SONG OF THE DAY

“Sisters Of Mercy” by Leonard Cohen (Songs Of Leonard Cohen, Columbia Records, 1967). Written by Leonard Cohen.

WHERE I HEARD IT

During an episode in season 6 of Criminal Minds. Also, notice that this is becoming a Leonard Cohen week? Also, notice that a lot of my Leonard Cohen songs come from Criminal Minds? I’m becoming a fan since being introduced to a lot of his songs through various Criminal Minds episodes over several seasons (someone on that staff LOVES this man), and now I am sharing my new, ever-expanding fandom of him with you! My theory is that they turn to his oeuvre again and again over at Criminal Minds because his songs because of their eerie, ethereal quality. Whatever the reasoning, I appreciate learning more of his music, and am definitely a fan.

INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)

– Songs of Leonard Cohen is the debut album of Canadian musician Leonard Cohen.

– It foreshadowed the future path of his career, with less success in the United States and far better in Europe, reaching #83 on the Billboard chart but achieving gold status only in 1989, while it reached #13 in UK and spent nearly a year and a half in the UK album charts.

– Cohen’s lonely and emotional songs were informed by his literate approach, part and parcel to a burgeoning singer/songwriter movement in popular music.

– Seen by later critics as a reaction against the psychedelic band-oriented styles (as were the country-rock developments of 1968 and 1969) enjoying a vogue in 1967, determining whether indeed the singer-songwriters were ‘reacting against’ the baroque tapestries of Sgt. Pepper or the San Francisco bands is problematic.

– Instigated by the work of Bob Dylan, singer-songwriters appeared to be folk singers on the surface, but were not allied to the folk movement’s politics or repertoire, instead performing original material in styles at times reminiscent of the folk singers of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Songs of Leonard Cohen was one of the first in this new sub-genre, along with the debut albums of Laura Nyro, Tim Buckley, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell, propelling the approach to an eventual position of dominance in the early 1970s.

– Cohen and John Simon, producer and musical director, managed to give the album a distinct sound while also relying on typical sixties effects such as instruments panning from channel to channel.

– Although Cohen was granted much freedom in the recording process, they did not always agree on how the record should be mixed. Finally, Simon departed for his Christmas holiday and left the final mix to the artist himself. In a 2001 interview Cohen told British music magazine Mojo: “We did have a falling out over the song “Suzanne.” He wanted a heavy piano syncopated and maybe drums and I didn’t want drums on any of my songs, so that was a bone of contention.”

– On some of the tracks Cohen was backed by strings, the band Kaleidoscope and Nancy Priddy’s vocals.

– The original producer was John Hammond, who signed Cohen to Columbia, but he was replaced by Simon because of health problems.

– “Suzanne”, an ode to a “half-crazy” woman who lives near the St. Lawrence River in Montreal and who is capable of profound personal/spiritual connection with the song’s narrator, was ranked 41st on Pitchfork Media’s ‘Top 200 Songs of the 1960s’.

– The track “So Long, Marianne” also featured on the list – ranked 190th.

– Three of the album’s songs, “Winter Lady,” “The Stranger Song,” and “Sisters of Mercy,” were used in the 1971 Robert Altman film McCabe & Mrs. Miller.

– Songs of Leonard Cohen was released on CD in 1989, while a digipak edition was released in some European countries in 2003.

– A remastered version, with bonus tracks, was released in the United States on April 24, 2007, and in Japan on June 20, 2007. The Japanese version was a limited edition replica of the original record album cover with lyric card insert.

– In 2009, the album (including the 2007 bonus tracks) was included in Hallelujah – The Essential Leonard Cohen Album Collection, an 8-CD box set issued by Sony Music in the Netherlands.

– On the vinyl and remastered versions is a picture of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes in a fire looking towards heaven. According to the liner notes, apparently Cohen had collected the picture when he was much younger.

– Judy Collins recorded “Sisters of Mercy” on her 1967 hit album Wildflowers.

– The song “Sisters of Mercy” was the inspiration for the name of the Post-punk/Gothic rock band The Sisters of Mercy.

– Sting and The Chieftains performed a Celtic music-influenced version of the song on Tower of Song.

– “Sisters of Mercy” was also covered by Area, a darkwave band from Champaign, Illinois on their 1988 CD The Perfect Dream.

– Beth Orton performed “Sisters of Mercy” In the film “Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (see video below).

– On September 4, 2009, Beck announced that his second Record Club cover album would be Songs of Leonard Cohen. Contributers include MGMT, Devendra Banhart, Brian LeBarton, Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother and Binki Shapiro of Little Joy. Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT chose the album.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

This is an amazing cover version of the song by Beth Orton.

And here’s Leonard Cohen’s version: