You Want It Darker

Oh you want it darker? okay im gonna mumble monotone the same exact way through every song with some understated boring ass music in the back FUCK leonard cohen album cover goes hard

Jesus what a jumpscare. This dudes voice is so unsettling. I get that kinda goes hand in hand with the vibe of the record, but holy hell this feels like another Bowie final record type deal. Why’s everyone glazing? When y’all ever gonna play this? This sounds like me ranting about how down bad my life is after a pack of red 100’s. Maybe it’s too real, but if I can’t enjoy any musical elements of a record it’s a tough sell. Sorry cohen Stans.

I can’t bro I actually can’t. I don’t want to say much The steadiness of life can’t dare to comprehend the ugliness of noise ruining what could be a calm scene as to say a nice view is ruined by cars and horns and people talking and Leonard cohen somehow surpasses the terribleness of torture with wet socks. I never want to ever hear that man speak for that is the day I pay for what I said. Leonard cohen goodbye forever yikes :@

Pre-listening thoughts: oh… Post/during listening thoughts: yeah this was exactly what I expected. If you thought Leonard Cohen was already incoherently mumbling over his songs in the 60s, oh boy, you got a storm coming. I actually vehemently dislike this album. I think Leonard Cohen is the most overrated singer (if you can call him that) ever. Maybe on par with Lou Reed. There’s a spectrum of men that don’t really sing and it runs from Bob Dylan to Tom Waits, and this album certainly falls more on the Tom Waits end. It was like going to a poetry slam but some old ass man with dementia didn’t have anything prepared so he just started mumbling into the mic. But pair that with instrumentals that are so nice it makes you even more upset when he starts “singing”. Fuck this album 1/10 DID I NEED TO HEAR THIS BEFORE I DIE: NO Fav tracks: n/a Least fav tracks: any where he opens his mouth

The most boring voice ever. Hated it, except for the first track

Well... if I'm being absolutely honest... I hated this. While I AM thankful that it took little more than half an hour of my life, even THAT seemed too long for what this is. Maybe if it were consolidated into a single track (which, considering its monotony, it essentially is), and then shortened to a reasonable length, I could appreciate it as an artistic statement. But the novelization of what should have been no more than a sonnet really drags the experience out and down.

Overrated. For people who like poems more than they like music. Can't sing at all - there comes a point at which not being able to carry a tune is an actual problem when it comes to calling yourself a musician. I like the title tune kinda sorta - thanks to the actual singers in the background. Basically, I don't want to listen to Grandpa croak at me.

Leonard Cohen is always fake and gay

Poetry put to music, Leonard reflects about his impending death in a harsh, touching, vulnerable, resentful dialogue with god. This record is art of a different level.

I don’t understand some of these reviews. Clearly you want it darker but I’m not sure how much darker it can be. You see, we killed the flame.

One of the best

I didn’t know this album. It’s like a slightly more accessible alternative to his great album The Future. I loved it.

It is beautifully written. No doubt there. Instrumentals are questionable but the vocals are gorgeous. Mr Cohen passed a few weeks after this album was released. Maybe I'm bias for sad stuff like this but last song on it pulled it into a 5 for me.

Beautiful elegy of a man reflecting on his long life filled with regrets.

This is probably my favorite Leonard Cohen record that’s cropped up here. It’s got the gravitas that I appreciate without the goofball Casio keyboards that I struggled through with I’m Your Man; it’s like the music here more matches the intensity of the lyrics. This one is a winner for me. 9/10

I needed a few days to gather my thoughts on this one. Cohen’s voice was never a thing of beauty, and hearing it reduced to a death rattle just underlines what this album is all about. The music has a few more connections than usual with his Jewishness, from the synagogue choir on a couple of tracks to a touch of klezmer on Traveling Light. And of course his Jewish/Buddhist spirituality is at the forefront in a way we hadn’t heard so much on his other records. It isn’t always quite clear whether he is singing of God or a woman, or both – he always seemed to worship the women he loved, at least in his songs. But one thing that stands out for me is how unadorned these lyrics are. They sound condensed, considered, and sometimes hard-won: the words he had earned when his life ended. Some of them sounded like the truth, and all of them were poignant

MASTERPIECE 5.0

This is a fucking amazing album. Certainly as his last album it is dark and foreboding, but still somehow has a groovy life to it. Completely surprising. Can't recommend it enough.

wie ein Gedicht <3

I listened to my CD copy on my monitors. And then I immediately re-listened to it on my headphones. Purely amazing in production, scope, and (most importantly) depth. The title track is, IMHO, one of the best songs the man has ever recorded. Leonard is a national treasure, and he is missed.

Poignant, dark, real, honest, beautiful.

Dark….

This is an exceptional work of art that I discovered a couple of years ago. I consider it the grand finale of a lifelong career full of poetry and artistry. Released only a few weeks before his death, it feels like a deliberate farewell. Here, Cohen fully commits to the themes that defined his work. The minimalistic production creates an intimate atmosphere that invites the listener on an introspective journey through mortality, faith, and regret. The songwriting is beautiful, and the album's biggest moments shine brightly. It is a magnificent work of art and a fitting closure to an extraordinary career. My favorite tracks are "You Want It Darker", "Treaty", and "Traveling Light."

This is awesome. I think it's added to the list of religiously profound media

Brilliant

It is insane to me how Cohen’s words, over with genuinely interesting, eerily captivating production, have managed to cut through so sharply despite being caught in a war of attrition with his impersonation of Jeff Goldblum doing the Alpha wolf “Hello kitten” voice.

Мабуть, у Леонарда Коена таки немає поганої музики. 4,5

Ik vind het heel cool, hoe leonard Cohen op deze leeftijd nog zo veel swag heeft. Meeste artiesten van deze leeftijd zijn zachtgekookte eieren geworden die nog steeds teren op hun tijd in de jonge jaren. Dan krijg je vaak een oude man die nog jong probeert te zijn. Leonard Cohen zet het juist in als een wapen en maakt als brombeer een fantastisch album. Tekstueel lukt het hem altijd om in een album te komen en de vrouwelijke vocals passen wederom weer erg goed bij zijn muziek.

Het eerste nummer komt altijd wel binnen bij mij. Met het koor wat een soort sacrale dementie geeft, de zware bas en het orgel en een donkere versleten" stem aan het absolute einde van zijn leven. Hineni, Hineni (God hier ben ik, i'm ready my lord "klaar om te dienen?") is zijn overgave maar het klinkt tegelijk ook wel weer uitdagend. Het album is de confrontatie met zijn eigen sterfelijkheid. Het is bitter, soms nog grappig maar ook relativerend. Het maakt deze terugblik op het leven heel melancholisch zonder sentimenteel te worden. Er zit veel joodse, bijbelse en religieuze verwijzingen waar ik natuurlijk ook bekend mee ben waardoor je bij het luisteren ook telkens word getriggerd. Er zit veel dubbelzinnigheid in de teksten waar je een eigen waarheid in kan vinden of er juist achter komen dat er niet één antwoord is.

As soon as I saw Cohen's name, I knew this would be an emotional one. In a similar vein to Blackstar by David Bowie in the same year, this is a man reflecting on his life and doing something that very few musicians get the opportunity to accomplish: Saying farewell to his fans. He looks back upon the person he used to be, the person he has ended up becoming, and the world he is leaving behind, and the whole thing is this heartbreaking yet totally cathartic experience. Just beautiful and one that had me in tears at points. Favourite track: Treaty Least favourite track: N/A

