Leonard Cohen - Love Itself

[areecia]

I will iron this man's shirts.....(and probably pay the plane ticket to arrive and do so...........

.......................oops...­the music made me insane....but I have partially recovered....not completely though....plane ticket available..shirts ironed-no guarantee on results, though)..............BUT......­.....................I will say "look at me, Leonard,...look at me....and I bet you would:)

[satsumamoon]

@areecia and then he would say "oh look at you indeed, beautiful being that you are!"

[Guds777]

I hope some day, somebody will break somebody's neck at youtube for being litle DIPSHIT. I am choosing songs in a playlist, and song after fuckyng song some BLABLABLABLA restriction after restrictions. No problem in the beginning to choose them and play them, but after they are in the playlist, then i can't play them.

i Hope someone go Norwegian on their Asshole.

[TheBlindPig1]

I enquire into my suppositions, and what they might be, the truth? How can you enquire on the truth?

[Fred031965]

I think 2 people must be deaf!

[isaysee]

Yes- light keeps enlightening.. But, this time it intrudes & it seems now the hope that love somehow or love itself could be salvation is just so much more wishful thinking. Dust we where & dust we shall be - & this last ponderence of the narcissistic dilemma concludes in the horror that nothing but the grace of God can save us.. -AND that even faith in THAT,- as with love itself-, may be it's own reward. LennyLennyLenny-it hurts,- but for better or worse -it kind'a takes the presure off.

[Justheretoseefornow]

the words are deeper than the oceans of our world!

[decemberkid12]

this song is proof that he's reached enlightenment

[renao]

This is SO TWIN PEAKS, damn!

[motherocean24]

Love went on and on......eternal love....

[labriyut]

You either love Leonard or hate him - but there is no denying what a genius he is.

[Titos1481]

Simplemente una Maravilla.

Roberto

[shanepolaski]

I'm watching "Duck" right now

[93142737]

UNA DELICIA DE CANCION

[KessiaErba682]

Get the audio from this vid at speedyconversion doht cohm.

[scuderiayamaha]

sono convinto che se vivesse altri 100 anni riuscirebbe a trovare nuove e più emozionanti vibrazioni melodiche.

[emilie7037]

très belle chanson

[MrRicardobach]

I've been listening to Leonard Cohen since I was 16 years old and discoverd "Suzanne" and "The Partisan".. 40 years later I'm still suprised, amazed and thankful for his words and music. My wife, Linda, (of 26 years) now also loves his poetry.

[Potatool]

sublime 

[Csurikam]

Zsefy Zsanett: Estike Suttogó Árnyak:

 voltál, leszel

[Csurikam]

Gyönyörűség!

A

voltál, leszel

című versemet ennek a dalnak a hatása alatt írtam..

[Roza347]

Gyönyörü!!

[pupismile]

musical genius

[webbtastic100]

all you people arguing and fighting on here over the meaning of songs and what bands are better than others are just lame. Who fuckin' cares? so ridiculous!

[jolangjolang]

@webbtastic100 The song is about the last time Cohen saw the woman in the Hallelujah song - they see the 'dust' together - the dust, the girl, God's love - are interchangeable in the song - he takes her home - and comes back ' from where he's been' - the dust - the girl - the magic - gone.

[pilgrim108]

@jolangjolang I get that he's meditating, first distracted by the sunlight and dust and finally all the way in, merged with 'formless circumstance.' This center, the true self of us all is 'Love itself.' But it's even past that, it's no state, no thing. Once you're completely merged there is "nothing left between the nameless and the named." But, that's me. "There's a blaze of light In every word, it doesn't matter which you heard, the holy or the broken Hallelujah."

[jolangjolang]

@pilgrim108 You could be right...

[taracea2010]

Fantástico tema,, precioso, saludos.

Anna

[Chrisbajs]

What he said.

[tuffymouseart49]

I don't want to comment more then my share but this is a beautiful song.

[mi2ha2]

Леонард Коэн не может нравится или не нравится -это своя отдельная планета - ЛЕОНАРД КОЭН! Люди рождаются и умирают, а она плывет в вечности.

[gebak22]

go with the flow adn you reach the end of the rainbow.

[POLE707]

Love is always poetry, beautiful but not always too easy.

I love this song.

