"Entertainment" on "Dear Heather"
Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2004 9:12 pm
This is from Dick!
ENTERTAINMENT Sun, October 24, 2004
He's a poet, he knows it
MIKE ROSS, EDMONTON SUN
DEAR HEATHER
Leonard Cohen
Sony/BMG
5 out of 5
My dear old dad, God rest his soul, used to say that as a poet,
Leonard Cohen makes a great songwriter. I believe his exact words were,
"Leonard Cohen went into music because he couldn't make it as a poet."
Dad was an English prof who studied poetry, so I assume he knew what
he was talking about.
I'm not so sure anymore. Bob Dylan gets nominated for the Nobel Prize
in literature and Leonard Cohen can't be far behind. Len's latest album adds
cement to the idea that song lyrics are in fact poetry - in this case,
mournful, vivid sonnets of bittersweet romance and joyful doom, almost every
line an emotional dagger, every dirge here inviting deep thought. That Len
surrounds his desiccated voice with the sweetest sounds - female backup
singers, angelic choirs, string sections, quaint and quirky arrangements -
just throws his wise pronouncements into sharper relief.
Verily, heed the voice of Death himself! He speaketh the truth!
Cohen also writes what he knows - and by now, he certainly knows
himself. The deft Because of sums it up: "Because of a few songs wherein I
spoke of their mystery, women have been exceptionally kind to my old age."
Also jumping out is the old time gospel ballad, On That Day, Len's
9/11 song, a little late, but what the hell: "Some people say it's what we
deserve for sins against God, for crimes in the world. I wouldn't know. I'm
just holding the fort since that day they wounded New York." Cue the ploing
of the Jew's harp. Yes, Jew's harp. Makes you think, doesn't it? To lend
credence to this lyrics-as-poetry idea, Len has also set music to a poem by
Lord Byron. Then he ends the album with a live version of Tennessee Waltz.
It all fits.
ENTERTAINMENT Sun, October 24, 2004
He's a poet, he knows it
MIKE ROSS, EDMONTON SUN
DEAR HEATHER
Leonard Cohen
Sony/BMG
5 out of 5
My dear old dad, God rest his soul, used to say that as a poet,
Leonard Cohen makes a great songwriter. I believe his exact words were,
"Leonard Cohen went into music because he couldn't make it as a poet."
Dad was an English prof who studied poetry, so I assume he knew what
he was talking about.
I'm not so sure anymore. Bob Dylan gets nominated for the Nobel Prize
in literature and Leonard Cohen can't be far behind. Len's latest album adds
cement to the idea that song lyrics are in fact poetry - in this case,
mournful, vivid sonnets of bittersweet romance and joyful doom, almost every
line an emotional dagger, every dirge here inviting deep thought. That Len
surrounds his desiccated voice with the sweetest sounds - female backup
singers, angelic choirs, string sections, quaint and quirky arrangements -
just throws his wise pronouncements into sharper relief.
Verily, heed the voice of Death himself! He speaketh the truth!
Cohen also writes what he knows - and by now, he certainly knows
himself. The deft Because of sums it up: "Because of a few songs wherein I
spoke of their mystery, women have been exceptionally kind to my old age."
Also jumping out is the old time gospel ballad, On That Day, Len's
9/11 song, a little late, but what the hell: "Some people say it's what we
deserve for sins against God, for crimes in the world. I wouldn't know. I'm
just holding the fort since that day they wounded New York." Cue the ploing
of the Jew's harp. Yes, Jew's harp. Makes you think, doesn't it? To lend
credence to this lyrics-as-poetry idea, Len has also set music to a poem by
Lord Byron. Then he ends the album with a live version of Tennessee Waltz.
It all fits.