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True, I got a CD because of autotune. It was about 2005 or 2006 and music started in getting really annoying. The same auto tune shit on radio. My girlfriend at the time asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I said "The Essential" by Leonard Cohen, because I wanted music with an original voice. And I also like his deeper singing voice. And I had barely any music CDs. I was at university at the time and downloading music was very easy and fast.
Nothing can beat the original. He knows what he wants to deliver. He understands live. Simple and beautifull. it's all about expression and transfer emotions. I think one of the songs, most covered by such great singers. Each cover should be different from this original, because this original is phenomenal. Please listen to 15 year old Emma Kok with full orchestra and choir doing her version of Hallelujah. Thanks for your reaction.
my fave version ever. While he is rough, it suits the song. Of course he wrote it for his voice and style. While the modern clean pretty versions it's a good song. His version resonates with the song
This. None of the pretty covers by pretty singers with pretty voices come CLOSE to the way Leonard inhabits this song and makes you feel every word. He means it. The others not so much.
I took my mom to see this show at the O2 in Dublin. It was a highlight of her life as she loves Leonard Cohen. He played for about 3.5 hours. Keep in mind Beth he's in his late 70s in this video.
The Webb sisters singing "If It Be Your Will" during the live shows while Leonard listened in the background, simply basking in their voices, is a strong contender for the most perfect moment in music.
Saw him in 2012, greatest concert I have ever been to. Top notch lyrics, emotional voice, incredible band and back up singers. Over 3 hours from a 78 year old performer. As the music reviewer for the local paper said, “If you consider music a religion, it was like going to church.”
When anyone else covers Leonard's songs I listen to their voice not the words. Leonard's unique, if far from perfect voice touches me in the way that no other can. I feel a deep emotion with nearly every verse. That is why he is my all time favourite artist. The two concerts of his that I attended when he was in his late 60s or 70s were the closest I've ever been to a spiritual encounter.
In 1993, on accepting his Juno award for best male vocalist, Cohen quipped, "Only in Canada would I receive an award for best male vocalist." I love Leonard: a great poet, a timeless philosopher, and an all-round great guy.
Leonard Cohen's "Famous blue raincoat" is another song that brings me to my knees crying every single time, if there ever was as man that could be used as the personification of love and at the same time heartbreak... that man was Leonard. A genius of poetry yet someone that knew his music too, like the triplets in Famous blue raincoat, or the rising verses of Hallelujah, coming to an ecstasy in the Hallelujah, the way that this song is written like a gospel song, showing how love can drive someone to do things akin to a religious fervor, almost an extremism. Maybe not a technical singer, but a feeling singer!
One of my favorite examples of good writing is in that song. "Last time I saw you, you looked so much older. Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder." Such a clear and concise way to describe so much by focusing on a simple detail. It says everything you need to know.
If there was ever a song that fit his voice, especially his voice on that album so close to the end. It's feels like a haunting call from beyond the grave.
I was lucky enough to see this line up with Leonard in Sydney a couple of years after this was recorded. It was one of the best concerts I've ever seen and the whole band added to the performance - especially, as Leonard called them, the sublime Webb sisters on backing vocals.
It took me a while to warm up to Leonard Cohen’s voice. At first I didn’t like the fact that his pitch was sometimes off and some other idiosyncrasies, but I eventually came to love it for its deep resonance and story-telling abilities. While many others technically sing this song much better, I love this version the most.
I saw Cohen in what I think was this same tour - it was December 2012 and roughly one year before his very last concert. It stands as one of my favourite concerts and I've been to a lot of them. RIP Leonard Cohen. Definitely one of the GOATs.
I have sang Rufus Wainright's version at karaoke for many years. I thought up until about 4 months ago that this was a praise song that had lyrics that did not make much sense to me. Then I read somewhere of Cohen doing an interview explaining that this was about a divorce/breakup and it was a real aha moment. Now I get it.
Do listen to some of his early recordings. His songs are stories where he tells enough, but not too much. One of my favorites is "Chelsea Hotel #2", which came from an encounter he had with Janis Joplin.
I'm always impressed by song writers like Cohen who can write amazing songs like this. Truly gifted. I can see he began writing poetry as his lyrics are often so poetic. I love his voice. It may not be "Pop friendly" but it has an emotional depth few singers can match. Thanks Beth.
Canada loves him so much that we gave him a Juno award for Best Male Vocalist of the Year in 1993. I've loved him since his first LP and his voice is part of it. The raw imperfection makes the songs more approachable, more intimate. Dylan is the same. By letting you approach the song, it makes what they are saying more important.
