Leonard Cohen and Janis Joplin

Chances are, you've heard of Janis Joplin. Great blues singer from the 1960s, not beautiful in the classical sense, lived hard, died young, had issues with drug abuse, was probably internally troubled (seeing some tapes of interviews with her is kind of uncomfortable). You probably know at least a couple of songs also.

(Side note: This morning, I realized that Amy Winehouse is a kindred spirit of Janis Joplin. Both immensely talented, into old black music and sing in that style, both had personal and drug issues, etc... Hopefully this is not any kind of foreshadowing for Amy.)




Anyway, chances are, you probably haven't heard of Leonard Cohen. He is a singer-songwriter who put out a bunch of music in the 60s and 70s, and apparently wrote novels, poems, and continues to be an artist through this day. He will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008 for his status among the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters" (from the Wikipedia article). The only song of his that you've probably heard of was covered by somebody else for the Shrek soundtrack, called "Hallejuah". He was apparently also referenced in a Nirvana song, Pennyroyal Tea ("Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld...")


I hadn't heard of him either. When I work in Teaneck in the summertime, I bring a bunch of music with me since I am sitting there typing most of the day. I was perusing my CD collection one summer to grab a bunch of stuff I hadn't heard to work with me, and I found out that we have a greatest hits CD of his. My wife had bought it sometime ago.



His music - at least, the greatest hits music - is good. It's slow and not as rockin as, say, Bob Dylan. You have to be patient and invested to appreciate the songs, but once I did, I did appreciate it.

The summer I was introducing myself to Leonard, the guys in their 40s and 50s who work at the school (including my father), heard me playing it and all said, "Wow, Leonard Cohen. I love him." To my surprise, they'd all heard of him and liked his music. I chalked this up to the fact that they all lived in NYC / NJ, of the previous generation, and were not a random sampling of society.





Anyway, one of the songs on the CD is called "Chelsea Hotel No. 2". It has a pretty melody and is a sad, kind of nostalgic song about an encounter that Leonard had with an anonymous girl. I immediately liked the melody, and the honest feeling of his lyrics. Here they are:

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
you were talking so brave and so sweet,
giving me head on the unmade bed,
while the limousines wait in the street.

Those were the reasons and that was New York,
we were running for the money and the flesh.
And that was called love for the workers in song
probably still is for those of them left.

Ah but you got away, didn't you babe,
you just turned your back on the crowd,
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don't need you,
I need you, I don't need you
and all of that jiving around.

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
you were famous, your heart was a legend.
You told me again you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception.
And clenching your fist for the ones like us
who are oppressed by the figures of beauty,
you fixed yourself, you said, "Well never mind,
we are ugly but we have the music."

Ah but you got away, didn't you babe,
you just turned your back on the crowd,
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don't need you,
I need you, I don't need you
and all of that jiving around.

I don't mean to suggest that I loved you the best,
I can't keep track of each fallen robin.
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
that's all, I don't even think of you that often.


I listened to it a few times, and enjoyed it.

Then, later I found out that the song was about a one-night stand he had with Janis Joplin. I don't think he publicized that at the time when he released it, but talked about it years later, after she'd died. Naturally, I read and re-read the lyrics and not only did the song make complete sense in that context, but it painted an even deeper picture of Janis. It's sad and interesting how he calls her a "fallen robin" in the last verse, and how he says she was "oppressed by the figures of beauty" in the middle.

Here's a link to a page about the Chelsea Hotel itself and the song.