A Guide to LEONARD COHEN 

I miss him so much, it hurts. I'm a girl from the middle of a forest in Poland, and my Mum was a Leonard fan for as long as I can remember. Many years on, life blessed me with his friendship, and, I was able to take her to dinner with Leonard. He told me she reminded him of Marianne. He was always there for me. Any time of night and day. I felt like a part of me died when he died. Six years on and it still feels surreal that he isn't here any more. Like a bad dream. I miss him. So very much.

it's so obvious how much you enjoy making these, which makes it even more delightful to listen to.:)

I was fortunate enough to get to see Leonard when he performed in Leeds. His last performance there. A privilege.

One of the best guides. Just one thing to add: It is crucial to note that New Skin was inspired by Cohen's experience in the Yom Kippur War back in 1973, when Cohen preformed in front of Israeli soldiers while under fire. This was an influence for songs such as There Is a War, Who By Fire and even Field Commander Cohen. Great to have you back by the way!

The letter to Marianne was misquoted here. This is the Wikipedia article on why and the real letter for the sake of brevity: She was diagnosed with leukemia in late July 2016.[16] Her close friend Jan Christian Mollestad contacted Cohen to tell him Ihlen was dying. Leonard Cohen penned a poignant final letter to her, which is often misquoted by the media and others.[22] However, the widely circulated version of the letter was based on an inaccurate verbal recollection by Mollestad which was then transcribed in a radio interview. The actual letter (actually an email) obtained through the Leonard Cohen estate reads:[23] Dearest Marianne, I’m just a little behind you, close enough to take your hand. This old body has given up, just as yours has too. I’ve never forgotten your love and your beauty. But you know that. I don’t have to say any more. Safe travels old friend. See you down the road. Endless love and gratitude. your Leonard She died aged 81 on 28 July 2016, in Oslo.[24] Cohen died later that year on 7 November 2016. Also, he didn't first let out the fact that Chelsea Hotel was about Janis Joplin in that interview. He mentions it before playing the song during a gig that you can find on RU-vid.

Ah, I fucking loved this break down. Such a massive LC fan, since I was about 19/20 (28 now) and I was lucky enough to see him live after his Old Ideas album and it's by far one of the best musical experiences of my life!

Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave are my favorite musicians of all time and appreciate your videos on both of them

David Bowie, Prince and Leonard Cohen all died this year. 2016 is the worst year ever 😭

For the past several years my phone background has been a picture of an elderly Leonard Cohen at 7/11 in a suit carrying several bags of Cheetos

Just want to take the time to say that these discography guides of yours, even though they are mostly forty minutes long or so, always get me so engrossed that I just can't miss a minute of it. You have a way with keeping the discussion interesting. Incredible job. Keep it up!

As a new Leonard Cohen fan, I am really enjoying this from you. Have you ever considered doing Lou Reed's catalog and/or Velvet Underground? I can totally see you doing this!

Thank you so much for this film.I am so impressed with your take on my hero Leonard.You are so knowledgeable for such a young man and your ability to speak without a prompt card is so very obvious.I find this very gratifying to hear such candour and love being spoken.Your comment about Dylan,i agree,good but not the same class. It appears that everyone is putting you up for a discussion on different artists.May i throw one in?Not heard that often but deeply complex.Fantastic lyrics to his songs and a complete wordsmith. CLIFFORD T WARD.

I'm quite shocked this video doesn't have more views. It's fantastic, as most deep cuts videos are.

im 19 and just recently discovered leonard. i love watching videos like this about artists i admire. this was just what i was looking for to get to know him and his art better. thank you so much for this❤️

i want to hug you for doing this and im so happy that your channel found me! A slight remark on Dance me to the End of Love - its rhythm is that of a traditional Greek dance hasapiko. Quite interesting to consider that Cohen remained under Greek influence for so so long... :)

man, I feel like i have stumbled over a gold mine finding your channel! Absolute stellar content.

wow......thx seriously, i almost never reply on youtube but omg you told the story of a great storyteller, beautifully made, thx again

As a fan of Leonard Cohen since I was a girl, I want to thank you for your very articulate presentation of his music, and for putting his music in context with his writings and--to the extent possible in such a short video--his life! (Hey, I'd be happy to hear longer sharings from you.)

Your video is a treasure. Insightful, informative, intense, just like Leonard himself. Since I was a teenager, some half century ago, I've been attracted to Leonard like a moth to a hot light bulb. Perhaps it is the writer in me that yearned to be just like him. Losing Leonard is a tragedy, but your video is a positive contribution to the legacy of the man. Thank you so much for your "enterprise."

Thanks for that, man. I got into Cohen, when I was just a child. Recent songs touched me deeply, made me think a lot and even formed me to e degree (I was 10). So I have this special connection to this album, that makes it my favourite one for all time.

Extremely grateful for your content. Have you seen the film McCabe & Mrs. Miller? If not, I highly recommend it - it's this masterful atmospheric western that makes some pretty haunting use of early Cohen. Especially The Stranger Song.

