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Leonard Cohen: Songs from a Room

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Columbia Records
Released: 1969.04.01
Time:
 35:38
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Bob Johnston
Rating: *********. (9/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.leonardcohen.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2011
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Bird on a Wire (Cohen) - 3:26
[2] The Story of Isaac (Cohen) - 3:35
[3] A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes (Cohen) - 3:12
[4] A Partisan (Cohen/Marly/Zaret) - 3:26
[5] Seems So Long Ago, Nancy (Cohen) - 3:39
[6] The Old Revolution (Cohen) - 4:46
[7] The Butcher (Cohen) - 3:17
[8] You Know Who I Am (Cohen) - 3:28
[9] Lady Midnight (Cohen) - 2:56
[10] Tonight Will Be Fine (Cohen) - 3:47

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Leronard Cohen - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

Ron Cornelius - Acoustic & Electric Guitar
Bubba Fowler - Banjo, Bass, Violin, Acoustic Guitar
Charlie Daniels - Bass, Violin, Acoustic Guitar
Bob Johnston - Keyboards, Producer

Neil Wilburn - Engineer

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1969 LP Columbia 9767
1990 CD Columbia CK-9767
1997 CD Col 63587
1999 LP Simply Vinyl 0000008
2005 LP Phantom Import Distribution CBS9767
2009 CD Sony Music Distribution 88697093882
2009 LP Sundazed 5283

Songs from a Room is the second album of Canadian musician Leonard Cohen, released in 1969. It reached #63 on the Billboard list and #2 at UK charts. Cohen reportedly said he chose producer Bob Johnston to achieve the spartan sound he considered appropriate for his songs, after the disputes he had with John Simon during the mixing sessions of Songs of Leonard Cohen. The album also features some prominent (if strictly ornamental) jaw harp. The album's sound is thus closer to the archetype (or stereotype) of an "early" Leonard Cohen record. Among uncredited sessions musicians it is known that Ron Cornelius played acoustic and electric guitar, Charlie Daniels played bass, fiddle and acoustic guitar, Elkin «Bubba» Fowler participated on banjo, bass and acoustic guitar, while producer Bob Johnston played keyboards. Johnston toured with Cohen in 1970 and 1972 (playing keyboards, harmonica and guitar), leading to termination of his collaboration with Bob Dylan. In sheet music for the album, a song titled "Priests" was included, and although reportedly recorded, it didn't appear on the actual LP or any other Cohen record. The song was recorded by Judy Collins on her 1967 album Wildflowers, and by Richie Havens on his 1969 album Richard P. Havens, 1983. Songs from a Room was released on CD in 1990. In 2001, French musician Red released a re-recording of the entire album. In 2009, the album (including the bonus tracks listed below) was included in Hallelujah - The Essential Leonard Cohen Album Collection, an eight-CD box set issued by Sony Music in the Netherlands.

"Bird on the Wire", described by Cohen as a simple country song, has been covered by many people including his one-time backup singer Jennifer Warnes, by The Neville Brothers on the soundtrack for the 1990 film Bird on a Wire, by Willie Nelson on the Cohen tribute album Tower of Song and by Johnny Cash for his 1994 album American I: American Recordings. It also appeared on the earlier tribute I'm Your Fan, covered by The Lilac Time. "Story of Isaac" is based on the Old Testament story of God's demand that Isaac be sacrificed by his father Abraham. It ends with an admonishment to fathers to no longer sacrifice their sons, which was commonly interpreted as criticism of the then-current Vietnam War. Judy Collins' 1968 recording, which predated Cohen's, features slightly different lyrics. Suzanne Vega performed the song on the Tower of Song album. The song was also covered by Pain Teens on their 1993 album Destroy Me, Lover. "The Partisan" is based on the poem "La complainte du partisan" by "Bernard" (Emmanuel D'Astier), a prominent figure in the French resistance during World War II. "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" tells the story of Nancy Challies, a depressed young woman from Montreal, who committed suicide after having been forced by her family to put her son up for adoption. [1] However, in 1979 Cohen (perhaps disingenuously) told the filmmaker Harry Rasky that "Nancy" was only a waitress in an American juke joint with whom he had been slightly acquainted. (The interview is recounted in Rasky's book, The Song of Leonard Cohen.)



