Leonard Cohen’s die-hard fans hang off of every one of the poet’s raw emotional words, and the artist, whose family announced his passing on Thursday at the age of 82, was still gathering new fans of every generation with his newly-released album “You Want It Darker.” If you’ve never taken the time to really listen to Cohen’s melancholic melodies, here are five must-listens from the Canadian artist’s expansive discography. You will likely be surprised by how many of his songs you actually know.
Hallelujah:
The entry point for most fans, “Hallelujah” has stood the test of time. Though it’s ubiquitous with more than 300 versions of the song covered by artists such as k.d. lang, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Bono, the song was a late-blooming hit.
Hallelujah appeared on Cohen’s 1984 album “Various Positions,” but only achieved global notoriety when artists such as Dylan, John Cale of Velvet Underground and Jeff Buckley released their own versions.
Born out of gospel and roots, “Hallelujah” was voted one of the 500 greatest songs of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.
So Long, Marianne:
Featured on his debut album “Songs of Leonard Cohen” in 1967, this song was a haunting homage to an ex-lover named Marianne Ihlen whom the artist met on the bohemian Greek island of Hydra in 1960. She served as a fountain of inspiration for Cohen who credits her for the creation of many of his biggest hits as well as reams of his poetry.
In reaching out to his former muse on her death bed in July, Cohen’s letter prophetically said “Well Marianne, it's come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine.”
Bird on a Wire:
This song was written while Cohen was living with Marianne in Hydra. During a dark time where he fell into a deep depression he noticed a bird, alone, on a wire. The image was a metaphor for his loneliness and snowballed into the hit song. The song was ultimately recorded on the 1968 album “Songs From a Room.”
Closing Time:
Written about the now-defunct Toronto booze-can The Matador Ballroom, “Closing Time” was a hit on Cohen’s 1992 album “The Future.” The music video was filmed in 1992 at the Matador. The after-hours club was an infamous venue that many well-known artists would frequent in the late hours after their shows, performing impromptu gigs and jam sessions. In a 2013 concert in Toronto, the artist waxed nostalgic on the nights he spent at the Matador.
Famous Blue Raincoat:
The true meaning of this song has oft been disputed but it’s widely accepted that it was written in the wake of a love triangle and that the song is a letter to himself. Recorded on the album “Songs of Love and Hate” in 1971, he sings about the heartbreak between a woman named Jane and a man addressed as “my brother, my killer”.
The actual raincoat referenced belonged to Cohen. He describes it in the album’s liner notes as having fraying sleeves, missing lining and being patched with leather.
