Master Song- Leonard Cohen

[wizareac]

If you look, you can't see me.

If you see me, you cannot see anything else.

I can make you walk if you can't.

I speak the truth.

And sometimes I fly.

What am I?

[vrbrno]

@monies1899 sometime ago, I heard someone say: hallelujah? that song written by jeff buckley? what's up with it?

O.O

[triciam1000]

No else measures up to LC...love this song

[sunnydaywoman]

so grateful i came across his music so young, i'm 21 now remembering how much his music touched me in my teenage years! timeless beauty

[springpojken]

Thanks for the work put into making this video! texting, timing, job well done mate

[skirt648]

I just downloaded this mp3 at instantmp3s..com

[newmind1]

where is this photograph from? The song is amazing and so is the photo?

[bahamacamaro]

Leonard Cohen is so underrated, that man is a brilliant writer and has been so ripped off.

[random13100]

yay! :3

[ethermonkey222]

can't post.

[ethermonkey222]

can't post comments

[umovelikehoney]

beautiful song!

[MKFaizi]

Hallejuliah, hell. Other than the royalties from every tom dick and harry, dude must curse the day he wrote it and insult to injury Jeff whoever gets the credit. Fortunately, I had two kids late in life so they grew up with this music and they are yet in their early twenties.

[WAYNENADEL]

Best Song i ever heard he's so deep and i can relate to it

[FieldsOnFireTV]

This is indeed the master song!!

[Ecdysiast96]

this is my new favorite song

[avbjork96]

you can't argue on feeling... music or poetry

[5514161326]

I Like!

[shorinryu2008]

what is this song about?

[windrix1]

wow the MGMT, Beck, ANd Devendra Banhart cover sounds COMPLETELY different

[Baxxter101]

"Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld

So I can sigh eternally

I'm so tired I can't sleep

I'm a liar and a thief"

Shit man, cant deny Kurt Cobain's insight...

[Faithen]

I would like to add there is alot of D/s references in this song. to quote.

"You met him at some temple, where they take your clothes at the door." among several others references.. for your Paper Luce

[Forusen]

please...what is the place of the picture?? it's so adust...so pretty...

[CiaranLiam]

@Forusen

Thank you. I took it in Connemara in Ireland, near my Grandparent's house.

[Forusen]

Thanks!!!! :) so,your granparents are very lucky.. ; )

[TacoJFK3226]

@CiaranLiam Thanks I knew it was in Ireland.

But I was never in Connemara though.

[lilifyre]

Don't know how, but I missed this one until now. So hauntingly beautiful!

[taxmonkey123]

Pure brilliance, I don't understand why it isn't more popular.

[lopescone]

@taxmonkey123 Because .....true and special beauty ..was never meant....for the masses.......here is such a gem .......

[dellajoy1]

This has always been my favorite Cohen song.

[colliedogjoy]

Lovely picture too... I wonder where it is.. Borders?

[RobinDundalk]

I've always thought this was l.c.'s best song, it's never on the compilations though. Not that matters. This song shows you you're listenin to an artist wo is genuinely special,

[cullions4]

See the movie "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" with Warren Beatty & Julie Christie. Classic Robert Altman film, one of his best, and he wanted this and other Leonard Cohen songs, as the soundtrack. Perfectly complements the movie; eerily reflects the action, emotions and feelings in the plot.

[bigbiscuit100]

one of my all-time favorite LC songs. the stripped down folk rhythm, the haunting melodies, and understated but rich lyrics make this one resonate.

"your thighs are ruined/you want too much"--always been a favorite of mine.

[Nemergussis]

many things are awful, some others, nice, there are beautiful things to in this world...

and only them, comes Leonard Cohen

[kipsateebroodje]

great song

[sashsashsha]

Oh, this is gorgeous. I love the metaphors here, and the guitar is so subtle in its tones. And the inflection of his voice adds to it.

"he touches your lips now so suddenly bare of all the kisses we put on before"

"his body is a golden string that your body is hanging from"

"and your thighs are ruined you want too much, let's say you came back sometime too soon"

"and I taught him how you would long for me no matter what he said no matter what you do"

So beautiful and dark.