Perhaps you might consider that Leonard Cohens shifting of pitches comes (at least in part) from his long-term engagement in Zen buddhism. In chanting sutras masters often do that. I were lucky to see him in some of his late concerts and he was just so special. Leonard used to say: "We will meet again further down the road."
G'day Beth, While many people sing Hallelujah to me rather than a song being sung this version is a musical poem/story with Mr Cohen following the music halfway between Spoken & Sung. Mr Cohen wrote a very emotional outporing & while there are some other sung versions I like his are my favourite versions.
Mr Cohen is actually one of few singers I enjoy more in his older days rather than younger. That dark barrytone voice is really a great vessel for his poetry. I´ve had the goo fortune of seeing him twice live and it´s the closest to a religous experience as I´ve ever come close to. It was never about technique with him but rather feelings and emotions.
Cohen was like the proverbial sage on top of the mountain, who has wisdom unattainable to regular people. Maybe the greatest songwriter ever to walk the Earth.
i have Leonards greatest hits album somewhere in storage ,every song a classic The Stranger song,the sisters of mercy and Suzanne come to mind right away. i think i bought it in the late seventies. He and Dylan are two guys that could not sing but were able to get the message across with amazing lyrics.
Leonard Cohen never had any illusions about him as a singer. His strength was never being a technical singer. It was always about the storytelling and conveying feelings and emotions. A friend actually briefly spoke to Mr Cohen at the award ceremony when hi won the Juno award for best singer. My friend said “ Congratulations Mr Cohen. Best singer, eh? How about that?” To which Mr Cohen grinned and chuckled: “ Haha. Yeah, it can only happen in Canada”. Now my friend absolutely didn’t mean it as an insult but rather believed Mr Cohen saw the humor in it which he clearly did. What a poet and storyteller he was and there’s better music in heaven after his passing
For me, Cohen, much like Tom Waites, is about how their voice makes you feel. How they seem to make your brain vibrate a certain way. They aren't the greatest vocalists, but the tones really are affecting in an almost personal way
WHAT?!?!?! People are debating whether or not LC is a good singer?!!! This was fantastic!!! Maybe the best version I've heard. Thank you for reviewing this and showing him off.
Leonard is both singer and poet to me. Though it could be said he never had much melody to his voice, the depths he was capable of reaching were tremendous valleys. Particularly on his final album, which is heavy enough with atmosphere and themes that it can create a nearly religious listening experience. And of course as a wordsmith he was the exact opposite of a writer of ordinary lines. His lyrics alone are fine literature.
For a long time Cohen didn't consider himself a singer, others convinced him that he might be the best interpreter of his lyrics. He was an incredible poet and philosopher and I find his presentation of his songs especially moving.
This song (and this version has it but seems to be rare - there are many about 15 different verses have appeared over the many versions) has one of my favourite stanzas ever written: "I tried my best. It wasn't much. / I couldn't feel so I tried to touch. / I 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"
That verse is in the original recorded version from Various Positions - which is lyrically my preferred version. And which I prefer to most of the cover versions out there (kd lang gives it a good run for the money). I bought the album on a whim around 1986 or '87, not knowing a single song on it (I knew a few of his earlier songs and had studied his poetry in a CanLit class in university). There are several amazing songs on there, but Hallelujah immediately stood out as something utterly exceptional, and made me forever a fan of Cohen.
What I love about Leonard Cohen is he knew his weakness and so as not to stretch his voice too much he went to the German Sprechgesang/Sprechstimme, which worked for him so beautifully. Also I just love that so many misinterpret the meaning of this song. Ssh, it's something to do with making love mixed a feeling of religiosity. 😁
Great reaction Beth! RIP Leonard Cohen. His voice suited what he wrote in a manner of conveying the intention & meaning. Was it a melodic voice? No., but he had his own style. If you like Jeff Buckley's version, I HIGHLY recommend checking fellow Canadian songstress kd Lang's version, at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics! Even Mr. Cohen had said (at his induction to the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame - where kd Lang did this song) that the song can be laid to rest - her version is the ultimate realization of his words! If that's not high praise, I don't know what is! Cheers.