Leonard Cohen's first album was an unqualified triumph which announced the arrival of a bold and singular talent, and many who heard it must have wondered what Cohen could do for an encore. By comparison, Cohen's second album, 1969's Songs from a Room, was something of a letdown. While it's a fine LP, it ultimately feels neither as striking nor as assured as Songs of Leonard Cohen. Bob Johnston stepped in as producer for Songs from a Room, and his arrangements are simpler than those John Simon crafted for the debut, but they're also full of puzzling accents, such as the jew's harp that punctuates several tracks, the churchy organ line in "The Old Revolution," and the harsh synthesizer flourishes on "A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes." Johnston also had trouble coaxing strong vocal performances from Cohen; his singing here sounds tentative and his meter is uncertain, which regardless of how one feels about Cohen's much-debated vocal prowess is not the case with his other work. And finally, the quality of the songs on Songs from a Room is less consistent than on Songs of Leonard Cohen; as fine as "Bird on a Wire," "You Know Who I Am," "The Story of Isaac" and "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" may be, "The Butcher" and "A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes" simply aren't up to his usual standards. Despite the album's flaws, Songs from a Room's strongest moments convey a naked intimacy and fearless emotional honesty that's every bit as powerful as the debut, and it left no doubt that Cohen was a major creative force in contemporary songwriting.

Mark Deming - All Music Guide



"I choose the rooms that I live in with care/ The windows are small and the walls almost bare", Leonard Cohen sings in a particularly telling couplet in "Tonight Will Be Fine", one of the highlights in this aptly titled album from 1969. The Canadian poet-performer's sophomore release has the sub rosa feel of an attic hideaway, thanks in part to Bob Johnston's restrained production. Cohen's near- monotone vocals are suitable for conveying his finely honed, meditative musings but-- at this stage in his development--not much else. Johnston's soundscapes aren't as beguiling as the ones John Simon created for Cohen's superior debut Songs of Leonard Cohen, though lovely orchestral shadings flatter such Cohen classics as the oft-covered "Bird on the Wire" and "Story of Isaac". Songs from a Room is only a secondary effort when it's stacked up against its consummate predecessor, but by any other measurement, it's an exceptionally literate and enigmatic recording by a true original.

Steven Stolder - Amazon.co.uk
 

 L y r i c s


Bird on the Wire

kao ptica na zici,
kao pijanac u ponoči choir
pokušao sam naći svoj put da budem slobodan.
kao crv na udici,
kao vitez iz neke stare knjige
I have saved all my ribbons for thee.
If I, if I have been unkind,
I hope that you can just let it go by.
If I, if I have been untrue
it's just that I thought a lover had to be some kind of liar too.

Like a baby, stillborn,
Like a beast with his horn
I have torn everyone who reached out for me.
But I swear by this song
And by all that I have done wrong
I will make it all up to thee.

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry no more.
It's over now, it's over babe, don't cry no more.
I say don't cry, don't cry, don't cry anymore.
It's over. It's finished. It's completed. It has been paid for.

Oh like a bird on the wire,
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.


Story of Isaac

The door it opened slowly,
my father he came in,was nine years old.
And he stood so tall above me,
his blue eyes they were shining
and his voice was very cold.
He said, "I've had a vision
and you know I'm strong and holy,
I must do what I've been told."
So he started up the mountain,
I was running, he was walking,
and his axe was made of gold.

Well, the trees they got much smaller,
the lake a lady's mirror,
we stopped to drink some wine.
Then he threw the bottle over.
Broke a minute later
and he put his hand on mine.
Thought I saw an eagle
but it might have been a vulture,
I never could decide.
Then my father built an altar,
he looked once behind his shoulder,
he knew I would not hide.

You who build these altars now
to sacrifice these children,
you must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision
and you never have been tempted
by a demon or a god.
You who stand above them now,
your hatchets blunt and bloody,
you were not there before,
when I lay upon a mountain
and my father's hand was trembling
with the beauty of the word.

And if you call me brother now,
forgive me if I inquire,
"Just according to whose plan?"
When it all comes down to dust
I will kill you if I must,
I will help you if I can.
When it all comes down to dust
I will help you if I must,
I will kill you if I can.
And mercy on our uniform,
man of peace or man of war,
the peacock spreads his fan.


Bunch of lonesome heroes

A bunch of lonesome and very quarrelsome heroes
were smoking out along the open road;
the night was very dark and thick between them,
each man beneath his ordinary load.
"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."

But no one really could hear him,
the night so dark and thick and green;
well I guess that these heroes must always live there
where you and I have only been.
Put out your cigarette, my love,
you've been alone too long;
and some of us are very hungry now
to hear what it is you've done that was so wrong.

I sing this for the crickets,
I sing this for the army,
I sing this for your children
and for all who do not need me.
"I'd like to tell my story,"
said one of them so bold,
"Oh yes, I'd like to tell my story
'cause you know I feel I'm turning into gold."


A Partisan

When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender,
this I could not do;
I took my gun and vanished.

I have changed my name so often,
I've lost my wife and children
but I have many friends,
and some of them are with me.

An old woman gave us shelter,
kept us hidden in the garret,
then the soldiers came;
she died without a whisper.

There were three of us this morning
I'm the only one this evening
but I must go on;
the frontiers are my prison.

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we'll come from the shadows.

Les Allemands étaient chez moi,
ils me disent, "résigne toi,"
mais je n'ai pas peur;
j'ai repris mon arme.
J'ai changé cent fois de nom,
j'ai perdu femme et enfants
mais j'ai tant d'amis;
j'ai la France entière.
Un vieil homme dans un grenier
pour la nuit nous a caché,
les Allemands l'ont pris;
il est mort sans surprise.