Vingt-quatre heures, c'est exactement le temps qu'il m'aura fallu pour retrouver mes esprits. Vingt-quatre heures à peine après m'être envoyé le dernier album de Johnny Cash, le magnifique et terrifiant The Man Comes Around, me voilà déjà en train de poursuivre ce voyage vers la maison de retraite du rock 'n' roll. Mais attention, ici on ne frappe pas à n'importe quelle porte, on ne va pas voir les grabataires qui radotent, non on frappe à la porte de Leonard. Monsieur Leonard Cohen, c'est pour vous. Il est là, assis dans la pénombre de sa finitude. Le costume est impeccable, taillé sur mesure, comme toujours. Le fedora est vissé sur le crâne, de travers, juste ce qu'il faut. Putain, même à l'article de la mort, ce mec a plus de classe que l'intégralité de la scène pop actuelle. Ce disque, c'est son testament. C'est le dernier album, celui qui offre un départ comme seul Leonard aurait pu le faire : un départ infiniment, atrocement, magistralement classieux. Je ne vais pas m'amuser à vous décortiquer la galette piste par piste, car décortiquer ce disque morceau par morceau, c'est chiant à mourir. C'est un truc de critique musical coincé du cul. Cet album ne mérite pas qu'on le dissèque comme une vulgaire grenouille sur une paillasse de laboratoire. On va aller droit au but, sans tourner autour du pot, ce disque est une merveille absolue. Un putain de chef-d'œuvre, un 5 sur 5 incontestable. Et je pèse lourdement mes mots car habituellemeent, je ne suis pas du genre à distribuer les bons points avec le sourire. Je suis plutôt acerbe, en général. Je peux être drôle, parfois. Irrespectueux, souvent. Vulgaire, quand il le faut. Mais là, face à ce monument, je m'écrase. Quand on lance You Want It Darker, la première chose qui vous écrase, c'est la voix. Une voix caverneuse, éraillée par la vie, le tabac et les années de prières. Une voix qui résonne comme un oracle au fond d'un puits sans fond. C'est la voix d'un type qui a un pied dans la tombe et qui s'en amuse presque. Sauf qu'ici, il n'y a pas de fioritures, il n'y a pas d'artifices cache-misère, il n'y a rien d'autre que le dénuement le plus total. La production, ciselée avec amour par son fils Adam, est d'une pureté à en chialer. Quelques chœurs spectraux qui flottent dans l'air, lourds de sens. Une basse qui rampe lentement, insidieusement, comme une ombre menaçante projetée sur un mur. Des guitares acoustiques qui pleurent silencieusement dans leur coin. On n'est pas là pour faire la fête, on l'aura compris. On est là pour écouter un homme faire ses adieux à Dieu, au monde entier et à l'amour. "Hineni, hineni, I'm ready, my Lord." Me voici, je suis prêt, Seigneur. Faut quand même en avoir une sacrée paire dans le pantalon pour ouvrir un album avec une déclaration pareille. Cohen ne lutte plus, il ne se débat pas bêtement, il ne triche pas. Il ne nous fait pas le coup foireux de la crise de jeunisme, contrairement à tous ces vieux rockers refaits au botox qui s'accrochent à leurs vingt ans comme des morpions à un poil. Lui, il embrasse sa propre fin, il la regarde bien en face, sans jamais baisser les yeux. Avec ce sourire en coin indéfinissable et une dernière clope allumée au bec. Tu le veux plus sombre, le monde ? Pas de problème, il éteint la lumière pour toi. C'est d'une irrévérence folle, quand on y réfléchit deux secondes. Le mec tire sa révérence en nous crachant une beauté vénéneuse et crépusculaire à la figure. C'est ça, la vraie classe, savoir quitter la table avec dignité quand on ne peut plus bluffer. Il n'y a plus de place pour les regrets à ce stade, plus de temps pour les conneries et les faux-semblants. Juste la vérité, froide, brute, nue comme le marbre d'un caveau de famille. Ce qui rend ce disque si percutant, si atrocement magnifique, c'est qu'il n'y a aucune once de complaisance. Cohen ne pleurniche jamais sur son triste sort. Il constate simplement les dégâts, il acte l'extinction imminente des feux. Il rédige sa propre oraison funèbre avec la plume élégante d'un poète usé mais invaincu. C'est presque insolent de beauté, c'est d'une noirceur insondable qui vous absorbe tout entier. Pendant des décennies, Cohen a été le roi incontesté de la mélancolie, le saint patron des cœurs brisés, le phare des marginaux magnifiques. Ici, il va beaucoup plus loin que tout ce qu'il a pu faire avant. Il touche au sublime, au divin, à l'absolu. Les chœurs masculins de la congrégation Shaar Hashomayim, qui l'accompagnent sur le morceau-titre, donnent une dimension carrément mystique à l'ensemble. On n'est plus dans un putain de studio d'enregistrement californien aseptisé. On est dans une cathédrale en ruines ou dans une synagogue abandonnée aux éléments depuis des siècles. La spiritualité transpire de chaque sillon de ce vinyle. De chaque putain de silence. C'est un album qui se savoure dans la pénombre, les rideaux tirés, et surtout, dans le silence le plus religieux et le plus complet. Parce que le silence, c'est vraiment tout ce qu'il reste quand les dernières notes s'évanouissent dans l'air lourd. Je ressors de cette écoute lessivé mais incroyablement vivant. C'est le paradoxe fascinant des grands disques qui parlent de la mort et de la finitude : ils vous foutent une baffe monumentale pour vous rappeler de respirer un grand coup et de profiter de ce qui reste à prendre avant que le chrono ne s'arrête. Léonard a tiré le lourd rideau de velours noir. Il a quitté la scène sans faire de bruit, par la porte de derrière. Et il nous a laissé ce diamant brut en guise de dernier pourboire. Un 5 sur 5 incontestable et c'est même sévèrement sous-noté face à un truc d'une telle envergure. Parce qu'on ne note pas la perfection avec de pauvres petits chiffres dérisoires. On s'incline, on ferme sa gueule, on se tait respectueusement et on réécoute. Jusqu'à ce que la nuit tombe définitivement sur nous tous.

Beautiful, dark, sad... the last song almost being fully instrumental really got to me "We're never going to hear this voice again"... then he gave us the final few lines of his unbelievable career / life. Definitely not an album I'll listen to every day, but it's one of the best albums I've ever heard.

Очень люблю этот альбом. Недавно переслушивала из-за сэмпла у Джеймса Блейка на его новом альбоме.

Dark, honest, beautiful. Perfect as what it is.

This has no business being this good.

One of my all-time favorites.

Although not a knockout 5/5 in my book - it didn't knock my socks off, as it were - this was a fantastic and pleasant listen. Exactly the type of "moody, atmospheric" that I can appreciate. Very cinematic, strongly charismatic. The eponymous first song perfectly sets the mood and the rest mostly follows through magnificently.

Love this!!

You definitely have to be in a mood to listen to this. It's not fun, it's not light, it's a heavy thing that smothers you in a blanket of misery and doesn't let you go. The way this album interacts with the world outside of it is almost as interesting as the album himself. Even I, who knew nothing about Cohen could easily grasp what this was about. We're in the last days before death. And there is no looking back, there's no joy about a life well lived, first of all there is this crushing weight and then there's the complicated relationship to god. It's beautiful.

Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker (2016) Not this dark Mr Cohen! Day 141 was intense. But nah blud this made me appreciate life, shit can turn your beautiful day with a snap of a finger while keeping itself beautiful! I mean the vocals were deep and you can hear he troubled life through and the lyrics. never heard anything darker than this while being the most beautiful sound. I can't go on to describe song by song because what I took is this LP tackles and ponders one question! DID YOU LIVE?, ARE YOU READY TO SEE WHAT'S ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SPECTRUM! God it was answered! I liked on the level played it multiple times it was deep imo both and treaty, Leaving the table I don't need a lover, no, the wretched beast is tame... damn it's deep Cohen, Steer your way beautiful performance and the closer just wow but on the level, play it at my funeral. I'll use the LP as my eulogy.

That's what I call a masterpiece. His deep voice dancing with the quietness and steadiness of death, holding hands like two old friends.

Great album, especially the title track.

God I do love it darker 5/5

Not for me but 5 stars because all artists deserve our support

A death album in line with The Wind (Warren Zevon) and Blackstar (David Bowie)...the title track is outstanding.

great! five stars

oh yes. i’ve had the highest depressive spike in recent memory. i’m sure this is going to be great for me. putting leaving the table and if i didn’t have your love right next to each other is criminal. actually fucked up 😢😢 no idea what i’m gonna rate this. definitely high. might change it later but i think today it’s a 5

I really liked it. He should have an audio book!

This floored me. Leonard Cohen was the grandfather of every artist I’ve ever loved

3 tracks in

It was a bit weak at first but I ended up really liking it. I am glad I listened to this, I've been wanting to listen to some Leonard Cohen for awhile. Although considering his buddist and jewish ties I am kinda surprised at all the allusions to chirstianity, especially since he never converted to christianity as far as I'm aware.

Christ. I love ego death on a Thursday morning. That it's only thirty-six minutes is insane.

I fear I have to give this 5 stars. Haunting. Everything that a songwriter should be.

This was so dark and so fucking cool. I had his other album a couple of weeks ago and wasn’t all that impressed. This is the reason I started 1001 albums. Getting ready to order the white version on vinyl I liked this so much.

