AVALANCHE - guitar chords and comments
Lyrics without distraction HERE
With this song we enter Cohen's 3rd CBS album "Songs of Love and Hate", released March 19th 1971, carrying his unique classical guitar playing pattern, this time enforced by genius producer Bob Johnston.This is the song that brought me to the dark world of Leonard Cohen. A classmate brought the album with her to a music lesson at high school, and I was stuck. 20 years later I played the song at an anniversary meeting, and she asked me "WHO wrote that???" Well, time sure goes by ...
Em C Em D Em I stepped into an avalanche it covered up my soul Em C Em D Em when I am not this hunchback that you see I sleep beneath the golden hill G B7 Em C ...Esus4...B5 you who wish to conquer pain you must learn learn to serve me well
For many years, this song rested in my drawer, until I accidentally stumbled upon the way to play the pulsing, rolling rhytm all by myself. It's a kinda clawhammer: playing the bass "dum dum ... dum dum" with the thumb, using 2-3 fingers to play the "doodelidoodeli" repeatingly, syncoped by ear and feeling. Also the transition chord between the verses troubled me for a long time; I even bought the book with notes for the album at a higher expence than the LP :-D - and it came up with the flippin' wrong harmony. Bastards! E suspended forth, that's it.
Em
C
D
G
B7
Esus4
B5
