Growing up I'd always listened to the words being sung as much as the voice and music bringing them to life and tended to like the more thoughtful songs, The Trees by Rush ... Mutually Assured Destruction by the Ian Gillen Band and pretty much the entire Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd but with Leonard the words were just so earthy. They had a beauty to them that was always at odds with what they were saying.
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded.
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed,
Everybody knows that the war is over,
Everybody knows that the good guys lost.
Sure his voice wasn't perfect, although I'd argue that it probably was for his songs, but his songs were. I think he must be one of the most 'covered' artists out there, which talks to the respect held for him by other artists.
I always welcomed a new album as there were always a couple of gems in there, and such is the case with the album released shortly before his death.
I never got to see him perform live but his CDs are never far from my CD player.
His songs will last forever I think ... not a bad legacy.
Yep another loss for this year. I didn't get into his music as much as you but I respected his talent and determination in ploughing his own furrow, whether we all 'got it' or not :(
ReplyDeleteThanks Colin.
ReplyDeleteJane introduced me to his music back at University and initially I didn't think too much of him but then I started to listen to what he was actually saying in his songs and I've been a fan ever since.