Bob Dylan versus Leonard Cohen
 

....whose music do you prefer?

Dylan.

Cohen is lightyears better than Dylan.

I really do like Dylan but, yeah, what Janszoon said.
If there's some faster manifestation of time than lightyears then I'll even go with that.

Somebody talk about why they feel how they feel so that I can make a point or counterpoint. Versus threads are ****ing boring but this one is possibly worthwhile. And, no, I'm not going first.

With lyrics being the exception, how are Leonard Cohen and William Shatner any different?

Er... what?

Sorry Engine, Cohen for me too. I mean, he it the boss. Probably the only lyrics I could ever imagine scarring myself with would be Leonard Cohen's.

Don't apologize to me - I'm on the Cohen side by lightyears.
As for the Shatner vs. Cohen thing -- I'll need to think about that for a while because it seems that one could write an entire scholarly textbook on the differences between the two. I might give it a try. Meanwhile, hopefully some other people will make some short, cogent, and succinct points about why Big3's question is so ridiculous and then I can just agree with those.

I was apologizing for not giving you a reason to counterpoint :D

Oh! How brain-dead of me. Sorry.
I'm actually pretty disappointed in myself right now because I think the Shatner thing should be very easy for me to rip to shreds. But I'm very sleep deprived, deranged, and generally malfunctioning right now so I've got nothing.

It seems like a pretty straightforward question gentleman. If you can't answer it, that isn't my problem. Selecting Cohen in the first place smells to me of contrarianism. Not being able to tell me the difference between two men who's deadpan droll alone would solve insomnia overnight (pun intended) make its smell all the more like look-at-me-ism.

There. Maybe that will inspire you enough to make an actual point.

Well, I think what Big3 is trying to say is that if you take away Leonard Cohen's lyrics, his music is nothing special. There's two problems with this viewpoint. The first is that, while certainly hit-or-miss, Leonard Cohen has actually put out a lot music that would be great even without his amazing lyrics, "Avalanche" for example. The second issue is the bigger one: what sense does it make do talk about Leonard Cohen's music without talking about the thing that is the focal point of the music? It would be like talking about Neil Peart without talking about his drumming or Les Claypool without his bass playing.

Maybe. I haven't heard Avalanche. And one of Cohen's larger problems is that what I've heard from him vacillates between synthed out automation like "First we take Manhattan" which I like, and what I guess we'd call "jazz" like "blue raincoat" (whatever the actual title is) which I couldn't stand.

Its not fair to blame him for the time he was in - I get that - but if you're comparing him to Dylan, I don't see where Cohen gets a leg up. Are you suggesting Dylan's lyrics are terrible?

Is he not more diverse musically than Cohen? Has he produced less work? Is his cannon smaller? Dylan has contributed, in every way, more to music than Cohen has. And I don't hate Cohen, but this isn't even a match-up.

Jazz seems like a weird way to describe "Famous Blue Raincoat". I'd call it a folk song.

Terrible? No. But I think Cohen's are far better.

No idea. Dylan has never struck as super-diverse, but what would it matter either way?

What relevance does that have? Is Kenny Rogers better than both of them because he's put out the most albums?

We're comparing penis size now? :laughing:

I don't know who has contributed more, but I do know who I like more: Cohen. For me there's no contest.

Right. So he's only lightyears ahead in your opinion. Is that what you're saying?

Sure. We're all expressing opinions here. Are you suggesting that your position is somehow a fact rather than an opinion?

i don't like the stuff Cohen did after the 80s

that synthy stuff

i'd think Dylan had a more consistent career, except for a few duds in the 80s

of course Dylan can't write as well as Cohen (lyrically)

You know that I am.

But seriously, if we're not trying to argue empirically then lets just talk about our feelings and hug afterwards.

A hug, Janszoon, not a tickle fight...a hug.

Hugs later, I'm at work. I'm just curious to know how one can answer the question "which do you prefer" empirically.

You can't, but someone needs to shepard this fat and lazy sheep out of the wolf den. The thread won't sell itself on the OP alone.

We're shepards, Zoon, and I suggest you get your sheepdog.

Um, to my knowledge, Cohen never captained the USS "Enterprise".... maybe in one of those mad alternate universes, where Justin Bieber is considered a pioneer in music and Waits is just another drunk in an alley, but not in this one. :)

Well I wasn't really asking who is more musically talented, rather who people prefer

Cohen. I'm a fan of Dylan's, and have spent many an hour enjoying his music... But Cohen's music just hits you like a freight train. Albums like Songs of... and Songs of Love and Hate are incredibly powerful.

Cohen: a level ahead of dylan in poetry.
Dylan: beautiful lyricist and extremely cool.