Leonard Cohen was "big" in Norway, filled stadiums when he came to visit. He also had a norwegian connection with his relationship with Marianne which inspired some songs. His albums also sold well in Norway =)
Aurora also does an incredible version of 'The Partisan' (Leonard Cohen had adapted this WWII song written and sung by members of the French Resistance, and Aurora sings it with both English and French lyrics): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0mWymckT_2U.html
Aurora listened to Leonard Cohen growing up and he was a big inspiration for her. In her song "Exist For Love" the line "A war between the man and the woman" is probably taken from his song "There Is A War", and the line "They are leaning out for love and they will lean that way forever" is from his song "Suzanne". When Cohen died on Nov 7th 2016 Aurora was in the middle of a US tour. 4 days later in her Nov 11th 2016 concert in Chicago she sang his song "So Long Marianne" as a tribute. There is only a phone recording, but it is decent quality for a phone recording: youtu . be / i4CgyVMJiEk
@@Einyen I concur completely that her singing 'So Long Marianne' shortly after Cohen passed away ... is chillingly beautiful. The fan recording is good. Here is the title search: AURORA - So Long Marianne - Chicago 11/11/16
Aurora covering one of her favorite artists. And she nailed it. One day the world will be speaking her name with the same reverence as Cohen. Definately do the KEXP Iceland version of churchyard, or even better the full 5 songs. Aurora is full o playful energy and it ranks with Haik and Nodorosdom
@@ninaschofield The KEXP concert has such great energy, you should do the entire concert as one reaction. Just a thought. Even if you've reacted to some of the songs, it's Aurora, always a bit different.
I can always hear Cohen's influence in Aurora's lyrics and music . The well written melancholy of It Happened quiet is a great example of that influence.
In "Exist For Love" the influence is clear: "A war between the man and the woman" is from his song "There Is A War" and "They are leaning out for love and they will lean that way forever" is from his song "Suzanne".
Exactly! When she sings It happened quiet at the Current his influences are obvious. Especially in the lines: “Like a stone can be broken into sand A thousand pieces Spread across a crying land” She almost talk these few lines in the lyrics.
At last, it was about time, Famous Blue Raincoat cover by Aurora is simply superb, one of my fav covers by her.......well Aurora is absolutely the Best of the best
Did you react to Aurora's Potion For Love, it's kinda of a sad but hopeful little love song, and it says aurora all over, give it a shot. you'll love it...nice weekend! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7z4b-7sYVRI.html
Cohen was a great influence for Aurora from a young age. The organizers for this tribute concert reached out to Aurora's management to see if Aurora would like to perform at the concert...30 minutes later they got a big YES! You can see the sadness in her eyes as she sings this tribute to Leonard.
Splitting hairs but actually, it was 15 minutes ... In an interview Christer Falck, project manager for the Leonard Cohen tribute concert said:- "Aurora is apparently a big fan, and knows many of his songs. So I called her manager, and a quarter of an hour later I got a "yes" ..."
I had always given Leonard Cohen a miss because I was lead to believe his music was very depressing, so when I first saw this it totally changed my mind ... The big thing about Aurora's voice is that it makes you listen. To the words of a song or just her musings in an interview, totally captivating. She has total control of her audience, no matter where. The whole 2018 KEXP Iceland Airwaves Concert is just under 30 minutes long, including the hilarious soundcheck at the start 🤪 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-P_XguuxLo10.html
Aurora has often listed Cohen as one of her greatest musical influences, so I would imagine she's been very familiar with that song for a long, long time. Still, what a joy to watch and listen to her put everything she has into it. And yes, everyone else on stage deserves major props too, as they all killed it. Churchyard at KEXP Iceland is one of my favorite Aurora vocal performances. Really, that entire mini-concert is something special. I think it also contains her best performances of (at least) All Is Soft Inside and Gentle Earthquakes too.
