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Words by Larry "Ratso" Sloman "What is a saint? A saint is someone who has achieved a remote human possibility. It is impossible to say what that possibility is. I think that it has something to do with the energy of love. Contact with this energy results in the exercise of a kind of balance in the chaos of existence. A saint does not dissolve the chaos; if he did the world would have changed long ago. I do not think that a saint dissolves the chaos even for himself, for there is something arrogant and warlike in the notion of a man setting the universe in order. It is a kind of balance that is his glory. He rides the drifts like an escaped ski. His course is the caress of the hill. His track is a drawing of the snow in a moment of its particular arrangement with More... (Submit New Leonard Cohen Lyrics) (Submit New Leonard Cohen Lyrics) Review about Leonard Cohen Dance Me To The End Of Love | Reviewer: Jennifer Evans ------ About artist/band Leonard Cohen It is only now at aged 63 that I have stumbled upon Leonard Cohen's music and lyrics from his album London Live. Since buying the album I have listened repeatedly to it and I have deep regrets that I have never immersed myself in his lyrics before. However in the hindsight of the wisdom of my own years, this was the right time for me to absorb them as they complete my own life's experiences and philosophies and I found myself echoing and responding like for like. His lyrics speak to me of his search for the heart of the matter, the truth that lies behind the lies. His utter charisma of spirit is breathtaking. His pure unaldulterated eroticism, so beautifully crafted, raises sex to a spiritual level and seems to elevate the female to the status of goddess. He has the ability to 'see' what others only glimpse and is able to literate what he observes whilst others who might 'feel'and echo his profundities in their psyche, could never craft such deep thoughts and emotions into words and music as he does. He strikes a chord in the heart. He opens up the searching mind and reveals the vista that has been hidden by the mist. He stirs the longing to touch and know God. God bless you Leonard and thank you for enriching so many lives. imho | Reviewer: Anonymous ------ About the song SUZANNE performed by Leonard Cohen this is simply what poetry is supposed to be. so simple and at the same time so complex you just want to swim in it. it is ineffably beautiful. so beautiful that, should you ever tire of it, it just might be time to go. Merryweather Post Pavilion-May 11th, 2009 | Reviewer: Allyson MacIntosh ------ About artist/band Leonard Cohen Dear Mr. Leonard Cohen, I had the privilege of coming alone and sitting up front-mid row last night- and being absolutely mesmerised by your concert- you were stupendous. It was an early birthday present to myself; of which I will keep close to my heart; always. Your very words speak volumes to me- it was a spiritual journey if you will. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving so completely of yourself. I wish you life's many blessings, and continue to sing your praises with that 'golden voice'.... Sincerely Yours, Allyson MacIntosh A broader sense of Hallelujah | Reviewer: Cyril E. Caster ------ About the song HALLELUJAH performed by Leonard Cohen Leonard's own explanation is the lyrics themselves, but he has also interviewed on the subject. Hallelujah (the word) is a cry from the soul. It has been appropriated by religion, but LC explains poetically that the soul has other non-religious thing to scream about. glory of sex | Reviewer: analogue ------ About the song HALLELUJAH performed by Leonard Cohen ContraDiction | 12/21/08 While finding the above's review interesting, I disagree on one essential aspect. The song, in my view, is about sexual love, and particularly orgasm, being a religious experience, rather than the glories of music. That's what the lyrics say to me. Hallelujah | Reviewer: Mark ------ About the song HALLELUJAH performed by Leonard Cohen These are the lyrics that Cohen has sung on records and cd's, though not all at the same time and, therefore, not in this order. He once said that it took him 5 years to finish the song, (at one time banging his head on the floor in frustration). You can see why he could have 80 lyrics for this song, the structure is such that it lends itself to innumerable combinations and as long as the last word in the third line ends in the word "you" and the word before that has the oo sound, "you" are halfway there. It could lend itself to an easy parody...I wonder why I haven't heard that yet... C Am Baby, I've been here before. C Am I know this room, I've walked this floor. F G C G I used to live alone before I knew you. C F G Yeah I've seen your flag on the marble arch, Am F But listen, love is not some kind of victory march, G E Am No it's a cold and it's a very broken Hallelujah. F Am F C G Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah There was a time you let me know What's really going on below, Ah but now you never show it to me, do you? Yeah but I remember, yeah when I moved in you, And the holy dove, she was moving too, Yes every single breath that we drew was Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Maybe there's a God above, As for me, all I've ever seemed to learn from love Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you. Yeah but it's not a complaint that you hear tonight, It's not the laughter of someone who claims to have seen the