You Want It Darker

“You Want It Darker” by Leonard Cohen (2016) If you want to hear music written, sung, and recorded by an 82-year-old Canadian Jew sitting in his living (dying) room crippled by fractures in his spine and counting the few painful moments he has left, then this album is for you. And if you don’t want to hear music like that, then shame on you and this album is for you anyway. The expression “You want it darker” is typically what a lover might say to his beloved at the outset of their lovemaking—his accommodation to her sensitivity as he presents himself to her in the darker-ness and says with his mind and body, “Here I am”. For Cohen, this image serves as a prayer to God. Cohen is dying, and God wants it darker. It’s a touching reversal of the God/man Lover/beloved metaphor, and the poet/prophet pulls it of with beauty and horror. This is going to hurt. Death is like lovemaking, and Cohen is ready. “Hineni” (Hebrew for “Here I am”), he says, in resignation to the supreme Will, and with the courage of the prophet (Isaiah 6:8), he faces, embraces the agony. If there’s to be a lullaby, it’s a “lullaby for suffering”. It doesn’t get any darker than that. Cohen wishes there was a “Treaty” between God’s love and his own (There is one [Jeremiah 31:31-14], but I’m not sure Cohen signed it—there are hopeful hints in “Seemed a Better Way”, as he advises himself, “I better lift this glass of blood”, but “not today”). At least he takes it seriously. “My ‘don’t’ was saying ‘do’”, he complains of the temptation contest, but he is quitting the game (“Leaving the Table”) anyhow. And through it all, God’s love has made it real (“If I Didn’t Have Your Love“). Cohen is setting out on the road to death, but he’s “Traveling Light”. His parting advice on his way out the door (to his heart, but more importantly, to you, in case you’re not getting it), is that you should “Steer Your Way” one year/month/day/thought at a time. The outro of the closing track reprises “Treaty” with compelling mystery: “We were broken then but now we're borderline”. So where will you (we? me?) be tomorrow? His voice has been reduced, through age and pain, to whispers punctuated by well pitched basso profondo. But he retains his famous timbre, which compellingly invites the listener to consider, to ponder, to figure it out. It beckons, and you’d better not decline. It’s not just excellent poetry—it’s poetry that grabs you and shakes you a bit. It goes beyond—all the way to the declarative prophetic focus on the past and present in the face of an unknown future. Prophets were generally and unjustly disregarded. Here is your opportunity to rectify. There are negative things to say about this album. But not by me. Leonard Cohen died three weeks after its release. 5/5

INT. Abandoned Cathedral, 5:30 A.M. A thin ray of light shines on an organist wearing black robes with a Grey stole. He appears to have been awake all night. It is apparent he is playing what appear to be the final chords in a grand symphony. I love this very much.

Are you depressed because of a global pandemic? Don't worry! Leonard Cohen latest album will help you jump off a cliff!

I put on this album weeks after struggling to connect with Leonard Cohen’s third album, "Songs of Love and Hate." I expected a similar experience here. "You Want It Darker" grabbed me from the first notes of the choir with its incredible bass line, the lyrics and vocal performance. The song takes us into a holy space as it unfolds as a prayer. A prayer that critically interrogates the very roots of the religious traditions it references. "Treaty" is heartbreaking. Haunting lyrics, incredible arrangements and an emotional delivery perfectly capturing my disillusionment with Christianity and religion. ‘I do not care who takes this bloody hill. I’m angry and I’m tired all the time. I wish there was a treaty, I wish there was a treaty, between your love and mine.’ "On the Level” explores the emotions of letting go. 'They ought to give my heart a medal for lettin' go of you.' The piano… beautiful. The back up singers… angelic. Cohen… perfect. 'I'm old and I've had to settle on a different point of view. I was fighting with temptation but I didn't want to win, A man like me don't like to see temptation caving in.' Cohen has put words to feelings I've begun to have in a way that I could never hope to do. "Leaving the Table" digs deep into a break up: drifting apart ('I don't know the people in your picture frame'), regret/resentment ('If I ever loved you it's a cryin' shame'), resignation ('You don't need to surrender, I'm not taking aim'). Deep within the darkness "If I Didn't Have Your Love" unfolds into a startlingly beautiful love song. This album may be dark but like the rest of the album it is far from cynical. These songs flow with the undercurrents of a mature, deep love. "Traveling Light" pairs incredible mandolins and strings along with the electric piano while the lyrics tell of shedding parts of our lives as we approach its end. Cohen's exploration of religion in "It Seemed the Better Way” hit me in a deeply personal way. After spending a lifetime losing my religion this album has made me reflect on my religious journey more deeply than ever before. ‘Sounded like the truth, but it’s not the truth today. I better hold my tongue. I better take my place. Lift this glass of blood. Try to say the grace.' In "Steer Your Way" Cohen captures other aspects of my own journey as I steer away from so many of my beliefs, foundations, and trust in the world. He offers no replacement but hearing this song gives me strange comfort. 'Steer your heart past the truth that you believed in yesterday, such as fundamental goodness and the wisdom of the way.' Damn. "String Reprise/Treaty" is largely an instrumental string piece with Cohen reprising “Treaty” at the very end. After the last note faded I sat in silence for several minutes grieving Leonard Cohen's passing from this world just a few weeks after this album’s release... and rejoicing that Cohen left this incredible gift. Where last month I struggled to relate to a young Leonard Cohen, I felt an instant deep connection to him here at the end of his life. This album lead me into some very dark personal places - but Cohen's warmth and humanity never left me feeling alone. So rarely have I encountered an artifact of a life that had such a seismic effect on me. Leonard Cohen was right… I do want it darker.