[The Germans were at my home
They said, "Surrender yourself"
But I am not afraid
I have retaken my weapon
I have changed names a hundred times
I have lost wife and children
But I have so many friends
I have all of France
An old man, in an attic
Hid us for the night
The Germans captured him
He died without surprise.]

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we'll come from the shadows.


Seems so long ago, Nancy

It seems so long ago,
Nancy was alone,
looking at the Late Late show
through a semi-precious stone.
In the House of Honesty
her father was on trial,
in the House of Mystery
there was no one at all,
there was no one at all.

It seems so long ago,
none of us were strong;
Nancy wore green stockings
and she slept with everyone.
She never said she'd wait for us
although she was alone,
I think she fell in love for us
in nineteen sixty one,
in nineteen sixty one.

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.


The old Revolution

I finally broke into the prison,
I found my place in the chain.
Even damnation is poisoned with rainbows,
all the brave young men
they're waiting now to see a signal
which some killer will be lighting for pay.

Into this furnace I ask you now to venture,
you whom I cannot betray.

I fought in the old revolution
on the side of the ghost and the King.
Of course I was very young
and I thought that we were winning;
I can't pretend I still feel very much like singing
as they carry the bodies away.

Into this furnace I ask you now to venture...

Lately you've started to stutter
as though you had nothing to say.
To all of my architects let me be traitor.
Now let me say I myself gave the order
to sleep and to search and to destroy.

Into this furnace I ask you now to venture...

Yes, you who are broken by power,
you who are absent all day,
you who are kings for the sake of your children's story,
the hand of your beggar is burdened down with money,
the hand of your lover is clay.

Into this furnace I ask you now to venture...


The Butcher

I came upon a butcher,
he was slaughtering a lamb,
I accused him there
with his tortured lamb.
He said, "Listen to me, child,
I am what I am and you, you are my only son."

Well, I found a silver needle,
I put it into my arm.
It did some good,
did some harm.
But the nights were cold
and it almost kept me warm,
how come the night is long?

I saw some flowers growing up
where that lamb fell down;
was I supposed to praise my Lord,
make some kind of joyful sound?
He said, "Listen, listen to me now,
I go round and round
and you, you are my only child."

Do not leave me now,
do not leave me now,
I'm broken down
from a recent fall.
Blood upon my body
and ice upon my soul,
lead on, my son, it is your world.


You Know Who I Am

I cannot follow you, my love,
you cannot follow me.
I am the distance you put between
all of the moments that we will be.

You know who I am,
you've stared at the sun,
well I am the one who loves
changing from nothing to one.

Sometimes I need you naked,
sometimes I need you wild,
I need you to carry my children in
and I need you to kill a child.

You know who I am...

If you should ever track me down
I will surrender there
and I will leave with you one broken man
whom I will teach you to repair.

You know who I am...

I cannot follow you, my love,
you cannot follow me.
I am the distance you put between
all of the moments that we will be.

You know who I am...


Lady Midnight

I came by myself to a very crowded place;
I was looking for someone who had lines in her face.
I found her there but she was past all concern;
I asked her to hold me, I said, "Lady, unfold me,"
but she scorned me and she told me
I was dead and I could never return.

Well, I argued all night like so many have before,
saying, "Whatever you give me, I seem to need so much more."
Then she pointed at me where I kneeled on her floor,
she said, "Don't try to use me or slyly refuse me,
just win me or lose me,
it is this that the darkness is for."

I cried, "Oh, Lady Midnight, I fear that you grow old,
the stars eat your body and the wind makes you cold."
"If we cry now," she said, "it will just be ignored."
So I walked through the morning, sweet early morning,
I could hear my lady calling,
"You've won me, you've won me, my lord,
you've won me, you've won me, my lord,
yes, you've won me, you've won me, my lord,

ah, you've won me, you've won me, my lord,
ah, you've won me, you've won me, my lord."


Tonight will be Fine

Sometimes I find I get to thinking of the past.
We swore to each other then that our love would surely last.
You kept right on loving, I went on a fast,
now I am too thin and your love is too vast.

But I know from your eyes
and I know from your smile
that tonight will be fine,
will be fine, will be fine, will be fine
for a while.

I choose the rooms that I live in with care,
the windows are small and the walls almost bare,
there's only one bed and there's only one prayer;
I listen all night for your step on the stair.

But I know from your eyes
and I know from your smile
that tonight will be fine,
will be fine, will be fine, will be fine
for a while.

Oh sometimes I see her undressing for me,
she's the soft naked lady love meant her to be
and she's moving her body so brave and so free.
If I've got to remember that's a fine memory.

And I know from her eyes
and I know from her smile
that tonight will be fine,
will be fine, will be fine, will be fine
for a while.

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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