Leonard Cohen - Page 2

mariasci | December 15, 2008 2:30 am
mariasci | December 15, 2008 2:30 am

As could be expected, the gimmick of having a… More »


Jason Castro, What Hath Thou Wrought

noah | November 25, 2008 2:00 am
noah | November 25, 2008 2:00 am

Apparently having his opera men cover Leonard… More »


Leonard Cohen is Metaphorically Tied to a Chair

mariasci | March 12, 2008 5:30 am
mariasci | March 12, 2008 5:30 am


Surely I can’t have been the only person a little disappointed that the song chosen to pay tribute to Leonard Cohen when inducting him into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame was “Hallelujah.” It’s a great song, certainly, but it’s most strongly associated with Jeff Buckley, to such a degree that some people don’t even know Cohen wrote it. Worse, the version performed by Damien Rice is the Buckley version, with its ascending melody line in the final chorus and persistent falsetto. It’d be like playing a rock version of “All Along the Watchtower” at Bob Dylan’s induction–a fine song, but not really the best choice. So what would’ve been better, and who should’ve sung it? Well, just pick any two of the following:

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Jess Harvell | March 11, 2008 12:45 pm
Jess Harvell | March 11, 2008 12:45 pm

Can it be coincidence that the now Wenner-approved Leonard Cohen is embarking on his first trans Euro-Canadia tour in 15 years just days after “Hallelujah” suddenly found its way onto a billion high school iPods and just days after I was compelled by unseen forces to watch the entirety of Oliver… More »


noah | March 5, 2008 12:00 pm
noah | March 5, 2008 12:00 pm

As of this moment, Jeff Buckley’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”–which Jason Castro performed last night to much fanfare and Googling–is No. 5 on the iTunes Music Store’s Top Songs chart and Nos. 2 and 7 on the Amazon MP3 store’s singles chart; Cohen’s version is also at No. 98 on Amazon. More »


Jason Castro Drags Leonard Cohen Into The “American Idol” Spotlight

noah | March 4, 2008 9:01 am
noah | March 4, 2008 9:01 am

American Idol hopeful Jason Castro performed his take on the Jeff Buckley interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” that won huzzahs from the judges tonight, thus continuing the long, strange journey of Cohen’s song from hyperserious-to-an-almost-satirical-point track to something that… More »



noah | January 22, 2008 4:30 am
noah | January 22, 2008 4:30 am

Just in time for the announcement that Leonard Cohen will be embarking on his first tour since 1993, Popdose gives a critical appraisal to his Natural Born Killers-closing track “The Future.” More »


Leonard Cohen and His Fellow Slowpoke Songwriters

mmatos | July 5, 2007 2:45 am
mmatos | July 5, 2007 2:45 am

Leonard Cohen is on the cover of the current issue of The Word, and inside he discusses songwriting:

Cohen: When young songwriters ask me if I have any advice, this is the only advice I give them. It is: if you stick with a song long enough it will yield. But long enough is way beyond any reasonable duration. It’s not a week or two. It’s not a month or two. It’s not necessarily a year or two. If a song is to yield, you may have to stay with it for years and years.

Interviewer: That’s fascinating. What’s the longest gestation period for one of your songs?

Cohen: “Hallelujah” was at least five years. I have about 80 verses for it.

Even non-songwriters can feel Cohen on this point–this post alone took at least six months to cook up. But there are endless numbers of songs that took at least as long to gestate. For example:

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