Songs from a Room
Encyclopedia
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
.
and Anna Marly
.
", 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. http://challies.com/archives/000918.php 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.)
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
musician Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, released in 1969. It reached #63 on the Billboard
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
list and #2 at UK charts.
Cohen reportedly said he chose producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Bob Johnston
Bob Johnston
Donald William Robert 'Bob' Johnston is a noted American record producer, best known for his work with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Willie Nelson and many Nashville recording artists, as well as Simon and Garfunkel.-Early days:Johnston was born into a professional musical family...
to achieve the spartan sound he considered appropriate for his songs, after the disputes he had with John Simon
John Simon (record producer)
John Simon is an American musician, record producer, and composer. He is best known for his work with The Band as producer and musician on Music from Big Pink and The Band.-Biography:...
during the mixing sessions of Songs of Leonard Cohen
Songs of Leonard Cohen
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...
. The album also features some prominent (if strictly ornamental) jaw harp. The album's sound is thus closer to the archetype (or stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
) of an "early" Leonard Cohen record.
Among uncredited sessions musicians it is known that Ron Cornelius played acoustic and electric guitar, Charlie Daniels
Charlie Daniels
Charles Edward "Charlie" Daniels is an American musician known for his contributions to country and southern rock music. He is known primarily for his number one country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", and multiple other songs he has performed and written. Daniels has been active as a singer...
played bass, fiddle and acoustic guitar, Elkin "Bubba" Fowler participated on banjo, bass and acoustic guitar, while producer Bob Johnston
Bob Johnston
Donald William Robert 'Bob' Johnston is a noted American record producer, best known for his work with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Willie Nelson and many Nashville recording artists, as well as Simon and Garfunkel.-Early days:Johnston was born into a professional musical family...
played keyboards. Johnston toured with Cohen in 1970 and 1972 (playing keyboards, harmonica and guitar), leading to termination of his collaboration with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
.
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
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
on her 1967 album Wildflowers, and by Richie Havens
Richie Havens
Richard P. "Richie" Havens is an African American folk singer and guitarist. He is best known for his intense, rhythmic guitar style , soulful covers of pop and folk songs, and his opening performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival.-Career:Born in Brooklyn, Havens was the eldest of nine children...
on his 1969 album Richard P. Havens, 1983
Richard P. Havens, 1983
Richard P. Havens, 1983 is a 1969 double album set by folk rock musician Richie Havens featuring a combination of studio recordings and live material recorded in concert in July, 1968. The album combined original material with several of the covers for which Havens is known...
.
Songs from a Room was released on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
in 1990. In 2001, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
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
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Track listing
All songs written by Leonard Cohen except "The Partisan" by Hy ZaretHy Zaret
Hy Zaret was an American Tin Pan Alley lyricist and composer best known as the co-author of the 1955 hit "Unchained Melody", one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century.-Biography:...
and Anna Marly
Anna Marly
Anna Marly , , was a Russian born French singer-songwriter. She is best remembered as the composer of the Chant des Partisans, a protest song that was used as the ersatz anthem of the Free French Forces during World War II; the popularity of the Chant des Partisans was such that it was proposed as...
.
Side one
- "Bird on the WireBird on the Wire"Bird on the Wire" is one of Leonard Cohen's signature songs. It was recorded 26 September 1968 in Nashville and included on his 1969 album Songs from a Room. A May 1968 recording produced by David Crosby, entitled "Like a Bird", was added to the 2007 remastered CD...
" – 3:28 - "Story of Isaac" – 3:38
- "A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes" – 3:18
- "The PartisanThe Partisan"The Partisan" is a song about the French Resistance in World War II. The song was written in 1943 in London by Anna Marly and Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie...
" – 3:29 - "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" – 3:41
Side two
- "The Old Revolution" – 4:50
- "The Butcher" – 3:22
- "You Know Who I Am" – 3:32
- "Lady Midnight" – 3:01
- "Tonight Will Be Fine" – 3:53
Bonus tracks
- "Like a Bird (Bird on the Wire)" – 3:21
- "Nothing to One (You Know Who I Am)" – 2:17
Personnel
- Ron Cornelius - acoustic & electric guitar
- Bubba Fowler - banjo, bass, violin, acoustic guitar
- Charlie DanielsCharlie DanielsCharles Edward "Charlie" Daniels is an American musician known for his contributions to country and southern rock music. He is known primarily for his number one country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", and multiple other songs he has performed and written. Daniels has been active as a singer...
