Leonard Cohen is the definition of a songwriterâs songwriter, the kind of artist youâd seldom hear on the radio, but was revered by countless musicians as one of the greatest lyricists in the world. An accomplished poet and novelist before he ever recorded an album, Cohenâs songs were vivid and literary, full of politics, dark humor, and frank sexuality.
Though classic rock icons like Billy Joel and James Taylor have covered him, and Pentatonix has moronically attempted to make âHallelujahâ into a Christmas standard, Leonard Cohenâs legacy has grown more when heâs been covered by artists who share Cohenâs subversive edge or name-checked in songs like Nirvanaâs âPennyroyal Tea.â November 7 marks the 5th anniversary of the Canadian legendâs death in 2016, so hereâs a look back at 10 of the best Cohen covers by indie and alternative artists.
10. Pixies â âI Canât Forgetâ
The Leonard Cohen tribute album Iâm Your Fan was released a week after Trompe Le Monde in September 1991 and featured one of the last new Pixies tracks before the bandâs breakup. âI Canât Forgetâ (originally from 1988âs Iâm Your Man) has also been covered excellently by Jarvis Cocker, but thereâs something special about hearing Black Francis and Kim Deal sing Cohenâs lyrics over roaring power chords.
9. Buck 65 (feat. Jenn Grant) â âWho By Fireâ
Nova Scotia rapper Buck 65 has slowly expanded his sound far beyond hip hop since his career began in the â90s. And on his 14th album, 2011âs 20 Odd Years, he and frequent collaborator Jenn Grant covered their fellow Canadian, faithfully interpreting âWho By Fireâ from Cohenâs 1974 New Skin For The Old Ceremony.
8. Nick Cave â âSuzanneâ
âSuzanneâ kicked off Leonard Cohenâs career as a widely covered songwriter when Judy Collins released her version a year before it became Cohenâs debut single in 1967. Eventually, Nick Cave â a Cohen devotee whoâs covered several of his songs â sang âSuzanneâ in the 2005 documentary, Leonard Cohen: Iâm Your Man.
7. Beck â âWinter Ladyâ
In 2009, Beck began Record Club, a project for which heâd gather an ensemble of musicians in the studio to cover an entire album in one day. The second album in the series was Cohenâs 1967 debut, The Songs of Leonard Cohen, with Devendra Banhart and members of MGMT assisting. Some of the Record Club renditions, like the hip-hop take on âMaster Song,â were playfully irreverent, but Beck played it straight on âWinter Ladyâ with lovely results.
6. Lana Del Rey â âChelsea Hotel No. 2â
Leonard Cohenâs songwriting was so far ahead of its time that âChelsea Hotel No. 2â â a song he wrote in 1974 about a tryst with Janis Joplin â couldnât have sounded more natural being sung by Lana Del Rey in 2013.
5. Thalia Zedek Band â âDance Me to The End of Loveâ
âDance Me To the End of Loveâ from 1984âs Various Positions was both one of Cohenâs biggest radio hits in Canada (and perhaps his most romantic song) and covered by everyone from Sting to The Civil Wars. But Thalia Zedek, formerly of the Boston bands Come and Uzi, restored some welcome grit to the song on her 2001 album, Been Here And Gone.
4. The Jesus And Mary Chain â âTower Of Songâ
Jim and William Reid were at the peak of their powers when The Jesus And Mary Chain recorded a muscular, fuzzed-out cover of âTower of Songâ for the Scottish bandâs Rollercoaster EP in 1990. But âTower of Songâ has been sung by a huge variety of artists, including Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones, U2, and a 2017 live performance with Willie Nelson, Chris Martin, Peter Gabriel and Celine Dion.
3. Lee Ranaldo â âFamous Blue Raincoatâ
A few months after Leonard Cohenâs death, artists including Richard Thompson and Joan As Police Woman came together for a New York concert that produced the live album Sincerely, L. Cohen: A Live Celebration of Leonard Cohen. One of the highlights of the night was Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldoâs hushed, emotive rendition of âFamous Blue Raincoatâ from 1971âs Songs of Love and Hate.
2. R.E.M. â âFirst We Take Manhattanâ
âFirst We Take Manhattanâ introduced Leonard Cohenâs synth-driven new sound on Iâm Your Man. But 3 years later (on the aforementioned Iâm Your Fan tribute album), R.E.M. cranked up the amps for one of the few electric rockers from the bandâs largely acoustic Out of Time/Automatic For The People era.
1. Jeff Buckley â âHallelujahâ
Arguably the most important cover of âHallelujahâ is the one by the Velvet Undergroundâs John Cale, which introduced the song to Jeff Buckley and featured the first recording of verses that Cohen had only included in live performances. But as overexposed as the version on Buckleyâs 1994 debut, Grace, is, and as many unnecessary covers as it inspired, itâs hard to find fault in the sensitivity of his rendition and the unadorned beauty of his vocal.