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LIVE SONGS Leonard Cohen
I call this Leonard Cohen CD
"Best & Worst Of" because that's exactly what it is.
The introduction song "Minute Prologue" is lovely in its' lyrical
simplicity:
"I've been listening to all the dissension/I've been listening to all the
pain/And it seems no matter what I do/It all comes back again/But I'm a fool
because I think I can heal it/I'm a fool because I think I can heal it/Yes, I'm
a fool because I think I can heal it with this song."
Unfortunately the singer follows up the Prologue with "Passing
Through", a sort of Salvation Army like, Jesus-clapping call to arms. The
background singers & instrumentals are very good, but unfortunately the
performer teeters close to a parody in this live selection.
Song 3, "You Know Who I am" is OK.
Everybody's probably heard #4 "Bird on a Wire" somewhere or other.
It's never been one of my personal favorites, but nonetheless has been a
popular mega hit. It has been performed by countless singers & quoted in
many dramatic productions.
The next selection "Nancy" LC definitely IS one of my favorites. I
always think of Marilyn Monroe when I listen to this tune. It's about a woman
who was in the foreground of the sexual liberation scene, but who eventually
dies alone. This doesn't sound like a "live" song.
"Improvisation" is an instrumental live performance and is only
marred slightly by Cohen’s' unnecessary verbal interjections.
Tune #7 "Story of Isaac" is classic Cohen at his best. It is about
"one generation sacrificing another."
#8 "Please Don't Pass Me By" is live & dreadful. It causes one to
wonder if LC would have been happier joining the Salvation Army. His voice is
strident to screaming & the lyrics rather lame.
"Tonight Will Be fine" is a hoh-hum.
The concluding composition "Queen Victoria" is stripped down to a
single guitar stroking backing up Cohen's singing. It's a surreal song dripping
with repressed sexuality (a hallmark of the Victorian Age)& personal
"incomparable sense of loss." This song never received airtime, but
it is oddly engaging. It is one of my personal favorites--and again, it does
not sound live & probably was a studio recording.
Review: JEFarrow
Updated 10/08
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