My father used to blast his music at times. This was particularly true on the weekends. Sometimes I liked the stuff that he would play, and at other times, I didn't. There were some points where some of the music which he then listened to would come back to me, and then I wished that I could ask him what this or that song was. Now, it's too late.
Sometimes, however, I knew exactly who performed the music. One of those artists was Leonard Cohen. Even though he was not exactly of my generation, and also radically different from the stuff that I was then listening to, there was something about the man, about his voice, and the potency of his lyrical content which drew me in.
This was one of the main songs that I remember grabbing me like that. I was reminded of it earlier today, and it felt like something worth sharing here, including some of the lyrics from the song, "Everybody Knows."
Take a listen, and read some of these lyrics.
Powerful stuff.
“Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long-stem rose
Everybody knows…”
~ Leonard Cohen, “Everybody Knows”
Leonard Cohen - Everybody Knows (Audio)
Meant to respond earlier. Anyway, that whole album is worth checking out if you haven't already. Just about everything he ever did warrants a listen. His 1975 compilation album, "The Best of Leonard Cohen", which you can easily find on YouTube, is amazing and a great starting point, but he has so much great stuff. A few random songs to check out that are neither on the "I'm Your Man" album (which contains "Everybody Knows") nor on that 1975 compilation: "Dance Me to the End of Love", "Hallelujah" (which has been covered by countless people including, if I'm not mistaken, U2), "Lover, Lover, Lover" and "If It Be Your Will". Beautiful, poignant stuff. On a completely different note, you might also enjoy "Don't Go Home with Your Hard-On", which is is wryly and darkly comedic, and perhaps as close to rock music as he ever got.
ReplyDeleteI too think of Pop all the time, and other loved ones we've lost over the years. That of course includes all of the great music we enjoy as a direct result of his influence.
"Avalanche" is another Leonard Cohen song I strongly recommend.
ReplyDeleteActually, I am familiar with some of Cohen's albums. Again, mostly because of Pop and his cd collection, which of course is considerable. But I cam to listen to most, if not all, of that album even decades ago. And I have his greatest hits somewhere myself, a prize which I found among the library discards in recent years. Probably paid something like 50 cents or so for it.
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