It Goes Like This, the Fourth, the Fifth…
It should surprise no one that when I picked the graphic that adorns the top of this page, I did not do so at random. It’s just not my style.
If you look closely, you’ll see that the notes and underlying lyrics are from the opening verse of Leonard Cohen’s masterpiece, “Hallelujah.” The oft-covered beauty is a study in simplicity. And unlike Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower,” it didn’t need a radical reworking to become as famous as it is. Rather, it needed only the plaintive voice of Jeff Buckley. If you need evidence, listen to the nearly-equal versions by Rufus Wainwright, KD Lang and John Cale. (Oh, and I think some dude from American Idol did it, too.)
Now interestingly, I just learned, Cale decided to record Hallelujah after hearing Cohen perform the song at the Beacon Theatre in New York. That recording came out for the first time in 1991. Just two years later, Cohen performed his final show in the United States.
That is, until next month!!!
Leonard Cohen is coming back to the Beacon. Apparently fan club members already have access to buy tickets, but the general on sale is Friday morning at 9 a.m. If I can get the cheap seats in the back, I intend to go, but I can’t afford to contribute $250 to the My-Business-Manager-Blew-My-Retirement-Fund Fund.
Anyway, assuming I get tickets, I’m going to have to start listening to all my Leonard Cohen again. I have a lot of it, but I’ve probably never paid as much attention to it all as I should have. That said, readers, if anyone would like to leave their top 3 albums in order in the comments section, I wouldn’t mind the guidance.