[alivingdeadsoul]

W.T.F?! I'm cheating on Bob Dylan with Leonard Cohen!!! I heard him on the radio on September 20th 2010 @ 9:20 am. Famous blue raincoat came pouring through thee electric wind. His voice resonated in my being...& now I will never be the same...ESPAVO***

[lendyelectro]

wow!!! nice songg'''''''''''''''''''''''''­''''

[lunicaes1298]

mil sensaciones

[sweetgypsywife]

A comforting and simple melody allowing the complex images to melt into our minds,,,thoughts of life, death , love, eternity, loss, matter.....I love Leonard's songs, and the way he leaves their meaning open so that our minds can drift into and go with the messages and visions they awaken in us...

[muv1912]

@sweetgypsywife I like your thinking!

[coolcohen100]

Love will go on and on i´ll never get enoughf of Him

[otilija09]

Its my soul:)

[politicaloutsider]

you're my man

[Cristina1940]

immenso .......:)

[brelfan]

I've assumed he was talking about obsessive love and it's conclusion. Freedom from it. But really, have no idea. Part of this song is just the beauty of the words. And it's few artists who deserve merit just for the beauty of something. To me, a song is a story, and if I can't follow it, the writer didn't do his job well. This is one I can't really follow, but well, it's Leonard Cohen, and the words themselves are beautiful.

[elleninala]

I think it's about what we are. The light is the energy that animates us, the love itself. After a mystical experience (dancing w/ the dust) there is nothing left between the Nameless (God, The Creator) and the named (himself). Then love went on and on, or he continued to live each day, until it reached an open door, then love itself (life itself, the animating force of love) was gone. That is a lovely description of death, of which we need have no fear. I think that's what it means.

[brelfan]

@elleninala You surely have a more poetic interpretation than I. To me, it's a song about how love stinks, and you can drop it, and feel better.

[elleninala]

@brelfan -- Ok, then! I guess that's a wonderful thing about poetry...

[brelfan]

@elleninala Listening to it again. A nameless maze creates dust and people (which according to cosmologists, is accurate). The dust and people buzzily dance around in "formless circumstance." The nameless is the maze and the named are the dust and people. A guy watches all this, goes to his room, decides there's no difference between things. How's that one? More poetic? Less? In this scenario, I have no idea what love indicates. Something positive, it seems. Or not.

[elleninala]

@brelfan -- Well I think that's pretty good. There's no maze, though; it says "out of which the Nameless makes a name for one like me." The Nameless is just the Nameless, that from which we all come -- people, dust (maybe we people are also dust), everything. When the guy as you say, goes to his room, he is returning to "the little room" also mentioned in the first verse, which I think is his body. His room is his body or his little individual life. I love this song so much it makes me cry.

[brelfan]

@elleninala Oh, I thought the lyrics were "out of which the nameless maze a name for one like me." But you're right. The story is about connection. Still not sure how love fits the lyrics. Maybe LC ought to cut those references. Ambivalence and hatred is connected and dancing around just as much as love, Mr. Cohen. Perhaps something like "ambivalence itself is gone" or "Mr. Cohen is leaving the building."

[elleninala]

@brelfan -- Very funny! And true, I think. There is more good than bad in the world, I believe, but not by much! Our poet is stating what is a matter of faith -- that love is the ultimate truth, is that from which we come, is our substance while we're here, and is that to which we return. In this song he is experiencing life as love. I wish we could all FEEL it that way all the time. I choose to believe it's true. Our separateness is an illusion, and evil is born of fear. Be not afraid.

[LEWOOF]

@brelfan lol.....you silly wonderful dust mite..... :)

[brelfan]

@LEWOOF That goes without saying.

[sweetgypsywife]

@brelfan

There is a a book of Lyrics//ISBN978-1-84772-802-9

Also if you google Leonard Cohen Lyrics, you can find quite a lot of the,

As to what they mean...well...delve deep into the layers..and read about him...you will discover a life's work ahead of you!!Jjoin us on Facebook...Chris Clark..

[ToDaOne]

@elleninala Perfect interpretation for me. Is what resonanted with me too, just did not find the words as well as you did.

Thanks for sharing.

Peace and blessings,

2Da1



[bobbrodr]

...the words..the voice..the meaning..the me..the you...the music...

[staneryk]

Сердечное спасибо! Ваш Анатолий Л.!

[Rebirth3204]

ahh Leonard Cohen is magical.

[noitedeluaamor]

...é lindo!

[pakakoto1]

Absolutely gorgeus!

[sofiakolesnikova]

Love itself is always in my heart...

[keatsgipsy]

LOVE - ITSELF

Could only of been written by a true man of words and of life - a true poet

[VadimDorof]

So deeply, like lone tiger...

[sunshine180580]

this is the song that i listen all the time...Leonard Choen is the best...if you liste with the heart you can fell the vybration...of your soul!!!!

[headalphafemale]

The music alone is so pleasant to listen to even without the words.