I saw him play this on his final tour. Bankrupt, having to work at 80. He was inspiring how he bounced on and off the stage to bring joy to the crowd. Still the only man who can give his song real justice
He had an extremely limited range. But he was a better lyricist (in my opinion) than Bob Dylan, and an absolutely magnetic performer. His charisma was on the same level as Frank Sinatra or Freddie Mercury. You just felt under his spell for the entire concert. But he also made you feel like you were his friend, and that he was honoured to be performing for you. I was lucky enough to see him four times, and wish it had been 44. A friend of mine went into the hotel he was staying at the day after a concert near Sligo Ireland. She went up to him, told him she’d been at the precious nights show and thanked him. He insisted on buying her a pot of tea and a scone, and sat down and talked to her for an hour! I think he was just a special person
Apart from his poetic skills, I always thought his believability was one of his great strengths. This song is dark, the halleluja is clearly a metaphor for something that it is broken. Whatever you interpret it as, you don't convey broken with a high pitch perfect tone voice. He tells a story and you believe him. He has you hook, line and sinker a few lines in.
There is something special when a songwriter sings their own highly emotional song. You can often feel that deep connection with them that other artists cannot capture, no matter how beautiful or perfect the vocals may be. "A Rainy Night In Georgia" by Tony Joe White comes to mind as do many compositions by Gordon Lightfoot.
I love this version. Some great songs have been covered by singers so well that they have effectively taken the song from the original artist (examples include Aretha's version of Respect, or Hendrix's All Along the Watchtower). There have been some incredible covers of Hallelujah that I love, including KD Lang and Rufus Wainwright. I remember waking up in the middle of the night once when the radio was playing Jeff Buckley's performance -- in my semi-woken state and not immediately recognizing the song I remember thinking it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard, close to a religious experience. That is an amazing cover, the only performance that stands up to Cohen's. This is still Leonard Cohen's song...
Thanks for this reaction. I would love to see you react to another Leonard Cohen song such as "Anthem", "Tower of Song" or Dance Me to the End of Love. These songs demonstrate the beautiful blend of Leonard's voice with his accompanying vocalists.
In the late 70's I introduced a friend to Leonard Cohens music. When I mentioned his name she said "Leonard Cohen the poet ? " She was amazed at his music as she had no idea that he recorded music. I think I played the album with "Suzanne " as one of the tracks. After listening she was impressed.
Leonard Cohen’s version of this song, particularly at this time in his life, is tremendously underrated. I know everyone goes to Jeff Buckley’s cover, but IMO opinion, this is the canonical version of “Hallelujah”.
In 1993 in Canada he won a Juno award for Male Vocalist Of The Year. With a sense of humour, some humility, self-awarness, a twinkle in his eye and a grin on his face he accepted his Juno award by saying into the microphone, "only in Canada".
And "Fable" is a great album, filled with Beth's beautiful voice, intriguing lyrics, interesting melodies and very climactic arrangements. And it's very neatly published as well. Get your own copies!
You as a singer should really do KD langs version Even Leonard said after hearing her sing it that it was hers now ... The 2010 Olympic version of the version at the Canadian Juno awards. .... I consider her one of the best female vocalist of the last 40 years
I think, Professor Beth, that you have made a very valid distinction between Singing and Performing, Execution and Presentation. They're DIFFERENT! If you're in the ensemble, you sing and execute AS WRITTEN. If you're a big-name lead, you have a lot more leeway as to what or how (or even IF) you sing and how you present. (Either way, you best do what the Director or Producer tells you to do! THEY write the checques!)
I first saw him in the early 70s in a university gym. The final time was in Toronto on his farewell tour. This video could have been taken at that concert, though it probably wasn’t. Other than his poetry and aging but still powerful voice, what I recall from both these concerts was the effect he had on the women in the audience. Yep, he still had it in his 80s. What an amazing human.
