#164: Leonard Cohen - Songs of Love and Hate (1971)

Emily: This album reminded me very much of Jeff Buckley’s Grace. Yes, I know that Songs of Love and Hate was released 20 years before Grace, but that is the folly of listening to this list out of order. Cohen’s beautifully dark, minimalist style on this album definitely paved the way for the haunting beauty of Grace. The comparison gets even stronger with the fact that Hallelujah, an iconic recording by Buckley, was first written and recorded by Cohen (albeit not on this album). Songs of Love and Hate is true to its name, full of acoustic, lyrical songs that focus on the dichotomy of these two emotional states of being. Each song is certainly filled with emotion – some are sad or wistful, while others are angry and haunting. There is no doubt, however, that they are all beautifully written and arranged. This album deserves multiple listens to fully explore the depth of the words and emotions, a task I will happily oblige.

Favorite Tracks: Dress Rehearsal Rag; Famous Blue Raincoat; Avalanche

Zack: Having listened to exactly one Leonard Cohen album, I feel pretty safe in saying that he writes songs solely to confuse people. I’ve listened to this album twice now and still am not sure what more than half the lyrics mean. At one point he mentions looking at a girl like she’s the nervous person at an orgy. Look I’ve been to more than my share of orgies and I have to say that nobody wants to be the newbie. That’s some of the best advice I ever got from my mentor, The Great Orgini. At another point he describes a woman as “waving a Nazi dagger.” Here, I don’t think he went into enough detail. Is the woman a Nazi who possesses a dagger, has she stolen the dagger from a Nazi, or is this a dagger made for the express purpose of killing Nazis (read: Nahtzeees)? You can’t leave me hanging like that, Leonard Cohen! But I will say that the album does live up to its title, especially in the middle. First there’s Diamonds in the Mine, which I believe held the record for angriest country-inspired song until that Boot in Your Ass song wrestled the trophy away over a decade ago. That is immediately followed by Love Calls You By Your Name, which is exactly as mushy as you imagine. The rest of the album is sort of hard to follow content-wise, but solid throughout. Except he does seem to have a thing for Joan of Arc. Still working on decoding that.

Favorite Tracks: Sing Another Sing, Boys; Avalanche; Diamonds in the Mine