The world is too much with us. So we're going to be spending some time here tonight with four songs by Leonard Cohen from his London Concerts of 2008. I think you'll find time spent with Cohen is time well spent. Here he is when lesser lights have long since dimmed and gotten off the stage. We shall not see his like again.
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in...
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Amen. Good bless you, Mr. Cohen.
Posted by: mushroom at May 24, 2011 7:11 PMI heard Madeleine Peyroux sing this, and that was my introduction to Leonard Cohen.
Posted by: Jewel at May 24, 2011 7:37 PMWhen my kids ask if anything good came out of all that mess in the mid-to-late sixties, I'll tell them about civil rights and Leonard Cohen. The rest was decline and despair.
Here's where he impinged on my little rural world:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLnncuskFhc
Posted by: See-Dubya at May 24, 2011 7:44 PMTry "Tower of Song." For a creative person with a talent, a wild streak, and a deep perception of what's going on in the world, it's like the words were wrung from one's own deepest feelings. 2009 "Live in London" is a wonderful rendition.
Posted by: Takuan Seiyo at May 24, 2011 10:53 PMNo disrespect intended to Leonard Cohen, but today is Bob Dylan's 70th birthday.
/Actually Tuesday was. It's a bit past my bedtime now.
Posted by: rickl at May 24, 2011 10:56 PMSee Dubya, that was a magnificent piece.
Posted by: Jewel at May 25, 2011 1:58 AMThank you for posting these songs. After I recovered from my panic that Mr. Cohen might have passed away, I went walking and listened to Live in London and my heart was filled. I saw him on this tour when he was in Phoenix and can honestly say it changed my life. He was gracious and warm, but best of all, at he intermission and when he went on and off stage thereafter, he *skipped.* That concert was a privilege and a blessing.
Posted by: thecobrasnose at May 25, 2011 2:10 AMWho could possibly be better than Leonard Cohen? How about Leonard Cohen with Sonny Rollins? It's worth waiting through the 30 second commercial for the superiority of sound over the Youtube versions. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4ifvp_sonny-rollins-leonard-cohen-live_music
Posted by: Harry at May 25, 2011 1:36 PM
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