Whether Julie Christensen and Perla Batalla in the late 1980s and early 1990s, or the Webb Sisters (Hattie and Charley) and Sharon Robinson (here), or Jennifer Warnes in the early 1970s and 2000s, Leonard's female back up singers are always the best. And the keyboard player here, Neil Larsen, is feeling it too! 👍😁
@@bluebird1239 Yes, from 1986, titled "Famous Blue Raincoat (The Songs of Leonard Cohen)" after the song of the same title 👍 I have the Japanese first issue CD (1987, catalog number: Cypress Records 32XB-123) and the 24K gold reissue, remastered by the great Bernie Grundman (2007, catalog number: Impex Records IMP8301). Also on 180g LP, the 2015 reissue, also remastered by Bernie Grundman (catalog number: Impex Records IMP6021). Her cover of "Famous Blue Raincoat" is one of my favorites, as is her live cover of Leonard Cohen's "Joan of Arc" (live in Antwerp, 1992) which can also be seen here on youtube: ua-cam.com/video/OOh8SQxad2c/v-deo.html And if you like Jennifer and Leonard's music, you should really hear her cover of Leonard's 'Ballad of the Runaway Horse', the version she did with Bassist Rob Wasserman for his album 'Duets' (1988, I have the hybrid CD/SACD reissue from 2017, catalog number Analogue Productions, CAPP 118 SA). If I remember correctly, Leonard changed the lyrics just slightly for Jennifer's version of his song, at her request. It's available on youtube. Found it, here it is, if you are not familiar with it, I hope you like it 👍 ua-cam.com/video/5BD7CFwiIsI/v-deo.html
There are so many of his songs I love, the latest song he had was You Want It Darker. I also love Jennifer Warnes cover album of Leonard's songs, especially First We Take Manhattan, and Joan of Arc; Manhattan has Stevie Ray Vaughan playing lead, and in Joan has both Jennifer and Leonard singing.
I've always found it so strange this becoming a Christmas classic considering the things discussed within and how dark and sad the song is, rather than triumphant. Really glad you covered Cohen and not one of the later covers. Really excellent stuff, thank you!
![Wasn't expecting that ... but AMEN 🙌🏽 | Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah (Live In London) [REACTION]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vkiwJ_DTvxI/mqdefault.jpg)
![АЛАУДИНОВ у Скабеевой: эти их ВСУ нас НЕ ДОГОНЯТ 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/an0anqU4WGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
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Try Starrider from Foreigner ua-cam.com/video/-ZXXy6-e_9w/v-deo.htmlsi=hsObPzRqa-fj2BJX
Leonard Cohen is the best argument in the world against Autotune and other pitch corrections
Here, here!
Well said
True, I got a CD because of autotune.
It was about 2005 or 2006 and music started in getting really annoying.
The same auto tune shit on radio.
My girlfriend at the time asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I said "The Essential" by Leonard Cohen, because I wanted music with an original voice.
And I also like his deeper singing voice.
And I had barely any music CDs. I was at university at the time and downloading music was very easy and fast.
That is a very salient statement.. very true
Nothing can beat the original. He knows what he wants to deliver. He understands live. Simple and beautifull. it's all about expression and transfer emotions. I think one of the songs, most covered by such great singers. Each cover should be different from this original, because this original is phenomenal. Please listen to 15 year old Emma Kok with full orchestra and choir doing her version of Hallelujah. Thanks for your reaction.
Leonard Cohen was a poet of the highest order... he was one of Bob Dylan's favourite artists. A gift from Canada to the world, and missed greatly.
Leonard Cohen is an example of incredible character. Up there with Tom Waits
Rest in Peace Mr Leonard Cohen. I love you and miss you so much.❤❤❤❤
WE love you and miss you so much
my fave version ever. While he is rough, it suits the song. Of course he wrote it for his voice and style. While the modern clean pretty versions it's a good song. His version resonates with the song
This. None of the pretty covers by pretty singers with pretty voices come CLOSE to the way Leonard inhabits this song and makes you feel every word. He means it. The others not so much.
I'd agree. Its also why Buckley's version always stuck with me too. It should be illegal to sing this song with a smile and autotune.
I took my mom to see this show at the O2 in Dublin. It was a highlight of her life as she loves Leonard Cohen. He played for about 3.5 hours. Keep in mind Beth he's in his late 70s in this video.
Same as when I saw him. Had the whole place enthralled for over 3 hrs.
Leonard was awesome. I especially love 'Tower of Song'.
For me it's Anthem and Suzanne.
Agreed. Also "Take this Waltz" for me...
The backup singers, "Leonard's Angels", are the amazing Webb sisters and Leonard's friend and cowriter Sharon Robinson.
Sharon was the one that convinced Leonard to make a come back so late in his career. He had been swindled out of his life's savings.
The Webb sisters singing "If It Be Your Will" during the live shows while Leonard listened in the background, simply basking in their voices, is a strong contender for the most perfect moment in music.
I was going to mention them as well. “Closing Time” is where I first really paid attention to them.
Don't care about perfect pitch, don't care about technically correct, so long as you let your soul shine. That's what Leonard is doing 😎
Saw him in 2012, greatest concert I have ever been to. Top notch lyrics, emotional voice, incredible band and back up singers. Over 3 hours from a 78 year old performer. As the music reviewer for the local paper said, “If you consider music a religion, it was like going to church.”