You're very insightful and perceptive, and it's clear how much you love The Man. I have enjoyed every second of this guide, even though I know most of his songs by heart. Thank you!

You are so incredibly insightful and a critical thinker of masterful range. When I first experienced his music, back in 1967, my life was never the same again.

Thanks very much! Excellent review of LC's career in music. And especially good emphasis on is lyrics. Ima new fan - of yours. :)

Beautifully done! Thank you for this

Really enjoying these Guide To videos. Really well presented and researched. Brilliant.

Excelent. Thanks a lot for sharing this. Really, really good stuff about LC.

I LOVED this right up to the final little aside to Bob Dylan, which -as it was so late in the video, so brief and even apologized for, I can overlook- was nonetheless uncalled for! That aside aside, thank for this comprehensive and appreciative overview of Leonard's career and especially of his wonderful words! Really!

Incredible content, really appreciate it!

I’d like to hear, now that this is several years old, your thoughts on Thanks for the Dance. I was absolutely floored when, a couple years ago, a final posthumous Leonard Cohen album emerged from beyond the grave. You Want It Darker was like a downward spiral into the blackness, and Thanks for the Dance was a pleasant, warm, fuzzy look back at his own life, filled with reverence for the human experience and hopeful for the future.

Thank you, Cohen has 'always been there' for me, most of his songs hit the spot. Your video is sincere and packed full of insights, can't believe it has taken me so long to listen to it. There have been many shallow and inaccurate potrayals of Leonard since his death, this is undoubtedly the best I have heard. I really appreciate your depiction of my hero and although I admire Dylan, I loved, just loved it when you told him to "piss off".

You know a video is good when you know a musician very well and have listened to his discography multiple times, and still enjoy it very much. Well done. I deeply disagree with you about Death of a Ladies' Man, I think it's a spectacular and beautiful record. Thanks for the awesome video again. Oh, and do Dylan! (Not really, just fucking with you, that video would be three hours long! Heh!)

Clicked on this video so damn fast. Great stuff as usual!

love seeing you talk so enthusiastically about music, thanks for the video (=

love this & your channel too much hope we can expect your favourite albums of the year next month!

I think death of a ladies man is a hugely underrated album.

Great video! I'd love to see you do one for Tom Waits. Recently gotten heavily into his music and would love to hear what you have to say.

I love your smart thoughts in L Cohen's work , I think is the presence of the traditional Jewish violin tones what gives him a mistical musical language that resonates with his Jewish roots., Loving your chanel your cleaver young sophisticated words. Tks 💖

God Lord God I had missed your accent, voice and vocabulary and flow of speech!

Absolutely amazing and beautiful Thank you so so much xx

Awesome video and awesome channel, keep it up!

Top shelf, mate!

This channel is so awesome man, these guides are fucking sweet

I think Ten New Songs is one of his best albums. In the land of plenty is a such a great song

Brilliant! Bravo!!

You're great. This is sensational and well appreciated! xo

A very well researched overview of Leonard's whole career, v. much appreciated. Goes down smooth with a whisky mac. Just a couple of points to make: you mention the track 'Villanelle', from Dear Heather, as some other sites also do, as if it were a Cohen lyric, but it was written by Frank Scott. Similarly: the track 'Be For Real' from the album The Future, where both words and music were written by Frederick Knight. Small corrections, just being a smarty pants. It is also interesting to note that 'Be For Real' was at one time being touted as the title for upcoming album The Future, and that Recent Songs (which I do think of as an essential Cohen release, the scope and reach of the imagery alone being worth the entrance fee) was originally going to be called 'The Smokey Life', which is so much better, I think. As you mention, in adverted commas, Cohen had already completed his 'Songs Trilogy', each one less and less well-received outside of Norway and Poland, and needed a new direction following the catastrophe of recording with Spector, and underpinning Recent Songs is a cracking band called Passenger, from Austin Texas, who toured and shone on the noughties release of Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979. In fact their bassist, Roscoe Beck, became Cohen's touring musical director right to the end. The last point I have to make is: divided according to our respective ages, coming from a seventies perspective, I always loved Death of a Ladies' Man, and no way is it Leonard's worst release. That accolade, for me, belongs to Dear Heather, although I still hold great fondness for that album, too. You seem to suggest, also, that Ten New Songs is a bit too coffee-table-Cohen, perhaps? Yet I count five six or seven classic Cohen tracks on that one. Old Ideas I find difficult to place, a bit of a rag-bag in parts, but I'm told it's his best-selling album, but interesting to note that its' title was originally touted for Dear Heather, both of which albums are like two steps back before the great leap forward that is Popular Problems, a masterpiece by most you could compare it with.

Great channel, love what you did with Swans too! I recently found out about Cohen n I started with his last album thinking that would be it....was blown away. I prefer instrumental music as lyrics are usually so lame, not so with Cohen, just ordered his entire catalog. Was wondering if you would do one on Robert Wyatt. Thanks for your insight n all the folks helpful comments.

Wonderful job!

