Never heared of that Cohen song. It's not a well known song at all, at least this side of the pond!
Never heared of that Cohen song. It's not a well known song at all, at least this side of the pond!
I never heard of it either.Originally Posted by Rufus
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
I find these signs of widespread cultural deprivation to be quite disheartening.
"I have not yet begun to procrastinate."
I would assume anyone who knows Cohen beyond “Hallelujah” knows “Bird on the Wire.” It’s as famous as it gets for people who know a little of his music.
My guess is it’s a cover. It’s often mistakenly titled “Bird on A Wire” by people. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Joe Cocker’s famous cover labeled correctly on the radio. It’s even titled “Bird on A Wire” in Apple Music.
Who's Leonard Cohen?
And yet I don’t know it, but I know Tower of Song. *shrug*
You know what they say about assuming.
^ Aith, are you familiar with "First We Take Manhattan" or "Everybody Knows"? If so, check out the Jennifer Warnes or the R.E.M. version of the former and the Concrete Blonde version of the latter, and then tell me he's not an incredible songwriter.
Off topic for the Neal thread, but Jesus still loves him, so there's that.
As long as Neal doesn't name a song "Heartbreaker", I'm good.
Don't have to convince me. I love the guy. I might even like Johnette's version better. She kills it. Especially live.
Or "Another Brick in the Wall part 2"
^ What about "Bizarre Love Triangle"?
"I Write the Songs"
After all, "(Bruce) Johnston [the composer] has stated that, for him, the 'I' in the song is God..." (Wikipedia)
If Neal just used the title, who would he be talking about? Or would actually covering this song, for Neal, be covering God? Or would using the title, but borrowing Johnson's meaning, indicate that God wrote Neal's songs? Which would explain the prolificacy.
"I have not yet begun to procrastinate."
Channeling?
Na; an obscure song is best to describe it at best! Halleuhah is also a song best known sung by other artists. Ask 10 random people on the street who sang it and 8 or 9 would say Alexandra Burke. They wouldn't have a clue who wrote it!
Are Neal Morses's fans, and other prog- and prog-adjacent persons, to be described as "random people on the street" with regard to their knowledge of popular music culture and history? Because that was the debate. They're the ones who will see the list of titles.
"I have not yet begun to procrastinate."
It’s only an obscure song for those who don’t know Leonard Cohen. It’s one of his signature songs. And not sure where you live, but 1 in 20 would think Hallelujah is an Alexandra Burke song in the US tops. Most know it because of Jeff Buckley and John Cale (because of Shrek).
Dang... I knew the R.E.M. version from years ago but hadn't realized it was a Leonard Cohen song (or else I had forgotten).Lyrically it always sounded threatening/ominous, so it was interesting to go and read Cohen's own comments on it. Watching the Jennifer Warnes video, I was surprised to see Stevie Ray Vaughan. That was neat.
Both of those are good songs (hadn't thought of Concrete Blonde in a looooooong time... they were cool). I hope that earlier I didn't come across as dismissive of Leonard Cohen -- I've got lots of respect for him, even though I only have a passing familiarity with his music.
Y'all should really start a separate Leonard Cohen thread. There's more references here to him than Morse.
As for "Bird On a Wire", it's an original song by the Neal Morse Band, with nothing to do whatsoever with Cohen's "Bird on the Wire". As MiamiScot mentioned, "Bridge" is indeed an extended cover of S & G's song. Think: how Yes approached "America".
combined with how Spock's approached "Beware of Darkness" as a cover - i'm looking forward to it!
Last edited by SRS; 06-14-2021 at 05:49 PM.
This sounds interesting... I'm in!
Neal said he based "Beware of Darkness" on Leon Russell's version. In fact, I'm pretty sure he said that he hadn't heard Harrison's original before recording Spock's version!
[as a creepy side note, as I'm writing this post I am listening to Randy Jackson of Zebra play a Facebook Live session and what song does he start to cover...but Beware of Darkness! Whoa.]
Yeah, I did notice the title is different than the Cohen song. Eventually. But I am really looking forward to hearing the S&G cover now that you've put it in proper context: think Yes (which is something I do about 75% of my waking hours. I am hopeless. The other 25% is split between Neal and everything else in my life. Such as it is.)
The Prog Corner
What should have clued everybody in that it wasn't a cover is that Cohen's studio release of "Bird on the Wire" runs around three and a half minutes at 129 BPM and live versions are generally a little slower. Short of sticking an extended melodic exploration in the middle of it (which would ruin the lyrical focus of the song) or turning it into a dirge, I can't see how you'd run it out to seven plus minutes. Prog connection: Dani Rabin of Marbin played and sang this and several other Leonard Cohen covers at the pool of the Progday hotel a few years back.
I agree with Portnoy (and others here) that it's refreshing that this new album is song based rather than another extended concept album.
It has both those patented Neal Morse melodies and drums being bashed like a carpet-bombing run. I like it.
Mongrel dog soils actor's feet
I'm thrilled to see a post that is actually on topic! I think the clip is really nice. I'd buy it.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
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