[kertjk]

Saddest song in the history of mankind

[zenun7]

i see a darkness,by bonnie prince billy should be or top that list.good song

[wertuqq]

Soul rests .

[keithcairns]

Video nice but this song needs to video- it is simple but brilliant. He will go down in history as one of the best poet/songwriters and his arrangements and backing voices and instruments are so pure. This is a song that could be played at a State Funeral and that's praise!

[bretbryan]

The music, the voice , the words, the meaning.......my soul!

[rorygirl]

I can listen to this one repeating over and over in the car as I drive. It just grabs me. It's one of my favourite Cohen songs.

[willysjeep1945]

MAGIC!!!!

[motherocean24]

Wow, this song reminds me of an experience I once had. To call it out of body isn't right but those who get this song get the message. The fact Leonard wrote of this exact "experience" for lack of a better word, makes me wonder if God indeed truly speaks to us in the same manner. We just need to be be receptive to hear the message.

[tendrplace]

or "love is gone"=dying

[CalypsoU2fan]

I'm not his fan, my parents listen to Leonard Cohen, and I allways say this music is boaring. But this song, and few more, they are very beautiful.....I had to say that....

[Heartxbeat87]

I hope you will learn to appreciate it in time (maybe when you grow older) because Leonard Cohen actually isn't boring but a true genius artist ...

[CalypsoU2fan]

yes, I understand what's Your point.... actually I still don't get the meaning of songs by the words, and that geniousity....

[lilifyre]

Ya know, the real beauty of any song by LC is that it means what you think it means. He consistantly refuses to tell others what his words "really" mean. That's for the listener/reader to figure out. I've heard him questioned about the meaning of several of his works. Like any true poet, HIS meaning is for him alone. They are just words and they speak to each of us according to our own life and experiences.

[asmith20707]

Part 1

Beautiful beyond words! I hope LC continues along this mystical path.

As to the lyrics, heres what Im personally hearing: yes, I think hes talking about merging into the oneness, which to me, means waking up to reality and just seeing life as it really is (perhaps for the very first time), instead of through the prism of mind (which is how we mostly live), which likes to label everything, that colours our perception and experience.

[asmith20707]

Part 2

Example, my mind will label you as this or that, so I see only my minds image of you. I never get to really see you just as you are, the real you. When I no longer label (name) you, you are that energy which pervades all (the Nameless), which is Love, God, Tao, Source, whatever. By dropping labels not just for people but for our whole life experience, we not only see and feel that oneness, we merge into it as I am part of that too. There is no more you or me, just It

[asmith20707]

Part 3

As to the when love itself was gone reference, I think its a metaphor for when we step outside of that merging, that is, when we step back into our minds and start to label our experiences, and ourselves as separate entities, thats when we feel, by definition, separate from that Love. Put another way, it is metaphor for suffering.

[quietscapes]

I read all your posts on the LC song, "Love itself", and I agree with your ideas, I have found the same ideas in many of my spiritual paths, and in listening to some of the other LC songs, I believe he has found his truth as well ans is expressing it beautifully!

[PixiePieCan]

I want you Lenny...

[Neilgs]

I don't know how many really get this song?! It capture in words, or transforms in words beautifully, beyond Any decription, with humor to boot, non-distinction, non-duality, He is translating a living experience here. ..it is not just a  beautiful song..but what is termed in its purest (and I mean purest sense) of what in Vedic India is Oneness, non-duality -and Nirvana. You have to understand here not just the symbols behind his words but the transformation of his actual experience here!

[apollocatlord]

I agree. I think he is describing a mystical experience, but it shouldn't be reduced to that. It could represent a whole arch of life experience, as well as a theological perspective. I can't decide if the line "love itself was gone" is describing how the experience is fleeting, or if he means that the love distinction has left him altogether. What do you think?

[Neilgs]

It is not "reduced to that "but elevated to the heights of that, and what is generally not realized is that what he is describing is a very real experience ..that is generally not experienced. When he returned to "his room" there was no distinction between the "named and the nameless"...and then synonymous with what the Buddhist's or Hindu's refer to as nirvana then "love itself was gone." It doesn't mean that the love distinction had left, simply, there was no breath of distinction, no breath

[apollocatlord]

I think you misunderstood me. I did not use "reduced" in a negative or demoted sense. I meant that this song shouldn't be thought of as merely depicting a singular momentary mystical experience. It can also represent a whole life experience. The implications of which I think are even more rich and moving.

