Famous Blue Raincoat

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Damien Rice performed the song at the 2017 Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen concert. [10] First Aid Kit included it in their Who By Fire memorial tribute [11] sung by Maja Francis. [12] "When I Need You" comparison [ edit ] Gerxtenzanga, Peter. "Jennifer Warnes's Famous Blue Raincoat: 20th Anniversary Edition". The Village Voice . Retrieved February 19, 2017. In 1994 Cohen said that "it was a song I've never been satisfied with". [1] In the 1999 book, The Complete Guide to the Music of Leonard Cohen, the authors comment that Cohen's question, "Did you ever go clear?", in the song, is a reference to the Scientology state of " Clear". [3] Where other singers tended to geld Cohen's often disturbingly revealing poetry, Warnes, working with the composer himself and introducing a couple of great new songs ("First We Take Manhattan" and "Song of Bernadette," which she co-wrote), matched his own versions. The high point may have been the Warnes-Cohen duet on "Joan of Arc," but the album was consistently impressive... For Warnes, the album meant her first taste of real critical success: suddenly a singer who had seemed like a second-rate Linda Ronstadt now appeared to be a first-class interpretive artist. [3] In reviewing the reissue, Steve Horowitz of PopMatters noted, "This anniversary edition... may finally give the album the acclaim it initially deserved." [5] Peter Gerstenzanga of The Village Voice wrote after the reissue,

Ratcliff, Maurice; Charlesworth, Chris (1999). The Complete Guide to the Music of Leonard Cohen. London, England: Omnibus Press. p.37. ISBN 0-7119-7508-6. The lyrics contain references to the German love song " Lili Marlene," to Scientology, and to Clinton Street. Cohen lived on Clinton Street in Manhattan in the 1970s when it was a lively Latino area. [2]Ms. JENNIFER WARNES (Singer): (Singing) It's four in the morning, the end of December, I'm writing you now just to see if you're better... Frank Nico from Kassel, GermanyIt's been now nearly 12 months since you´ve left me and I think this song is more than I could say about how I feel about this fact. Though you will never read this words, I´m glad to had you in my life. I´m sure that you will never cross this song - how sad! Keep your "famous blue raincoat" and grow old! Bye baby! Brown, Helen (25 March 2021). "First Aid Kit review, Who by Fire: A live covers album Leonard Cohen would have loved". The Independent . Retrieved 30 April 2021. Assistant engineers– Jeff Park, Nyya Lark, Terry Dunavan, Ken Fowler, Dan Reed, Sharon Rice, Garth Richardson, Duane Seykora, Russ Bracher, Joel Stoner Something old is something new in the music world. Here with a review, musician and DAY TO DAY contributor David Was.

Today, heard as a fascinating "historical artifact" of a bygone production era, the glossy arrangements and once sounding almost inappropriately ornate renderings of earthy Leonard Cohen songs, now present themselves as less jarring and somehow more pleasing. Patton, Alli (March 8, 2023). "Top 10 Songs by Leonard Cohen". American Songwriter . Retrieved April 27, 2023.

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Geri from Nova Scotia, CanadaReally, when you listen to the lyrics (or rather poems)of his songs, there is the obvious sexual tension to the words but more so than that his intelligence and philosophy touches you on a much deeper level than the fact that his appeal to women is incredibly irresistible. A firend of mine remembers him from his early days in Montreal and recalls his almost hypnotic charm on the female of the species, he had woman following him everywhere. Ben from St. Louis, MoSuch a great, sad song. Even though his best friend took his woman away, he recognizes that she wasn't happy with him to begin with. "Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes. I thought it was there for good so I never tried." Love it. Watch Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen on Wednesday, January 3 on CBC". CBC Arts, December 29, 2017. Famous Blue Raincoat" has also been recorded by numerous other artists, including Tori Amos, Joan Baez, Jonathan Coulton, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Eivør and Jared Louche. [8] [9] It provided the title to Jennifer Warnes' album of cover versions of Cohen's songs.

