POLL on, my brother: The Leonard Cohen Memorial POLL Voting Thread - Ballots due Midnight ET, Dec. 1st

So set your restless heart at ease
Take a lesson from these Autumn leaves
They waste no time waiting for the snow
Don't argue now you'll be late
There is nothing to investigate
It's light enough, light enough
To let it go

Remember when the scenery started fading
I held you til you learned to walk on air
So don't look down the ground is gone
There's no one waiting anyway
The Smokey Life is practiced everywhere

I love "The Window" despite not being fond of Recent Positions. To me it's the origin of the IYM chansonnier persona.

ah yes recent positions, the x-rated leonard cohen album

prefer new skin for the ladies' room

guys guys the quotes anecdotes etc are supposed to be in your ballots!!

speaking of, get 'em in, folks! two weeks to go!

two weeks is plenty of time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WQ2vXv-aq8

lol my lack of chill is not very Cohenesque of me

At what point in his career does he adopt the "old man with a hat" voice? Like, when does he go from "So Long, Marianne" to "Everybody Knows?"

― rhymes with "blondie blast" (cryptosicko), Thursday, November 17, 2016 1:03 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i'd say various positions actually

i mean "dance me to the end of love" is an old man with a hat song come on

yeah that's pretty true of "the law" too

I hope you people vote for "Coming Back to You"

i like but don't love the last three records although popular problems comes the closest to love

I hope you people vote for "Coming Back to You"

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, November 17, 2016 3:10 PM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

one of my favorites

when it comes to voting I think I'll just see how I feel on the day but "night comes on" is almost certain to be on my ballot

and i'm definitely voting for "the law." hail side one of various positions

i like but don't love the last three records although popular problems comes the closest to love

I think I might love YWID on a level comparable with the older albums but it might just be recency bias / weight of circumstances talking.

Brad I think this is the first time I've ever seen you hail side one of anything

i like but don't love the last three records although popular problems comes the closest to love

― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson),

my man

"samson in new orleans" is one of his best songs ever really

http://www.stereogum.com/1911151/leonard-cohen-albums-from-worst-to-best/franchises/counting-down/

also I've begun to chronicle the awesomely non-canonical picks from this thread here:
https://open.spotify.com/user/suckerblues/playlist/6g8ik25y0RKQam2WGtkCV3

well that certainly is a ranking of leonard cohen records

And on “Samson In New Orleans” — a tedious ballad and the album’s only wasted moment

(The Robert Frost-quoting “A Thousand Kisses Deep” is the one stinker.)

*shakes fist*

ballot sent

The birth betrayed
The marriage spent

lol

5 ballots in (I lied earlier and counted mine, which I have not actually made yet) and 53 tracks already have votes

10 days left to get yr ballots in.

Up to 8 ballots, only four days remaining! I want to get the rollout started on the 5th so I will not be extending the deadline too much.

more ballots imo

yeah having never run one of these before I just assume they mostly come in just under the wire but still, c'mon y'all

i'm honestly just finding it very hard to *rank* cohen tracks right now

That's why god invented unranked ballots!

How are unranked ballots treated when it comes to ranking the songs?

each unranked entry gets the same number of points (10.5 points in this case, to be exact), which gets added to the song's total

I see. But then what is the points system for ranked ballots? Normally in ILM polls it's 40 points for the top song, 36 for the second and 33 for the third, with a sliding scale going down to 12 points for no.20. But I don't think that's the case here?

I'm just doing a simple 20 -> 1 point. Keeping it simple seems appropriate (unless anyone objects)

Sounds fine to me. I'm sure there is some reason for giving extra weight to the songs at the top, but I can't for the life of me think what it might be. You'll def have my ballot – which will be heavy on the early stuff – before Thursday.

in retrospect doing away with ranking entirely would probably have been the most Cohenesque way to run this

keep it on the level

ballot sent!

you got mine, right?

when are ballots due? have to decide whether i have time to do this

Alfred, I used the one from your blog. Did you send another?

The current deadline is midnight EST tomorrow but I am willing to extend till the 3rd or so. I just need enough time on the weekend to prep the rollout.

Yep -- my blog. Thanks!

Feel free to also send in an album ranking or any of the other categories if they tickle yr fancy.

Ballots due TONITE, got a couple more in overnight.

ballot sent!

Any chance of extending this over the weekend? I'm out of the country right now and get back tomorrow. I can vote in the next day or two.

Honestly I probably won't do the prep work till Sunday so you're good.

Simon I am trying to throw something together now btw, it's difficult

simon I won't be able to get in today but possibly tomorrow morning? If that's too late that's fine

tomorrow morning could be workable - I'm only rolling out the albums on Monday so there's some wiggle room. all I'm doing today is collecting links, quotes, etc

for anyone struggling, I highly recommend just doing an unranked or partially ranked ballot.

Submitted

Don't sweat this, people: throw a buncha songs on a list, make sure "Hallelujah" ain't on it, hit send.

we are now up to 19 ballots!

I entered an antique shop today and the only two CDs they had - as in, at *their entire CD stock* - were pristine used copies of Ten New Songs and Recent Songs, which I'd been looking for. That made my whole week.

Don't sweat this, people: throw a buncha songs on a list, make sure "Hallelujah" ain't on it, hit send.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 4 December 2016 17:52 (five hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Pretty much what I did yah; clearly hallelujah is a lovely and excellent song but I could do the out four 20s without touching it, also I voted for two albums that contain it

*three or four

I *may* have to delay the rollout by a day as tomorrow night I will apparently be making dinner for a human woman, a thing that quite literally never happens. The Cohen effect?

Also, my second Cohen biography ebook came in today - very fortuitous timing.

Follow Leonard's implied advice and wear a suit & tie.

Or don't. I don't know anything about your life.

y'know I don't even wear a tie to work but I might but one on for kicks when I get home

Scratch what I said, the rollout WILL start tomorrow night, albeit in slightly unorthodox (read: not work-intensive for me) fashion.

Unless any more come in before I go to work tomorrow, we got in a v respectable 20 ballots.

here we go

Laughing Len strikes again: ILM Artist Poll #81 - Leonard Cohen

Voted!

Yer in!

Ranking those late albums.

I really like your take on "I'm Your Man."

thanks

FWIW this sentence seems to be missing a clause:
"It’s hard to remember which songs appear on the comeback albums, but to my ears Popular Problems is where the performing chops gained by a tour necessitated by money problems."

and you forgot the record "old ideas"

and i think you mean "if it be your will"

sorry to nitpick :(

the webb sisters version of the latter song was a staple of the late tours, and it's quite something

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDemnguRYj4

that sentence works actually, although I would have subbed it – the performing chops on PP gained (i.e. improved) as a result of the tour.

Thanks for the correction!

I rank 1971-1979