This was amazing. Like the most beautiful parts of Tom waits songs, both pretty and harsh at the same time. Really moving lyrics, very easy to like songs with really sparse but warm instrumentation. This will be something I listen to again for a long time

magnificently dark and poetic

4.5 (5) Haunting. Has anyone else in their 80’s recorded ever something this significant? (36:09, 9 tracks, 14th album, 2016), Folk / Singer-Songwriter. The ledger is closed. There is no better way to end a career—or a life—than this. Leonard Cohen didn’t just write an album; he finalized his estate, reconciled his debts with the Divine, and checked out on his own terms. You Want It Darker is not "folk"; it is the sound of a man looking at the abyss and deciding it’s time to stop fighting the gravity. Leonard dies three weeks after this album was released. So on first listen a “3”; 6 listens later a “4”, 6 more “5”. I’m not sure I’ve ever listened more times than this soundtrack (except albums I owned previously.) I hiked in 33 degree “feels like” (actual 50 degrees Fahrenheit for three+ hours – shirtless.) This album spoke to that. Controlled survival on the trail—cold, exposed, focused, and steady. Cohen, as a "low-frequency hum" a calm, stoic mind. The "Zen" of Mortality: he "owns" the end of his life. That isn't depressing; it is radical acceptance. When you are hiking shirtless at 33° (feels like) in Northeast Kane County IL, you are consciously choosing to embrace the "darkness" (the cold, the physical struggle) rather than running from it. The music isn't "dark"—it’s honest. Released October 21, 2016, just 17 days before Cohen’s death, the album is widely recognized as a funeral shroud draped in sound. At 82, Cohen was suffering from severe mobility issues—fractures in his spine and other complications—that essentially confined him to his home in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles. He wasn't touring; he was narrowing his world to a single room. The thematic arc is singular: death, God, and the humor inherent in being human. It is not a lament; it is a final, cold-eyed assessment of a life lived in service to beauty and brokenness. The recording process was born of necessity and intimacy. Because Cohen could not travel to a studio, the studio came to him—or rather, the files did. His son, Adam Cohen, produced the record, and the living room became the booth. Using a modified medical chair, Cohen recorded vocals that sound less like singing and more like a confession whispered into a microphone at 3:00 AM. He sent the tracks digitally to collaborators. The minimal, haunting arrangements—including the presence of the Shaar Hashomayim Choir from his childhood synagogue—were added remotely. It is perhaps the most "digitally connected" recording of his career, despite being the work of a man completely isolated by his physical decay. To understand Leonard Cohen is to understand a man who spent his entire life trying to reconcile the sacred with the profane. He was not a rock star; he was a monk who happened to be seduced by the melody. Here is the ledger on a man who refused to be categorized. The Young Man: The Poet of Westmount Born in 1934 in the wealthy, English-speaking enclave of Westmount, Quebec, young Leonard was not the tortured soul you might imagine. He was a middle-class kid from a respectable Jewish family. His father died when Leonard was nine, an event that etched a permanent sense of transience into his psyche. He wasn't an aspiring "singer." He was a poet. Before he ever strummed a guitar on a stage, he was publishing books of poetry and a novel, Beautiful Losers (1966). In his twenties, he sought refuge on the Greek island of Hydra. This was the "young man": a restless intellectual, living in a sun-drenched exile, trying to convince himself that he could make a living solely through the pen. He was struggling—financially desperate, artistically singular—before he realized that poetry without a melody reached only a few people. He moved to New York in his thirties, a geriatric age to launch a music career in the sixties, and began the work of turning his poems into song. Who He Was: The "Thinking Man’s" Mystic Cohen was a man of radical contradictions. He was a devoutly trained Jew who spent years living as an ordained Zen monk at the Mt. Baldy Zen Center. He was a notorious womanizer who wrote with the tenderness of a devotional saint. He was essentially an archivist of human failure. While his peers in the 60s were writing about revolution, peace, and flower power, Cohen was writing about his own bedroom, his own depression, and his own moral compromises. He didn't offer a vision of a better world; he offered an honest assessment of the broken one we actually live in. He was "important" not because he was a technical virtuoso, but because of his linguistic economy. • Precision: He would spend years—sometimes decades—perfecting a single verse. He did not write "songs"; he wrote scripture. • Vulnerability: He popularized the idea that being miserable was not a pathology, but a requirement for true emotional depth. • The Voice: He didn't have a singer's range; he had a bass-baritone that sounded like it had been dragged through gravel and fine wine. It communicated authority. When Cohen spoke, you listened, because it sounded like he had checked his facts with the Devil himself. Why He Remains Essential Most songwriters are products of their time. They are tied to the fashion of their decade. Cohen is timeless because he bypassed the "fashion" entirely. • The Secular Hymn: He wrote songs like "Hallelujah" that bridge the gap between a broken love affair and religious transcendence. He understood that love is not a gentle thing; it is a war. • The Anti-Hero: He was the patron saint of the "Thinking Man." He gave permission to his listeners to be weak, to be horny, to be confused, and to be cynical, all while maintaining a rigid, almost terrifying level of dignity. • The Long Game: He proved that a career isn't a sprint. He was writing some of his best material in his 70s and 80s, long after the industry had stopped expecting anything from him. He was a man who looked at the mirror and didn't blink. That is a rare commodity in art, and that is why his records still occupy shelf space in the collections of serious people. Track 1: You Want It Darker The Lyrics: If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game If you are the healer, it means I'm broken and lame If thine is the glory then mine must be the shame You want it darker We kill the flame Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name Vilified, crucified, in the human frame A million candles burning for the help that never came You want it darker Hineni, hineni I'm ready, my lord The Meaning: This is the final "Hineni"—the Hebrew for "Here I am," the response of Abraham to God’s call. Cohen is not pleading; he is surrendering. He acknowledges the absurdity of the deal: the "dealer" holds all the cards, and the "healer" only has work to do because the subject is broken. It is a bleak rejection of the romanticized afterlife. He’s tired of the candles, tired of the hope, and finally, he’s ready to step into the dark. The title track from Leonard Cohen’s final album, released just weeks before his death in 2016. The song is widely viewed as a confrontational dialogue with God, where Cohen grapples with human suffering, organized religion, and his own impending mortality. "You want it darker, we kill the flame": This central refrain suggests a bleak relationship between the divine and humanity. One common reading is that if God—as the creator of a world full of suffering—wants more "darkness," humanity is all too willing to "kill the flame" of life and hope through war and violence. "Hineni, hineni / I'm ready, my Lord": "Hineni" is Hebrew for "Here I am". In the Torah, this is Abraham’s response to God when asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac. By using this phrase, Cohen signals a posture of total surrender and spiritual readiness as he faces his final days. "If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game": Cohen uses gambling metaphors to describe the power imbalance between God and man. If God "deals" a life of suffering and death, the only choice left for the human "player" is to eventually leave the game. "Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name": These are English translations of the opening lines of the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead. Cohen juxtaposes this sacred praise with "Vilified, crucified in the human frame," highlighting the contrast between divine glory and the brutal reality of human existence. The song explores the "God Paradox"—how a supposedly loving deity can allow immense historical atrocities, such as the Holocaust (alluded to by "a million candles burning for the help that never came"). Acceptance of Death: Unlike the defiant tone of some of his earlier work, this song reflects a somber, authentic peace with the end. Critique of Religion: Some lines target how organized religion is often used to justify "murder and to maim Track 2: Treaty This is my favorite track on the album, I miss you ******* “I've seen your pills, I've seen your drinks I've seen your books, I've seen your sinks I've seen your wives, I've seen your lies I've seen your children, I've seen your eyes I'm only one, I'm only one I'm only one, I'm only one. I wish there was a treaty we could sign I wish there was a treaty, between your love and mine” The negotiation phase. Cohen is auditing the relationships he’s had—the "wives," the "lies," the "sinks." He’s looking for a ceasefire between the human ego and the divine. He realizes that he is fundamentally alone ("I'm only one"), and the treaty he seeks isn't a peace treaty for the world, but a release from the cycle of longing and resentment he’s maintained for eighty years. In Leonard Cohen's work—specifically the song "Treaty" from his final album—the term refers to a desired peace agreement or reconciliation between two mismatched "loves" or "wills". The song explores several layers of this "treaty": The primary metaphor frames a failing relationship as a war zone where both sides are exhausted. Cohen describes the lovers as "rival nations" with different laws of reality. A weary desire to end the fighting, regardless of who "wins" ("I do not care who takes this bloody hill"). He apologizes for the "ghost" he made his partner become, suggesting he never fully saw her as a real person. Given the album's spiritual focus, many interpret the treaty as an attempt to reconcile with God. Cohen seeks a "treaty" between his own will and the divine will, which often feels distant or incomprehensible. The lyrics reference the Jubilee (a year of debt forgiveness and freedom in ancient Judaism) and the Covenant between God and Israel. Ultimately, the song suggests this treaty is impossible to sign while alive; the "loves" are too different to ever fully meet. As Cohen was nearing the end of his life, "Treaty" is also seen as a quiet negotiation with his own mortality. The lines about the snake shedding its skin to "find the snake within" symbolize a brutal, skinless rebirth or the stripping away of the self as one approaches death. The song captures a sense of total fatigue, where the struggle for meaning is replaced by a simple wish for the "fighting" (the suffering of life) to finally stop. Goodbye *******, I wish there was more I could say. Track 3: On the Level- A sly, almost cheeky reflection on temptation. Cohen admits he wasn't always the saint people projected onto him. He didn't want to win the battles with his own desires; he just wanted to be "on the level"—to be honest about his corruption. It’s a classic Cohen pivot: admitting he was a cad while sounding like a priest. "On the Level" refers to a state of brutal honesty and spiritual surrender near the end of life. While the phrase usually means being fair or truthful, Cohen uses it to describe reaching a level plane where he can no longer be tempted or deceived. The song is about outliving the "fire" of youth and sexual desire. Cohen suggests that because he is old and facing death, he is finally "on the level"—no longer tilted or swayed by the intensity of passion. Key Lyric: "I’m old and I’m lookin' at you / And I’m on the level" He can finally look at a past lover or the world without the "fever" that used to cloud his judgment. Cohen plays with the idea that to be "on the level" with God or the universe, he had to give up his own will. He mentions "turning his back on the devil" and "turning his back on the angel," suggesting he is moving beyond the dualities of good and evil into a state of pure, flat reality. Cohen admits he "lived his life in moments" but now must face the "whole thing" as he prepares for what comes next. The "Level" is a significant symbol in