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Leonard Cohen — Darkness
Album: Old Ideas
Avg rating:
6.9

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1665









Released: 2012
Length: 4:27
Plays (last 30 days): 3
I caught the darkness
It was drinking from your cup
I caught the darkness
Drinking from your cup
I said, ''"Is this contagious?"''
You said, ''"Just drink it up."''

I got no future
I know my days are few
I know the present's not that pleasant
Just a lot of things to do
I thought the past would last me
But the darkness got that too

I should have seen it coming
It was right behind your eyes
You were young and it was summer
I just had to take a dive
Winning you was easy
But darkness was the prize

I don't smoke no cigarette
I don't drink no alcohol
I ain't had much loving yet
But that's always been your call
Hey, I don't miss it baby
I got no taste for anything at all

I used to love the rainbow
And I used to love the view
I loved the early morning
And I'd pretend that it was new
But I caught the darkness, baby
And I got it worse than you

I caught the darkness
It was drinking from your cup
I caught the darkness
Drinking from your cup
I said, ''"Is this contagious?"''
You said, ''"Just drink it up."''
Comments (182)add comment
"But I caught the darkness baby
And I got it worse than you."
Yeah, I had a girlfriend like that.
 idiot_wind wrote:
Oh come on. Have you heard the others? I'm Your Man? New Skin for the Old Ceremony? The Future?

Just play one side of this album. This is his best album! 



 


 Alastair wrote:
When they gave out the Nobel Prize this year, they gave it to the wrong guy. 

RIP L Cohen.  

 
Amen to that. 
 Cannon wrote:
Enjoying LC on RP while cooking dinner...wife walks in, "what is this shit?"  
But would have to say Tom Waits is her LEAST favorite in the RP rotation...and one of my favorites!
 
Have you fully considered rotation yourself?
Genius, possibly evil:

"You were young and it was summer
I just had to take a dive"
 sfyi2001 wrote:
NOT TRUE.
I'm simple as 2nd grade math, and I LOVE this sh_t, sugar britches.
  
"I stand corrected, treacle trousers."

Whatever is next?
Liquorice lederhosen? 
 Why? Just because they grew up in Montreal at the same time and they are both Jews and both went to my uni: McGill?

blueheronobx wrote:
Am I wrong for thinking Leonard should have collaborated with William Shatner at some point?
 


 sfyi2001 wrote:
NOT TRUE.
I'm simple as 2nd grade math, and I LOVE this sh_t, sugar britches.
 
I stand corrected, treacle trousers.
 On_The_Beach wrote:
Leonard's music is not for the simple-minded.
Voice not pretty enough for you? Boo-hoo!

 
                                NOT TRUE.
                                I'm simple as 2nd grade math, and I LOVE this sh_t, sugar britches.
 
 
Leonard's music is not for the simple-minded.
Voice not pretty enough for you? Boo-hoo!
Fourth grade songwriting and NO singing skills at all. Deserves a ZERO!
 
I think this whole album is profound.  He knew he was dying and put everything into his last work.
Am I wrong for thinking Leonard should have collaborated with William Shatner at some point?
 kcar wrote:


That's odd: Satan called and said your table for three is ready...  {#Whipit}

 
Ha!
I used to love the rainbow
And I used to love the view
I loved the early morning
And I'd pretend that it was new
RIP Leonard.


RIP Uncle Leonard. 

When they gave out the Nobel Prize this year, they gave it to the wrong guy. 

RIP L Cohen.  
Lots of legends left us this year. Fortunately ther songs stays.
RIP! ...but still a solid 1 to me... {#Silenced}
R.I.P. 
{#Cry} 
RIP fella 
 
The best concert I ever saw was LC in Glasgow in 1974. 

Another great gone {#Sad}
I love the poetry.  Leonard is a legend.  
 Cannon wrote:

Enjoying LC on RP while cooking dinner...wife walks in, "what is this shit?"  
But would have to say Tom Waits is her LEAST favorite in the RP rotation...and one of my favorites! 

 
I'm with your wife! Leonard's not my least fave, but he really has mined the gravel-voiced dirty-old-sage schtick for all it's worth. 
 pitkow33 wrote:
my wife's least favorite of your entire rotation!  anyone can talk through a song!  LOL
 
Enjoying LC on RP while cooking dinner...wife walks in, "what is this shit?"  
But would have to say Tom Waits is her LEAST favorite in the RP rotation...and one of my favorites! 
 deepwoodskev wrote:
I call horseshit on him singing about how he don't smoke no cigarettes! That voice has got six packs of Marlboros a day written all over it.

