Just heard the news that Leonard Cohen has passed away. Sad news indeed.
Rest in Pease Leonard. You are in Gods arms now. Thank you for the music, sir.





Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-11-11 21:52 by bv.

Gutted. RIP.

I remember reading his message to Marianne recently before she passed away, and he said something like I think I will not be far behind you. I wondered then. Condolences to his loved ones.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-11-11 04:07 by SomeTorontoGirl.

Shit

Rod

RIP Leonard...

Leonard Cohen - In My Secret Life




_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

[www.rollingstone.com]

this one for some reason particularly, just breaks my heart. i am honestly very upset.

R.I.P., Leonard. Love this song. It got me to buy his first album as my first love's name was Suzanne.

[www.youtube.com]

Ah we're drinking and we're dancing
And the band is really happening
And the Johnny Walker wisdom running high

And my very sweet companion
She's the angel of compassion
She's rubbing half the world against her thigh

And every drinker every dancer
Lifts a happy face to thank her
The fiddler fiddles something so sublime

All the women tear their blouses off
And the men they dance on the polka-dots
And it's partner found, it's partner lost
And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops

It's closing time

So grateful to have seen in Cohen in '09. Just bought and started reading Sylvie Simmons biography about a week ago with the new record out

What a week

I was late to the party with Leonard, but was lucky to have seen him at Radio City Music Hall a few years ago. Such a gracious gentleman. And what a catalog!

Saw him in New York a couple of times. Carnegie Hall in '88 and at what used to be called the Felt Forum in '93. The first time I saw him, he played this dinky little keyboard solo during "Tower of Song." When he finished it, a couple of people clapped and he said, "Thank you, you are far too kind!" I guess you had to be there, but it was pretty funny and it got a big laugh. So the second time I saw him, he did "Tower of Song" again, and played this ridiculous little keyboard solo again, and this time no one clapped. You could see him pause, waiting, expecting someone to applaud so he could deliver his punch line, but no one did. I thought, "Shit, I guess I better help him out here" so I clapped. Sure enough, he turned and looked at me over his shoulder and said, "Thank you, you are far too kind!" Uproarious laughter. One of my most favorite concert memories, ever.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-11-11 05:33 by tatters.

Quote
tatters
Saw him in New York a couple of times. Carnegie Hall in '88 and at what used to be called the Felt Forum in '93. The first time I saw him, he played this dinky little keyboard solo during "Tower of Song." When he finished it, a couple of people clapped and he said, "Thank you, you are far too kind!" I guess you had to be there, but it was pretty funny and it got a big laugh. So the second time I saw him, he did "Tower of Song" again, and played this ridiculous little keyboard solo again, and this time no one clapped. You could see him pause, waiting, expecting someone to applaud so he could deliver his punch line, but no one did. I thought, "Shit, I guess I better help him out here" so I clapped. Sure enough, he turned and looked at me over his shoulder and said, "Thank you, you are far too kind!" Uproarious laughter. One of my most favorite concert memories, ever.

Lovely! Several years ago, Leonard won the Juno (Canadian version of the Grammy) for Male Vocalist of the Year. A review had described his vocal range as being '...between B and B flat...' around the same time. When he came to the stage to accept the award, he looked bemused and said "Only in Canada..." and grinned. He was a lovely, droll man. This loss is hard and will be a long time getting over.

Could this week get much worse?

As he said with perfect Canadian irony, "I was born with the gift of a golden voice"

[www.youtube.com]


Yeah, my friends are gone and my hair is gray
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day in the Tower of Song

. . .

Now I bid you farewell, I don't know when I'll be back
They're moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you'll be hearing from me baby, long after I'm gone
I'll be speaking to you sweetly from a window in the Tower of Song


A Leonard Cohen story (that I've told before, so forgive me if you've heard it) . . .

My brother once told my family (and me) about the night he went out with two girls to a party. It was a big party, apparently, lots happening and such.
He was in university at the time, 1967, trying to finish a degree in architecture at the University of Alberta.

Anyways the story goes that he went with these two girls to a party and they left him there to go home with Leonard Cohen. Sure, we all said, two women left him because of Leonard Cohen, likely story. He said, Cohen stayed the night in the women's apartment and in the morning they woke up to hear this song he'd written for and about them: The Sisters of Mercy. (he told us this after the album came out).

Of course we didn't believe my brother. He could really tell some tales and this was surely one of them. He swore it was true, for years. Cohen was in town at that time (this was Edmonton, Alberta), and the time was right but the likelihood seemed so remote that all of my family members completely discounted my brother's story--had to be complete b.s.

For the longest time, decades, we never believed him. Then, much later, Cohen's Greatest Hits came out. In Cohen's brief note on The Sisters of Mercy he wrote about how he'd written the song after staying the night in an apartment of two women in Edmonton, and how he'd had the song ready for them in the morning when they woke up.

My brother only said, "I told ya."

