Is it really any different than any other year? Really? Here are some notable deaths:
30 - Jesus
2011 - Elizabeth Taylor, Amy Winehouse, Jack Layton, Lokomotiv hockey team
2012 - Dick Clark, Neil Armstrong, Rodney King, Larry Hagman
2013 - Nelson Mandella, James Gandolfini, James Avery, Paul Walker
2014 - Robin Williams, Tony Gwynn, Shirley Temple,
2015 - Leonard Nimoy, B.B. King, Percy Sledge, Yogi Berra 2017 - Gord Downie
Wtf is wrong with you?
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I loved Russian Red's cover of So Long Marianne. That was the thing with Cohen, I found him more or less unlistenable, but his stuff was amazing when covered.
There are certainly a lot of great covers and homages to the man. It was actually Concrete Blonde covering Everybody Knows in the Pump Up the Volume movie that i liked and my cousin hated it. She was telling me to listen to the original, and I just ignored her as being a music snob at the time.
I sort of forgot about him and then I started to hear other musicians I like play more covers and name-drop him, which got me interested in his songs more. I think it was Curt Cobain saying "Give me Leonard Cohen Afterworld, so I can sigh eternally..." in the song Pennyroyal Tea which really made think about what I must be missing out on.
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Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 11-11-2016 at 08:39 AM.
I've kind of been preparing myself for this for a while but it still stings. Like most of you in this thread and obviously elsewhere Leonard was part of my life, particularly during my most formative years. His music, poetry and books were part of my education as a young man, both formally and not. I feel like a little part of me is gone, and it also feels kind of selfish to even look at it that way. I never met the man but I did see him perform. But it wasn't his performance or writing that stood out, although they were both good if not great. His soul was aspirational and somehow encouraged other souls to aspire through his art. I was always touched that whether he was singing about love, death, sex, art, beauty, politics, pain or himself that he always did it with the voice of the soul, if that makes any sense. His art was unique in many ways and he had the singular ability to mingle in that twilight where the ethereal meets the real. It not only feels like we lost Leonard but also that we lost something else forever that I wish I could express. I'm sure he could.
The other messed up emotion I'm experiencing is much more personal. Inevitably when listening to his music I would think of another 82 year old, wise, playful, kind Jew: my dad. They even looked a little bit alike. So, I'm feeling a little weird about this at the moment. I'm going to have to give the old guy a hug and tell him I love him.
My apologies if this was too personal for a hockey forum. I didn't intend to give a eulogy, stuff just came out. I'm certainly going to miss him like I miss a passed love one, but in a more confused way. But what a life.
Last edited by Red Slinger; 11-11-2016 at 08:44 AM.
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As much as I hate to admit it, I wasn't really familiar with him before hearing that song during the opening ceremony. It was stunning. Not often I'm floored by a performance but I sure was that night. Made me look for other material done by him.
And ya, she crushed it. Absolutely did him justice with that one.
Last edited by GoinAllTheWay; 11-11-2016 at 11:52 AM.
Is it really any different than any other year? Really? Here are some notable deaths:
30 - Jesus
2011 - Elizabeth Taylor, Amy Winehouse, Jack Layton, Lokomotiv hockey team
2012 - Dick Clark, Neil Armstrong, Rodney King, Larry Hagman
2013 - Nelson Mandella, James Gandolfini, James Avery, Paul Walker
2014 - Robin Williams, Tony Gwynn, Shirley Temple,
2015 - Leonard Nimoy, B.B. King, Percy Sledge, Yogi Berra
2017 - Gord Downie
In fairness I'm still pretty bitter about Bowie. I had naturally assumed that he was immortal.
And the Gord Downie bit displeases me. I know what you're getting at, but that is going to suck.
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As much as I hate to admit it, I wasn't really familiar with him before hearing that song during the opening ceremony. It was stunning. Not often I'm floored by a performance but I sure was that night. Made me look for other material done by him.
And ya, she crushed it. Absolutely did him justice with that one.
I believe Cohen mentioned that her version was perfection, and he actually recommended Lang do the Olympic performance of Hallelujah instead of him when organisers asked him to do it.
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I can definitely see how many people would not be into Cohen's music or performances, and would prefer other artists' renditions of his music; that said, I don't think it can be argued that the lyrics that he wrote are not on the very top tier of poetry put to music, if not (imo) the greatest of all-time for lyrical and emotional depth.
A few years ago he was in Halifax to play a show. On my lunch I decided to take a walk to a nearby grocery store. As I was walking up to the door they opened and out walked Leonard Cohen. He adjusted his hat and continued on his way. I guess he was just out for a walk before his show that night. It was very cool to see.
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While kd Lang hit it out of the ball park with her Olympic performance of Hallelujiah, my favorite kd performance of that song was when Cohen was inducted into the CSHF in 2006. He was in attendance and you can see him at the end of this clip.
