In my younger, harder rocking days I would have beaten my ass for doing this review. Even though I didn’t know any Leonard Cohen songs it wouldn’t have mattered. In those days his name had a faint familiarity; like something I recalled from my grandmothers record collection. And if I were to hear his music I imagine that I would have had a bubble above my head with a bunch of z’s floating in it.
There is no doubt Songs from a Room is mellow, but I promise, it will not put you to sleep. This is the kind of album that will actually stop you in your tracks and have you say, “Who is this?” (Like my roommate just did).
This is Leonard Cohen-poet, novelist, singer-songwriter and cultural icon. This is Songs from a Room; Cohen’s second album originally released in 1969, now repackaged for the indie generation-a generation whose sound fits snuggly up against Cohen’s. One can certainly imagine Interpol or the Shins serving up one of his dark anthems. And covers by Jeff Buckley, Jesus and Mary Chain and Rufus Wainwright may already have hipsters in the know.
If you’re not in the know, this may be the album to start with. Though originally a disappointment to many of the fans of his first record, today it is considered a breakthrough. “Bird on the Wire” opens the album with the sincerity of a man pulling himself from a deep depression. “Like a bird on a wire/like a drunk in a midnight choir/I have tried in my way to be free”.
On “A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes”, Cohen stirs up emotions on war and man’s legacy. Lyrically, it is simply gorgeous. “"I'd like to tell my story," said one of them so young and bold/"I'd like to tell my story/before I turn into gold."”
Simply gorgeous is a good way to describe many Leonard Cohen songs. On most of the tracks on this album it is like the man can see into our souls. Focusing on war and other social situations, the relevance of the 60’s pours through softly, as if the re-release were carefully deliberated. The agony of all wars screams through Cohen’s whispers.
Though anger and pain are certainly evident, the album in its entirety is best described as quiet, like listening to your own thoughts. If you find your own thoughts boring, that’s on you. Do your self a favor and lend your ears to Leonard Cohen… even if your grandmother has him on her ipod. |