Video hit Webb Sisters

Webb Sisters and Leonard Cohen - If it be your will (Live in London)

The Webb Sisters are a musical duo comprising the siblings Charley and Hattie Webb who are from Kent, England.

Charley Webb and Hattie Webb were born in Kent, UK, to an entrepreneur-drumming father and a tennis coach mother.

They have two brothers, Brad Webb and Rocco Rands-Webb, who are both drummers. According to Charley, music often blared from all over the house.

Although Charley became briefly interested with being an ambulance driver, the sisters early on decided on a career in music.

Hattie plays the harp and mandolin, and Charley the guitar, clarinet, and piano.

When they were teenagers, the pair began to give recitals all over the country, and played at, among others, charity functions, parties, and played twice for Princess Anne and once for Queen Elizabeth II.

They met Johnny Pierce, a record producer who invited them to Nashville, where they recorded their debut album, Piece of Mind. After six months, they went to California, selling the album at their gigs. They were soon discovered and were offered a publishing deal by Windswept Pacific Publishing, and, soon afterward, they signed a record deal with Universal Records.

The Cohen influences were evident on two songs written by the acclaimed singer-songwriter: Show Me The Place and If It Be Your Will. With the latter song, this is arguably the track that most people would associate with The Webb Sisters.

During his concert tours, Cohen generously allowed the sisters to arrange the song and then sing it by themselves.

A rendition is shown in the video.

The lyrics - by Leonard Cohen:

If it be your will

That I speak no more

And my voice be still

As it was before

I will speak no more

I shall abide until

I am spoken for

If it be your will

If it be your will

That a voice be true

From this broken hill

I will sing to you

From this broken hill

All your praises they shall ring

If it be your will

To let me sing

If it be your will

If there is a choice

Let the rivers fill

Let the hills rejoice

Let your mercy spill

On all these burning hearts in hell

If it be your will

To make us well

And draw us near

Oh bide us tight

All your children here

In their rags of light

In our rags of light

All dressed to kill

And end this night

If it be your will

Video hit rar cu Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen - First We Take Manhattan (RARE)

BABY, BABY, BABY, BABY – A MOVING PICTURE’S CUT OF FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN

A Moving Picture, directed by Jurgen Lutz, features an early version of Leonard Cohen’s First We Take Manhattan. As a further enticement to Cohen fans, the segment of the film shown in the video below includes Leonard Cohen playing the role of Leonard Cohen.

Described in its promotional material as a “romantic dance fantasy,” A Moving Picture (filmed in 1987 and released in 1989) is built on the choreography of Anne Ditchburn.

THE LYRICS VARIATION

The final verse of First We Take Manhattan from the I’m Your Man album (released in 1988) follows:

Ah remember me, I used to live for music

Remember me, I brought your groceries in

Well it’s Father’s Day and everybody’s wounded

First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

The final verse of First We Take Manhattan from A Moving Picture (filmed in 1987) follows:

Baby, baby, baby, baby, don’t refuse me

After all, I brought your groceries in

And I’m guided now, I’m guided by your beauty.

First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

By my assessment, the shift in words, especially as sung in the film, makes this version sexier (not to mention way cool) but less effective than the album.

THE VIDIOSYNCRATIC FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN

First We Take Manhattan plays a role in many videos that range from severe to silly. Roman Gavrilin, aka Hermitage Prisoner has provided an enlightening playlist of many of these at First We Take Manhattan Playlist.

EVOLUTION OF FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN & ITS VIDEOS

The background of the writing of First We Take Manhattan and commentary on the videos it has spawned is available, albeit not in final form, at Taking Manhattan & Making Videos: Leonard Cohen’s First We Take Manhattan & Its Videos

Credit Due Department: I was alerted to existence of the variant version of Leonard Cohen’s First We Take Manhattann in “A Moving Picture” by Jugurtha Harchaoui, who also located the DVD.

The lyrics:

They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom

For trying to change the system from within

I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them

First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'm guided by a signal in the heavens

I'm guided by this birthmark on my skin

I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons

First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, baby

I love your body and your spirit and your clothes

But you see that line there moving through the station?

I told you, I told you, told you, I was one of those

Ah you loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win

You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline

How many nights I prayed for this, to let my work begin

First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I don't like your fashion business mister

And I don't like these drugs that keep you thin

I don't like what happened to my sister

First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, baby ...

And I thank you for those items that you sent me

The monkey and the plywood violin

I practiced every night, now I'm ready

First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I am guided

Ah remember me, I used to live for music

Remember me, I brought your groceries in

Well it's Father's Day and everybody's wounded

First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

Video hit Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen - Dance me to the end of love (live, London, 2008)

Dance Me to the End of Love is a 1984 song by Leonard Cohen. It was first performed by Cohen, on his 1984 album Various Positions. It has since been recorded by various artists, and has been described as "trembling on the brink of becoming a standard".

In 1996, Welcome Books released a book called Dance Me to the End of Love, as part of its "Art & Poetry" series; the book featured the lyrics of the song alongside paintings by Henri Matisse.

Cover versions

Vocal jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux recorded a version for the fifth and last of the Queer as Folk soundtracks connected with the Showtime series.

Americana duo The Civil Wars frequently cover the song in concert. One of their live renditions appears on the Live at Eddie's Attic.

The lyrics:

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin

Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in

Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love

Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone

Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon

Show me slowly what I only know the limits of

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on

Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long

We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born

Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn

Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin

Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in

Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love