Freemasonry, representing equality and the idea that we are all traveling on the "level of time" toward the same end. For Cohen, it represents: Equality in Death: No matter how famous or "low" he was, everyone ends up on the same level ground. Spiritual Maturity: He is no longer "falling" or "climbing"; he has arrived at a place of stillness. Like much of the You Want It Darker album, this song feels like a final report to a higher power. Being "on the level" means he is presenting his life exactly as it was—no excuses, no metaphors, just the plain truth before the end. Track 4: Leaving the Table The Meaning: The gambling metaphor is exhausted. He’s not waiting for a better hand anymore. He acknowledges he’s "not needing" the things that once fueled his life: the women, the wine, the applause. He’s detached. He’s "leaving the table" not because he won, but because the game is finished. Perhaps the most direct song on the album about voluntary withdrawal from life. While other songs wrestle with God or old flames, this one is a weary, graceful admission that he is finished with the "game" of existence. The "table" is a metaphor for the world’s offerings—romance, fame, pleasure, and struggle. To "leave the table" means he no longer has an appetite for these things. "I don't need a lover, no, no, the wretched beast is tame": He is declaring that the physical and emotional cravings (the "beast") that drove his life and poetry for decades have finally died down. "I'm leaving the table, I'm out of the game": He is no longer competing for relevance or affection. He is checking out of the human "casino." The song captures the specific exhaustion of a man who knows his body is failing. "I’m slowing down the pace": This is a literal reference to his declining health. He is no longer rushing toward anything; he is settling into the stillness of his final days. "I don't need a witness": Unlike his earlier years where he bared his soul for an audience, he now seeks a private, quiet exit. He doesn't need the world to validate his departure. There is a unique civility to the song. Leaving a table is a social gesture; it’s what you do at the end of a meal when you are full. Cohen isn't raging against the dying of the light; he is simply stating that he has had enough. Just as in the title track ("If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game"), he acknowledges that life is a gamble he is no longer interested in playing. While "On the Level" is about being honest about his state, "Leaving the Table" is about the action of departing. He has reached the level ground, and now he is simply walking away from the party. Track 5: If I Didn’t Have Your Love The Meaning: This track could be read as a love song to a woman, or to God, or to the very concept of love itself. It’s the "What if?" track. If he hadn't had the capacity to feel—to be hurt, to be wrecked—would the world have been "too thin" to endure? He’s affirming that his suffering was the price of admission for living. A meditation on the foundational power of love as the force that sustains reality itself. The central message is that without love, the world doesn't just become sad—it becomes unreal. Cohen suggests that love is the "proof" or condition that allows the universe to exist in a meaningful way. Cosmic Desolation: Cohen uses apocalyptic imagery—a sun without light, stars "unpinned" from the sky, and seas turned to sand—to describe the state of a life without his beloved. These metaphors reflect an internal "psychological end-time" where the speaker’s senses would effectively shut down.A "Celestial" Devotion: The song's arrangement, featuring an organ and the Montreal Synagogue Choir, blurs the lines between romantic and religious devotion. The lyrics "lift the veil and see your face" evoke a sense of revelation, implying the beloved provides access to a hidden, divine dimension of life. Gratitude Amidst Mortality: Recorded while Cohen was in significant physical pain near the end of his life, the song is viewed as a statement of limitless gratitude toward those closest to him, likely his family and lifelong friends. "Stars... all unpinned" A universe emptied of its basic laws and structure. "Nothing left that you could feel" A state of emotional anesthesia or total numbness. "No one that you hurt could ever heal" A world without the possibility of mercy, repair, or forgiveness. The song ultimately suggests that reality is relational; it is something confirmed and made "real" through the presence and witness of another person’s love. Track 6: Traveling Light The Meaning: He’s discarding the baggage. This is the moment of transition. He’s not the man he was in the 60s or 70s. He acknowledges his "nightmare" is ending. He’s leaving the "old ways" behind. It’s a rhythmic, almost defiant acceptance of becoming a ghost. Ir serves as a companion to "If I Didn’t Have Your Love." While the previous song explores the presence of love, this track is about the final release of all earthly burdens and attachments as one nears the end of life. The repeated use of "au revoir" indicates a practiced, almost ritualistic goodbye. Cohen is checking out of the "bar" of life, acknowledging that he is "running late". The song marks the end of his public and personal personas—the "one mean guitar" he used to play is now a thing of the past. He is shedding the identity built around "the me and you," moving toward a purely solitary state. The "Fallen Star": This metaphor refers to a beloved or a muse (often thought to be Marianne Ihlen) who was once a guiding light but has now "fallen," signaling that the time for romantic or physical attachment has passed. For Cohen, traveling light means letting go of "desires, passion, and anger". It is a state of peace found by unpinning oneself from the world's emotional and physical demands. The track features a Greek bouzouki, a nod to the island of Hydra where Cohen lived with Marianne in the 1960s. This musical choice brings his life full circle, connecting his final "traveling" to the place where his journey as a world-renowned poet and singer truly began. Once more, I’m traveling light *******. The music video for "Traveling Light," released posthumously in February 2017, was directed by Sammy Slabbinck with the "excellent guidance" of Cohen's son, Adam Cohen. It serves as a memorial retrospective, blending archival footage with previously unreleased personal moments. The video opens with a poignant scene of Cohen sitting on his Los Angeles balcony, smoking a cigarette. He delivers a line that defines the video's tone of "sly, funny" acceptance: "I feel a lot stronger, but I'm actually a lot weaker". The visual is a "meticulous montage" that splices together footage from various eras—ranging from his stoic performances in the 1990s to his "exalted" world tours from 2008–2015. This serves to collapse time, showing the "iconic Cohen" at different stages of his spiritual and artistic journey. The balcony footage used in the opening is the same shot featured on the album cover of You Want It Darker. While the album cover was framed in black, the video shows the original version: sun-drenched, with cars and plants in the background, grounding the "final farewell" in a very human, everyday reality. Director Sammy Slabbinck, known for his work as a collage artist, used overlapping imagery to align with the "melancholy poetry" of the track. This technique visually mirrors the song's theme of "unburdening" and "shedding layers". The video does not just signal an ending; it portrays a conscious choice of acceptance. By mixing recent footage of an aged Cohen with archival shots of his younger self, the video illustrates his "peace reach[ed] first of all with himself" as he prepares for a "perpetually unknown" road. Track 7: It Seemed the Better Way A retrospective on ideology and pathfinding. "It sounded like the truth, but it's not the truth today." He’s looking at the politics, the religion, the moral frameworks he once navigated. They were all just provisional truths. He’s "lifting his glass of blood," accepting that all his choices were just "better ways" to get through the night, not absolute answers. A somber reflection on the fading of spiritual certainty and the obsolescence of once-comforting religious teachings. The central refrain—"Sounded like the truth / Seemed the better way / But it's not the truth today"—suggests that certain moral or religious principles, while persuasive in the past, no longer hold up against the harsh "rigors of real life" or the speaker's own late-life experiences. Cohen explicitly references the Christian ideal of non-resistance with the line, "Now it’s much too late to turn the other cheek". Analysts suggest this indicates a shift from youthful idealism to a hardened reality where mercy feels like an unavailable luxury or even a form of complicity. The lyrics describe a speaker who was moved emotionally—first by talk of "love" and then "death"—before being bound morally. Cohen wonders if he was truly following a divine truth or simply moved by the "rhetoric" and "plausibility" of a convincing sermon. By the final stanza, the speaker adopts a position of silent submission: "I better hold my tongue / I better take my place". This implies a loss of faith that nonetheless ends in ritual—the "glass of blood" and "saying the grace"—serving as a ceremonial closure to a spiritual journey. Like the title track, this song features the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue Choir. Their presence provides a haunting, institutional weight to Cohen's personal doubts, contrasting his individual disillusionment with the eternal sound of communal prayer. Some interpretations link the song to Cohen's relationship with his Zen master, Roshi, suggesting the "him" in the lyrics might refer to a specific spiritual teacher whose guidance eventually felt insufficient or compromised. The track is often viewed as one of Cohen's most bleak and honest assessments of faith, portraying a world where spiritual "comforts of the past" are no longer accessible. Track 8: Steer Your Way A command to the listener. If you’re going to be here, in this world, this is how you do it. "Steer your way through the pain that is sure to come." It’s an instruction manual for the bereaved. He knows he’s going, but he’s leaving the map behind for those of us still stuck in the wreckage. A "survival ethic" for navigating a world where sacred truths have crumbled and been replaced by consumerism and pain. It serves as an instruction to live by constant "steering" rather than settling for easy, pre-packaged beliefs. Cohen urges the listener to "steer your way" through the "ruins of the Altar and the Mall," placing traditional spirituality and modern materialism side-by-side as damaged structures that no longer offer true guidance. The song demands a painful shedding of self-comforting narratives. Cohen explicitly mentions steering past "Fundamental Goodness" and the "Wisdom of the Way," suggesting these ideals may be naive or "stale" in the face of life's harsh realities. Cohen identifies pain as something "far more real than you," an ultimate force that "smashed the cosmic model". He admits that this level of suffering makes traditional theology almost irrelevant, whether "there be a God or not". The lyric "As he died to make men holy, let us die to make things cheap" is a biting subversion of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". It critiques a culture that has traded the sacred concept of sacrifice for the pursuit of cheap labor and consumer goods. The repetition of "Year by year, month by month, day by day, thought by thought" frames integrity not as a single grand act, but as a constant, granular process of moral correction. Many see it as Cohen's "final mic drop" regarding the failure of organized religion and human nature. The mention of the "Mea Culpa which you probably forgot" serves as a reminder that we are all responsible for the state of the world, even if we choose to ignore our complicity. The final stanza's reference to "the one who was never equal to the task" and "knows he will be shot" is often interpreted as Cohen's humble acceptance of his own inadequacy and mortality, choosing to stand with those who are judged rather than those who judge. Track 9: String Reprise / Treaty There are no lyrics here—just the music, a sweeping, cinematic instrumental that reprises the melody of the second track. It’s the closing credits. The argument is over. The ink is dry on the treaty. The silence at the end is the only appropriate response. All lyrics are written by Leonard Cohen. 1. "You Want It Darker" 4:44 2. "Treaty" 4:02 3. "On the Level" 3:27 4. "Leaving the Table" 3:47 5. "If I Didn't Have Your Love" 3:35 6. "Traveling Light" 4:22 7. "It Seemed the Better Way" 4:21 8. "Steer Your Way" 4:23 9. "String Reprise / Treaty" 3:26 Total length: 36:09

