I first heard of Leonard Cohen at a friends house as a record, the song was "Suzanne" and I loved it. I remembered the name and to my delight I found his CD in the Woolworths price crunch a while back now. His songs are so calming but have lyrics that explore ideas of religion, isolation, sexuality and complex interpersonal relationships, so as calm as they seem their underlying provocations are deeply moving.
ARTIST
Leonard Cohen is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. His earliest songs are rooted in European folk music, his 1970's music encompasses pop, chaberet and world music and since the 1980's his high baritone voice took on more low registers, often accompanied by electronic synthesizers and female backing singers. His writing has influenced lots of singer-songwriters and more than a thousand renditions of his work have been recorded.
TRACK LIST
1. Suzanne 2. Sisters Of Mercy 3. So Long Marianne 4. Bird On The Wire 5. Lady Midnight 6. Partisan 7. Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye 8. Famous Blue Raincoat 9. Last Year's Man 10. Chelsea Hotel No 2 11. Who By Fire 12. Take This Longing
The first song on the album "Suzanne", its lyrics were taken from his 1966 book of poetry Parasites of heaven, the poem titled Suzanne takes you down. A few other songs of his debut album were also based on his poetry, because of a lack of material.
"Bird on the wire", was written when he lived on the Greek Island Hydra and saw a bird sitting on one of Hydras' recently installed phone wires. It came about when his girlfriend Marianne, helping him to overcome depression passed him his guitar, whereupon he went about composing the song.
Other songs include "Famous Blue Raincoat", a song in the form of a letter, and tells the story of a three-way affair. And "Chelsea Hotel No 2" inspired by the chelsea hotel a well-known residency of artists, musicians and writers in the neighbourhood of Chelsea, Manhattan in New York.
The only thing I will say is that "Hallelujah" would have been a welcome addition to the list.
PRICE GUIDE
Amazons price is £4.47 or used from £2.32
Play.com has it for £3.99
base.com for £4.57
On ebay there is a listing of £5.99 including postage
The case is standard. The cover art was taken in 1968 in a Montreal hotel room. Its a really great buy and at a more than reasonable price. Recommended to all!
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