When anyone else covers Leonard's songs I listen to their voice not the words.
Leonard's unique, if far from perfect voice touches me in the way that no other can.
I feel a deep emotion with nearly every verse. That is why he is my all time favourite artist.
The two concerts of his that I attended when he was in his late 60s or 70s were the closest I've ever been to a spiritual encounter.
In 1993, on accepting his Juno award for best male vocalist, Cohen quipped, "Only in Canada would I receive an award for best male vocalist." I love Leonard: a great poet, a timeless philosopher, and an all-round great guy.
Leonard Cohen's "Famous blue raincoat" is another song that brings me to my knees crying every single time, if there ever was as man that could be used as the personification of love and at the same time heartbreak... that man was Leonard.
A genius of poetry yet someone that knew his music too, like the triplets in Famous blue raincoat, or the rising verses of Hallelujah, coming to an ecstasy in the Hallelujah, the way that this song is written like a gospel song, showing how love can drive someone to do things akin to a religious fervor, almost an extremism.
Maybe not a technical singer, but a feeling singer!
One of my favorite examples of good writing is in that song. "Last time I saw you, you looked so much older. Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder." Such a clear and concise way to describe so much by focusing on a simple detail. It says everything you need to know.
❤
Whether early in his career, or later when his singing voice was much deeper, Leonard's voice is exactly right for every song 👍😎
You should try “You Want it Darker”, recorded just before he passed.
If there was ever a song that fit his voice, especially his voice on that album so close to the end. It's feels like a haunting call from beyond the grave.
I was lucky enough to see this line up with Leonard in Sydney a couple of years after this was recorded. It was one of the best concerts I've ever seen and the whole band added to the performance - especially, as Leonard called them, the sublime Webb sisters on backing vocals.
I totally agree about the concert I got to see Leonard and his amazing band and backup singers in Melbourne. One of my all time favourite concerts.
“Singer or Poet?” YES!!
It took me a while to warm up to Leonard Cohen’s voice. At first I didn’t like the fact that his pitch was sometimes off and some other idiosyncrasies, but I eventually came to love it for its deep resonance and story-telling abilities. While many others technically sing this song much better, I love this version the most.
saw him live a few months before he passed away in his home town of Montreal with my dad. One of the best live show I saw ever
I saw Cohen in what I think was this same tour - it was December 2012 and roughly one year before his very last concert. It stands as one of my favourite concerts and I've been to a lot of them. RIP Leonard Cohen. Definitely one of the GOATs.
Everytime I listen to this song I get goosebumps such an amazing song
I'd love your reaction to Leonard Cohen's Closing Time video.
Please listen to K.D. Lang's version of this beautiful song. She is also Canadian, and Cohen said her's was the best version. Hi from Canada!
she is great
I have sang Rufus Wainright's version at karaoke for many years. I thought up until about 4 months ago that this was a praise song that had lyrics that did not make much sense to me. Then I read somewhere of Cohen doing an interview explaining that this was about a divorce/breakup and it was a real aha moment. Now I get it.
Do listen to some of his early recordings. His songs are stories where he tells enough, but not too much.
One of my favorites is "Chelsea Hotel #2", which came from an encounter he had with Janis Joplin.
seeing KD Lang in concert sing this - tears flowed
I'm always impressed by song writers like Cohen who can write amazing songs like this. Truly gifted. I can see he began writing poetry as his lyrics are often so poetic. I love his voice. It may not be "Pop friendly" but it has an emotional depth few singers can match. Thanks Beth.
Unique and perfect , nobody used words so accurately , opening investigations . Sail on Leonard . ❤
Canada loves him so much that we gave him a Juno award for Best Male Vocalist of the Year in 1993. I've loved him since his first LP and his voice is part of it. The raw imperfection makes the songs more approachable, more intimate. Dylan is the same. By letting you approach the song, it makes what they are saying more important.
Leonard Cohen was a gift from Canada to the world such a beautiful song I think this is one of the top 10 most covered songs in the world
Cohen is a poet.
kd lang is a singer, and these days, she's the only one I listen to sing "Hallelujah". She knows what it's about.
Thank you for the Sinead O'Connor interview. And for this. Cohen and O'Connor have been favorites of mine for decades.
I have This Concert on DVD, It's A fantastic Show, Leonard Cohen At his very Best, just Brilliant.
Perhaps you might consider that Leonard Cohens shifting of pitches comes (at least in part) from his long-term engagement in Zen buddhism.
