When did you first hear of L. C. ?

catherine · Post by **catherine** » Fri May 28, 2004 1:20 am

I´s wondering if you remembered when it was that you first came across L.C.
, or when you first started to like his music, poetry etc....

With me this was the case when I was on holiday in Corsica, a few days before my 16th birthday. A friend had brought a tape which he would play all day and one of the songs was "Suzanne." I knew at once that I would love the singer of that song,whoever it might be. Fortunately it turned out not so bad after all.
That was nine years ago.

Cheers, Catherine

linmag · Post by **linmag** » Fri May 28, 2004 2:40 am

I too first heard Leonard when I was about 15 or 16, Catherine, but that was a lot longer than 9 years ago

oliver · Post by **oliver** » Sat May 29, 2004 11:56 am

My parents alwas pissed me off drunk listenning to him, they do not have many cd's leonard cohen, greatist hits was one of them, at the start i was annoyed by it, however now, well... im here warming myself up with lc's poetry.

And in my turn, i piss my friends of mostly people who listen to rap or techno ah new age music-fools

with leonard cohen.

I most of been 17 at that time.

greta · Post by **greta** » Sat May 29, 2004 1:31 pm

it was 2 or 3 years ago when i heard dance me to the end of love on the radio. I loved this song but it was so different from what usually listened(i was a teenager

then, listening to junk ) I found out who sang the song but i didn't take any action.
when i got a mixed cd with waiting for a miracle i took action and i fell deeply in love with his music and voice. i'm still in love

goblinski · Post by **goblinski** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 4:08 pm

Suzanne and So Long Marianne are pretty much the first songs I ever recall hearing - my parents must have played them a lot when I was a bout four or five. I came back to him when I was about 14 or so, and had just got into Dylan and the Beatles and was rifling through my parents record collection for more of the same... Stuck on Songs of... and was transported back to being a kid. I subconsiously knew just about every word.

So thanks mum and dad!

Ank · Post by **Ank** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 5:28 pm

Hi! The first time I heard a LC's song was about 3 years ago (I'm 24) on the radio. It was Take This Waltz. "I'm your man" is a really great album. Then I heard "Ten New Songs" and I had a kind of...illumintion!

starshaped · Post by **starshaped** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 4:04 pm

it was when i heard The Future on Natural Born Killers! i was like wow! what i great song. ive most his albums now except "new skins for old testiment" and "10 new songs"

smccallon · Post by **smccallon** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 5:11 am

I first heard Cohen on the "Best of" and "More Best of" albums in the late nineties when I finally bought them following my introduction to Cohen in 1994 through Kurt Cobain and later through ECW Wrestling.

-Sean

umnica · Post by **umnica** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 10:39 pm

i heard dance me to the end of love (live version, which i think is better than the studio one) on the radio, came across the song a couple of times but never got to hear who the singer was. then i remember listening to the same station like a lunatic not to miss the song again.

then i downloaded suzanne. his voice, the music and most important of all the lyrics seemed enough to buy the "more best of" album. then came the rest.. i was 16 then, and i feel very lucky for that.

annaedith · Post by **annaedith** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:33 am

I knew his music from my first years on as my parents sometimes listened to it. and then when I got 11 or 12 and started getting confused about the world he was there,giving answers. i never felt a need to listen to anything else.

doogie · Post by **doogie** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 1:27 am

I first found his music in my parents collection too. My Dad swore it had belonged to my mum- he thinks like a lot of people that youngsters

like myself should not appreciate such 'misery'. Was preety far from misery when I saw him play at the Albert Hall ( about 10? years ago..) now that was awesome.

Tolo · Post by **Tolo** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 12:19 pm

When I was a young child (around 5 or 6) my father played the early CDs in the car and sang very loudly with his guitar. Then, only a few months ago (I'm fifteen now) I began to look for new music and (predictably) started listening to "Songs of Love and Hate". Then all the other albums. I find the lyrics are all ingrained into my memory, so when I first heard Hallejulah again I could sing along almost perfectly.

Upon reading the rest, very similar to Goblinski's story.

Anyway. Hello.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 5:47 am

Hi Tolo ~

Welcome to the Forum

~ it's lovely to read a child's writing about having 'learned' of Leonard whilst being an even younger child. It must have been a wonderful surprize for you being able to sing along so well to "Hallelujah"

.

~ Lizzytysh

YankovicGretzky · Post by **YankovicGretzky** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 9:48 pm

My family moved back to Ottawa from Fort Lauderdale in 1986. I was eight years old. Then in 1988, when I was ten years old, I saw the music video for First We Take Manhatten on MUCH MUSIC. It got played everyday. I thought the song was funny for some reason. Then in 1991, my family moved back to Fort Lauderdale. Then I was surprised when I saw Leonard Cohen on TV for the first time since I left Ottawa, he was walking in on a red carpet at some award ceremony, I think with Rebecca DeMornay in 91, 92, or 93. I think it was the Oscars. Then I saw the music video for Closing Time on VH-1. Plus, I had not heard First We Take Manhatten in so long. So I went out and bought I'm Your Man and The Future. I was 15 years old. My musical interests before I discovered Leonard Cohen, were, Chicago, Peter Cetera, Billy Joel, Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Prince, Madonna and Weird Al Yankovic. I grew up on MTV.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:54 am

It always challenges me to try to imagine Leonard being heard and processed through the mind of an eight-year-old child. I remember some very impacting songs for me at that age, but they don't come close to Leonard's. In fact, "Tennessee Waltz" was one of them; The "Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" another; "Stranger in Paradise" another; "How Much Is That Doggy In The Window" another........some of them certainly rich and beautiful. "Green Grow the Lilacs"....."On Top of Old Smokey"......"Blueberry Hill"....."Cross Over The Bridge"....."Song of India"

~ they just keep coming to mind

~ probably many that don't sound even remotely familiar to many here

.

When I first heard Leonard, I had already experienced lasting love. To have him an imbedded part of my childhood, though I can hardly imagine it from one perspective, would have been sublime from another.