Leonard Cohen showed up on my radar in the early 90’s. I’m sure that i’d heard him or at least his songs before then, but it just didn’t register. Suddenly however, it became very fashionable to name-drop him as an influence and there was a downpour of tributes and covers. The first one i’d heard was ‘Everybody Knows‘ covered by Concrete Blonde, and The Great Paul Thompson not withstanding, i couldn’t stand it. Soon there were other more palatable versions of his songs, specifically Ian McCulloch‘s ‘Lover Lover Lover‘, James‘ ‘So Long, Marianne‘, Nick Cave‘s ‘I’m Your Man‘ and of course, lest we forget, Jeff Buckley‘s version of John Cale‘s arrangement of ‘Hallelujah’. This next cover may be the best yet! It’s from the film “Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man” and it’s ‘If It Be Your Will’ by Antony (from Antony & The Johnsons). Antony sings this song like he must get it out and i’m buying what he’s selling…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MDlMdu2gjw]
Beautiful! I need some more, so here’s Antony & The Johnsons with ‘Hope There’s Someone’…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loNU4fVpO8E]
Tony
Media Producer
PlayNetwork, Inc.
