Scrobble Scribble #1: Avalanche by Leonard Cohen

Influenced by some of the great works of fellow DIGC101 students, I've decided to branch off into my own sort of posts that are unique in scope. Dane Cutler's Ninja Winja was one example that, although very simple, is highly original and particularly inspired me to get to writing something interesting. So I thought for a bit, and I thought well-- how about a write little short notes about songs that I just listened to. And at the time, I was thinking of a better title as well and the best I came up with was - Scribble Jam (which is actually the name of a Hip Hop festival in the US).

Think harder. Ok, Scribble Jam is good but I need something more original. Then it occurred to me that I had been putting my Last.FM widgets everywhere. Well, that would be easy to show my recently played tracks. And wait a minute... how does Last.FM record music? It scrobbles them. Scrobble + Scribble? Why, it was so obvious now.


But anyway, down to business. The first song to kick off the Scrobble Scribbling is Avalanche by Leonard Cohen, featured on the album "Songs of Love and Hate". I don't know where the sudden popularity in Leonard Cohen came from, but I remember seeing "Songs of Love and Hate" at Dirt Cheap CDs in the city a while ago for $10 then one of my closest friends said he had just bought that album. Then one of my other friends got "The Essential Leonard Cohen" and when I questioned him about it, he just said "yeah I love Leonard Cohen" in a tone like he'd been listening to him for a long time. So I took a shot and popped in "Songs..." not sure what to expect.

Going off Avalanche, Leonard Cohen sounds something like Nick Cave (who actually did a cover of this with his Bad Seeds) with a dark, monotone voice infused with a bit more of a soft, folk sound. His lyrics are very poetic and emotive, and this song sounds sounds like Cohen is confused on how to feel with a person that loves him. He himself needs that love, but doesn't know if he can accept it. This is my interpretation anyway. His vocals and the instruments that proceed him are both fleeting (possibly a technique that is in harmony with the lyrics of the song), and it's interesting at the end how he finishes it "It is your flesh I wear" because the way he sings this feels like he isn't finished. Not the most uplifting music, but Avalanche and "Songs..." would definitely be a companion to those times to when experiencing a bit of love and hate in your life.

Leonard Cohen - Avalanche


Scrobble Scribbler uses Last.FM and Last.FM's "Audioscrobbler" software. However, Scrobble Scribbler is not employed by Last.FM and thus views expressed by its author are not those of Last.FM. Join Last.fm here