Ok.. THIS is much better Cohen than our first round with him in this list.

def check out more

so fucking good

No one but Cohen could make death so appealing.

Dark and weirdly sexy.

Similar in legendary status to Cash's last album, but a very different project. The dark themes, the heavy sound, the beautiful orchestration, and the crazy vocals make this such an enthralling project. Even by the end, I am always left wanting more.

This is an album to contemplate your mortality to. I'm not sure how often that's something I want to do. But when it is what I want to do, I know which album I'm turning to in the future.

I love Leonard Cohen, and while I don't currently own this album I think I'm going to have to get it and listen to it every time I listen to "I See A Darkness" by Bonnie Prince Billy.

It's depressing singer songwriter

Beautifully written as always.

Better

Lowkey spooky. Also very touching, I really liked On the Level

Just before I hit play on this album, I was brainstorming ideas for a poem about youth, and being young. While I have technicslly heard this album before, I remembered next to nothing about it, and having now been more exposed to Leonard Cohen through Songs From A Room, I was eagerly anticipating the chance to get a better impression of this album. I immediately clicked with it so much more than last time, especially Cohen's deep and bassy voice; it sounds like smoke, as if he's sometimes being possessed by a darker force, which highlights the moments where his proper singing voice shines through. The instrumentation is an even darker take on Cohen's usual soundscape, bolstered by new grand flourishes like the backing choir which supports him throughout the album. Many of these songs were published over a decade prior tonthis album as poems, but they are given new meaning when Cohen performs them this late in his life. With Cohen passing on mere weeks after this album released, it's near-impossible to hear these songs without the reality around them bleeding through, making these reflections on mortality and life even more poignant and powerful. Highlights: You Want It Darker, Treaty, On the Level, Leaving the Table, If I Didn't Have Your Love, Traveling Light, It Seemed the Better Way, String Reprise / Treaty

My 2nd favourite 2016 cryptic death album by a critically acclaimed artist

This is a fantastic album, and one of the very rare instances where my mom showed an album to me, and we both listened and fell in love with this melancholic beauty, so this adds an additional layer to my love for You Want it Darker. I love how soothing Cohen's voice is, and his lyrics are always interesting and worth looking into. Such a great farewell album.

You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen was released just 17 days before his death and stands as his final studio album. You go into this expecting something dark, and it absolutely is. I love Cohen, but somehow I completely missed this album when it came out. This is my first proper listen, probably because my daughter was born just days after he passed. She’s also called Marianne, which makes this one hit a bit differently. This album is beautiful, deep, sad and genuinely stunning. The melodies are subtle but powerful, the backing vocals add a real weight, and the lyrics are as sharp and poetic as ever. Cohen’s voice is fragile but full of authority, which only adds to the emotion. It feels like a man reflecting, accepting, and saying goodbye. One of the best things about this challenge is discovering albums like this. It’s quite something to connect so much with a record made by an 82-year-old man at the end of his life, dealing with everything that comes with that. It doesn’t feel dated or distant, it feels honest and real. Favourite tracks: The title track You Want It Darker is brilliant. The lyrics are both beautiful and painful, set against that haunting, almost gothic sound. There are so many strong moments across the album though. Least favourite tracks: Every track earns its place, nothing feels out of place. Album artwork: Brilliant cover, simple but perfectly in keeping with the tone of the album.

I am on a historic string of great albums over here. I don't even care that upon closer inspection I am likely to find that this is just the same song repeated nine times with different lyrics. It is a great, great song. Five fedoras.

A companion to Bowie's Blackstar, Cohen's Swan Song is an introspective masterpiece that can only come from a full lifetime.

It's over now, the water and the wine We were broken then, now we're borderline.

Released three weeks before he passed. This sound was dark and delicious

holy fuck (emphasis on holy)

my favourite album about death

Overall Rating - 4.69/5 (9.38/10). Heartbreakingly sad, reminiscent over a long life of music, and a farewell from one of the great poets and composers.

Simplemente hermoso álbum

Yes. Yes I do.

This was incredible. The minimal music and the way his delivery plays with it is excellent. And the lyrics are very thought provoking.

Holy fuck, the word masterpiece is overused but this certainly is one. "Celebrated musician addressing God shortly before his death" is apparently my favorite microgenre. This blew my mind. I love Leonhard Cohen but this is so peak. I was tearing up on the last track. Capping off a lifetime of accomplishment with this is insane.

I know fuck all about Leonard Cohen outside of the admittedly very good albums that I've listened to by him on this 1001 journey; but that being said you don't need to know a thing about Leonard Cohen to tell that this is a 'goodbye' album. It certainly lived up to its name, fuck this was a dark listen. What an incredible way to end a career, it reminded me significantly of American IV by Johnny Cash, which was (at least from my understanding) another 'goodbye' album. This thing was fucking incredible. It was so interesting to note the deep vocals as compared to his early career hits, I'm specifically thinking of how high-pitched he is in 'So Long, Marianne'. Easy 5.

So good. Such a unique voice and writing

This album is amazing considering it was made by a 82-year old on his deathbed

No. 145 Excellent, loved the gravelly voice, Steer your way was my favorite song

Ik moet bij het eerste nummer al een stevige drang om m'n keel te schrapen onderdrukken vanwege de kikker die Leo in z'n keel heeft, maar hij zet wel een lekker sfeertje neer zeg. Orgeltje, gospel-achtig koortje, een zanger die lomp maar realistisch gezegd op-sterven-na-dood is, strijkertje. Het is zeer Nick Cavesque en het is een beetje Johnny Cashque (het American IV album dan). Ik weet niet of het weer vooral m'n fascinatie voor tragiek is die opspeelt, maar ik vind dit wel een gedenkwaardig album. Ik krijg zin om in een grote stoel te gaan zitten en hier naar te luisteren zonder verder alteveel afleiding. Het liefst buiten net na zonsondergang, terwijl het nog een graadje of 24 is. Dit vind ik nou een fraaie toevoeging aan deze lijst. Ik ga 5 sterren geven.

Leuk om even bij de credits te spieken, aardig wat nummers zijn het resultaat van een samenwerking tussen vader en zoon Cohen. Hoe dan ook, we horen hier op zijn laatste plaat de latere Leonard, met zijn gruizige, zingzeggende bromstem en de rijke, gepolijste arrangementen. Nogal een contrast met zijn eerste platen! Maar dat is dus muzikale ontwikkeling, van begin tot het eind op 82-jarige leeftijd. Ook deze keer is het weer een aangename luisterervaring, tot op het laatste moment leverde de man kwaliteit. Mooi opzwepend titelnummer ook, met dat koor. Een passend slotakkoord, kortom.

I have Songs Of Love & Hate on vinyl but I don't know any Cohen besides that, although I have seen him live at Glastonbury. What a surprise this was though, his pained and broken voice sits brilliantly with the beautifully orchestrated music. At times it reminded me of both Tom Waits and Lanegan era Soulsavers with that juxtaposition. It grabbed me from the first song and, fearing a drop off, I was happy that I remained captivated throughout I was so close to giving this a five and it may well end up there because it's purchase material for sure! You want it darker.... yes I definitely do! EDIT: fuck it... changed it to a 5

He started out very similar to Dylan but he evolved much beyond that. I feel like a wise old sage is whispering wisdom into my ear when I listen to him.

