Leonard's Segues, Interludes, and Thank You's

[lizzytysh]

A minor slip of understanding on your part, Kush ~

The host Jarl had supplied leonard with all the nessecary ingredients for making a red needle and asked leonard to show us how to make one. As he was making the drink, he look up at the audience and said, "gee I was I could make one for each and everyone of you" and the as the drink was finished he smiled and said :"oh a drink at last". And by the way, the bottle of mexican teqqila, was almost emptied by the end of the show.

Quite a difference between Danish and American TV ~ dang right "Leonard asked if he could come back next week."

I put in my requisite 5 minutes of blame on New Year's Eve 2001 ~ 5 minutes of Jay Leno, right after midnight. Another 5 just prior to midnight readying for the ball to fall in Times Square. I used to watch Conan O'Brien, too ~ liked him a lot.

[Vesuvius]

Ciao Lizzytysh,

I think Leonard drinks too much. More red wine, less tequila. Remeber on Austin city when he was sweating tequila juice? That is the tip-off as my American friend says.


Vesuvius

[Andrew (Darby)]

My favourite concert intro is the Helsinki 1993 one, where Leonard not only thanks the audience for coming along despite times being difficult and ticket prices being high, but also relates how he recently had seen a documentary in America that suggested their people were "sullen, melancholic and depressed" and then adds the wonderfully droll punch-line "but I come here to cheer myself up!"

Cheers
Andrew (Darby)

[lizzytysh]

Ciao, Vesuvius ~ That's also one of the reasons Leonard was reluctant to keep up his heavy tour schedule. Yes, I remember his tequila comments. However, it does seem he had a pattern with his group for their drinking. At least from what he said in an interview.

That's great, Andrew. I've never heard that Live concert, but how perfect could that have been .

[Vesuvius]

Ciao Lizzytysh,

I have another instruction! But not by Leonard. It is in Aix-En-Provence 1970. He is singing One of Us Cannot be Wrong again!
After he finishes singing the last verse. Bob Johnston instructs,

"All right then, lets go."

Leonard starts playing a high-pitched thing.

Leonard continues to play...Bob says,

"Don't go flat, Leonard."

Leonard tries not to go flat...Bob says,

"Bring her up now!"

Leonard stops being flat...Bob says,

"YEAH!"

Leonard finishes play to much applause...Bob says,

Uh, huh, Uh, Huh...ALRIGHT!

Bob is a good instructor!


Vesuvius

[lizzytysh]

You're right, that's a good one, Vesuvius . I'd like to have seen Leonard's face during it, a slight [sardonic? whimsical-of-satisfaction?] smile, a grin, a laugh, or whatever, as he managed to comply, and get Bob's kudo.

[peter danielsen]

I remember that in the before mensioned "talkshow" from 1993 Leonard was asked by a young artist in the audience why he (leonard) thougt his songs had become so popular among the younger generation at the time. Leonards answer came straight away: "They know its good!"

Peter

[lizzytysh]

There goes modesty ~ here comes honesty .

[glyn]

YEH the Iceland one is amazing. It should be issued just as it stood in the concert not edited at all. I get moved at live concerts but rarely recordings but I did at that one, just as if I'd been there.
Goodnight friends

[lizzytysh]

Exactly, Glyn ~ that's precisely how I feel about it, and continue to feel every time I hear it. It's really indescribably impactful. The perfect moment.

Thank you for your own acknowledgement of it.

~ Lizzytysh

[ForYourSmile]

I try to get the presentations of LIVE AT BBC 1969, a wonderful live. It’s important to me because I don’t understand well the English, specially the spoken one, and it’s for me a risky and difficult work. But, I need to understand it!!!

This is my contribution:

This song calls “So Long Marianne”, and a girl called Marianne than I know very well..., she comes to me after I singed it, and she said me... she’s Norwegian, she said me: “I am very glad that you don’t write this song for me” I said oh... yea... ... and she said: “Yes because my name is Marianna” (laughs)

It sounds very personal. Probably not very polite with the poor Marianne.

In this version there are a new verse:

If you leave where we lie, I’ll keep your there
In my heart as some men say
And I who was born to love everyone
Why should I keep you so far away

[linmag]

ForYourSmile ~ I agree that the Live at the BEEB recording is a great show. Such a young and (comparatively) diffident Leonard.

I hope you don't mind my saying so, but I think you may have the first line of the extra verse to So Long, Marianne slightly wrong. I think it's usually shown as:

If you leave, where will I keep you then

but yours is a very interesting variation

[ForYourSmile]

Hi linmag,

Certainly, 36 years younger.

I have repeated this song often and I agree there is a mistake, but I even listen:

If you leave where we lie, I'll keep you then

Well, probably I must trust in your English hearing.

It's an interesting variation because it's not mine. It's extracted of Alberto Manzano's book "Leonard Cohen Vol.1 Canciones y Nuevos Poemas 1986". Manzano is for me an authority in knowledge on LC, and a personal friend of him.

Of this book we can read another verse, I don't know when he sang it.

Oh your eyes, well, I forget your eyes
Your body's at home in every sea
How come you gave away your news to every one
That you said was a secret for me

Now, it's not a secret for anybody. I hope that the Alex's mother don't feel like biographical. Don't be ex-of a sincere artist.

[lizzytysh]

I love this line :
"Your body's at home in every sea"

and the lament of former lovers :
"How come you gave away your news to every one
That you said was a secret for me."

[linmag]

I'm not sure that he ever did sing that verse, but it's included in my copy of Stranger Music. I was convinced that I had read the other verse somewhere too (the one I 'corrected'), but now I can't find it anywhere. Perhaps you were right all along