Songs From A Room
by Leonard Cohen

From Mercury TOP 100 COMMENTER 10/19/2017 20:10 | #199783 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

This is my favorite Leonard Cohen album. It is my favorite for many of the same reasons the self titled Townes Van Zandt album is my favorite Townes album or why Nebraska is the best Springsteen album, or Pink Moon is my fave Nick Drake, or or or etc. Its one of the most starkly grim albums I've ever heard. This album has shadows and pits of blackness so deep, when I listen to this record I am transported to some sort of bleak world with brief flashes of wonder and humanity. This album takes me on a surreal tour through the more shadow lands which exists right before me but is never seen or fully confronted, and my guide is a grizzled wiseman who has seen it clear and has charted and documented all its byroads and ramifications.

I don't know how to talk about this album without getting lost in some ethereal goo. Leonard Cohen was such an accomplished writer and artist by this point. A relatively "old" and very wise 35, already a published and respected Poet. He had more questions and insights than maybe any songwriter at the time of this album. Yet, this album isn't just some scholarly exercise. There is such a depth of feeling in this album which is unleashed in waves of pain and awe due, i think, to the fact that the words are so carefully chosen and so spot on that it strikes a very deep and up that point sleeping nerve.

The opener "Bird On The Wire" is truly one of the very few sacred moments in music history for me. The hugeness of its simple verses, the sheer pain of it, the emotion which that song wells up for me, is something I can't fathom. The sorrow, the need for forgiveness, the brittle vocal delivery, everything....oh man.

The album from that stunning opener, continues to hit you with bleak, austere portraits of friends lost to suicide (Seems So Long Ago, Nancy), of biblical visions of the darkest side of human beings (Story of Isaac), of the immutable devotion to freedom and the endless struggle to overcome evil no matter how futile and no matter what the cost (The Partisan), andof the mysteries of long nights of transient liberty and romance (Lady Midnight), etc.

Musically, there are eccentric touches. The sound backing Cohen on "The Old revolution" (i've no idea what that is, but its cool), the dirgey, low end chug of the acoustic guitar in "The Butcher", hell there is a similar strange effect on "A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes" and "Lady Midnight as on "The Old Revolution"(can someone smarter than me explain to me what that rattly effect is? I am ignorant, but I like it.) also that sweet, far-off electric guitar is freaking awesome, the women speaking french in the most angellic and doomed way on "The Partison,
the organ in "Lady Midnight", etc. There are a lot of little moments on here which push this album, somehow, to new heights.

And finally the closer "Tonight Will Be Fine" is such a great closer. Its by far the least bleak moment on the album, Cohen humsa sweet childish tune, he makes funny rhymes, he talks sex, he whistles, and the bass line is a playful bounce. If I am thinking of this album as a tour through the darkness, then this is the moment toward the end of the tour when the wise man, seeing you are really shook up takes pity, gives a soft smile, shakes you out of your glossy-eyed horror and looks you straight in the eyes and says in his deep, baritone voice "It's okay, there is much beauty and there is some hope and there are reasons to love and to live and to care. It will be fine for awhile.".

"It seems so long ago,
Nancy was alone,
a forty five beside her head,
an open telephone.
We told her she was beautiful,
we told her she was free
but none of us would meet her in
the House of Mystery,
the House of Mystery.

And now you look around you,
see her everywhere,
many use her body,
many comb her hair.
In the hollow of the night
when you are cold and numb
you hear her talking freely then,
she's happy that you've come,
she's happy that you've come." - Leonard Cohen

Rating: 9.8/10 (Edited)

The follow up to his debut album, Leonard Cohen releases another superb LP featuring more stunning songs. Bird on the wire, is of course a classic, but every song is excellent, from, the butcher, to, lady midnight, it's all superb. Cohen was at the top of his game here, both musically and vocally. An essential record for anyone who loves great songwriting.

From ddeeddles64 04/14/2018 22:21 | #212879 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Some people criticise Cohen for his apparently throwaway vocal style on this album, but for me it adds to the world-weary ambience, and his dark humour really shines - darkly. (Edited)

From sszwalbenest 02/01/2014 00:55 | #101971 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

While not as good as the albums before and after this, still a great album.So Long Ago, Nancy is an amazing son, chilling. The constant jaw harp in some songs was a little annoying. (Edited)

From junodog4 TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/01/2012 17:03 | #47579 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

The third of his dominant early work. Not quite on par with the other two, but close. Beautiful poetic lyrics as usual, but the music isn't quite as strong. (Edited)