In chanting sutras masters often do that.
I were lucky to see him in some of his late concerts and he was just so special.
Leonard used to say: "We will meet again further down the road."
He would never say he was a great singer.
But I would 😁
G'day Beth,
While many people sing Hallelujah to me rather than a song being sung this version is a musical poem/story with Mr Cohen following the music halfway between Spoken & Sung.
Mr Cohen wrote a very emotional outporing & while there are some other sung versions I like his are my favourite versions.
Mr Cohen is actually one of few singers I enjoy more in his older days rather than younger. That dark barrytone voice is really a great vessel for his poetry. I´ve had the goo fortune of seeing him twice live and it´s the closest to a religous experience as I´ve ever come close to. It was never about technique with him but rather feelings and emotions.
Cohen was like the proverbial sage on top of the mountain, who has wisdom unattainable to regular people. Maybe the greatest songwriter ever to walk the Earth.
One of the bestest voices, ever. Poet, singer, man. "I'm man"
This live version by Leonard is my absolute favorite. And the headmaster looking guy on organ, that man slayed it!!!!
Leonard Cohen reminds us what class is.
Hallelujah!
i have Leonards greatest hits album somewhere in storage ,every song a classic The Stranger song,the sisters of mercy and Suzanne come to mind right away. i think i bought it in the late seventies. He and Dylan are two guys that could not sing but were able to get the message across with amazing lyrics.
Leonard Cohen never had any illusions about him as a singer. His strength was never being a technical singer. It was always about the storytelling and conveying feelings and emotions. A friend actually briefly spoke to Mr Cohen at the award ceremony when hi won the Juno award for best singer. My friend said “ Congratulations Mr Cohen. Best singer, eh? How about that?” To which Mr Cohen grinned and chuckled: “ Haha. Yeah, it can only happen in Canada”. Now my friend absolutely didn’t mean it as an insult but rather believed Mr Cohen saw the humor in it which he clearly did. What a poet and storyteller he was and there’s better music in heaven after his passing
For me, Cohen, much like Tom Waites, is about how their voice makes you feel. How they seem to make your brain vibrate a certain way. They aren't the greatest vocalists, but the tones really are affecting in an almost personal way
Glad that you still look like you're having fun after all this time on the platform. Thanks for all the videos
WHAT?!?!?! People are debating whether or not LC is a good singer?!!! This was fantastic!!! Maybe the best version I've heard. Thank you for reviewing this and showing him off.
You should listen to Jennifer Warnes and the album "Famous Blue Raincoat"
He was proud of that album. He said that she gave his songs a soul.
Truth. Mr. Cohen always had great backup singers, and she was one of the best. She made some great music on her own.
Leonard is both singer and poet to me. Though it could be said he never had much melody to his voice, the depths he was capable of reaching were tremendous valleys. Particularly on his final album, which is heavy enough with atmosphere and themes that it can create a nearly religious listening experience. And of course as a wordsmith he was the exact opposite of a writer of ordinary lines. His lyrics alone are fine literature.
Cohen made a name for himself as a poet and novelist before becoming a singer/songwriter.
Yes.. that is the Mighty Hammond B3 organ. A very unique instrument when first developed. Still desired today.
For a long time Cohen didn't consider himself a singer, others convinced him that he might be the best interpreter of his lyrics. He was an incredible poet and philosopher and I find his presentation of his songs especially moving.
11:53 well isn’t that the perfect analogy for life. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Loved your comments. First time viewer.
This song (and this version has it but seems to be rare - there are many about 15 different verses have appeared over the many versions) has one of my favourite stanzas ever written:
"I tried my best. It wasn't much. / I couldn't feel so I tried to touch. / I 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"
That verse is in the original recorded version from Various Positions - which is lyrically my preferred version. And which I prefer to most of the cover versions out there (kd lang gives it a good run for the money).
I bought the album on a whim around 1986 or '87, not knowing a single song on it (I knew a few of his earlier songs and had studied his poetry in a CanLit class in university). There are several amazing songs on there, but Hallelujah immediately stood out as something utterly exceptional, and made me forever a fan of Cohen.
What I love about Leonard Cohen is he knew his weakness and so as not to stretch his voice too much he went to the German Sprechgesang/Sprechstimme, which worked for him so beautifully. Also I just love that so many misinterpret the meaning of this song. Ssh, it's something to do with making love mixed a feeling of religiosity. 😁
YES !! Love you too !!
