The Various Positions of Lenard Cohen from 1984 could be considered one of his best albums. There are nine poems –songs which are wonderfully written and music written by someone who lives in a distant place a long time ago. The record starts with the song "Dance Me To The End Of Love,"
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violinDance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely inLift me like an olive branch and be my homeward doveDance me to the end of loveDance me to the end of love
The music of this song has it roots in the Mediterranean area where they is “an olive branch” and the climate is warm and pleasant for the heart and an ear. The soul of the listener of that record wants to travel to those magical, powerful, and secret places known for where western civilization was born.
The second song is in a Jewish style, which captures the imagination. "Hallelujah" brings the listener to the times of King David and invokes spiritual feelings but also loneliness and longing for love of other men.
Now I've heard there was a secret chordThat David played, and it pleased the Lord
The other songs are good as well as those which I already mentioned; "If It Be Your Will", "The Captain", "Hunter's Lullaby" and "Heart With No Companion" are written and sung with great passion in ballad. Cohen knows how to please his audiences and the harmonic and background vocals of Anjani Thomas and Jennifer Warnes make a major contribution to his record.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
When trying to sell someone on how great an album sounds, try using more descriptive language to really pull them into what you're saying
ReplyDeleteI think you talked to much about specific songs rather than the album as a whole... but like how you're desciptive
ReplyDeleteI think you did a good job of relating the songs to the historical and geographical context. Some of the sentences could use some re-wording to make them flow better though.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you take us to the different parts of the world that the songs took you.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the review and the thoughtful comparisons along with it.
ReplyDelete