 
LC had a 'different' vocal style back in his earlier recordings (Suzanne, Famous Blue Raincoat, Chelsea Hotel, etc.).  Years later he released The Future which featured his new vocal style (at least that's my recollection, which has been fuzzy for sometime now).  I read somewhere that LC states that his voice changed due to quitting cigarettes.  I'm not a big fan of his new vocal style but his lyrics are still mesmerizing.

I dragged a few friends to see him at the Bottom Line (NYC) back in the day and, as most people state he is an acquired taste, which would explain why most of my friends walked out of the show.  Oh well - to each his own.


I love this song and Philly. Had once wonderful time there!
We shouldn't be too hard on this guy. His voice is almost as pleasant as Bob Dylan's.
my wife's least favorite of your entire rotation!  anyone can talk through a song!  LOL
can't relate to this guy...to each his own
Just had to bump this from an 8 to a 9..........love it!

Just play one side of this album. This is his best album! 


Can't get enough of Leonard Cohen.
 
It is the sum of the parts here!
I call horseshit on him singing about how he don't smoke no cigarettes! That voice has got six packs of Marlboros a day written all over it.
Cohen is like eatin Geoduck - you either luv it or luv it...
 Michael_Dean wrote:

It's the passages through Cohen's poetry that provide the novelty and the style.  I hope you are lucky enough to find it some time.

 

 

WHAT IS A SAINT

 

        What is a saint?  A saint is someone who has achieved a remote human possibility.  It is impossible to say what that possibility is.  I think it has something to do with the energy of love.  Contact with this energy results in the exercise of a kind of balance in the chaos of existence.  A saint does not dissolve the chaos; if he did the world would have changed long ago.  I do not think that a saint dissolves the chaos even for himself, for there is something arrogant and warlike in the notion of a man setting the universe in order.  It is a kind of balance that is his glory.  He rides the drifts like an escaped ski.  His course is a caress of the hill.  His track is a drawing of the snow in a moment of its particular arrangement with wind and rock.  Something in him so loves the world that he gives himself to the laws of gravity and chance.  Far from flying with the angels, he traces with the fidelity of a seismograph needle the state of the solid bloody landscape.  His house is dangerous and finite, but he is at home in the world.  He can love the shapes of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of the heart.  It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love.



 
Fabulous quote!   And i get Cohen, he's authentic 
Just don't get Cohen!! {#Ask}

It's the passages through Cohen's poetry that provide the novelty and the style.  I hope you are lucky enough to find it some time.

 

 

WHAT IS A SAINT

 

        What is a saint?  A saint is someone who has achieved a remote human possibility.  It is impossible to say what that possibility is.  I think it has something to do with the energy of love.  Contact with this energy results in the exercise of a kind of balance in the chaos of existence.  A saint does not dissolve the chaos; if he did the world would have changed long ago.  I do not think that a saint dissolves the chaos even for himself, for there is something arrogant and warlike in the notion of a man setting the universe in order.  It is a kind of balance that is his glory.  He rides the drifts like an escaped ski.  His course is a caress of the hill.  His track is a drawing of the snow in a moment of its particular arrangement with wind and rock.  Something in him so loves the world that he gives himself to the laws of gravity and chance.  Far from flying with the angels, he traces with the fidelity of a seismograph needle the state of the solid bloody landscape.  His house is dangerous and finite, but he is at home in the world.  He can love the shapes of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of the heart.  It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love.


Wonder how many of the detractors listened to the lyrics, shame that if music isnt all melodic and sing songy they dont get it..
just can't, just can't
sorry
the sound of his voice renders everything he says both boring and irritating at the same time 
 vinylbob wrote:
Leonard Cohen is not my favorite artist.  Is that diplomatic? 

 
Awesome YES, it is and I agree..once in awhile fine..like once or twice a year..
          Why yes, I know now to the t's
    Why all my letters are like d-day written
          But the darkness got that too.

The last couple of comments from the 13 year olds who ended up here by mistake inspired me to rate this a 9.

"I caught the darkness
It was drinking from your cup
I caught the darkness
Drinking from your cup
I said, "Is this contagious?"
You said, "Just drink it up."