INPUT = {"artist": "Leonard Cohen", "album": "You Want It Darker"} LINEUP = {"men": 1, "women": 0) FEATURED_ARTISTS = {"men": 0, "women": 0} TOTAL_MEN = 1 TOTAL_WOMEN = 0 WOMEN_PERCENTAGE = 0 OUTPUT = "Maximum score awarded. 5/5"

Espectacular. Oscuro, melancólico, nostálgico, tiene todo. Un álbum que cada letra emociona de sólo pensar por la que estaba pasando Cohen. 9/10, y si me agarrás en un buen día, 10/10

I wasn't sure about the juxtaposition between the orchestral sounds and his gravelly voice when the album started, but I was won over by the end. The introspective lyrics worked well, and I'm a sucker for a string instrument.

Feels like smoking your last cig with death in the room

I really enjoyed his voice. This isn't some high tempo, jokey album about death, but somber and almost comforting. Reading up on the album that this was his last album before he passed, it hits different. Oddly enough, helped my own depression. His voice is healing in a way and I appreciate everything about this album. I will say this though: was a bit scared at the beginning of the album. I just didn't know what was waiting for me on the other side.

Pretty intense album. Gravely voice but works perfectly for this kind of sad, slow music.

It being recorded so close to his death adds an interesting perspective to this. His voice is a beautiful growl. Melancholy. Mellow rock.

This is basically just Leonard Cohen saying cool shit over a beat, and it's fucking rad as all hell

Haunting When this came out I found it very difficult to listen to, not because of faults in the music, but because it made me feel so raw. There is still a sensation of sandpaper in the music, but it's also so beautiful. Not an album that I can listen to very often, but when I can, I love it. As good as anything Cohen ever made. The music is sparse but perfect with his voice. His music is never about the singing per se, but here it is just right to convey the stories of the songs. An incredible artistic achievement

This is the first Cohen album I liked. He knew the end was soon to come and his music expressed his acceptance of this reality. He was leaving the table with few regrets.

Zalig om de dag zo te beginnen. Luister ik vaak.

Prachtig he..

There is truly a smoky, world-weary wisdom that You Want It Darker is utterly steeped in. It's the strange magic that happens during the exceedingly rare, perfect storm which happens when one of the finest songwriters ever lives to be older than most people ever will be, while staying active in the music industry with a consistent level of quality *while* maintaining most, if not all of his lucidity, charisma and warmth. The only other thing out there that's really like this is arguably Johnny Cash's American series. But on American 4, Johnny Cash was still just a comparatively spry 70. On You Want It Darker, Leonard Cohen is *82*. Frankly, these songs still have a level of quality and emotional core that would be fitting of his early 70's peak era. His lyrics still contain genuinely novel insights, told in language that is equally simple and poetic ("I wish there was a treaty between your love and mine", "I was fighting with temptation, but I didn't want to win"). He reflects on legacy, and death and old flames, and what remains of love. There are songs here where he's basically giving the listener a pat on the back to comfort *them* in the shadow of his imminent leaving: that level of self-awareness and internal peace is *absolutely* wild. And, he still manages to release some of his best *ever* songs here. You Want It Darker, Leaving The Table, Treaty, and Traveling Light are all breathtaking, essential Leonard Cohen songs. And the rest aren't far behind. And while Cohen has never been celebrated for his performances in the same way he's been celebrated for his songs, his deep, dark, *smokey* vocal presence here really needs to be heard. I didn't think I liked this album this much, but seeing myself write about it has kind of convinced my that this is a 5 for what it is. I do have Cohen albums I prefer, but the fact that he released one of the top 5, *maybe* top 3 albums of his career *this* late is truly incredible.

GOAT

Tremendo 11/10 la voz, las letras, las notas fue un mensaje de despedida sin igual aceptando lo inevitable

An album that felt different depending on when I listened to it. It was fine in the morning, but listening again on a cold, wet night drive unlocked its magic for me. It’s a beautiful meditation on accepting mortality on your own terms. I might not always want to hear this, but when I do… I want it darker.

Beautiful and haunting. Cohen's voice is so low. His writing impeccable. 2016 was spoiled with fantastic legendary career send offs. This is the kind of album that makes me want to check out the rest of Cohen discography

I didn't really like songs of Leonard Cohen. I understand that's hot, I understand the greatness and the poetry but I didn't really like it, probably will give a 2 here. My critiques were: Too poetic - takes away from stuff; not enough instrumental bonus - a major key that I felt was lacking and finally... I want it darker So when the darker, less poetic, more instrumental driven Cohen album comes up I really enjoy it

Necesario

This is amazing and beautiful and wonderful.

This is one of the finest departures in popular music, released (much like David Bowie earlier in the year) just before he passed away. Moody, dark, accepting and with a final love song to Marianne just after her death. Bill Bottrell and Patrick Leonard are key collaborators, a long way from their Madonna and Sheryl crow stuff. A great epitaph.

Amazing and sad.

I will need to deep dive Leonard cohen

Another commenter got it right on the money with "Blackstar but for depressed cowboys." And I am SO into it. Boy howdy, call me a depressed cowboy the way this album hit. Also gives me mix of Johnny Cash and Nick Cave vibes, which are both just gorgeous in terms of dynamic and iconic vocals. Will be listening again for sure.

10’s Acoustic Rock ⭐️Treaty

God knows why I haven't listened to Leonard Cohen before, but oh man, am I glad I did now, because this shit slaps. And this voice, sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Eerie. He paints an atmosphere more than he sings. It's like every song is aesthetically pleasing, with no redundancy or excess. Ocassional instrumentals are ethereal and provide all the more poise to the sound. Absolute beauty through and through.

Like Bowie did with Blackstar, Cohen turns his impending death into art. With his husky and worn voice, Cohen explores his complicated relationship with his faith and reflecting on his life. The instrumentation is sparse, with Cohen's intelligent lyrics getting all the attention they deserve. Cohen can write as well any great poet can. We get some gospel choirs, which further the religious themes found here. Being released so close to his death, songs like 'Leaving The Table' hit just that little bit harder. With the menacing bass line leading the song in, the title track is another favourite of mine. think you will struggle to find many late-career albums better than You Want It Darker.

La voix de Leonard Cohen est une voix en soit, très peu d’instrumental derrière, il nous raconte une histoire. Leonard cohen est poete, auteur et peintre et ca se retranscrit dans ses sons qui sont poétiques et originaux. Ils sortent du cadre de musique. Album de 2016, il fait participer son fils a la guitare

This is amazing. The first album in this process that I had to immediately listen to again. I don't often give 5 stars, but I'd give this 10 if I could. Full of pathos, self awareness and fantastic imagery. If all his career was building up to this it was worth it.

I just love his growl here. What a note to go out on. Spare, beautiful, haunting, and those words. Words that only he could write. A perfect note to check out on.

Frick yeah I want it darker!

This is beautiful. I’ve been handing out full marks left and right these days. But this album needs full marks. I’ve been hooked on Leonard ever since my first watch of Pump Up The Volume. Would LC care that I associate him with a hot Christian Slater? Anyway, getting off track trying to bring some levity to this final album from Cohen. Stunning. 5/5.

Sad 😥😥

I LOVED this album. It is enthralling. There's something intimate about the vocal mix and style. This feels like a conversation I'm listening in on.

Leonard Cohen looks back on his life while on what ultimately be his deathbed. Not a lot to say beyond that. This is a man reconciling his life and allowing us to listen in.

Tragic and beautiful

We got it darker. As if Leonard Cohen could get darker ...

Chilling.. yet warm? Its perfect Cohen.

So this is literally the album that allowed me to grieve my fathers passing. It is phenomenal beyong belief

wat een perfect laatste album

Haunting and truly goth in the original sense.

Unconventional, great

Love it

Beautiful

Incredible - 5 stars!!!! Tom

Superb

2026.01.16.

Messed my day up but it was good. His day was more messed with so I can accept it

I like the backing music, especially the beat, backup vocals, and the strings. He also has a very good voice, though I couldn’t really tell he was the same person who made Hallelujah. My favorite track was probably the first one: You Want it Darker.

