About Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) was a Canadian poet, novelist, and singer-songwriter whose work stands as some of the most literate and emotionally resonant in the popular music canon. Born in Westmount, Quebec, Cohen first established himself as a poet and novelist in the 1950s and early 1960s, an unusually literary foundation that would define his songwriting for the rest of his life. He turned to music relatively late, releasing his debut album Songs of Leonard Cohen in 1967 at the age of 33.
Where contemporaries reached for melody and uplift, Cohen was drawn to shadow, ambiguity, and hard-won consolation. His songs explored faith and mortality, desire and regret, betrayal and redemption, rendered in language that one critic described as simultaneously "scriptural and bawdy." Bob Dylan himself praised Cohen's melodic instinct and his command of classical chord structures. Cohen's reputation was particularly strong in Britain and Europe, where his understated delivery and serious literary purpose found a receptive audience from the very beginning of his career.
About Greatest Hits
Originally released in 1975 under the title The Best of Leonard Cohen (and issued in many European markets as Greatest Hits), this single LP collects 12 essential tracks from Cohen's first six years of recording for Columbia Records. The selection covers the full range of his early work: the hypnotic imagery of "Suzanne," the delicate melancholy of "Sisters of Mercy," the world-weary romanticism of "So Long, Marianne," and the wry, bruised tenderness of "Chelsea Hotel No. 2."
For new listeners, this album remains the ideal entry point to Cohen's catalogue. For long-standing admirers, it is simply indispensable, twelve songs that demonstrate why his influence has only deepened in the decades since they were written.
Track Listing
Side One
- Suzanne
- Sisters of Mercy
- So Long, Marianne
- Bird on the Wire
- Lady Midnight
- The Partisan
Side Two
- Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye
- Famous Blue Raincoat
- Last Year's Man
- Chelsea Hotel No. 2
- Who by Fire
- Take This Longing