Leonard Cohen

The Canadian singer, song writer, poet, Leonard Cohen, is one of my favorite singers of all times. His songs like "Everybody knows", "Dance me to the end of love", "There ain't no cure for love", "A thousand kisses deep", and "I am your man" are eternal. His deep, melancholic voice and his dark, loaded lyrics are unique. Many famous singers and musicians (Sting, Elton John, Peter Gabriel, Madeleine Peyroux, etc.) have song to his lyrics, but in my opinion none come close to his own voice and performances. He is a prolific artist and poem with numerous recordings and CDs, back from 1960s all the way to present. His latest CD as of this writing is "Dear Heather". His poems seem considerably shorter than earlier ones but the songs are still beautiful.

This Sept. he became 71 years old. Leonard, happy birthday. You are my man!

You can learn more about him at www.leonardcohen.com and www.leonardcohenfiles.com. Below are excerpts from one of his moving poems "Everybody knows" from the album "I'm your man."

Everybody Knows

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor and the rich get rich
That's how it goes. Everybody knows.

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows tha captian lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
and a long stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows
That's how it goes

Everybody knows that you love me, baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you've been faithful,
give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people
you just has to meet without your clothes
And everybody knows

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