Billy Joel!!

[Biggles]

I never got Murray Cohen .Not even a little.

[Squeamous]

A friend recently sent me a collection of Cohen songs (you know him Biggles, VL). He went to see the Cohen gig in Edinburgh. Some of them I thought were very good. One was even a Bukowski poem. He was a little too far outside my range to be a favourite though....I think he's a man's man really. Even more so than say someone like Johnny Cash, who I like, but along a similar vein.

Morrissey is someone you don't really come to later in life. You grow up with him and love him forever no matter what shite he makes. Personally I think Viva Hate is a work of genius, followed by Your Arsenal. I bought You Are The Quarry and I like it but I haven't bought his latest. I may be a fan but I'm not gullible.

[Biggles]

A friend recently sent me a collection of Cohen songs (you know him Biggles, VL). He went to see the Cohen gig in Edinburgh. Some of them I thought were very good. One was even a Bukowski poem. He was a little too far outside my range to be a favourite though....I think he's a man's man really. Even more so than say someone like Johnny Cash, who I like, but along a similar vein.

Morrissey is someone you don't really come to later in life. You grow up with him and love him forever no matter what shite he makes. Personally I think Viva Hate is a work of genius, followed by Your Arsenal. I bought You Are The Quarry and I like it but I haven't bought his latest. I may be a fan but I'm not gullible.

Lucky VL - would have considered going if I had known he was heading up. Oh well! Tickets were steep though. £60 I think. Edinburgh Castle tends to be a pricey venue. Cohen is a bit out on a limb but he appeals to my mind and sense of humour.

[Squeamous]

I think probably it helps to view him as performance poetry, but I don't really think what he does is music.

I think the cost of tickets isn't so much the problem, it's all the extras like hotel and travel . Last time I went to a gig it was Ben Folds Five at uni 8 years ago.

[j2k4]

Morrissey is someone you don't really come to later in life. You grow up with him and love him forever no matter what shite he makes.

I may be a fan but I'm not gullible.

Interesting take on the matter.

Ordinarily at this point I would ask what your favorite Morrissey song was so I could listen, but your having done that already has somehow short-circuited my inclination.

My regret over this is sincere.

Do you think having "grown up with him" is requisite to liking him at all.

[Squeamous]

Those were album titles

I know, it sounds like a contradiction doesn't it? I suppose I mean I will always love his as a musician and he will always mean something to me but that doesn't mean I'm going to go out and slavishly buy every record he makes.

I think probably Morrissey is absolutely unique in that he engenders tremendous loyalty and incites such extreme emotion from his fan base. He has straight men turning to jelly in front of him when he performs.....grown men rushing the stage and falling sobbing into his arms. Not many people can do that. And I think that's unique to people who found him as confused teenagers. I think if you don't hear him before the age of 20 you probably won't ever be a fan, and in fact you will probably find him intensely irritating

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IbJQ4YAPRo[/youtube]

That's probably my favourite. I know the lyrics sound depressing but I get this sense of elation when I listen to the chorus. My heart and pace quicken and if no-one else is around I have a good loud sing along to it. It's got a great opening line and just gets better from then on. I think the resignation in his voice is comforting

[j2k4]

Those were album titles

I know, it sounds like a contradiction doesn't it? I suppose I mean I will always love his as a musician and he will always mean something to me but that doesn't mean I'm going to go out and slavishly buy every record he makes.

I think probably Morrissey is absolutely unique in that he engenders tremendous loyalty and incites such extreme emotion from his fan base. He has straight men turning to jelly in front of him when he performs.....grown men rushing the stage and falling sobbing into his arms. Not many people can do that. And I think that's unique to people who found him as confused teenagers. I think if you don't hear him before the age of 20 you probably won't ever be a fan, and in fact you will probably find him intensely irritating

That last is apropos, but I guess it is to my credit I can see him objectively...I have observed the "male" phenomenon (intuiting the fact of the androgenous attraction; that is to say, seeing it rather than feeling it), then gone back to him and his...personna, I guess, and I just can't sort it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IbJQ4YAPRo[/youtube]

That's probably my favourite. I know the lyrics sound depressing but I get this sense of elation when I listen to the chorus. My heart and pace quicken and if no-one else is around I have a good loud sing along to it. It's got a great opening line and just gets better from then on. I think the resignation in his voice is comforting

When I feel I can, I'll watch your video and render an opinion.

[Squeamous]

Are you ok?

[j2k4]

Are you ok?

Oh yeah, no problems.

That one is easily the best I've heard from him.

I catch your sense of brightening at the chorus relative to the rest of the song (I like Sundays, for lots of reasons) but don't find the rest of it as affecting, I don't think...I just can't put my finger on what others like about him, nor can I identify the absolute source of my antipathy.

Luckily this isn't the only thing in life I find baffling.

[clocker]

Luckily this isn't the only thing in life I find baffling.

Yeah, you got that whole "hugging short people whilst sitting" thing to work out too...