Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox Playlist – The Cohen Covers
This is the third and final (for now) video playlist of songs from the Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox series. While the two previous playlists comprised music written and played by others, the tracks on today’s playlist are exclusively performances of Leonard Cohen’s own songs by others.
Now, Leonard Cohen has observed on several occasions that his critical facilities are suspended when he hears others cover his songs. Most recently, he assuaged the anxieties of those about to perform in his tribute concert at the May 14, 2012 Glenn Gould Prize Gala by informing them they need not worry about singing his songs in front of him because
I go into an immediate, childish ecstasy and paroxysms of gratitude … whenever anyone covers one of my songs.
Nonetheless, there are certain Cohen covers he has specifically praised, and those form the Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox Playlist – The Cohen Covers.
The other two Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox Playlists can be found at Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox Playlist – Part 1 [No Covers] and Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox Playlist – Part 2.
Today’s offering, Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox Playlist – The Covers, can also be accessed on YouTube at Paroxysms Of Gratitude – Leonard Cohen’s Covers Jukebox.
Tracks: Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox Playlist – The Covers
The links below go to the original posts about these songs, including documentation of Leonard Cohen’s approbation of them.
- “Light As The Breeze” – Billy Joel
- “Don’t Go Home With Your Hard-On” – McComb & Peters
- “Avalanche” - Nick Cave
- “Suzanne” - Geoffrey Oreyama
- “So Long Marianne” – Bell & Arc
- “Bird On A Wire” – Joe Cocker
- “Hallelujah” - KD Lang
- “Bird On A Wire” – Tim Hardin
Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox – The Playlists
Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox Video Playlists are composed of tracks from Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox and presented as an alternative to listening to the songs one at a time.
Ongoing readers will be familiar with this introduction to the Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox series of posts at Heck Of A Guy:
Biggest Influence On My Music – The Jukebox. I lived beside jukeboxes all through the fifties. … I never knew who was singing. I never followed things that way. I still don’t. I wasn’t a student of music; I was a student of the restaurant I was in — and the waitresses. The music was a part of it. I knew what number the song was.
- Leonard Cohen (Yakety Yak by Scott Cohen, 1994)
Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox: Over the years, Leonard Cohen has mentioned a number of specific songs he favors. Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox is a Heck Of A Guy feature that began collecting these tunes for the edification and entertainment of viewers on April 4, 2009. All posts in the Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox series can be found at the Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox Page.
Because there are over 30 songs in this series, they are divided into three playlists:
- Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox Playlist – Part 1 [No Covers]
- Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox Playlist – Part 2 [No Covers]
- Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox Playlist – Covers
This Billy Joel cover was great. Thanks for the link.