Preparing for Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man
Michael has agreed to let me give him a crash course in Leonard Cohen before we see the movie next weekend. He gave me, with some trepidation, his last CD-R for this purpose. I assured him that the experience would not be too painful.
But how does one distill forty years of songwriting genius to eighty minutes? I spent a couple of hours agonizing over the tracks to include and their order. Inevitably, some great songs had to be left off. Here is the tracklist I finally settled upon:
- Chelsea Hotel No. 2
- Everybody Knows
- Master Song
- Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On
- Avalanche
- First We Take Manhattan
- Field Commander Cohen
- Night Comes On
- Bird on the Wire
- Waiting for the Miracle
- There Is a War
- Stranger Song
- The Law
- Story of Isaac
- A Singer Must Die
- Sisters of Mercy
- You Know Who I Am
- Who by Fire
I'm not expecting Michael, whose most recent music purchase was Mariah Carey, to become a die-hard Leonard Cohen fan as the result of hearing this mix. However, I hope he will notice some of the qualities in LC's music that have made me such a devoted proponent.
4 comments:
I wouldn't challenge any choice on the list. I would question the loss of "Famous Blue Raincoat."
Then again, I'm the one who could imagine a CD of "Everybody Knows" sixteen times in a row.
I know this is blasphemy, but "Famous Blue Raincoat" is not one of my favorites. Overall, I feel Songs of Love and Hate is somewhat overrated, while New Skin for the Old Ceremony is vastly underrated.
Once, a couple of years ago, on a rainy day in Seattle, we drove to the bank and Ben had to go inside and take care of some business. I stayed in the car and "Famous Blue Raincoat" came on the radio (KEXP) and I was in tears halfway through the song. It was at that moment that I finally understood why I love Leonard Cohen so much and why I so rarely listen to him.
On what planet does Leonard Cohen get played on the radio and how exactly might one get there?
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