I absolutely love this performance. This is the song that first opened my eyes to Aurora. I was in love with Leonard Cohen's version, having just recently finally actually listened to the lyrics, and I was looking for covers by others, interested in their interpretation of the very emotional story. And I found Aurora. I'm glad you found this. She's also done an audio only version of Cohen's The Partisan. It's worth a listen. And I think she covered So Long Maryanne as well, if I recall.
Thank you for the analysis. You're so right about the centrality of her physicality in performing./She has said that Leonard Cohen along with Bob Dylan were major childhood influences (along with Enya) because they were played so often in her home, and it's clear that these master storytellers inspired her own masterful storytelling ability. She quotes Cohen's Suzanne ("we are leaning out for love etc.") in her Exist for Love.
Sometimes an artist comes along who stands head and shoulders above anyone else,Aurora is one such artist she simply is the essence of what the art of music should be all about,honestly this performance for me is right up there with the murder song 54321 performance at the Nobel peace concert.it’s very hard for me to think of anyone else who could cover this song live in the way that Aurora does,to say that this girl is special is an understatement she simply is a Genius and I’m blessed to have her music her words of poetry her little children as she likes to call them in my life.❤️
Very much love here. It shows that you realy understand and appreciate Aurora's singing it shows and therefore I appreciate your reactions and analyzes of her they are so good. It also appears that Aurora "loves" Cohen's music and lyrics. His name always comes up when the question of her musical role models is asked. Hope you will respond to her Churchyard soon ;-) Thanks for so long and have a wonderful weekend.
Beautiful and so full of emotion, Aurora definitely did this one justice . I know she was influenced by Cohen at an early age and this performance is so moving, I seem to always tear up when I view it.
Whoot whoot !! Nina is reacting to Aurora today! Thank you for your reaction/assessment of Aurora performing Cohen's 'Famous Blue Raincoat'. The phrase from you that felt so very simpatico was "It is like waves, I feel. Yeah" Not only applies to this performance ... but, Aurora just seems to project energy and peace at most of her concerts 'in waves'. This is apparent to me even just watching recorded videos. Thanks again, Nina. To hear that you'll react to 'Churchyard" at the KEXP concert is high on my expectation list ... the top really! If you get the time, please have a listen to one of my favs - Aurora singing 'Forgotten Love' at a Brazilian radio station studio back in 2018. The title search link is: Aurora canta 'Forgotten love' no Brasil
Do you know how long time they used to make and rehearse this? I do! 🙂 Read on: This is from the tribute concert in Oslo Spektrum, 25 april 2017 (Cohen died 07 november 2016). There was a lot of artist making their tribute. It is not her band. It was "The Salmon Smokers" that was doing the concert, with guest vocalists like Aurora. 23 songs was preformed... The band rehearsed all the songs long time before, and had 30-45 minutes with every artist rehearsing so the artist could "make" the artists version of it... Not possible to go VERY far from the original then.... Why do I know this? Because the drummer Eivind and I come from the same town, and I sent him a message about it because I was curies about how they did it :-) "Aurora gives EVERYTHING both in the rehearsal and at the concert" he also said... When Cohen died, Aurora was in the USA. When she heard about it she change her concert in Chicago to include "So Long Marianne", and I think her face say it all in that performance. It was done 11 november, only 4 days after his death. (Link below). Marianne actually was Norwegian, so you have a Norwegian lady singing Cohen's song about a Norwegian lady :-) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-i4CgyVMJiEk.html I had the greate privilege to be at a concert 6 days ago where Eivind (drummer) and Freddy Holm (strings in this video) played in a local band. Freddy are fantastic on everyting with a string on.... Both he and Eivind has to be on the top in Norway in their "categories".
Lovely tribute. It appears Aurora was on tour when Cohen died, and her tribute 4 days later live in Chicago was quite lovely : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-i4CgyVMJiEk.html Edit : I just noticed someone else had already written more and better about this and linked to the video already 😊. Checking the list of musicians I saw a familiar name. One of the band members was a classmate of my sister, and his brother was in my class. Ages ago. Then again Norway isn't big 😄.