light No it's a cold and it's a very lonely Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. I did my best, it wasn't much. I couldn't feel, so I learned to touch. I've told the truth, I didn't come all this way to fool you. Yeah even tough it all went wrong I'll stand right here before the Lord of Song With nothing on my lips but Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Now I've heard there was a secret chord That David played, and it pleased the Lord But you don't really care for music, do you? It goes like this The fourth, the fifth The minor fall, the major lift The baffled king composing Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Your faith was strong but you needed proof You saw her bathing on the roof Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you She tied you To a kitchen chair She broke your throne, and she cut your hair And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah You say I took the name in vain I don't even know the name But if I did, well really, what's it to you? There's a blaze of light In every word It doesn't matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah eighties night watch | Reviewer: chris searle ------ About the song TAKE THIS WALTZ performed by Leonard Cohen I first heard this in a eighties TV video abut LC comeback .The video was made in Greece where LC had a home at that time .Its magical muic and lyrics especially this track inspired me to revisit the music of LC .The vidoes also had live fotage of LC and his two piece girl backing signers and Halleleuyah .If anyone know this vidoe plaese let me know where i can obtain a copy . Cohen's Lyrics: Never What They Seemed to Be | Reviewer: ContraDiction ------ About the song HALLELUJAH performed by Leonard Cohen Yes!!! After notebooks full of lyrics Cohen wrote for this song, the result seems rather sparse here and in it's initial short recording (Cohen claims at least 80 verses in Final). It was first recording by Leonard Cohen in 1984. It ended up being comprised of various lyrics Cohen had written for the song and sang in the studio on numerous re-cuts/takes. Because Leonard couldn't decide which to use. It was then pulled together by producer John Lissauer into a coherent 4min 39sec recording. In 1994 a live recording was made with more of the original lyrics at 6min 54sec. When Jeff Buckley recorded it he obtained some of those other lyrics (along with Rufus Wainright and John Cale). Jeff called his rendition, "the hallelujah of the orgasm". So what we see as biblical references here, were in fact only superfluous descriptions of Cohen's love of music and the sometimes orgasmic sensations it can induce or produce in us! That's how many (including Cohen), interpret this song. How music can overwhelm us, with an almost Religious Experience, but much like a sexual orgasm, when it's done, it's gone. Leaving only the Hallelujahs on our lips!!! This song has been played at funerals. There again we can find not so much a religious experience, but that once life is done, it's done and gone forever. Fading simply to spent Hallelujahs! We also have to remember much of Cohen's poetry and song writing had a somewhat somber and often times morbid pre-occupation with suicide and death due to the depressions he suffered from periotically until later in life! In the end though, it's brilliant song that comes very close to revealing our cycle of life and how music and love affects us all!!! What Blasphemy??? | Reviewer: Miriam Ohara ------ About the song HALLELUJAH performed by Leonard Cohen What Blasphemy in expose your feelings and truths out? Blasphemy are historic lies and deceives passing by generations!!! This lyrics is the most beautiful one that someone has even write because came from a pure heart in serch for the truth! Blasphemy | Reviewer: Richard ------ About the song HALLELUJAH performed by Leonard Cohen The song “Hallelujah” is noted for containing biblical references in the lyrics, alluding to David's harp-playing used to soothe King Saul (I Sam 16:23), and his later affair with Bathsheba after watching her bathe from his roof (2 Sam 11:2). The line "she broke your throne and she cut your hair" is a reference to the source of Samson's strength from the Book of Judges Chapter 16. Verse 3 and 4 contain veiled references to the sex act. Remember Hallelujah means Praise Jah, you people! Jah is the shortened form of Jehovah. The divine name should not be used in this context. The song sounds religious, ‘the melody is almost liturgical and conjures up religious feelings’ said one commentator. This may well be but the Lord’s name, Jehovah or Jah, must not be said in vain. Usage in this pop record is not appropriate. Many use it at a funeral but it is not relevant there either. Doing so would be equal to blasphemy. Tower of Song | Reviewer: hank williams ------ About artist/band Leonard Cohen A lover turned me on the L. Cohen in the mid seventies. Of course I'd heard Marianne, Bird on a Wire and other tunes covered by Judy Collins and others. I have all his stuff on cd and some vinyl. I have some high quality European bootlegs, mostly concerts..I would love to see him in concert. Terri Gross interviewed him on 'Fresh Air' several years ago. I have a picture of a blackbird on a wire a friend did. As soon as I saw it at a gallery I bought it. Like it was waiting for me all these years. I have tried in my own way to be true. Thats all you can do in the tower of song called life. Leonard Cohen's masterpiece | Reviewer: Steve Borrow ------ About