Okay, honestly? This was absolutely gorgeous. One of the 5 star surprises of this whole listening process. I expected to be turned off, since Leonard Cohen's voice is an acquired taste in my opinion, but this was melodically so beautiful. Like, it was an EXPERIENCE.

Read poetry over music. Meh.

Useless cunt

Creamed my jeans over this

Interesting, but I can't see actually listening to it repeatedly

Blackstar but for depressed cowboys Best: Title track, Travelling Light, Steer Your Way

Holy smokes, that voice was out of nowhere. Having only been familiar with his 'Hallelujah' I was not expecting that entrance. He just strolled right in and without effort commanded attention. Entire album reads like a letter or a prayer; struggles with aging and religion; an older man haunted by his past, now staring into the void of what's next. Very sombre, melancholic, personal and thoughtful. The lyrics are absolutely littered Judeo-Christian themes and religious references, which continues into the musical structure itself with inescapable hints of gospel, choral, chanting and traditional 'Jewish' sounding melodies. I couldn't help notice the similarities with David Bowies 'Blackstar'. Both albums wholly referencing mortality; both albums released the same year, the year of their deaths. This doesn't diminish either album, they're both unique masterpieces in my opinion, just a curiosity.

Beautiful. What an incredible voice. You Want it Darker is such a tune, love that bass line. Treaty and Reprise/ Treaty are heartbreakingly beautiful. What an album to leave the world with

absolutely incredible album, really enjoyable listen and definitely lives up to it's title. Treaty is a particular highlight

I know people think the "sad old man" routine is deep, but it bores me. I don't even think I liked Johnny Cash's version of it, and I genuinely like Cash. Cohen is just like an older generation's Nick Cave - style over substance, impresses hipsters. There were moments of vague coolness but mostly this was a chore. I was bored by the second song. 2/5.

First track ok. The rest of it an endless boring dirge.

This ain't it for me. He didn't even really sing, it was closer to reading poems to soft background music. The instrumentals are fine I guess, but I can't see myself relistening to a single song of this. This is a deep cut arthouse type of album.

It's like a cross-between Tom Waits and David Carradine in Kill Bill and so laid back he's basically horizontal. I understand he was in a lot of pain and near the end and that this like his spoken-word poetry but his early stuff is so much more worth listening to. I felt guilty in giving a low score so listen to it again. It does get better and maybe it's a mood thing so one night I'll play it again and get more out of it. Weirdly the attempt to jazz it up with gospel singers and organs has the opposite effect- surely it would be better more stark?

i had previously listened to "i'm your man," cohen's 1988 album, as part of this project. it became one of my favorite albums, and i realized this album will become the same halfway through my first listen. cohen's lyrics are just as beautiful, thought provoking, heart wrenching as before. so many songs focus on death and come across as authentic. he wears his heart on his sleeve. you feel his pain ("i'm angry and tired all the time") and acceptance (i'm ready, my lord") as he finds himself closer to death. i was struck by how simple "traveling light" was, yet his meaning is clear ("i'm running late/they'll close the bar/i used to play/one mean guitar"). i loved each line in this lyrics, honestly. there's a thread of religion throughout the album. "make it darker" contained hymns and jewish imagery, and "treaty" was about his relationship with (and love for) his god, among others. for someone as spiritual as cohen, incorporating this into his album while nearing the end of his life must have brought him some level of comfort. his voice is deeper on this album, lending to a further emphasis on death. his tenor had always created the focus on his lyrics but more so here. there's minimal background accompaniment; while beautiful, its simplicity allows the focus to be on the lyrics. and somehow, the violins sound like they're crying. the "string reprise" section was unparalleled in its beauty. he's still with his usual folk sound, but there are some blues sounds as well. this remarkable album is meant to break you. it's dark and deep, and it can be rough. it's beautiful and truly a piece of art.

