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Re: References in Cohen songs to other songs / poems / etc

Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2025 1:29 am
by LisaLCFan
AlexandraLeft wrote: Fri Apr 18, 2025 10:33 pm Don’t think I saw this mentioned but ‘Go No More a Roving’ is allegedly from a Byron poem too

Update: I checked, it is basically just the poem put to words...
Not "allegedly", nor "basically", but actually (and, it is the poem put to music, not "to words"). Lord Byron is credited by Leonard Cohen in the liner notes of the Dear Heather album as the author of the words. Likewise on that album, "Villanelle for our Time" was a poem written by Frank Scott (also credited in the liner notes). Obviously, these two examples are not merely "references" to other works found in Leonard's songs, but other people's poems that he set to music. (Of course, setting someone's poems to music is a very old practice!)

Nice that you're interested in Leonard's work! Cheers!