Nick Cave covered the song Avalanche that's the first version I heard ,he was obviously a.huge influence on Nick Cave :-* :

Bon boulot ! La ballade à travers la discographie de Cohen était géniale. Looking forward for the best of 2016 video :)

Really well done and fascinating to dive into. I feel like I would rather listen to it along with the music in podcast form, maybe? Though I could go back and listen to the songs you mentioned sometime, but I mostly listen to music on the go. Thanks and keep up the good work!

Absolutely brilliant and exactly what I would say if I had the vocabulary you do. Cheers

Great episode. Would like to have seen a mention of the Live In London double album from the O2, possibly the best live album I've ever heard...

I just love this channel

Really interesting and thorough video. Thank you.

you went HAM on this video

Thank you, I am sure that this is an essential video.

Something that probably wasn't touched on that is worth mentioning; live in Dublin is his BEST work. For anyone who hasn't gone deep into the rabbit hole, I recommend that you start there.

Fantastic video my friend. Perfect choice

Listening to you from México!!!!💓

This is sooooooooo good.

This awesome. Which artists are you planning on covering next?

Love your Point of View.

Wonderful job.

a guide on parliament funk would be insane

do a guide of Swans

Well done on pronouncing the choir name correctly. Didn't look easy haha love your work, great stuff, keep it up :)

This was a long one! Great job as always

Thank you so much for this! Do you ever plan on doing Bowie ?

🍄Great review Oliver ,subbed and liked mate ,max .Liverpool

Whoa. Good call!

Your mentioning of The Story of Isaac reminded me of Wilfred Owen, most famously set to music in Benjamin Britten's devastating War Requiem: When lo! an angel called him out of heaven, Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad, Neither do anything to him. Behold, A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns; Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him. But the old man would not so, but slew his son, And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

well done!

great video

Please make a video about Leonard's new albums that came out! :)💜

A great anthology review.

I completely disagree about Death of a Ladies' Man. The album is really about a man who, because of betrayal and abandonment, becomes unable to trust and love and thus lives a life of one-night stands and short-lasting relationships. The extravagant and almost pathetic instrumentation provides a brilliant contrast to this. Take Memories for example, which is really just about him trying to get laid, but the instrumentation tells us this is the most romantic moment of his life. Telling a story of shallowness with that level of self-consciousness is very uncommon in music.

💎

Also agree with sixth poster: Ten New Songs is really superb. I don’t think there’s a filler on it. And is very underrated in my opinion. Except, perhaps, 1,000 Kisses. Which jazz musicians have picked up on.

Merci for Accolades- Hugs from Devoted Cohen-head.

And it turned out You Want It Darker was not his final album... His son believes that Moving On from Thanks for The Dance is about Marianne - and it certainly seems to have been written after her death.

Leonard's last work really was his statement about what life's all about. He was a repentant sinner who returned to the Creator, the God of his father's He was a born from above Jew! One cannot understand his words without having had themselves this absolute surrender to the Lordship of Yahshua...and a foundation of repentance.

Thnks!

I found his 56-68 Selected Poems on my friend’s dad’s bookcase when I was around 13 and instantly became a fan. By the time I was 17 I was seducing girls with his music. 😂 Saw him perform in Manchester before he died. Still consume his art regularly. Thanks Leonard!

Ten new Songs is the best thing he did since the early 70s

Any chance of a guide to Sleaford Mods, Oliver. Keep up the good work. Really enjoy your reviews.

I’m so surprised how disliked death of a ladies man is it’s been one of my absolute favourites since the first time I listened to it I love the feel of the music I think it works so well with his voice and as a contrast to his other albums!

A Guide to the Beach Boys

Spector is a murderer. You don't need to feel bad for ripping into him. Plus, he did do an awful job with that album.

Another fine review Oliver. Have you turned your view onto Tom Waits yet?

Genre guide to industrial rock please, please, please 👏👏👏

I love Cohen, but by god does he have some shit album covers.

As much as I love "What Is Life" by George Harrison, it's another prime example of Phil Spector's production being so overbearing, you can hardly appreciate the nuance in the vocal delivery and lyrics underneath it all. (The best version I've heard is the 2009 remix from GH's compilation 'Let It Roll', FWIW)

WOAHH! 43 minutes!! :P

Songs of Love and Hate and New Skin are, in my firm opinion as a lifelong Cohen fan, his two best records, and I agree that Death of a Ladies Man isn’t nearly as good, but for completely different reasons. See, I hate the sound of the more stripped back tracks on that record, but love the extravagant, doo-woppy tracks like Memories. In fact, I think Memories is one of the times where the production most effectively complemented ideas in the lyrics on a Cohen record. To my mind, those are not lyrics written by the sweet, reserved, and poetic Cohen, but by a sort of perverted alter ego that belongs with that big, confident Spector sound. I could go track by track and point out some of the misfires, but I think I could point out just as many places where Spector and Cohen really complemented each other in presenting those ideas.

I hope you're a big enough fan of Bjork to make a video like this for her!

Oliver I wanna marry you just so I could hear you talk so magnificently about music in such a mesmerizing way all day long. Thanks for the channel

Thank you for sharing ❤️ 27:33 27:35

2:45 damn, he‘s spitting bars