I've got no future
I know my days are few
The present's, not that pleasant
Just a lot of things to do
I thought the past would last me
But the darkness got there too.

I should've seen it coming
It was red behind your eyes
You're young and it was summer
I just had to take a dive
Winning you was easy
But darkness was the price.

I don't smoke no cigarette
I don't drink no alcohol
I ain't had much loving yet
But that's always been your call
I don't miss it baby
I got no taste for anything at all

I used to love the rainbow
And I used to love the view
Another early morning
I pretend that it was new
But I caught the darkness, baby
And I got it worse than you.

I caught the darkness
It was drinking from your cup
I caught the darkness
Drinking from your cup
I said, "Is this contagious?"
You said, "Just drink it up."

 



 LinThizzy wrote:
NO MORE FRIGGIN LEONARD COHEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ENOUGH ALREADY!
WE GET IT!
TORTURE FOR US!
I WILL NOT DONATE ANOTHER PENNY UNTIL THIS EXCUSE FOR MUSIC GOES ELSEWHERE.
Cohen should be selling records with bockscar willee and ray stevens.
Goes for Amy Weinenhauser as well.

 
Have to agree with you...
Amazing. At the age of 80+ when most others are either in the ground or enjoying their slippers and pipes, Lenny's still got it.
I'd take Lenny over Dylan any time 
 BCarn wrote:
My personal hell: Leonard Cohen droning on ad infinitum in my left ear, and Neil Young whining ad nauseum in my right.

 

That's odd: Satan called and said your table for three is ready...  {#Whipit}
NO MORE FRIGGIN LEONARD COHEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ENOUGH ALREADY!
WE GET IT!
TORTURE FOR US!
I WILL NOT DONATE ANOTHER PENNY UNTIL THIS EXCUSE FOR MUSIC GOES ELSEWHERE.
Cohen should be selling records with bockscar willee and ray stevens.
Goes for Amy Weinenhauser as well.
 BobbyCat wrote:
It's been quite a lot of Leonard Cohen lately. Should I say way too much?
This PSD button saves the day.

 
And why it is there!
Wonderful song.
 vinylbob wrote:
Leonard Cohen is not my favorite artist.  Is that diplomatic? 

 
That's not the sort of statement I'm accustomed to seeing in the song comments. What are you - some sort of crazy trouble-maker?!
{#Propeller}
sing it Leonard !!!! oh yeah !!!!!!! Leonard the cool beyond coolestness !
Lenny, please lighten up a bit. I'm trying to make it through this workday!
Leonard Cohen is not my favorite artist.  Is that diplomatic? 
It's been quite a lot of Leonard Cohen lately. Should I say way too much?
This PSD button saves the day.
Aargh!  Laughing Lenny!  One of very few I can't stand.  I appreciate his artistry, but can't bear to listen to him.

Shudder!
My idea of heaven 
My personal hell: Leonard Cohen droning on ad infinitum in my left ear, and Neil Young whining ad nauseum in my right.
Like him, but please. Getting sick of this song.
Thanks for playing this - through hitting PSD I could hear Seven Miles Road again. Great song. {#Dance}
Thank you ..... where else can I hear this...
Where else do you combine and merge and modulate to the next with such ease
Thank you..
Enhancing my life....... by the hour 
 fredriley wrote:

He's not bad for an old gimmer in his 70s, eh? No slippers by the fireside for Cohen, for sure.

 
80s at this point. An amazing career w/ few peers in my hu........
Thanks Bill!!
LC is played way too often here, agreed!

This one would be great without the narrator's voice though imho...
 silby wrote:

I agree 100%.  I guess you ever love his style or hate it.  I respect him, but to me it all sounds the same, and the novelty wears off... PSD please 

 
Jeebus!  Prolly everyone listening to RP has some artist they would rather not hear.  PSD is there for a reason.


 ChrisVIII wrote:
{#No}   Leonard Cohen is played too often here.... a chance is that it's a different song every time, but the problem is that none deserves more than 3 imho :/ 

 
I agree 100%.  I guess you ever love his style or hate it.  I respect him, but to me it all sounds the same, and the novelty wears off... PSD please 
Lenny,,,,,,buddy ,,take a break . 3rd time today......He needs a rest he's a bit old....
{#No}   Leonard Cohen is played too often here.... a chance is that it's a different song every time, but the problem is that none deserves more than 3 imho :/ 
 kcar wrote:

Leonard certainly has aged well...