- bass, violin, acoustic guitar - Bob Johnston - production, keyboards
- Neil Wilburn - engineer
Songs
"Bird on the WireBird on the Wire
"Bird on the Wire" is one of Leonard Cohen's signature songs. It was recorded 26 September 1968 in Nashville and included on his 1969 album Songs from a Room. A May 1968 recording produced by David Crosby, entitled "Like a Bird", was added to the 2007 remastered CD...
", described by Cohen as a simple country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
song, has been covered by many people including his one-time backup singer Jennifer Warnes
Jennifer Warnes
Jennifer Jean Warnes is an American singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. She is known for her interpretations of compositions written by herself and many others, as well as an extensive playlist as a vocalist on movie soundtracks.Between 1979 and 1987 Warnes surpassed Frank Sinatra as...
, by The Neville Brothers
The Neville Brothers
The Neville Brothers, an American R&B and soul group, was formed in 1977 in New Orleans, Louisiana.-History:The group notion started in 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art , Charles , Aaron , and Cyril The Neville Brothers, an American R&B and soul group, was formed in 1977 in...
on the soundtrack for the 1990 film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Bird on a Wire
Bird on a Wire (film)
Bird on a Wire is a 1990 feature film starring Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn, directed by John Badham, and shot mainly in British Columbia, Canada. The title refers to the Leonard Cohen song "Bird on the Wire"...
, by Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
on the Cohen tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
Tower of Song
Tower of Song
Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen is a tribute album to Leonard Cohen, released in 1995 on A&M Records. It takes its name of a song by Cohen, that has been covered by Marianne Faithfull, Robert Forster, Peter Gabriel, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Martha Wainwright...
and by Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
for his 1994 album American I: American Recordings
American Recordings (album)
American Recordings is a Grammy Award-winning album by the country singer Johnny Cash. It was released in April 1994 , the first album issued by American Recordings after its name change from Def American...
. It also appeared on the earlier tribute I'm Your Fan
I'm Your Fan
I'm Your Fan: The Songs of Leonard Cohen is a tribute album to Leonard Cohen, released in 1991, produced by the French music magazine Les Inrockuptibles. The album features Cohen's songs interpreted by some of the most respected rock acts of the time...
, covered by The Lilac Time
The Lilac Time
The Lilac Time is a British alternative rock band that was originally formed in Herefordshire, England by Stephen Duffy, his brother Nick Duffy and their friend Michael Weston in 1986. The band's name was taken from a line in the Nick Drake song "River Man."...
.
"Story of Isaac" is based on the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
story of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
's demand that Isaac
Isaac
Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites...
be sacrificed
Binding of Isaac
The Binding of Isaac Akedah or Akeidat Yitzchak in Hebrew and Dhabih in Arabic, is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah...
by his father Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
. 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
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
' 1968 recording, which predated Cohen's, features slightly different lyrics. Suzanne Vega
Suzanne Vega
Suzanne Nadine Vega is an American songwriter and singer known for her eclectic folk-inspired music.Two of Vega's songs reached the top 10 of various international chart listings: "Luka" and "Tom's Diner"...
performed the song on the Tower of Song album. The song was also covered by Pain Teens on their 1993 album Destroy Me, Lover
Destroy Me, Lover
Destroy Me, Lover is the fifth studio album by the American Noise rock/Industrial band Pain Teens, released on July 5, 1993 through Trance Syndicate.-Reception:...
.
"The Partisan" is based on the poem "La complainte du partisan" by "Bernard" (Emmanuel D'Astier
Emmanuel d'Astier
Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie was a French journalist, politician and member of the French Resistance.-Biography:Born in Paris, he attended the Naval Academy, but resigned from the French Navy in 1923...
), a prominent figure in the French resistance during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
"Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" tells the story of Nancy Challies, a depressed young woman from Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, who committed suicide after having been forced by her family to put her son up for adoption. http://challies.com/archives/000918.php However, in 1979 Cohen (perhaps disingenuously) told the filmmaker Harry Rasky
Harry Rasky
Harry Rasky, CM, O.Ont was a Canadian documentary film producer.He was born in Toronto into a Jewish family, where he completed studies at University College. He participated in CBC Television's first four years writing and producing CBC Newsmagazine . He also produced a documentary for the 1961...
that "Nancy" was only a waitress in an American juke joint
Juke joint
Juke joint is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African American people in the southeastern United States. The term "juke" is believed to derive from the Gullah word joog, meaning rowdy or disorderly...
with whom he had been slightly acquainted. (The interview is recounted in Rasky's book, The Song of Leonard Cohen.)