[lilifyre]

Might I suggest that instead of trying to intellectualize this song that you just listen to it and let it speak to your soul. You're being so cerebral that you are losing the real meaning...the part that cannot be expressed in words...the part that touches your soul. No, it is not "just a beautiful song", it is a beautiful song by LC that holds magic for the listener. Stop using your head and just let the song do the speaking.

[Neilgs]

Might I suggest to you that you are perhaps a bithering idiot, as my comments were part of a dialogue. It is possible to be completely transformed to have mystical experience that goes beyond any verbal, and yet at the same time contextualize and articulate it. Just as it is possible to chew gum and walk at the same time. But since apparently you have cerebral deficits in this area (and can't reconcile the two), commenting or dialogue here seen as contradiction/ watering down - you are a moron.

[lilifyre]

Gee, you do have a mighty big head, don't you? Too bad its full of such garbage. I'll let LC speak for me, he does it so nicely:

Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey

I ache in the places where I used to play ...

So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll

I'm very sorry, baby, doesn't look like me at all ...

I may be a moron, but you are an effete snob! Get over yourself.

[Goodesy05]

Yes, but remember: love itself was gone....

[Yossariain]

This is a beautiful song.

Listen to the lyrics.

Buddism = love itself.

[KENOEFF]

Had to listen again.

[SacredMojo]

I have listened 5 times straight now - LOVE THIS! Gorgeous video too :)

[cjthemusicman]

Nice, isn't it. Soothing sounds for a Sunday. Thank you for sharing, D.

Lovely accompanying video!

[sandnsurfster]

Beautiful. Love it - off to check ALL your other videos!

[scotishjohn]

how come after 40 yts people

still listen

[DejaVuSu]

Because he is marvelously sexy and writes from his heart..a beautiful heart at that!! :)

[Eagleray99]

A number of people have accused Leonard of "Talking" through songs, which is unfair, but someone else put it better by saying that he whispers some songs. This is true at times, but they are beautiful, melodic whispers. This performance is not perfect, but it is pretty close. Thank you, cantshaketheblues, I love the dying of the day after the song ends. Excellent

[imafishgod]

Sheer beauty....Love♥

[craving777]

this is so good. one of his best and that is saying something. leonard is the best. he is a treasure, don't underestimate his being. he is a gift.

[caravaneriam]

A simply wonderful song.

Leonard deserves the recognition he is getting be it late in the day

[routeoz]

*Another* gr8 Cohen universal masterpiece, like 'Anthem' and others of his...

[priyashah012]

simply beyond !

thanks for the post .

:)

[KENOEFF]

This is so great .

[cocochanelleke]

Thanks Lewoof for sending, and thanks

"Cantshaketheseblues" for posting.

And NO thanks to either of you, for your contribution to the very bad blues one encounters ;(

[KENOEFF]

sjoon jong sjoon

[manogomba]

Gyönyörű, gyönyörű, csodaszép. Elringat, andalít, a zene, Leonard hangja, ez így együtt a mindenség. Szavakkal nem lehet kifejezni milyen boldogság hallgatni. Köszönet érte.

[FelicitasBerlin]

thank you.

[ingfulu]

et vintræ skal kendes på dets evne til at bære frugt, og du bærer så meget frugt at bægeret flyder over, HAN kender dig bedre end jeg...

[lemonostiftis]

great great marvellous Cohen

[xXxSocorroDovesxXx]

Hi Sean, just had to add the lyrics of this beautiful song... (Intro and three parts)

The light came through the window

Straight from the sun above

And so inside my little room

There plunged the rays of Love.

In streams of light I clearly saw

The dust you seldom see

Out of which the Nameless makes

A Name for one like me.

[xXxSocorroDovesxXx]

Part 1

I'll try to say a little more

Love went on and on

Until it reached an open door

Then Love Itself

Love Itself was gone.

All busy in the sunlight

The flecks did float and dance

And I was tumbled up with them

In formless circumstance.

[xXxSocorroDovesxXx]

Part 2

I'll try to say a little more

Love went on and on

Until it reached an open door

Then Love Itself

Love Itself was gone.

Then I came back from where I'd been

My room, it looked the same

But there was nothing left between

The Nameless and the Name.

[xXxSocorroDovesxXx]

Part 3 All busy in the sunlight The flecks did float and dance And I was tumbled up with them In formless circumstance. I'll try to say a little more Love went on and on Until it reached an open door Then Love itself Love Itself was gone. Love Itself was gone.

[udoncme]

I love COHEN thanks DOVE. you are a love.

[xXxSocorroDovesxXx]

Breathtaking... beautiful song (mmmm... his voice!) and lovely images. Thankyou, Blues man ;)