Flo from Progressive Insurance 

 
That's not Lenny!  That's his grand daughter, Flo Cohen ...
 Proclivities wrote:

Yeah, he is "pure hype".  You just can't turn on any electronic device without seeing or hearing Leonard Cohen.  He saturates the airwaves more than Justin Bieber or Beyoncé, to say nothing of those TV commercials he does for Honey BBQ Fritos and Progressive Insurance.

 
Leonard certainly has aged well...

Flo from Progressive Insurance 
 pkoelmans wrote:
If a newcomer released this I  don't think it would  be very succesful, what a way of singing, you can hardly recognise a melody.
And it's always the same, There must something in it that people like because he's performed for over 50 years!
 

 
It's the words, the mix, the voice, the feeling.  It all works for me.  

Art doesn't have to be beautiful to be wonderful.  The more I hear him (especially his later work), the more I enjoy him.
 
If a newcomer released this I  don't think it would  be very succesful, what a way of singing, you can hardly recognise a melody.
And it's always the same, There must something in it that people like because he's performed for over 50 years!
 
 Xstar wrote:
Crap! I hate anything from this dude. {#Ass}

 
Rate the song low and PSD.
Personally, I love this and most of LC's work.
 Xstar wrote:
Crap! I hate anything from this dude. {#Ass}

 
I wholly disagree with your assessment, but the emoticon rocks! {#Clap}
Crap! I hate anything from this dude. {#Ass}
Like MissElaineious below, I've tried to appreciate L. Cohen, but I just can't get past the voice.
Er, um, gulp.
Repent.  Now.  
Exquisite. Understated but a perfect voice for very inspired lyrics.
 MissElaineious wrote:
I swear I've tried hard to enjoy Leonard Cohen but I just can't.  I suppose it might be because I do not enjoy any songs with someone speaking lyrics. But I will continue to try to hear what others hear when listening to Leonard. 
 

Completely understand, it is just that the lyrics are so outstanding.  A lot of people would equate him with Dylan, but I do not.  I actually think that Dylans musicality is underappreciated and perhaps his lyrics a little bit overrated though outstanding.  I think Cohen's lyrics are amazing, but musically can be errrr hard to take at times.{#Mrgreen}
I swear I've tried hard to enjoy Leonard Cohen but I just can't.  I suppose it might be because I do not enjoy any songs with someone speaking lyrics. But I will continue to try to hear what others hear when listening to Leonard. 
If you love Leonard there are some wonderful interviews and concert videos on YouTube - well worth searching for {#Notworthy}
 Shesdifferent wrote:
I know that Cohen's style of singing can be a little droll.....but you gotta admit the lyrics just knock it out of the park!

 
If he were Italian he'd be a cantautore, a category which translates to 'singer-songwriter' but really means a lot more, signifying a poet who's more philosopher and commentator than singer. The category doesn't really exist in the anglo-saxon world, even though folk like Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Elton John are cantautori. When he eventually croaks, Cohen will be remembered as a philosopher and poet more than as a singer.

He's not bad for an old gimmer in his 70s, eh? No slippers by the fireside for Cohen, for sure.
 bexhillos wrote:
Leonard Cohen is an aquired taste,not for me but he has a lot of fans.

 
ditto

and most his fans in France, right ?
{#Headache}
Currently reading Leonard Cohen "A Remarkable Life".......and he is!
This song is just tits !

8 to 9


Interesting voice, interesting rhythm.

{#Music}


So upbeat  Mr. Cohen is
{#Flamed}..... L C is still the real deal
Leonard Cohen is an aquired taste,not for me but he has a lot of fans.
 suesblues wrote:
I have to say, this is the ONLY Leonard Cohen song I have ever heard that I like.  Usually it's PSD for him as I can't stand his moping.  Must be the electric organ that saves the day in this song.

 
He' growing on me
I have to say, this is the ONLY Leonard Cohen song I have ever heard that I like.  Usually it's PSD for him as I can't stand his moping.  Must be the electric organ that saves the day in this song.

 

This song just hit me...

Sometimes he is speaking to me. Where I am now. Where I've been. 

This just sums up some stuff that I have known for a long time.

Stuff that I didn't understand what it all meant until over the weekend.