Great reaction Beth! RIP Leonard Cohen. His voice suited what he wrote in a manner of conveying the intention & meaning. Was it a melodic voice? No., but he had his own style.
If you like Jeff Buckley's version, I HIGHLY recommend checking fellow Canadian songstress kd Lang's version, at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics! Even Mr. Cohen had said (at his induction to the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame - where kd Lang did this song) that the song can be laid to rest - her version is the ultimate realization of his words! If that's not high praise, I don't know what is! Cheers.
I saw him play this on his final tour. Bankrupt, having to work at 80. He was inspiring how he bounced on and off the stage to bring joy to the crowd. Still the only man who can give his song real justice
I had the privilege of seeing him live twice, two of the best concerts I've ever been too. Just wanted go back in and listen to it all again
One of his Austin City Limits sets he had a keyboard that looped beats and music and two backup singers. It's so good.
I love the Hammond in the backing. Goibg to church in your ears.
Thanks for all the facts of which one (Red Needle) was new to me.
K.D. Lang singing "Hallelujah" at the 2005 Canadian Juno Awards is a masterpiece...when Cohen heard Lang's version he said that it was her song now...
*hers - no apostrophe!
K.D's version at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics is amazing too!
It's the singer-songwriter style that he helped create--a music to be contemplated, to be attended to. The lyrics are the priority.
Love this poet / singer.
He had an extremely limited range. But he was a better lyricist (in my opinion) than Bob Dylan, and an absolutely magnetic performer. His charisma was on the same level as Frank Sinatra or Freddie Mercury. You just felt under his spell for the entire concert. But he also made you feel like you were his friend, and that he was honoured to be performing for you. I was lucky enough to see him four times, and wish it had been 44. A friend of mine went into the hotel he was staying at the day after a concert near Sligo Ireland. She went up to him, told him she’d been at the precious nights show and thanked him. He insisted on buying her a pot of tea and a scone, and sat down and talked to her for an hour! I think he was just a special person
Freddie Mercury was kinda gay
Apart from his poetic skills, I always thought his believability was one of his great strengths. This song is dark, the halleluja is clearly a metaphor for something that it is broken. Whatever you interpret it as, you don't convey broken with a high pitch perfect tone voice. He tells a story and you believe him. He has you hook, line and sinker a few lines in.
It's more impressive to be able to completely redefine singing such that you make heart-aching beauty out of things previously considered ugly.
There is something special when a songwriter sings their own highly emotional song. You can often feel that deep connection with them that other artists cannot capture, no matter how beautiful or perfect the vocals may be. "A Rainy Night In Georgia" by Tony Joe White comes to mind as do many compositions by Gordon Lightfoot.
For some reason this and the American nation anthem always gives me goosebumps no matter who sings it.
I love this version. Some great songs have been covered by singers so well that they have effectively taken the song from the original artist (examples include Aretha's version of Respect, or Hendrix's All Along the Watchtower). There have been some incredible covers of Hallelujah that I love, including KD Lang and Rufus Wainwright. I remember waking up in the middle of the night once when the radio was playing Jeff Buckley's performance -- in my semi-woken state and not immediately recognizing the song I remember thinking it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard, close to a religious experience. That is an amazing cover, the only performance that stands up to Cohen's. This is still Leonard Cohen's song...
Thanks for this reaction. I would love to see you react to another Leonard Cohen song such as "Anthem", "Tower of Song" or Dance Me to the End of Love. These songs demonstrate the beautiful blend of Leonard's voice with his accompanying vocalists.
In the late 70's I introduced a friend to Leonard Cohens music. When I mentioned his name she said "Leonard Cohen the poet ? "
She was amazed at his music as she had no idea that he recorded music. I think I played the album with "Suzanne " as one of the tracks. After listening she was impressed.
He has a delivery sort of spoken in the way Willie Nelson delivers his lyrics live.
Brilliant musicianship and backing singers. Wonder if the mandolin invokes memories of the seven years he spent on Hydra with his muse Marianne.
Lenard Cohen is also a poet and artist. Find a copy of his book, "a verse and song" I bought a first hard copy of it. He was amazing
imo, Everybody Knows is one of the best written songs ever, one of his best
Tower of Song from this performance should be a 101 class on how to own an audience and he was 80 when he did this.
This song shows you don't need pitch correction. The emotion and feeling carry this song.
Thank You !
Leonard Cohen’s version of this song, particularly at this time in his life, is tremendously underrated. I know everyone goes to Jeff Buckley’s cover, but IMO opinion, this is the canonical version of “Hallelujah”.