the song SUZANNE performed by Leonard Cohen This is a song about sailors, those of us set loose on the seas of chance and seeking to find meaning and love from all of the confusion. It is Leonard Cohen’s masterpiece, apparently inspired by a real woman. Suzanne is presented as a mysterious woman who, at one level is a mystic who holds up a mirror to the narrator, the looking glass self that enables him to find truth. At another level she is a siren, a mythical being, half woman and half fish, thought to have drawn sailors to their death by the irresistible allure of their beauty and exquisite singing. She draws our narrator to the edge of his journey, down to the harbour, a transit point where sailors pull into port to find emotional sustenance from time to time when on their life’s journey. He finds her oddly irresistible, not withstanding her apparent imperfections and, when the rational begins to intrude, is overwhelmed by her exotic sexuality and aroma (“tea and oranges that come all the way from china”, orange pekoe perhaps?). He succumbs to that temporary madness only true romantics know about: the fusion of two selves into one. Or, perhaps, he succumbs to the power of a truth she reveals. Jesus is also a sailor, a seeker of divine meaning who announces that: “all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them”. The allusion to Jesus is a commentary on the soul of man confined to its physical manifestation until death. Here, the metaphor of the sailor awash upon the seas of experience until the waters claim him or her at last (“Sea shall freed them”) is extended, and the soul – the pure manifestation of self – is freed at the time of death. Jesus was aware of his sacrifice and waited until “drowning men” or those in need of salvation could feel his love. Then we return to Suzanne and perhaps the most beautiful verse the great man has written:- “Now Suzanne takes your hand and she leads you to the river. She is wearing rags and feathers from Salvation Army counters, and the sun pours down like honey on our lady of the harbour, and she shows you where to look among the garbage and the flowers; there are heroes in the seaweed; there are children in the morning; they are leaning out for love; and they will lean that way forever; While Suzanne holds the mirror; and you want to travel with her; and you want to travel blind; and you know that you can trust her, for she's touched your perfect body with her mind”. In her passion and the affect she is having on the narrator, Suzanne has made the mundane seem surreal and magical. Again, at one level she has a saintly quality, our Lady of The Harbour. She is able to find beauty and truth among the physical corruption thrown up and rejected on the shores of the harbour. In the context of the metaphor of the sailor, these have been overlooked by the narrator as he has journeyed through life. There are heroic deeds and the promise of procreation and rebirth in the discarded remnants of his path ("garbage" and "seaweed"). On the other level, Sirens were known to hold up mirrors and admire their own beauty, but here Leonard Cohen’s Siren is perhaps projecting a narcissistic vision of her own dreaming, and for the moment the narrator is seduced by it. He is temporarily blinded to the decadence of her clothing and physical surrounds. He has reached the place only drowning men have been: a place that can only be reached by surrender to profound sensibility and repudiation of reason. He wants to follow her because his being has merged with hers and he is no longer able to check his decent. James Taylor has just released a new version of this song with Yo Yo Ma accompanying him on cello A thread through my life 1972 - 2008 | Reviewer: linda ------ About artist/band Leonard Cohen I first learned of Leonard Cohen in 1972 living in a co-op at Michigan State University. His music was a "part of my 60's" that continued until 1976. I lived his music through 1972 - 1974 in college and later when I traveled to Montreal and Quebec in 1976. The feeling that his early music evokes for me will never leave. I am now one who is a "song to aging children" ala Joni Mitchell, and a Canadian in spirit, even though I am a Michigander. When I hear the music of L Cohen, I think of dark Montreal clubs, farm houses in Quebec and nights at MSU. I am 56 years young, but the spirit he instills will never leave me. And I still think of his "famous blue raincoat" whenever the rain falls. Thank you Leonard. 'In My Secret Life - Lilly Rose | Reviewer: Anonymous ------ About artist/band Leonard Cohen I was 17 when I first listened to Leonard Cohen -I was deeply in love with a young guy from California who came on holiday every year to Ireland - he was my first love and it was he who introduced me to Leonard's music - No we did not marry - I grew up and he went off to 'find himself' - I remember when he would return home after the long summers together I would put on an album by Leonard - I never stopped listening or loving either of them. I had one wish to go to a Leonard Cohen concert but it was not until 35 years later my wish came through. I travelled from Cork to Dublin to see my idol for the first time last month - - words cannot describe how happy this made me feel - 'take this longing from my heart' springs to mind - the years slipped away, when Leonard recited the words of Ten thousand Kisses deep to music, I watched my son of 24 by my side, wipe the tears from his eyes - the silence was unreal - thank you Mr Leonard Cohen for one of the happiest