The supercharged opener here, "First We Take Manhattan", with stinging Stevie Ray Vaughan guitar lines, is from the then unreleased I'm Your Man album as was "There Ain't No Cure For Love". Canadian album certifications – Jennifer Warnes – Famous Blue Raincoat". Music Canada . Retrieved August 19, 2022. Famous Blue Raincoat" is widely considered to be one of Cohen's best songs. Far Out and American Songwriter ranked the song number six and number five, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest Leonard Cohen songs. [6] [7] Cover versions [ edit ] The original recording starts in the key of A minor, but switches to C major during the choruses. Cohen said, "That's nice. I guess I got that from Spanish music, which has that." [5] Reception [ edit ]

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WAS: In the early '70s, Jennifer Warnes was one of his ever-present chorus of angels. Leonard's own vocals are earthy and expressive and emitted in a low frequency grumble that begs for upper register decoration. My voice sounds so much better when a woman is singing with me, Cohen said; some dismal quality is neutralized. First Aid Kit Release Who By Fire Live Tribute Album Honoring Leonard Cohen". Sony Music . Retrieved 30 April 2021. Gilbert from Madison, WiI wonder if the letter is symbolic of a relationship between two persona, maybe the older and the younger or the artist and the conformist, both fighting to exist within one man. Two people rather than three complete the triangle. If I Listen to the lyric with the notion that Cohen is writing to himself the song seems to fit quite nicely. I believe Mr. Cohen is genius unrivaled among his contemporaries. WAS: Since those days, appreciating Leonard Cohen has become a bit of a cottage industry, with artists like Elton John and Don Henley lining up to sing his poetic musings on various tribute albums. But Jennifer Warnes deserves credit for being there first, before Leonard became venerable and certifiably cool; they make a lovely musical couple. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.333. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

In a 1994 BBC Radio Interview, Cohen remarked: "The problem with that song is that I've forgotten the actual triangle. Whether it was my own - of course, I always felt that there was an invisible male seducing the woman I was with, now whether this one was incarnate or merely imaginary I don't remember, I've always had the sense that either I've been that figure in relation to another couple or there'd been a figure like that in relation to my marriage. I don't quite remember but I did have this feeling that there was always a third party, sometimes me, sometimes another man, sometimes another woman. It was a song I've never been satisfied with. It's not that I've resisted an impressionistic approach to songwriting, but I've never felt that this one, that I really nailed the lyric. I'm ready to concede something to the mystery, but secretly I've always felt that there was something about the song that was unclear. So I've been very happy with some of the imagery, but a lot of the imagery." Joanie from Bowling Green, KyWhat a line: "You treated my woman to a flake of your life, and when she came home, she was nobody's wife". A great writer who wears it well.Cohen's version is sung from the perspective of a man discussing with another man a woman they both had a relationship with. Many female artists have managed to flip the gender and make the song even more ambiguous. Joan Baez, Tori Amos, Laurie MacAllister and Jennifer Warnes are some of the artists who have covered this song. In 1987, Warnes released an entire album of Cohen's songs called Famous Blue Raincoat before contributing to the hit " (I've Had) The Time of My Life" later that year. WAS: Jennifer Warnes' take on Leonard Cohen's music is anything but dismal. In fact, it's sometimes jarring to hear his songs given the high-gloss Los Angeles production treatment. British album certifications – Jennifer Warnes – Famous Blue Raincoat". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved August 19, 2022. Senorita from Canada, Canada"Famous Blue Raincoat" is from the point of view of a man whose marriage has been broken by his wife's infidelity with his close friend, and is written in the form of a letter from "L. Cohen" to a mysterious unidentified "you," who seems to have been involved in a love triangle with Cohen's woman. When Cohen later released his equally splashy I'm Your Man album the new audience was primed, the older one supportive and Cohen's career took off, reaching heretofore unscaled heights of popularity and iconic cultural acceptance. Now in his '80s, Leonard Cohen has never been more popular, nor has his audience demographic been so young. He's the hippest oldster on the scene—even more so than Dylan.