Blues/lyrical with instrumental/tango. Cynical retrospective love/sex lyrics with heavy biblical themes at beg and end of album. Growl-y bass. Sounds like Hades in Hadestown. Listened to while working out, which, surprisingly, worked.

One of his best. It's amazing that an artist can be this strong at the end of his career. Album gives me chills.

That was spectacular, I bloody loved it. I only really knew Leonard Cohen's 'hits' but this album was amazing. And released just 3 months before he died.

Le fait que cet album soit posthume m'a mis extrêmement mal à l'aise pendant toute la durée de l'écoute. J'avais en effet la certitude que Léonard Cohen allait décéder d'un moment à l'autre. Ceci explique la frayeur que j'ai pu ressentir au long du dernier morceau lors duquel la voix de Leonard Cohen est absente des deux premières minutes. "Il est mort... Il est très probablement mort..." pensai-je tout bas. Soudain, alors que j'avais perdu tout espoir, la voix du chanteur s'éleva pour grommeler ses idioties habituelles: "I wish there was nianiania". Quel soulagement...

I don’t want it any darker Leonard I assure you. This album sounds like the track list about a Disney movie where the villain turns out to be the good guy, his voice isn’t doing him any favors here. Im impressed he’s been making music for so long, but this is my second album of his on the list so far and you can tell the drop off in ability- tough to do the singer song writer thing when you know…can’t sing anymore.

With all due respect, Mr Cohen…I am a New York Giants fan in October of 2023. It could not possibly get any darker than it already is.

His voice is still great, but the lyrics sound like the work of a bored pensioner. Not for me

I’m in awe. Words cannot describe the album experience I just had. I sobbed when I finished listening. Tears literally fell from my eyes. Leonard Cohen does not miss, even at 82. Especially not at 82. I think this is actually my favorite album I have had the privilege of listening to so far on this list. What a stunning and just perspective altering work of art.

This very much could've just gotten me interested in Leonard Cohen. I've never listened to him before, but hearing Hallelujah in many soundtracks was annoying. I really loved title track You Want It Darker, Travelling Light and Steer Your Way.

Yes. The first time I heard this album, it hit me hard. Instantly my favourite Cohen album. Exhaustion at the end of life is not something I feel, but the basic feeling of just being exhausted by everything, that I get. This has some of Cohen’s best lyrics. “I struggled with some demons; they were middle-class and tame.” 27/10 album. Favourite track: “Steer Your Way”

Rarely do I even give much thought to lyrics in an album, but this one earns its 5 on the lyrics alone. The beautiful sparse instrumentation and haunting voice Leonard brings are just icing on the cake.

Said some interesting things, and didn't overstay its welcome. Liked it enough that I want to relisten to it and think it over more

Had his Songs of Love And Hate just recently, as my introduction to the work of Leonard Cohen. Which I was very thankful for. Sublime. This one? Yes but no. I'm not a lyrics person so I'm left with this pastiche of some Eastern European circa jazz blues soundtrack - oh, so grave! - for a deep voice. I have no desire to disrepect this, but... except for the title song and "Steer Your Way" this just isn't giving me a lot, musically.

You Want It Darker - I’ll show you darker! I’ve never really listened to Leonard Cohen much but boy have I been missing out. The album explores all the usual themes of a man at the end of his life, reflecting on it with these dark and religious undertones and feelings that comes easy with Cohens baritone, and help solidify that grizzled old man aesthetic of the album. Motifs and themes pop back up through the album which is a nice touch and helps unify the album. The backing tracks are simple, and normally I May hold it against a lesser album but here it really helps thematically with that twilight years feel, and it’s exacerbated by the fact that Cohen died not long after this. Favorite - You Want It Darker

