He's a Montrealer with a gravelly voice and charm to spare. His lyrics are accessible enough to be intriguing and yet Zen enough to provoke. Many of his songs are better known as covers (Jeff Buckley, Jennifer Warnes, etc). One song is famous for recounting a tryst with Janis Joplin (Chelsea Hotel #2). Jeff Buckley has a wonderful cover of Hallelujah which has resonated with dear friends of mine.
He's Leonard Cohen and you should check him out. A new documentary is out at indy theatres.
The film is here
Great quote:
"Now, I don't want to give you the impression that I'm a great musicologist, but I'm a lot better than what I was described as for a long, long time; you know, people said I only knew three chords when I knew five."—from interview with BBC Radio 1FM (1994)
One of a dozen memorable lyrics:
Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day
Oh in the Tower of Song
I said to Hank Williams: how lonely does it get?
Hank Williams hasn't answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
A hundred floors above me
In the Tower of Song -- Tower of Song, Leonard Cohen
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