Leonard Cohen on Chelsea Hotel #2, with live perf (1979)

[VIDARMATHISEN]

so sad that janis died

[rwadlinger]

There is great insight into the thoughts of the man in the DVD "I'm Your Man".

[TheThroney]

am i wrong or does he feel regret over writing this song? i'm pretty sure i read that somewhere. makes me think of another song of his, A singer must die.

[yangyin09u]

There are 8 million stories in The Naked City ...and this is one of them.

[Catlovertea4]

Why can't there be a interviewer who lets him speak his thoughts out all the way? Looking for one - if anyone finds an interview of him where this is the case, let me know please - thanks.

[1kkyu]

His need to be honest is really moving.

[chuck1990bb]

That interviewer's pure having a go at Leonard!

"I don't mean to suggest that I loved you the best - in a way it suggests that you couldn't love anyone the best..." Leonard looks like he's going to kill himself there, just like a big "Oh god, I suck :-("

[Catlovertea4]

@chuck1990bb - I disagree. I think behind that gentle refrain, he's a bit annoyed at the interviewer for interrupting his thought process. That's what I see, anyway. Let the guy finish his sentence!

[nicomadriz]

I think the interviewer totally misses the point of the song, or at least focus on the less interesting aspect about it. silly questions really...

[GeistWerk]

he is even modest about his modesty

[17Hongo]

typical Leonard - even a one night stand can produce one of the most heartfelt and mournful songs ever written. a sorrowful song, written for all of us who remember someone

[sweetgypsywife]

This seems to me to be almost a factual song about the Sixties.The possibilty of freely loving in this way was so new, as a result of the Pill. They were two beautiful people who came into each other's lives for a while, enjoyed an appetite for sex together, and that was the way the Sixties was.... becoming liberated and unhampered by guilt and explanations...

[12InRuin]

" Because time also is a degree in the estimation of love" Fuckin sweet Leonard! he talks like a book absolutely amazing. There is an enormous consciousness behind every word I have ever heard him speak.

[OleZob]

@12InRuin - i have always thought the same - you can see the process of thinking going on behind his eyes..

[nogginthefroggin]

at 0.38, i think the subtitle says "from time to time you will get me a little croissant". jk. His singing's on fire here, but it's the words that are so special (even if most go over my thick head).

[MrRogue1968]

Funny that he changes the words.... "we're not pretty" instead of " we are ugly" in the original and "you told me then you preferred younger men" instead of "...handsome men". Maybe it was a concession to critics who I guess would have claimed that he was falsely modest... he's a handsome man after all... in any case what an utterly fantastic song.

[denismcdougall]

could you of loved her

[fantinlatourful]

God, he's so attractive - then and now.

[lamusevenale]

i don't even think of you that often..

[SunshineKMJJ]

I't was so moving . I'm nearly crying . Well Janis is my favourite singer and i like Leonard very much and when I'm listening to him singing about woman who I love somethin' deep inside is crushing me

[messalina79]

Don't think anyone's claiming anything different? (with this one at any rate) ;)

[yeahsee33]

Maybe I shouldn't have bad mouthed him, but it struck a nerve and I felt sympathy for ol' Janice.

[yeahsee33]

@yeahsee33

You have to fell bad for the underrated human being known as Janis Joplin. Her life was full of rejection, loneliness and sadness. So I feel L.C. could have more compassion of her life as well as her death.

[TheAgentChaos]

@yeahsee33 --I don't know if I agree with that--don't you think it could be possible he's being a little ironic when he says, "I don't even think of you that often."--to me there's a little bitter-sweetness in that.

I sort of feel this song isn't meant to be something really heavy and passionate, just sort of a snapshot of a period in time. And sometimes when you lose someone, as in this case someone you've never truly had, it just feels better to be sort of light and noncommittal.

[yeahsee33]

@TheAgentChaos That sounds pretty logical. Thanks for your point of view. You are probably right.

[MemphisBlueAgain]

Stupid questions to a brilliant man. What a waste! No, almost. All his interviews are invaluable.

[valverdista]

Mind if I drop a tear???

[nicck]

He really got his voice spot on here...such a strange change in 'Various positions' I'll never understand.

[timc1987]

beautiful!

[tubephobia]

I am deeply impressed !

Thank you very much.