Leonard Cohen who is one of the greatest poets to ever walk on this earth who mainly started making music because releasing his text on their own wasn't lucrative came to age. His debut in '67 was released when he was 33 and when this album hit the shelfs a couple months after David Bowie passed away, he was 82. And like with Bowies final album, this also talks a lot about his own death as he also died a few days after this album released. The title track 'You Want It Darker' starts the album off with the best song already. It combines Art Pop, Jewish Music, Gothic Country and many weird and dark references to him and his religion in sometimes a Spoken Word style. The song features organs and very present keyboard bass and it all just feels dark and like he is making his own funerals requiem. It feels like Mozart all over again but instead of writing sheets full of classical music he wrote sheets full of magical and depp poetry. Yeah, the song's perfect and easily one of my all-time favourite Cohen songs. 'Treaty' goes a more Piano Blues way and feels a lot like something you'd hear on a Cohen x Tom Waits x Nick Cave collaboration and as I love all these artists, I love this song. It's very low-key but you can feel how he's not just trying to sing the words, he is adding so much emotional weight into them that the song turns out being very heavy on you. It isn't perfect, sadly, but it is incredible through and through especially the lyrics are just amazing and it mainly comes down to the instrumental side of the song that do harm it a little bit too much to be considered perfect. The Soft Rock guitar on 'On the Level' adds to the Piano Blues but I am really not a fan of how the backing vocals are used here. They don't fit at all. He should've just hummed them himself as this would've added a darker and more emotional twist. This just makes the song feel basic and uninteresing. It turns it just good and not great or incredible. Luckily, 'Leaving the Table' saves it a little by mixing his Folk style with a little bit of Country in a very slow and lonely way that turns the song into a very emotional and hard hitting song and one of the saddest songs on the album. This song literally made me cry which already makes it perfect. It's how he should've made most of the album. Just raw and emotional with a very open talk about Death. The more uplifiting sounding 'If I Didn't Have Your Love' adds a little bit of Soul into the Blues style. It isn't really that interesting when compared to other songs on the album but it's still pretty nice and the chorus is at least one big highlight. I also think that this wasn't the best choice to end the albums first half with as it is a less dark and moody track and it would've worked better at another place. The few flamenco influences on 'Traveling Light' work weirdly well with the dark themes and I am just surprised of how he came up with this idea of adding flamenco guitar into the mix. The slight Blues parts are also pretty nice in combination and the backing vocals work so well. I absolutely love how this song shapes up and plays with the music in it by adding more and more detail. The lyrics are just absolutely on point, like always and Cohen performs them with a wit that I am not used to but see it working so well. That all combines into just another perfect song. The Spoken Word aspect of 'It Seemed the Better Way' adds to the atmosphere that this song was going for. It feels nocturnal and full of mystery with the percussion that feels like out of a soundtrack for a jungle at night. The song is fantastic and just incredible even if I would've wished for a little more detail to be added because the organ and string parts aren't doing just enough for me. The Country influences return on 'Steer Your Way' which features not only a very detailed production and some of Cohens best lyrics but also a beautiful performance from him. It is genuinely a wonderful song in every detail that you could imagine and a real highlight from the album. 'String Reprise / Treaty' ends the album with mainly just strings at the start. They go on in a way that feels like someone's passed away (or is going to hehehe). This feels like it was a melody played on the Titanic as it sunk. After a while it goes back to 'Treaty' from the start with similar lyrics but performed pretty differently on top of the strings. It is the best possible way Cohen could've ended this album and his career. It is a great song even if I would've wished for the strings to go on for a little shorter. favourites: You Want It Darker, Leaving the Table, Steer Your Way, Traveling Light, Treaty least favourites: On the Level, If I Didn't Have Your Love Rating: light 9 https://rateyourmusic.com/~Emil_ph for more ratings, reviews and takes

The less said the better about a man who has said so much. I would rather let him do the talking. The quiet power of the album is undeniable. While I wouldn't call this album joyous - there is plenty of light amidst the shadows. The production is minimal but sublime - matching the tone of the music. Single violins and subtle choirs add beauty. It's only with the final reprise that the true sadness comes and you feel the full weight of a life fading.

I love Leonard Cohen, but this is my first time listening to this album. Beautiful and heartbreaking, especially with the knowledge that he died so soon after. R.I.P. to an absolute legend.

Wow. Cohen's voice is haunting. This gives me chills. What a beautiful way to deal with pain and say good bye to the world.

The title track is on one of my favorite playlists I made and to which I listen with some frequency. What incredible texture and flow. And the rest of the album is a work of poetic beauty and intrigue. I love it.

