Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox: In interviews through the years, Leonard Cohen has mentioned a handful of specific songs he favors. Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox is a Heck Of A Guy feature playing those tunes for your edification and entertainment.
Leonard Cohen Channels Edith Piaf
One of the responses to my request to the members of LeonardCohenForum for help in finding documented instances of Leonard Cohen favoring a specific song performed by another artist came from Eskimo, who pointed out,
He [Leonard Cohen] sang some of Je ne regrette rien,1 a song made famous by Piaf, in the Ghomeshi interview.
Indeed, Jian Ghomeshi writes
At one point we discuss Cohen’s long-established tendency to write poetry and songs inspired by his awe and reverence for the beauty of women. I ask whether he believes women have been a source of empowerment or weakness in his life. He answers both (of course): “We’re invited into this arena, which is a very dangerous arena, where the possibilities of humiliation and failure are ample. So there’s no fixed lesson that one can learn about the thing because the heart is always opening and closing, it’s always softening and hardening. We’re always experiencing joy or sadness.” When I follow with a query about whether, despite his famous relationships with various women, he regrets not having one single lifelong partner, he responds by singing to me, “Je ne regrette rien …” [emphasis mine]2
Cohen has spoken of listening to and admiring Piaf several times, a fact noted in this Salon.com article,
Cohen wrote poetry while listening to Ray Charles, Edith Piaf and Nina Simone [emphasis mine]
… and includes her in his poem, “You’d Sing Too,” excerpted here:
You’d sing too
if you found yourself
in a place like this
You wouldn’t worry about
whether you were as good
as Ray Charles or Edith Piaf
You’d sing
[emphasis mine]
Eskimo also located two video versions of the song, the first with Charles Dumont, who wrote the music, on piano.
Edith Piaf with Charles Dumont – Non, je ne regrette rien (1961)
Edith Piaf – Non, Je ne regrette rien
Credit Due Department: A tip of my Cohenesque fedora goes out to Eskimo, who is responsible for this entry in Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox.
_____________________- Translation: “I regret nothing”↩
- Incidentally, I found that particular reference, via a Google search, at Must Read – Preview Of Leonard Cohen CBC Interview With Jian Ghomeshi, which is a post at Heck Of A Guy, a surprisingly decent blog given the obviously deficient memory functions of its administrator.↩
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