What a mesmerizing and magical performance by Aurora of this Leonard Cohen masterpiece. Thank you for sharing your reaction, and thank you for helping me to appreciate the complexities I would not have noticed otherwise.
thanks for a nice reaction. I'm a big fan of Aurora. She has such a wonderful voice and knows how to tell a story. Have you listened to "Sissel Kyrkjebö" a fantastic soprano singer from Norway? If not, listen to her performance of "Unchained Melody" or the wonderful "Slow down" or "Solveig's song". Have a nice weekend! 🎼🎶🕺
Hello Nina, thank you for this great reaction to AURORA. This song is ideal for AURORA, who is one of the best storytellers I know. AURORA grew up with Lenoard Cohen, so to speak. Cohen was played a lot at her childhood home. She sings this song on the occasion of the Cohen Memorial Concert. She adores Cohen, which is easy to hear for everyone. From what I understand, she only slightly adapted the song to her voice and style of singing. She wanted to honor Cohen, which from my point of view she did very well. I love this song. It's so full of emotions. You are right when you say that everyone contributed to this outstanding song. The background singers, the musicians, the entire arrangement. Everything is great. I have known AURORA for a number of years and have high standards because I know what she is capable of. I have never been disappointed. Her covers of Leonhard Cohen, David Bowie, Boney M., The Beatles, etc. cover almost the entire range of music. You have to be able to do that first. AURORA can. Have a nice day and Greetings from Germany
she is a beautiful singer thanks for the excellent reaction. I know a new singer from Kazakhstan, when she was 13 years old did a couple of Aurora's covers and she sounded very close to Aurora's, Her name is Daneliya Tuleshova. If you have time you may react to her covers.
This is the third cover that I've heard from Aurora that has made me connect and listen to the lyrics in a way even the original didn't. It's because she doesn't just sing the words she lives them during the song.
Beautiful from Aurora. The part where she sings “Jane came by with a lock of your hair. She said that you gave it to her. That night when you planned to go clear” is identical musically to Leo Sayer’s “when I need you I just close my eyes and I’m with you. And all that I so want to give you. Is only a heart beat away”.
"In a 2006 interview with The Globe and Mail Cohen said: I once had that nicking happen with Leo Sayer. Do you remember that song 'When I Need You'?" Cohen sings the chorus of Sayer's number one hit from 1977, then segues into 'And Jane came by with a lock of your hair', a lyric from 'Famous Blue Raincoat'. 'Somebody sued them on my behalf … and they did settle', even though, he laughs, 'they hired a musicologist, who said, that particular motif was in the public domain and, in fact, could be traced back as far as Schubert." - Wikipedia -
Sorry to be a semi-stalker, but I just noticed (and listened to) your reaction to Ariana Grande singing 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow'. She has chops, most certainly. Please, Nina, have a listen to Aurora cover the song (the first song in the video) with some added lyrics of her own in a 'not widely reviewed' TikTok long-form video called: AURORA x QUEER SOUNDS (Acoustic / Live on TikTok / 24.02.2022) HQ
Much as I love Aurora (which is a LOT), this is only my second-favorite version of this song. My favorite is by Jennifer Warnes: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bPlpxHhzSp0.html
Hi Nina!!! I’d like to hear your take on two/three of my favorite artists. Florence Welch, Lana del Rey, and Fred Hammond. Haha. I’m a new fan/subscriber. Hope you’ll indulge me!! 😁. Seven devils, blue jeans, blessings and honor. Those are the songs from the artists listed respectively.
Such a tragic song sung by a mere 22-23 year old, evidently full of life and not broken, and yet she compels you to listen... Thanks for your analysis! Looking forward to Churchyard at KEXP!
Hi Nina, thank u for an excellent breakdown. I love reactions that goes in depth and not just “loving this and that” (cause u know mostly we all do 😆🤷🏻♀️) What about reacting to some of her very recent stuff? She on tour and currently in Asia. Here’s one from Seoul 😍 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0D9KgYOD2c8.html
in art less is often more, subtlety is essential, aurora has understood that and uses it masterfully... the problem with angelina is that everything disappears behind a mannered voice....