[Monies1899]

Most people only know Cohen as "that guy who wrote Halleljuah". But if they'd look passed that, they would discover a treasure trove of beautifully intricate poetry and melodic guitars. It's just so sad sometimes that they don't see this.

Love your music Leonard Cohen!!

[MultiMcinerney]

@Monies1899 halleljuah isone of the few songs LC sings bad. he is the master when he sings the stranger song,farewell marianne,susanne, dance me to the end of love and a thousand kisses deep plus alexandra leaving, rock on Leonard cohen and keep touching our souls,

[UnexpectedWords]

J'adore ses chansons, Merci Julie

[arrowflier]

okay, I've been trying to figure out who her master is for years...anybody?

[hogbertha]

Her master is the one who has her enslaved, who has power over her.

[bigbiscuit100]

arrowflier, that is a good question. this song is dense! i've always believed he's singing about an affair between his lover and a close friend/protege but then comes back to him. the sexual imagery is thick ("who had a worm and who had a rock" etc), references to dominance (collar of leather, kneeling) etc. but the second to last verse deepens the mystery ("I loved your master perfectly/I taught him all that he knew..."). LC's Famous Blue Raincoat might address the same subject.

[Luce1889]

Im currently writing an essay on leonard Cohen as a representative of what was left of the folk revival by the late 1960s in America - my conclusion is that Master song is about alternative religions due to uncertainty (Cohen himself is stated as saying there was too much focus on the idea of disciples and masters in the 1960s), gaining the ultimate high (be it through drugs or other means), idea of fading love and peace by the late 1960s, evolution of music beyond its founders, travelling.

[bigbiscuit100]

interesting...i think you're on to something! there's certainly a lot of religious/discipleship imagery. good luck with your paper.

[Luce1889]

cheers! Good to know what those who know his music think! When writing a paper you never know if your only seeing these things because they would help the argument!

[polistyrenejassband]

@Luce1889 you dont think its a love song about an unfaithful woman

[Luce1889]

@polistyrenejassband

i think it certainly could be however a lot of cohen's lyrics run much deeper than they first appear and given his own religious thinkings at the time I chose to interpret it differntly. Havng said that most musicians tend to write about love sex and hate...

[PETERGB9]

An absolute masterpiece! Very evocative and sensitive, one of LC's best, imo.

[Eagleray99]

Yes, I'd fogotten how good this is....."Now your love is a secret all over the block"...

...and you cruised above the ribbons of rain".

"and your love is some dust in an old man's cuff, who is tapping his foot to a tune". So richly textured. Thanks for posting.

[messalina79]

This is one of my favourite Cohen songs - thanks so much for posting, a lovely picture too. The guitar on ths song is so beautiful, as is Leonard's poetry. I'd love to see him perform it live.

[blandatious]

one of his true materpieces. thanks for posting

[traxsalty]

What a perfect arrangement. No changing of the focus, just a sublime addition to Leonard's guitar playing.

[niemiecki69]

This is one of my favourite songs published on "The Songs of Leonard Cohen". In my opinion this song is a pure poetry as well as a real masterpiece despite the fact it is almost unknown. Mister Leonard, many greetings from all your friends from Poland :))

[livvidd]

youtube + epic talent = bliss

[flyingtadpole]

Thank you for posting this classic; I've been watching for it for a long time too. I have it on cassette, terribly hissy now. You've done a good job of the sound reproduction.

[hogbertha]

Indeed TeoOrlando, I too have kept looking for this song and am delighted to find it, and such a wonderful version! Am also delighted that the lyrics have been included in this post. Wonderful!

[arrowflier]

Dear hobertha, Thanks for your reply. I got that part. I think that the line "while i was sick in bed" refers to his being delirious with fever and having his defenses down and his true thoughts (his ego?) come out. Your thoughts?

[TeoOrlando]

Finally! For a long time I was looking forward to finding this song on youtube! It is a true masterpiece!

[alexanderjames1992]

A fine song accompanied with a scenic and pictoresque image.

such a song should by no means be left uncommented and unappreciated!