| Both a very personal song by Leonard Cohen, and the name of a tribute album to Cohen.
About the song:
It appears as the last track on I'm Your Man. Even though it is very personal, and refers to things that I'm sure only Cohen understands, it was covered twice in the tribute album I'm Your Fan. One of the covers was a slaughtering of the song by Nick Cave.
About the Album:
It was released by A&M Records in 1995. If you like Cohen's songs, but not his voice, and if you hate old alternative rock, I strongly recommend this album. Here are the songs, the singers, and the notes:
- Don Henley, Everybody Knows. A good cover, done in a more uptempo way. Unlike Concrete Blonde's cover, he sings all the verses.
- Trisha Yearwood, Coming Back To You. Sung as a slow, sweet country song.
- Sting & The Chieftains, Sisters Of Mercy. Originally sung by Cohenon his first album as an acoustic ballad. Sting and company reinterperet it in the style of an Irish folk song.
- Bono, Hallelujah. Spoken-word by Bono over a quiet electronica background. I've heard criticism about his interperetation, but it's no worse than Cohen's original attempt.
- Tori Amos, Famous Blue Raincoat. Sung like Tori Amos. Just her and a piano. Pretty good.
- Aaron Neville, Ain't No Cure For Love. Sung as a country song.
- Elton John, I'm Your Man. Reinterpereted as a big-band, flaming Elton-John style song from the Crocodile Rock days. Surprisingly, it works pretty well.
- Willie Nelson, Bird On A Wire. The only man other than Cohen qualified to sing this song.
- Peter Gabriel, Suzanne. Makes 'Suzanne' sound like one of Gabriel's own songs off of Us. Gets a little tiresome.
- Billy Joel, Light As The Breeze. Just like Cohen wrote it, but sung by Billy Joel, and with the addition of a horn section.
- Jann Arden, If It Be Your Will. The only recording I've ever heard of Arden. It's ok I guess, not much of an interpretation.
- Suzanne Vega, Story of Isaac. Better than Cohen's version. Until the last verse, she sings with a flat, almost passionless voice that wouldn't be out of place in a refugee camp. Perfect for the song.
- Martin Gore, Coming Back To You. Sounds like Depeche Mode. I liked Yearwood's version better.
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