nights of my life - God how I wish I could meet him personally - I have over the years bought all his albums - When I listen to him, Im still that 17 year old in love all those years ago - Guess you are wondering what happened to my American love - well he did come back the night, however it was the night before I married my now husband of 30 years, but he neednt worry hes still with me 'in my secret life' - From 'Lilly Rose' 'In My Secret Life - Lilly Rose | Reviewer: Anonymous ------ About artist/band Leonard Cohen I was 17 when I first listened to Leonard Cohen -I was deeply in love with a young guy from California who came on holiday every year to Ireland - he was my first love and it was he who introduced me to Leonard's music - No we did not marry - I grew up and he went off to 'find himself' - I remember when he would return home after the long summers together I would put on an album by Leonard - I never stopped listening or loving either of them. I had one wish to go to a Leonard Cohen concert but it was not until 35 years later my wish came through. I travelled from Cork to Dublin to see my idol for the first time last month - - words cannot describe how happy this made me feel - 'take this longing from my heart' springs to mind - the years slipped away, when Leonard recited the words of Ten thousand Kisses deep to music, I watched my son of 24 by my side, wipe the tears from his eyes - the silence was unreal - thank you Mr Leonard Cohen for one of the happiest nights of my life - God how I wish I could meet him personally - I have over the years bought all his albums - When I listen to him, Im still that 17 year old in love all those years ago - Guess you are wondering what happened to my American love - well he did come back the night, however it was the night before I married my now husband of 30 years, but he neednt worry hes still with me 'in my secret life' - From 'Lilly Rose' Wow. | Reviewer: Brooke ------ About artist/band Leonard Cohen This man is awesome. I was never a serious fan of anyone before, but I think he has taken my "fan virginity". I am a twenty three year old senior undergraduate in English from Minnesota, and I like to write poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction, but I also LOVE to write tunes, lyrics and even rap. I also draw and have put together music videos and am working with my dear twin on a movie script. Before hearing of Leonard Cohen, I thought there was not another soul in the universe who was interested in doing as many things artistically as I was, much less anyone who could integrate them into a coherant and sucessful career and with such consistent quality. Then I learn this man can write great poetry, great novels, draw (as he does is his poem books),and even create good movies. Wow. Now I have hope that artistic omniscience can be accomplished, and I am not afraid to be someone who cannot be labelled. Long live Leonard Cohen. His lyrics are so sexy and poetic and his voice has got that rocky sound. If he and I had been born in the same time and place, I would probably have stalked him like Diana the Huntress. Dear Lord, luckily for him he has escaped me. Well, perhaps there are other lives.....? Hallelujah | Reviewer: Anonymous ------ About the song HALLELUJAH performed by Leonard Cohen Could you please tell me who is the original writer and who I would need to contct to include the lyrics in a book I am writing about grief and loss? This song - the Jeff Buckley version -is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard - and it was the first song played at my 24 year old son's Memorial Service - he died last spring of a massive drug overdose. My book is to inspire and assist others. louisalasher@mindspring.com Blessing from Heven | Reviewer: lucie di angeli ------ About artist/band Leonard Cohen Leonard Cohen is the greatest singer and prophet of 21-rst century! If we would take one of his songs to be an american anthem we would have much better society right now!I am thrilled that after long "20 years of boredom" his coming back as a victor! Leonard! I am admiring you " et je tirre le chappeau" devant Vous! Lady X Understanding | Reviewer: Angelis Alexi ------ About the song THE GREAT EVENT performed by Leonard Cohen Does anyone have clue what this song is about. The first time I heard it was right after 9/11 which I thought was very erie. Thanks Angelis Different/other verses | Reviewer: Jacobus ------ About the song HALLELUJAH performed by Leonard Cohen Right you are Joan, there's versions with two different verses apparently, as you can see and hear on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf36v0epfmI The first two verses are the same, the rest is: You say I took the name in vain I don't even know the name, but if I did, well really what's it to ya. Theres a blaze of light in every word it doesn't matter which are heard the holy or the broken Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah I did my best, it wasn't much, but I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch, I told the truth, I didn't come to fool ya. And even though it all went wrong I'll stand before the the lord of song with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah… You could review the artist/band Leonard Cohen in Biography page You could review Leonard Cohen album by visiting Albums page and selecting an album You could review Leonard Cohen song by clicking the song which you like  Download "Leonard Cohen" Music | |
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