An album that stops you in your tracks, the penultimate album from Leonard Cohen is the sound of an artist bidding farewell but driven to continue making music and art and is a privilege to listen to. The wisdom, the insight, the emotion all strike you to the core. Not a note is wasted. The music is perfectly pitched to support the breathy, quiet vocal. A heroic effort and one for the ages. (An alternative take from my daughter: ‘Kind of sounds like Lego Batman’)

Gonna get 5 stars. Leonard Cohen is brilliant

Excellent!

Loved this one. I was supposed to be working while I had this on but his voice kept making me stop and actually *listen* to the songs. The Wikipedia article was an interesting read too -- I ended up going to the Wikipedia page about Leonard Cohen as well and learned that my album for today has a link to my album from yesterday: a song on Nirvana's "In Utero" album references Leonard Cohen. 10/10 to the music, 3/10 to my own productivity.

A lot better than I was expecting

Only Leonard (and Bob) could make an album so current without referencing modern events in the slightest. Draws upon archetypes and metaphor to perfectly critique the human condition and the role of society. Cohen's last album and maybe his best.

Excellent, loved the gravelly voice, You Want it Darker was my favorite song

Masterpiece. This is the perfect album to test out a brand new pair of speakers.

Oh that was superb. First listen just floored me. An easy 5/5.

Beautiful final album from a beautiful poet.

Is this a good Leonard Cohen entry point? I bet it is

Holy hell. The power in this album, just in the first song, is haunting.

That voice. THAT VOICE. Fave track - The title track is absolutely badass. "Traveling Light" takes second place...

- first Cohen I've heard and blown away - strong cohesive direction but doesn't overstay it's theme - variety but also very powerful.

It's interesting hearing this compared to Songs of Leonard Cohen. His voice is like whiskey over gravel here in the best of ways. The production is so much more elaborate and fantastic too. Love the lyrical themes of struggling with religion and aging.

This absolutely blew me away. What took me so long?!

THIS IS THE LEONARD COHEN I WAS LOOKING FOR! Incredible. This guy is f***in' cool!

This is Leonard Cohen at his gravelliest. The sense of pathos in every song bears the weight of a long, full life.

An incredible listen. Really bowled over by it from start to finish. Fully felt the weight of a man facing the end. Superb.

Quality album written by a dude who knew he was dying. Sad and awesome at the same time.

good! Great songwriting and really intense themes. it’s an interesting listening experience bc everything is so overt and lyric focused without being too in your face or being at the expense of the music. 4.5 very good and I’ll probably listen again but nothing really floored me

One of the greatest poet/lyricists of all time.

This album warranted you kit-out your headphones to maximum bass, for his vocals alone. Very much enjoyed to slow sultry tones of a man on the way out

What a voice, what great lyrics. The last strings track was beautiful

He saves his best fo last, great album. Montreal's greatest export!!

An excellent album, made more poignant by the fact that it was his last album released before he died (prehumously?) Leonard Cohen has always struck me as an unhappy dude, trying to find peace in religion or a near religious fervor of love & coitus, and ultimately stuggling with how both are deeply human. What I love in 'You Want it Darker" is how the love of his muse, his troubled mentor (whom he later describes as a 'filthy beggar, guessing), and the capital G God are intertwined almost inseparably. The OG Tortured poet. Fav: Treaty, for the verse "I heard the snake was baffled by his sin... The poison enters everything". I fear I still don't quite get the titular track, You Want It Darker, which I am assuming is on me considering it is the most well known of the album.

Eerie, gorgeous background strings and soft vocals. Cohen dramatically speak-sings the majority of this album and that approach lends itself perfectly to the album's title. I didn't realize it but I DO want it darker, at least for this listening experience. I want to curl into a fleece-ensconced ball and listen to this again on decent headphones.

Truly a breathtaking record. In the final days or his life Leonard put together this collection of beautiful songs bursting with tragedy and accepting of the fate of death. This album really is a masterpiece in complementing instrumentals with lyrics/vocals, as both are stunning. 8/10

It’s poetry disguised as song. The spoken word smoking guy over laments has never been my favorite genre and this didn’t do much to change that opinion. The lyrics are good at least; Cohen has always been a better writer than performer. It’s fine. I’m sure it’s miraculous to some people but not me.

In 2016, an in influential music legend with a career spanning 6 decades recorded a dark, brooding lament on his own mortality. He released it shortly before passing to great sorrow. Everyone was shocked. Grief poured in from all across the world, with many declaring the latest album to be one of his greatest ever and a fitting tribute to an incredible career. If I had a nickel for every time that happened, I'd have two nickels... which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. Right?

