| Warren Zevon – Accidentally Like A Martyr Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| ThornBirds: I've been the girl you're talking about- except he was much more than 3 years older than me. It's no easier from this side of things! Peace... | |
| Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Thank you to the many people who gave their interpretation of this perfectly written song. I'm going to share some of my thoughts, as a newbie here. First, I wonder why nobody commented on Leonard Cohen's choice of the 4 verses for his original version. I have heard many covers of this song, but they all chose his revised version, in the live concert. It's interesting to me to see that the original version (the lyrics here) seem much more attuend to his description of the song as "an affirmation of faith in the world". He closes his version essentially saying, "It all went wrong, but I'll still stand before God and be thankful it happened at all". As a woman who's had her heart broken more times than I care to count, Amen to that! The other versions, while the lyrics are haunting, don't resonate the same way with me as an affirmation. Those versions end with the love being broken down and cold. To me, the original lyrics are much more powerful. Leonard Cohen's version was also my favorite, until 2 days ago. I'll explain if I can. Jeff Buckely's version to me is pitch perfect and lyrical, like an angel singing. It somehow sings to my spirit. KD Lang put out a spectacular version that screamed a woman's pain at losing the love who made her feel the Holy Ghost moving through her- and it dwelled on the pain and kept me there. I cried all the way through it. However, I felt that the original, with its life-affirming lyrics and Leonard's resonant voice, spoke directly to my heart and earthly body as a man who wanted me in a very real and delectable way. It gave me chills and made my pulse race with the spiritual and visceral meaning of the orgasm. Awesome power, and not to be outdone by any imitations. Just two days ago, though, I stumbled upon a version sung by a Canadian singer named Allison Crowe. It was described in a review as "the most perfect female vocal recording ever produced". I was intrigued, and did a search for it on You Tube. Her voice, and the spiritual power she infused into her rendition, left me absolutely speechless. She chose the same version as the other covers, but where theirs stopped at the pain of loss, hers seemed to transcend it. If you have a few minutes to spare, and you're interested, do yourself the favor and look it up. It's the only one I think that builds upon the original instead of reinterpreting it. Just my $.02. Thanks for listening. |
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| Leonard Cohen – Alexandra Leaving Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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You and Thespian had some great points. I was intrigued by the poem imagery, but that fits perfectly. To me, this song is about that terrible moment when your lover stops loving you. The god of love departs, taking a man's beloved with him. That is the "lord". However, I would say this man is not innocent. The lines "in full command of every plan you wrecked" seem to indicate otherwise. This is a man who can't seem to get out of his own way in love (we all know someone like that, don't we?) He restores his status by having Alexandra, but she has ideas to leave. Even though she's still lying next to him in bed, and kisses him good morning, she's as good as gone. The man is intuitive enough to notice it (suddenly the night has grown colder...") There are many wonderful songs comparing the loss of love to the loss of a kingdom or porperty (think Fleetwood Mac's "rulers make bad lovers/ you better put your kingdom up for sale"). The metaphor is very powerful in this song, and the writing is exquisite. I am a poet myself, and capturing that single important moment in time is the hardest thing to do. Cohen does this so beautifully here it makes my heart ache in its simplicity. |
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| Leonard Cohen – Last Year's Man Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I read this differently. To me, it is about a writer experiencing the pain of being the jilted lover, and also a writing slump. The opening is a description of the room he is sitting in today, down to the detail about the shadows of the thumbtacks. The rain is falling down on him because the skylight is leaking. He won't fix it, probably because it's beyond repair or he doesn't have the energy. The stanza about Joan of Arc is describing a lover who chose emotionally wounded men as her companions. In the dating scene, it's hard to know what women want- soem want their man to be a saint, and some a demon. He's hoping for someone willing to let him be human, like Cain before his fall. In the last stanza, nothing has happened, because he hasn't written anything to be able to give it life yet. But there is potential for his words to make miracles happen in the world of a song, where he is God. I also love the imagery and the solitude. I think this is wonderfully written song. |
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