Some days... I guess it's called being human... Good songwriters and poets can do that in a few words.

 


 Proclivities wrote:

Yeah, he is "pure hype".  You just can't turn on any electronic device without seeing or hearing Leonard Cohen.  He saturates the airwaves more than Justin Bieber or Beyoncé, to say nothing of those TV commercials he does for Honey BBQ Fritos and Progressive Insurance.

 
Honey BBQ Fritos and Progressive.  {#Lol} {#Lol}
Leonard Cohen is the right medicstuon to relax. {#Meditate}
 daniel_rusk wrote:
My girlfriend get the creeps from his voice. Pervert she says. Makes me turn off RP.

 

And of course you obey....sad
My girlfriend get the creeps from his voice. Pervert she says. Makes me turn off RP.
84 and still kicking butt....{#Dance}
 Proclivities wrote:

I was employing ironic sarcasm in my post
 
don't you hate that?
rp overplayed
 
 oldfart48 wrote:
just gets better and better.....{#Yell}{#Clap}{#Bananajam}{#Dance}

 
Really, as you listen you hear the quirks and all the sardonic humour. The composition, the production, the delivery. It's all tuned to a fine universal ruse. Brilliant work. For me it's always been the gift for understatement that makes me love this stuff.
just gets better and better.....{#Yell}{#Clap}{#Bananajam}{#Dance}
 Rotterdam wrote:

Interesting take on this situation. Is it LC's fault that he is so widely liked/loved? Does that mean his music is not valuable?
I can understand that you could get tired of hearing him everywhere, but not the conclusion that he is everywhere due to 'hype.' ??

 
I was employing ironic sarcasm in my post; Leonard Cohen is really not widely heard on the airwaves and does not do commercial endorsements for those products.  However, if he were "everywhere", it would not diminish the value of his music to me.
This poor guy has been stuck in the same existential loop too long.
I just know that when I saw him live last November, along with 16,000 other people in Toronto, he captivated everyone -- and all ages were there. When he sang "I'm Your Man," I think every woman in the place swooned. He has still got it, in spades.
 Proclivities wrote:

Yeah, he is "pure hype".  You just can't turn on any electronic device without seeing or hearing Leonard Cohen.  He saturates the airwaves more than Justin Bieber or Beyoncé, to say nothing of those TV commercials he does for Honey BBQ Fritos and Progressive Insurance.

 
Interesting take on this situation. Is it LC's fault that he is so widely liked/loved? Does that mean his music is not valuable?
I can understand that you could get tired of hearing him everywhere, but not the conclusion that he is everywhere due to 'hype.' ??
 old_shep wrote:
Pure hype.

 
Yeah, he is "pure hype".  You just can't turn on any electronic device without seeing or hearing Leonard Cohen.  He saturates the airwaves more than Justin Bieber or Beyoncé, to say nothing of those TV commercials he does for Honey BBQ Fritos and Progressive Insurance.
great album from a great Artist (from Montréal !)
 
I know that Cohen's style of singing can be a little droll.....but you gotta admit the lyrics just knock it out of the park!
 MiracleDrug wrote:
sounds from the crypt...
 
Yeah,but what a way to go........
Old Geezer Blues......I'm in! 

soooo very very cool...  love it...
 

marvelous...  time flies when we're having fun...  love it...
 
 fredriley wrote:

Yep, not bad for an old man. Thanks to RP I've really grown to appreciate Ol' Gravel Voice. Is it me, or has his voice moved into the subsonic with age? Gives me the willies, for sure. 8 from the moved Nottingham jury.
 

Yes I'm inclined to come alongside you fredriley as all my life I could not abide him, droll derges but this past 6 months I have begun to tolerate him and to date I am now listening and starting to enjoy him, perhaps its time that has allowed him to grow on me be it 40 plus years,  that many years ago a friend of mine known as 'Gypsy Jeff' was an ardent fan buying every album on release and I could never understand what he saw in Cohen, but I am now begining to understand Jeffs appreciation. Maybe I ought to look him up if he is still alive and kicking.
Hey, it's Monday morning already!
 jt1 wrote:


Your church is clearly braoder than mine. This song is really not working for me.
 

This song is cool...  bless you...
 
No.
Just changed this from a 4 to a 2. really just can't stand this guy. Mr Overrated
Outstanding lyrics.  Wonderful that LC is still pumping 'em out...and they are this good!