Alright I must admit I was blown away on the first song, his voice is so aged and sinister. I do think that effect overstays it’s welcome. But I appreciate an album from someone who isn’t in the prime years of their life, even if there should be many albums from the mid-2010’s on this list instead

Gravelly, like pouring whisky directly into my ears. Would say I appreciated it, rather than loved it.

Not sure what I was listening to.

Oh great, another entry in the “old man sing-talks poetry about life and God immediately before dying” category. I can appreciate the artistry (and definitely prefer his earlier work), but don’t think a second listen is ever likely… 2⭐️

I couldn't find anything good going for it, it was a snoozefest from start to finish.

Enough with the Leonard Cohen. It’s just not worthy of multiple albums on this list. Much less 3 or 4

не

Leonard Cohen is always fake and gay

Wow. That was hauntingly beautiful. In a similar vein to Johnny Cash’s American IV, this a dying legend reflecting. It’s beautiful and Cohen’s rough voice sounds perfect.

Excelente album, la voz de Leonard Cohen en sus últimos trabajos es increíble. Me gusta la atmósfera oscura que eligió crear en este que fue su último disco. La combinación de instrumentos acústicos con sonidos más electrónicos hacen un aporte muy bueno al estilo que eligió adoptar. Para ser un músico que podría haberse ya retirado hace tiempo, seguía teniendo vigencia su aporte a la música, así como sucedió con David Bowie antes de morir.

Glorious final album. Dark, beautiful instrumentation.

Absolutely wonderful

18/04/2025 I liked how dark the album was.

This is a fucking masterpiece. Devastating and beautiful.

Every song was beautiful yet gritty. Cohen's voice is unmatched. No skips

Glitter specks of truth and humor shine through the moody, smokey noir. Definitely a guy whose been through things, and is in the middle of another hard thing; the end of his life. Reminded of Sam in the Lord of the Rings : "There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high

i did not expect to feel Leonard Cohen the way i just felt Leonard Cohen and now i get why people who like Leonard Cohen like Leonard Cohen. Rating = 5 Leonards

This was dark, haunting and moving. Very cave. A lot for a Monday morning but absolutely loved it.

holy shit

religious trauma all the way down, haunted me all day. im not particularly fond of the vocals specifically but i can overlook it.

Timely

his voice would do wonders in an edit

string reprise really got to me iwl

after a pretty bad run of albums since the 80s, Leonard Cohen released an honest to goodness masterpiece, and then promptly died.

He really had it right until the end, didn't he?

Very charming, and a great send-off after having a lengthy career.

This album is immediately one of the best I’ve ever listened to. I relistened like four times already. It’s scarily relevant to my life right now, but while he offers no solutions or direct help there is a strange peace exuded through the album in cohen’s surrender. Also the circumstances of this album alone are just crazy. He sounded amazing even at his age on his death bed. The first time his voice is heard in the opening track was so ominous, creepy, and powerful but all in a good way. I was also a huge fan of all the background singers. There’s a certain level of album where it’s good enough you can’t ever listen to it. Like I don’t think I can add these songs to my big rotation playlists cause hearing this album without being emotionally prepared for it could just side rail a perfectly normal day. So for that 6/5.

More or less a spoken word poetry album. Cohen died 17 days after its release, and media coverage of his death is what had prompted me to first start listening to him (more through compilations and playlists than individual albums - I know I heard the title track off this album back then but I'm not sure about the rest). This is a very good (but bleak) album, and the context around its recording gives it an extra weight that gets it into 5-star territory for me.

I love this album. Cohen doing what Cohen does best.

I listened to this for the first time not too long ago as I saw it on a list of some of the best of Cohen's albums. Definitely a little more contemporary in sound, though this is mostly due to recording techniques--his sound is typically kind of timeless. The title track is amazing, vintage Leonard Cohen. Treaty is great writing. Traveling Light, Steer Your Way and It Seemed the Better Way are awesome. It's a great, complete album, and though I'm really only familiar with his earliest albums, this one definitely holds up. 4.5.

haunting and sooo beautiful. my faves were the treaty and leaving the table. really grateful for the chance to sit down with this, I probably wouldn’t have without this album list

Amazing songwriter and poet. I love his voice, but understand why so many artists cover his music and put their own twists on it. I listen to Leonard Cohen often and can't complain.

I ended up loving this album. The titular song is great, and I knew it before. The music underneath Cohen's mostly spoken words is really compelling, and the sound of his voice is very powerful. Great album.