I really like this sort of album. So many singer-songwriters and similar artists from the 60's and 70's put out a final album contemplating their life and death, and it's usually among their best works. Johnny Cash did it with American IV, David Bowie did it through Blackstar, even Paul Simon and Bob Dylan both did with Seven Psalms and Rough and Rowdy Ways, respectively (although they're both still alive). I've been a huge fan of the title track for a long time. Everything about it, from the Jewish cantorial vocals to the incredible groove and driving beat, and of course the beautiful poetic lyrics ("There's a lover in the story, but the story's still the same / There's a lullaby for suffering, and a paradox to blame"), absolutely blew me away when I first heard it. I knew the rest of the album wouldn't be able to match it (and it didn't), but I hoped it could come close. And I have to say, it did. Being by Leonard Cohen, I knew that the lyrics would stay consistently incredible throughout, so I focused a lot on the music. He did some interesting callbacks to his earlier work (like the backing choir sounding like Dance Me to the End of Love), and I really liked his use of strings throughout (including the instrumental reprise at the end). All in all, I think this certainly earns five stars as an album, and I'm encouraged to explore more of Cohen's backlog after this. Favorite Track: You Want It Darker

this album will always remind me of bones and all, one of my favourite movies and one of my favourite singers

incroyable. j’écoute plutôt ses vieux albums mais la voix qu’il a dans celui là… 10/10

Album 14 Top 3 favorites off the album: Leaving the Table, String Reprise/Treaty, Traveling Light Good day to have never gotten over anything ever! And the album right after I decided to let myself enjoy the music I enjoy, too! The opening of the album gave me goosebumps. The choir and cantor were exceptional. I've always liked Cohen's Sprechgesang; it lends an even more personal touch to what's already bare and vulnerable. Hello, strings! Did you say, "sit down and practice later"? As a sucker for gravelly voices, too, this was a good listen. This is a deeply introspective album. It stays fairly sparsely orchestrated and down tempo, but that doesn't take away from the variety Cohen is able to explore. There are tunes to dance alone in the kitchen to (yes, from experience. Mind your own business), there are tunes to make you sit on the floor and stare at the wall (your own business, I said), and in every thread there is love that doesn't blame, resent, or make excuses. The romantic part of me wants to believe that it's most people's goal to find and embody a love like that, and preferably well before the end of their lives. I don't think this album treats it as a matter of perfection, either. It's honest. I'm looking forward to exploring the rest of Cohen's discography. I'm absolutely kicking myself for not having done so sooner. Better late than never.

A discovery I made only last year in 2025, the time that I've spent with it since has only allowed it to reveal itself further to me. A wonderfully reflective, Hebrew-adorned swansong album wherein Cohen's weathered, raspy and barely above a whisper vocals tell profound stories centred on his life, imminent death and romance, entwined with gorgeous, emotionally rich orchestral / bass heavy soundscapes. That the geezer was literally crumbling away in his living room whilst recording this only adds to the desolate feel that "You Want It Darker" exudes. 100% deserves to be on this list, and then some.

4.5/5

I think I'm ruminating on this because it's the 10th anniversary of both of these albums and both were included on this list, but it remains a truly fascinating coincidence that in 2016 two artists known for long, great careers released poignant albums about death very, very shortly before they died. There’s no point in comparing Blackstar and You Want It Darker much beyond that, other than both were very acclaimed albums that musically weren’t too similar with what else was going on in music in 2016. Blackstar is strange, jazzy, and operatic; You Want It Darker is stark, acoustic, and while still metaphorical, arguably more direct. This is not to say it’s simple. The title song addresses God and Cohen’s failings over a rollicking bassline and some truly awesome choral singing from Cohen’s childhood synagogue, while the album’s most arguably heartwarming and straightforward song, “If I Didn’t Have Your Love”, features lots of delightful piano/keyboard/organ interplay. Still, the dread lurks everywhere: in a devastating double entendre, “Traveling Light” suggests Cohen is leaving little behind in his current state while ascending to starlight in the heavens, while tellingly the album’s coda is a portion of “Treaty”, whose lyrics suggest a surrender to love both human and religious in all its contradictions: “I wish there was a treaty between your love mine”. Personally, I’m nowhere near as spiritual of a person as Cohen was in any sense of that word, but no matter the language used the struggle Cohen describes here is universal. Fortunately, in person at least, he seemed at peace. While listening to this, I was reading profiles about Cohen from around this time, and above all else, it appears that in spite of any health problems, he continued to work relentlessly. In one New Yorker profile, he said “I am a tidy kind of guy. I like to tie up the strings if I can. If I can’t, also, that’s O.K. But my natural thrust is to finish things that I’ve begun.” And what else can you say but “thanks for finishing this one”?

liked steer your way, string reprise / treaty, if i didn't have your love, on the level, traveling light, treaty, you want it darker i really loved this album actually . its beautiful ok . i love it i lovw the music and his voice and all fhe songs . favorite is you want it darker or treaty probably ,,, im so in love with his voice

I love this album so much. I think it’s Cohen’s best album, a remarkable accomplishment after such a decorated 50 year career. What a send off he and Bowie gave us that year.

I’d like to sit in a dark room and listen to this loud enough that it rattles my bones.

a larger than life spectacle made by one too. leonard’s vocals have never sounded better, but his bassy inflection never overshadows the instrumentation or the songwriting. a true swan song

Haunting, beautiful, deep, extraordinary. I feel this one deep in my soul and it lingers - a wonderful work of art.

No es que estén en competencia, pero como tienen un concepto similar y salieron en el mismo año (Aunque no tienen el mismo sonido) me siento obligado a escribir que es un disco a la par de Black Star. En corto, es fúnebre, poético, y me encanta. Lo mejor es que buscando tantito descubrí que todavía hubo un album póstumo como continuación, así que ahora voy con ese. RIP Leonard. Fav tracks: On The Level Leaving The Table If I Didn't Have Your Love It Seemed The Better Way String Reprise/Treaty Posdata. Una vez con el Spotify en random salió el string reprise seguido de Let It Be de los Beatles y la transición está perrona, la recomiendo

yes pls

What an amazing voice. 10/10

Oh wow. Oh WOW. I had only heard Hallelujah before this, but this album, man. It moved me to tears at points, and felt like a prayer. Thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. 9/10 - Will listen again.

Beautiful album alot of heart alot of soul Leonard Cohen has a unique voice very raspy but it works with his lyricism and asthetic the whole album has a Gothic cowboy vibe and I genuinely liked it not something id usually listen to I especially enjoyed the song Leaving the table another honorable mention is on the level

The sound of a man calmly packing his things, turning off the lights, and leaving you alone with your thoughts. Rating: 4.9/5 Short Review: This album is Leonard Cohen staring directly at death and saying, “Yeah, I noticed.” It’s spare, grave, intimate, and devastating in the quietest possible way. No grand gestures, no dramatic flailing, just wisdom, faith, doubt, regret, and acceptance delivered in that voice that sounds like it’s been sanded down by decades of living. Favorite Track: You Want It Darker

J'ai pas peur de mettre le premier cinq étoiles

This is the first I’ve gotten that I haven’t listened to before, so interesting to go in without any preconceived notions. Listened at 1 am after taking a melatonin and now I understand why people would trip to The Beatles and such bc boy was it an experience. It starts off really strong with one of the most perfect opening 30 seconds I’ve heard. I’m big on a good opener (Dark Fantasy by Kanye West, Violet by Hole, Rehab by Amy Winehouse, Burnout by Green Day, Bombtrack by RATM, and Kill The Poor by Dead Kennedys are some of my favorites) so this was great. His voice did shock me a bit bc of how rough it sounded, but that is quite understandable given that he was frickin dying. Man, I’m sad he died. We lost him, Bowie, and Prince all in one year, along with a bunch of other people. His voice did grow on me. It fits the somber feeling of the album, like something ancient telling a story. It’s really a deeply spiritual work about death and life. The line “I’m ready my lord” almost had me crying. I’m a sucker for religious people using religious imagery in a dark way, as I love religion but dislike the typical “it’s so great and carefree yay God :)” that’s all too prevalent. That sort of lyricism sung over the worship chord progression just has no meaning to me, as somebody who does care deeply about their religion. (“Save” by Tyler Joseph is a great song that is deeply religious but actually means something, btw, so 100% recommend that.) It definitely makes me want to listen to more of him because I find his relationship with religion very interesting. I’m Christian but ethically and culturally Jewish, and my interest in learning about the history of both has led me to blend some Jewish interpretations of scripture into my religion. He was Jewish but blended some ideals of Christianity and Buddhism into his religion and he wrote beautifully about those beliefs. My favorite song was definitely Treaty—I knew that just about the second I heard it—and the reprise at the end only cemented my liking for it. The lyricism is beautiful and connects to the theme in such an emotional way. The songwriting is excellent. The piano with the build up of violins gives a sense of almost breaking free and just being stopped short, which fits beautifully. The lyric that stuck out to me the most was: “I heard the snake was baffled by his sin/He shed his scales to find the snake within/But born again is born without a skin” Just from a purely technical standpoint—ignoring the obvious religious imagery and sense of connecting to the root of sin—making all the repetition of words flow naturally is impressive. A lesser lyricist would have had this come off as clunky. This album is certainly an acquired taste, and isn’t something I’m adding to any daily rotation playlists. But that’s just because it’s so utterly haunting and rough. I can’t do this review without comparing it to Black Star, so here’s the obligatory mention of that, but it also reminds me of After the Gold Rush by Neil Young—it isn’t trying too hard, it sounds stripped back (despite the string section), and it just showcases pure emotion and songwriting talent. It’s eerily human and as quiet as death itself. I went into this project with the following rating system: 1-Awful 2-Okay 3-Good 4-Great 5-One of the greatest albums ever that defined the course of music/its genre. Which is why I gave Exodus five stars, as it’s the best of its genre, but Back to Black only four stars, as—while amazing as it is—it didn’t define soul or jazz in the same way. But I think I’m going to throw away my historical sensibilities here and give it five stars. I can’t not. To recap: Favorite songs: Treaty, You Want it Darker Least favorite songs: N/A Rating: 5/5 Similar albums: Blackstar, After the Gold Rush

Wowzers! This is why I am doing this list! So powerful.

i have chills. hauntingly beautiful.

oh shit okay! i didn’t want to give this a chance at first and then it captured me in its pure perfection

Beautiful words and music.

