cohen tradition for meddling with the verses. See this as well as this.
As with Dylan I am reluctant to call Cohen’s renditions of his songs better. More powerful might be more accurate. The “My God, this is…” moments that resonate when you hear their renditions is more immediate than with the vocally gifted covers.
But the slower unwrapping of those moments wrapped in a gorgeous delivery is also exquisite. The distraction of the added beauty in some covers gives my unconscious a larger role digesting the lyrics often revealing subtleties missed with the originals. Both delicious recipes, not better or worse.