Free Republic

My latest song. It's a joke. Intentionally.

The estate of Leonard Cohen said on Friday it was considering legal action over the use of the Canadian singer’s 'Hallelujah' at the Republican National Convention, calling it a brazen attempt to politicize the song. A recording of 'Hallelujah' by Tori Kelly was first played during a fireworks display on Thursday night that followed President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech for the Republican nomination. A second, more operatic version, was performed on camera by American tenor Christopher Macchio, before singing Ave Maria.

Just heard it on the radio. This time it was Bob Segar's version. Both are leftists but it's a powerful song, one that can be quite captivating. The one problem line is where Cohen writes he isn't left or right. He is wrong. But then even a righty can get into it. Please post it if you can Taking off till Monday. Enjoy the weekend folks.

[Snip] Yes, we've lost some already. On top of the icons who died horribly young decades ago — Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, John Lennon — there's the litany of legends felled by illness, drugs, and just plain old age in more recent years: George Harrison, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty. Those losses have been painful. But it's nothing compared with the tidal wave of obituaries to come. The grief and nostalgia will wash over us all. Yes, the Boomers left alive will take it...

I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm Your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm Yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new In city and in forest, they smiled like me and you But now it's come to distances and both of us must try Your eyes are soft with sorrow Hey, that's no way to say goodbye I'm not looking for another as I wander in my time Walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme You know my love goes with you as your...

Leonard Cohen, who was 82 when he died on Monday, was young once. That can be hard to remember after his years of public, silver-haired eminence: touring arenas while he was in his 70s and playing leisurely three-hour-plus shows that seemed to slow down time itself. He intoned his songs with serene gravity, revealing once again how carefully chiseled every one of his quatrains is. And with every line he shared, implicitly and in his lyrics, there was a humbling knowledge of mortality: one that grows even more significant on Mr. Cohen’s final studio album, “You Want It Darker,” which...

Leonard Cohen, the Canadian poet and novelist who became a singular international presence as a singer-songwriter, has died. He was 82. A statement on his official Facebook page read, “It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away. We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries. A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date. The family requests privacy during their time of grief.” Only last month, Cohen released his final album, “You Want It Darker,” a deeply introspective work that focused thematically on mortality....

"This is an evocative, lovely and spiritual song. His deep velvet and whiskey voice is the only one that does it justice . No matter how many times I listen to this, I still feel a little chill. .....;

I’ve never seen anything quite like this. And I’ll wager you haven’t either.From the Christian Post: SonLight Music Ministry had just finished what sounded like a beautiful rendition of “Be Thou My Vision” when Father Ray Kelly again took the mic at the wedding of Chris and Leah O’Kane. But instead of closing the ceremony as planned, the priest unleashed a big surprise for the couple that’s destined for the pantheon of wedding viral videos.It’s not a joke or a slip-up, but a performance of epic proportions. A backing track mysteriously begins and Father Kelly launches into a rewritten version...

RAMAT GAN, Israel – Leonard Cohen wowed an adoring audience Thursday night, crooning his iconic ballads at his first show in Israel in 30 years and ignoring a political storm over his appearance. The 75-year-old singer entertained fans at Ramat Gan stadium near Tel Aviv for more than three hours. Some in the audience wore black fedora hats, a tribute to one of Cohen's trademarks. The concert sparked a protest long before it took place on a warm night near the Israeli seashore. Some Palestinian activists called for a boycott because of Israel's punishing invasion of Gaza, aimed at stopping...

PRESS TO PLAY Give me back my broken night my mirrored room, my secret life it's lonely here, there's no one left to torture Give me absolute control over every living soul And lie beside me, baby, that's an order! Give me crack and anal sex Take the only tree that's left and stuff it up the hole in your culture Give me back the Berlin wall give me Stalin and St Paul I've seen the future, brother: it is murder. Things are going to slide, slide in all directions Won't be nothing Nothing you can measure anymore The blizzard,...

On the surface to a casual observer the 2008 Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame class appears to be fairly strong and rather non-controversial. Three of the five artists being enshrined in the main performer category are very well deserving, including one of the most dominant artists in rock history. They also have seen fit to give overdue recognition to some long eligible figures in other categories and so on the whole this year's inductees are a solid group deserving of their honors.

Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen may never see the $9.5 million US a court ordered his former business manager to pay after she failed to respond to allegations of stealing from his retirement savings, Cohen's lawyer said. A Superior Court judge granted Cohen, known for reflective songs such as Suzanne, a default judgment Monday. Cohen, 71, claimed in a lawsuit that Kelley Lynch siphoned $5 million US from his personal accounts and investments. He was left with a nest egg of about $150,000, the lawsuit claims. "She's hard to get in touch with. I don't know where she lives now, and I...