Defend the Indefensible: Leonard Cohen's "Death of a Ladies' Man"

it doesn't quite work sometimes. maybe.

Ah but don't go home with your hard-on
It will only drive you insane
You can't shake it (or break it) with your Motown
You can't melt it down in the rain

You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain

I've looked behind all of the faces
That smile you down to you knees
And the lips that say, Come on, taste us
And when you try to they make you say Please

When you try to they make you say Please
When you try to they make you say Please
When you try to they make you say Please
When you try to they make you say Please

Ah but don't go home with your hard-on ...

Here come's your bride with her veil on
Approach her, you wretch, if you dare
Approach her, you ape with your tail on
Once you have her she'll always be there

Once you have her she'll always be there
Once you have her she'll always be there
Once you have her she'll always be there
Once you have her she'll always be there

Ah but don't go home with your hard-on ...

So I work in that same beauty salon
I'm chained to the old masquerade
The lipstick, the shadow, the silicone
I follow my father's trade

I follow my father's trade
Yes I follow my father's trade
Yes I follow my father's trade
Yes I follow my father's trade

Ah but don't go home with your hard-on
It will only drive you insane
You can't shake it (or break it) with your Motown
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain

easily, since i find EVERYTHING about leonard cohen to be indefensible!

see, e.g. Defend the Indefensible 7: Leonard Cohen

[Actually, the sound quality on my CD suggests it was mastered via a two-cans-and-a-length-of-string arrangement. I don't like that.]

Exactly. Fabulously OTT. As I once said on a similar thread. It's Leonard Cohen and it swings. Sensational stuff!

-- roger adultery (vlad62...) (webmail), February 24th, 2005 2:04 AM. (roger adultery) (link)

well, duh.

15 songs were written by the two over a course of three weeks, and Spector described it as "some great fuckin' music". Not everyone agreed with this assessment, preferring Cohen's earlier acoustic folk music to the jazz-, rock- and even funk-influenced arrangements. Among the seven unknown outtakes is probably "Do I Have to Dance All Night". A live recording was released in France as a single in 1976.

Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg sang backup vocals on the chorus of "Don't Go Home with Your Hard-on".

Death of a Ladies' Man was recorded in Los Angeles, California. Before Cohen had completed his vocals, Spector barred him from the studio (supposedly under armed guard) and mixed the album by himself. For this reason some of the songs only have "guiding vocals" originally meant to be redone later.

-wikipedia

beautiful record, can see why the faithful were confused 35 years ago but now?

it doesn't confuse me, I just don't like it at all. the only cohen album I can't listen to.

Just listened to this for the first time, while reading the "Phil Spector: Murderer!"-thread. Made for a nice pairing. I really like the record. OTT, naturally,lots of stuff happening all the time, Cohen sounds confused, caught up, in the sound. It might well be a coincidence (or it might not) but it fits well with the lyrical preoccupation with struggling males, the 70s, feminism etc..

And "Memories" is the bomb.

Obviously not indefensible, btw.

his best record

Bloated, lurid, bleak. Sounds both cheap and excessive, by turns maudlin and crassly cynical, such a beautiful artifact.

would love to hear the outtakes

you are that naked angel in my heart
you are the woman with her legs apart

jeez leonard

this song is so dreamy

btw this album is completely defensible

Once you've been to heeeeeeelllllllllllllluh

i love that spector quote "some great fuckin music"

there are many ways a man can serve his time

I really like it.
Got it as part of the box set
I remember Chris Bohn/Biba Kopf included it in his NME essay on hardcore back in '84. Wonder if many people picked up on it from there.
It also reminds me of Nick Cave/Tindersticks etc so assume it had some influence there.

This is my sentimental fav Cohen

Nah, it's terrible.

this is one of those albums that makes me wonder what's going to happen to Spector's estate when he dies. I can't remember if he's estranged from his children or not, and his latest wife is obviously bonkers/tasteless - does this mean whatever he's got locked up in his vaults will never see the light of day?

It also reminds me of Nick Cave/Tindersticks etc so assume it had some influence there.

I used to have a recording of Nick Cave doing a great version of Don't Go Home With Your Hard-on. Haven't been able to find it on the internet ever though. He's done loads of Cohen covers over the years (including the opening track on the first Bad Seeds album).

I used to have a recording of Nick Cave doing a great version of Don't Go Home With Your Hard-on. Haven't been able to find it on the internet ever though

This would have been from one of the Hal Willner-curated Cohen tribute shows in 2004-5, Cave used to lead the whole cast in the finale with that song.