Another Leonard Cohen story . . . during my and my wife's university days she worked in a Swiss-Italian restaurant. I had just recently started dating her.I went to pick her up at the end of her shift, about two in the morning. This was around the time of I'm Your Man--an album I love (and I've listened to Cohen since I was about 7). So I saw my wife/ girlfriend at the time finishing her service and she's taking forever at this table to leave. I'm only looking at her and then I look at the patrons at the table and sure enough, it's Leonard Cohen. He's in a suit, with a scarf, a flower in his lapel, and he's totally electric.

My wife/ girlfriend finally leaves the table 20 minutes later and she tells me, "sorry I'm late but that guy is the most charming man I've ever met. I didn't want to stop talking to him." And I tell her, "I'm pretty sure that that guy is Leonard Cohen." She had no idea who he was, but she fell in love with him that night serving him wine and pasta. He was a completely charming motherfoxer.



Can't wait for 2016 to be over. Let's hope 2017 has better ideas.


On the internet nobody knows
you're Mick Jagger



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2016-11-11 06:36 by camper88.

Another great artist gone RIP Leonard

Bummer. Thank you for the music.

Quote
tatters
Saw him in New York a couple of times. Carnegie Hall in '88 and at what used to be called the Felt Forum in '93. The first time I saw him, he played this dinky little keyboard solo during "Tower of Song." When he finished it, a couple of people clapped and he said, "Thank you, you are far too kind!" I guess you had to be there, but it was pretty funny and it got a big laugh. So the second time I saw him, he did "Tower of Song" again, and played this ridiculous little keyboard solo again, and this time no one clapped. You could see him pause, waiting, expecting someone to applaud so he could deliver his punch line, but no one did. I thought, "Shit, I guess I better help him out here" so I clapped. Sure enough, he turned and looked at me over his shoulder and said, "Thank you, you are far too kind!" Uproarious laughter. One of my most favorite concert memories, ever.

haha that's great!

First off..... It would be nice if posters could refrain from bringing the result of the U.S election into this post about the passing of Leonard Cohen. He does not deserve that. So no more posts like....."Could this week get any worse."

For me, Leonard Cohen had many attributes that I admire.... Charm, dry wit, eccentricity, and a self-deprecating manner. He had a beautiful way with words, and an ear for a gentle melody. He was without doubt one of my favourite artists. I will miss him greatly.

I shall never forget seeing him play at The O2 in London about five years ago. It was a very special night. One of those concerts where everyone, both on, and off the stage was up for it. Everything was right. He managed to make all the people in that cavernous arena feel as if they were no more than six feet from him. Grown men shed tears with smiles on their faces on what was an emotional night. A concert that I rank as being one of the best I've seen

I'm going to play your music today Leonard, and raise a glass while doing so..... RIP.

The first thing I get to know this morning...it makes me really sad...just yesterday I read that Leonard was maybe considering one final performance...

One of my absolute favourites. What an artist, what a human being, what an inspiration. I have been lucky to have seen him twice on his last tour and will cherish the memory for the rest of my life.

He is now with Roshi, Marianne and others he loved again. Wherever you are, Mr. Cohen, rest in peace. Thank you for the way you spent your time here with us.

Quote
tatters
Saw him in New York a couple of times. Carnegie Hall in '88 and at what used to be called the Felt Forum in '93. The first time I saw him, he played this dinky little keyboard solo during "Tower of Song." When he finished it, a couple of people clapped and he said, "Thank you, you are far too kind!" I guess you had to be there, but it was pretty funny and it got a big laugh. So the second time I saw him, he did "Tower of Song" again, and played this ridiculous little keyboard solo again, and this time no one clapped. You could see him pause, waiting, expecting someone to applaud so he could deliver his punch line, but no one did. I thought, "Shit, I guess I better help him out here" so I clapped. Sure enough, he turned and looked at me over his shoulder and said, "Thank you, you are far too kind!" Uproarious laughter. One of my most favorite concert memories, ever.

Yeap, when I saw him 3 year ago, he said "Do you think this is my best?" It was a routine, but it was always funny and charming.

Oh no. Just listened to him. RIP

One of the greatest. Very sad..

Sad

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

just listening to "Secret life" - so sad
definitely one of the greatest
2016 - what a sh.. year!
RIP

This is one of my favorite later songs: morbid, moving and funny.
What could more bluesy than a life support machine keeping the beat?
And yes, what a week.

Sad. He was a níce guy making nice songs...R.I.P.

2 1 2 0

One of the greats.

Quote
strat72
First off..... It would be nice if posters could refrain from bringing the result of the U.S election into this post about the passing of Leonard Cohen. He does not deserve that. So no more posts like....."Could this week get any worse."

I apologize, my thoughts encompassed far more than the election, which I never mentioned, but as a fan of Leonard Cohen's since 1966 I would not want to detract attention from his passing. Thank you for making me feel even worse.

Edit: Justin Trudeau's statement

http://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2016/11/10/statement-prime-minister-canada-death-leonard-cohen



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-11-11 10:41 by Aquamarine.

2016's list is too long and too

RIP Mr Cohen, Thank you for all of your great music

Appropriate for Veterans Day (and the other international equivalents), Leonard Cohen reads In Flanders Field

video: [www.youtube.com]