Tag: Leonard Cohen

Review of The Holy or the Broken by Alan Light

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The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah” by Alan Light

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve been a fan of Leonard Cohen’s songs for nearly 45 years. “Hallelujah” covers all the themes of Leonard’s songwriting: sex, death, and religion.

The Holy or the Broken covers the trajectory of Hallelujah from its appearance on a Cohen album that Columbia Records rejected to John Cale’s rendition to Jeff Buckley’s rendition – and beyond: particularly the song’s embrace by Simon Cowell on “American Idol.” It discusses Bono’s absolutely weird rendition of Hallelujah that appeared on the Tower of Song tribute album. The book helpfully contains QR codes that one can scan to get different covers of Hallelujah.

I am best acquainted with k.d. lang’s cover of Hallelujah on her Hymns of the 49th Parallel album. The Holy or the Broken makes me want to check out Cohen’s, Cale’s, and Buckley’s renditions – and also Neil Diamond’s rendition(!), which The Holy or the Broken describes as an effective reading.

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LUSH Gorilla Perfume – Voice of Reason

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Can you tell that I’m a fan of Leonard Cohen?  I couldn’t resist LUSH Gorilla Perfume (both solid and spray) in 1000 Kisses, which is inspired by Leonard’s song 1000 Kisses Deep, or rather a rendition of the song by Madeleine Peyroux.  LUSH Gorilla Perfume in 1000 Kisses was one of my picks for my Valentine’s Day Gift Guide.

LUSH Voice of Reason Gorilla Perfume
LUSH Voice of Reason Gorilla Perfume

Now LUSH has come out with 9 new Gorilla Perfumes.    I have to try Voice of Reason, which was inspired in part by Leonard: his face is even on the label.

Here is how LUSH describes its Voice of Reason Gorilla Perfume:

Inspired by literary figures like William Burroughs and Neal Cassady and wordsmiths like Gil Scott Heron and Leonard Cohen, this scent conjures the Beat Generation and spoken word artists congregating at street corners, basement clubs and coffee shops. Strong aromas of French Gitane cigarettes and espresso with sandalwood and tonka bean as the main ingredients.

I had a chance to sample Voice of Reason Gorilla Perfume and it really smells of tobacco.  It would make a fine men’s fragrance.

Prices for Voice of Reason Gorilla Perfume:

  • $24.95 for 0.3oz
  • $59.95 for 0.8oz
  • $60.05 for 0.9oz
  • $89.95 for 1.4oz
  • $90.95 for 1.5oz
  • $174.95 for 3.1oz

The 9 new Gorilla Perfumes will be available at select LUSH stores across North America and lushusa.com.   The stores are:

  • Detroit, Partridge Creek (limited time)
  • Portland, OR
  • New Oreleans
  • Chicago, Bucktown location
  • Los Angeles, Glendale location (limited time)
  • Austin
  • New York City, Union Square
  • Philadelphia, Walnut Street location

Alas, the LUSH store in Tysons Corner doesn’t sell the 9 recently introduced Gorilla Perfumes.  It did, however, have testers available.

For more information about the new LUSH Gorilla Perfume collection, consult the 2013 Lush Gorilla Perfume collection – press release.

Thanks to LUSH PR for this info!