What am I missing out on?
- Everybody Knows https://youtu.be/Gxd23UVID7k
- First We Take Manhattan https://youtu.be/JTTC_fD598A
- Famous Blue Raincoat https://youtu.be/ohk3DP5fMCg
- Who By Fire https://youtu.be/ilGahIwQEQ0
Obviously too many to list here though, just pick up any album. By virtue of the fact that he was an incredible songwriter, his songs have such wonderful covers.
The Tori Amos cover of Famous Blue Raincoat [0] is one of my favourites, and this cover of Who by Fire by PJ Harvey & Tim Phillips gives me chills every time [1] (also the theme for Bad Sisters which is an amazing series). Also, pretty much every Canadian who was an adult in 2010 has an emotional connection to the k.d. lang performance of Hallelujah at the Vancouver olympics [2].
[0] https://youtu.be/PMSbICWbjBw
Johnette is a poet herself and a fantastic vocalist; she keeps the cynicism and the heartbreak. The cover has always _felt_ like a Cohen song to me.
The whole album — a mix of renaissance, baroque, and modern songs (such as The Plaint by Henry Purcell) performed on viola da gamba and harp — is superb.
https://youtu.be/BGKIA7QUEGY?si=d_uzxaJOmiNEAJAm
If you dig her, check out this Intergalactic Lovers concert, basically most of the songs from Little Heavy Burdens:
And "Dance Me To The End of Love" which has also been beautifully covered.
I'm also very fond of Chelsea Hotel (more touching if you get the context) and Boogie Street.
Most of Cohen isn't very accessible to me as I miss many cultural markers, but they still very often feel appropriate (pop-up) in times of melancholy...
Otherwise I like his first album (Songs of Leonard Cohen) when I’m in the mood for something depressing, but everything else of his I’ve heard just sounds to me like a drunk on a street corner with a Casio keyboard.
Though I disagree with the characterization, there's a beauty in it, too
Muscling in on Wesley Willis' territory!