In 1993 in Canada he won a Juno award for Male Vocalist Of The Year. With a sense of humour, some humility, self-awarness, a twinkle in his eye and a grin on his face he accepted his Juno award by saying into the microphone, "only in Canada".
Cohen's vocal imperfections make his words more meaningful and relatable to us all- you do not have to be k.d. lang to do this song justice!
And "Fable" is a great album, filled with Beth's beautiful voice, intriguing lyrics, interesting melodies and very climactic arrangements. And it's very neatly published as well. Get your own copies!
As much as I love every version of this song, I'm still trying to get over it being played with Christmas music
You as a singer should really do KD langs version Even Leonard said after hearing her sing it that it was hers now ... The 2010 Olympic version of the version at the Canadian Juno awards. .... I consider her one of the best female vocalist of the last 40 years
Leonard Cohen's Live in London us a great album. The songs and the musicians are superb.
Leonard Cohen and Tom weights are are our poet kings
I'll fight anyone who says this isn't the best version (and probably lose haha). If you know, "everybody knows".
Beth you need to react to the cover of this song by K.D.Lang, at the 2010 olympic opening ceremonies
Dance me to the End of Love is a great song but the video for it is brilliant.
Your videos are just phenomenal these days.
I think, Professor Beth, that you have made a very valid distinction between Singing and Performing, Execution and Presentation. They're DIFFERENT!
If you're in the ensemble, you sing and execute AS WRITTEN. If you're a big-name lead, you have a lot more leeway as to what or how (or even IF) you sing and how you present.
(Either way, you best do what the Director or Producer tells you to do! THEY write the checques!)
I first saw him in the early 70s in a university gym. The final time was in Toronto on his farewell tour. This video could have been taken at that concert, though it probably wasn’t. Other than his poetry and aging but still powerful voice, what I recall from both these concerts was the effect he had on the women in the audience. Yep, he still had it in his 80s. What an amazing human.
Whether Julie Christensen and Perla Batalla in the late 1980s and early 1990s, or the Webb Sisters (Hattie and Charley) and Sharon Robinson (here), or Jennifer Warnes in the early 1970s and 2000s, Leonard's female back up singers are always the best. And the keyboard player here, Neil Larsen, is feeling it too! 👍😁
Did you ever hear Jennifer Warnes album where she sings Leonard Cohen's songs? She did a great job!
@@bluebird1239 Yes, from 1986, titled "Famous Blue Raincoat (The Songs of Leonard Cohen)" after the song of the same title 👍 I have the Japanese first issue CD (1987, catalog number: Cypress Records 32XB-123) and the 24K gold reissue, remastered by the great Bernie Grundman (2007, catalog number: Impex Records IMP8301). Also on 180g LP, the 2015 reissue, also remastered by Bernie Grundman (catalog number: Impex Records IMP6021).
Her cover of "Famous Blue Raincoat" is one of my favorites, as is her live cover of Leonard Cohen's "Joan of Arc" (live in Antwerp, 1992) which can also be seen here on youtube: ua-cam.com/video/OOh8SQxad2c/v-deo.html
And if you like Jennifer and Leonard's music, you should really hear her cover of Leonard's 'Ballad of the Runaway Horse', the version she did with Bassist Rob Wasserman for his album 'Duets' (1988, I have the hybrid CD/SACD reissue from 2017, catalog number Analogue Productions, CAPP 118 SA). If I remember correctly, Leonard changed the lyrics just slightly for Jennifer's version of his song, at her request. It's available on youtube.
Found it, here it is, if you are not familiar with it, I hope you like it 👍 ua-cam.com/video/5BD7CFwiIsI/v-deo.html
He wrote the song. He is great.
There are so many of his songs I love, the latest song he had was You Want It Darker. I also love Jennifer Warnes cover album of Leonard's songs, especially First We Take Manhattan, and Joan of Arc; Manhattan has Stevie Ray Vaughan playing lead, and in Joan has both Jennifer and Leonard singing.
I've always found it so strange this becoming a Christmas classic considering the things discussed within and how dark and sad the song is, rather than triumphant. Really glad you covered Cohen and not one of the later covers. Really excellent stuff, thank you!
This is his song, but you should check out when Kd Lang sang it live at the 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver, Canada...... Incredible version!!!!!
Travel a half century back in time to experience Judy Collins' rendition of Cohen's "Hey, That's No Way To Say Good-bye".