Despite my general aversion for the so-called "singer-songwriter" genre, I've always given a free pass to Leonard Cohen because of the darker tone of his work. While I'm usually an enthusiastic person in real life, I like my music somber and brooding, and this album doesn't disappoint in that department. Both the instruments and the voice sound beautiful, yet heavy with existential dread, with only a few slivers of hope (or at least acceptance) to release the tension. Despite this almost soul-crushing mood, you will find no self-pity here ; its feels more like the dark gospel or the deathbed confession of a dying man, going through various stages of grief and anguish before reaching peace. As often with Leonard Cohen, the music is thoughtful and elaborate. His charismatic voice (especially impressive given his age) and the sheer poetry of the lyrics make this album a glowing black star that stayed with me for a long time after I finished listening. A profound and haunting masterpiece. 9/10

Went in with low expectations but thought this was fantastic. Prestigious two thumbs up from me

# Playlist Track - You Want It Darker # Notes - A beautiful good bye. A bit slow at times, but haunting and beautiful.

Many years ago I was reading a collected volume of Leonard Cohen’s poetry that I’d picked up at a second hand bookstore late one evening while waiting for a metro at Place des Arts station. An older woman noticed what I was reading and began talking to me. It turned out that she’d met Cohen a few times many years ago because her late husband was friends with Leonard Cohen’s mentor. She recounted how the first time she met him she was feeling down and wasn’t very talkative; the next time they met she apologized for it, and told him that she’s not always so depressed. “I am,” he replied. Five stars.

Unfassbar schönes Album. Die Stimme, einfach unglaublich.

Favourite song: Traveling Light At first I wasn't sure about the talk singing, but the music is gorgeous and the lyrics are too. Haunting. Got more and more beautiful as the album progressed. Changed it from a 4 to a 5. Listened to the album twice more after the first time.

Dark & Unique

Beautiful, a lullaby to life. It just floated on by, an organ note lilting along here, a hint of country guitar there, the music sitting alongside his words, low key and restrained. It is the restraint, the ambience, that makes you listen, doesn't need to jump out at you, sneaks up on you, makes you listen.. I got to thinking about Bob's Time Out of Mind, but this is something else. As always Leonard knew what to say, said it and gracefully left the stage. Treaty is close to the best love song I've heard. We all need to put this on as we shuffle off this mortal coil, Leonard will take us there, gently, by the hand.

Leonard Cohen’s Blackstar. Hits the same way, especially knowing his time was coming. Any musician should aspire to go out like this.

Incredible

You can't sing darker. Det är något visst med en sista hälsning innan ridån går ned. Hineni, Hineni! Synd att dino's ålderism grusar hans öron.

What a voice. Incredible final album

This album is an experience more than anything. More poetry than music. I've always had immense respect for Cohan as an artist, and he kept that respect until the very end. Leaving the Table is my favorite from this.

Apparently, I do want it darker. I was dumbfounded and astounded when he started singing. I knew he was at the end of his life, but I wasn't expecting the deep, dry, raspiness of his voice or how beautiful it would actually sound. And once I got used to his voice, I started actually hearing and digesting the lyrics, and once again was dumbfounded and astounded. The title track really sets the tone and is easily my favorite of the album, but every song gives more insight to his dark and dying mind. Thinking about this album and Blackstar by Bowie, I realized that musicians like them either die rock stars or live long enough to reflect deeply on death and God. This album not only got an instant re-listen, but also a save to listen to again later. Favorite Song(s): You Want It Darker, Steer Your Way, String Reprise / Treaty

A atmosfera sombria e pesada desse álbum é incrível! QoA Vesper.

Amazing to me how coherent Cohen's lyrics are as a body of work in the 4 snapshots on this list from first album to last. Same cadences, same way with imagery, same interests, same big deep declarations, maybe more commitment, less attachment.

His voice kinda startled me. But the insturments were really good. Listenability: 5/5 stars

Great, moody.

It is difficult for me to dissociate this from Bowie's Blackstar. Two extraordinary musicians signing off with sublime albums within months and coinciding with the darkening of the political climate. An incredibly deep, beautiful and reflective album. The lyrics muse on religion, past relationships and his approaching passing. The sparse strings, backing vocals and Cohen's deep baritone compliment the material perfectly.

Incredible parting album. RIP

I'd put this album off until now - and yep it was what I was expecting. 5* and made me sad because closure or whatever.

damn... what's up with guys getting old and having goth phases before peacing out of this mortal coil? this is crazy. i'm crazy. what the hell. highlights - you want it darker, treaty, on the level, traveling light, it seemed the better way, steer your way

Hauntingly beautiful and somber listen. Thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

Inadvertently the perfect Halloween album

Favorites: You Want It Darker (!), Leaving The Table, Travelling Light. It Seemed The Better Way (!), String Reprise / Treaty. Very melancholic not only in how it sounds, but also in the fact that it's the last album of Leonard Cohen, where he kind of steps on the journey of accepting the coming of his death. Or already accepting it a long time ago, as we hear it in the 'You Want It Darker'. This album gives me winter images. Sitting near your window, it's cold and dark outside, and the heavy blizzard setting in. You have your candle nearby, dimly lighting your room, like a small lighthouse in the ocean. And soon you'll have to put the candle out and go to sleep. Forever?

Oh, man. I really like this one. Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld. I'm a sucker for brooding stuff that makes me cry, and this definitely does the trick. In the parlance of the times . . . this is some real ass shit!

Fantastic album, as you expect from a great like Leonard Cohen. Adding to my library

What an opener! What a voice. Brilliant

- Irgendwie mag ich den düsteren Vibe und den Stil des „Gesangs“ - Wenn ich dieses Album nicht gehört hätte, hätte ich etwas verpasst - Ist sehr besonders und schön und würde ich wieder hören - Passt perfekt zu verregnetem, düsteren Wetter Topsong: On the Level (Das etwas glücklichere Lied aus diesem Album)

Labai lėtai geras

Didn't know what to expect of this, being only familiar with 'Hallejulah'. The dark vibe of the album struck me amd fitted my mood from the first track, and his exceptional voice fitted the music well. Started to think it might get a bit samey midway through until the fantastic 'Travelling Light' came in. Love a song that tells a story and has different musical elements dropping in and out to punctuate it, and the female vocals are refreshing. Then, each song on the back half adds something new and explores an interesting new theme, keeping the listen rewarding. Having read the story behind the album, it makes sense to hear this is recorded on a deathbed. From the first track it had me thinking of Cash's 'America IV: The Man Comes Around', and thematically its reminiscent of Bowie's 'Blackstar'. 9/10

I apologize Mr. Cohen, I wasn't familiar with your game. I really liked this. Treaty, leaving the table, and traveling light stand out but it's all very good in a melancholy sort of way.

Great

listened to it while walking around the boston museum of fine art. perfect soundtrack

It’s awesome, probably now my favourite Leonard Cohen album. The sound of an incredibly talented, intelligent man signing off with dignity.

Low 5 Mr Cohen conjures his haunting world as well as ever. Production is really tastefully done and keeps the songs different despite Mr cohens limited vocal range. The whispered vocals and minimalist backing combine for a striking and completely unique sound. It warmed my heart to hear one of my favourite artists produce such a great album right at the end of his life. Best I've ever heard by an 80+ year old by a mile, and best from this challenge for some time.

“He has a scary voice kinda, he makes me feel kinda scared” - Kerri. I really enjoyed this album. I have listened to the odd song of Leonard Cohen mostly through the radio. But it was dark, moody and worth a listen for sure.

Woah, what an album, what a voice! That opening song hit with a force, the gospel choir, and then from out of left field in comes this epic raspy voice. Definitely one to listen to with headphones, everything just hits a little harder. I also think locking in to the lyrics and knowing the context of this album adds a hell of a lot of substance. (Cohen released this album a month before passing away, created within the final chapter of his life). Definitely a heavy album, dealing with some darker topics, which in a way adds to its power. I could understand how someone would not enjoy this, but personally, I feel like this album very much deserves its spot on this list.

Exceptional but heavy when it was already raining outside

Just beautiful. Truly gorgeous. Knowing his earlier stuff, quiet well, I went into this today mildly intrigued on what he was doing near the end. What played was such an experience, a perfect piece of music, well no but a moving, almost eulogy of the darkness and light of living, past, present and future. 5 Star

!! INSTANT RAPTURE !! Fan att vi skulle ha lökhackande ninjor på jobbet just idag också

A million candles burning / For the help that never came I struggled with some demons / They were middle class and tame If thine is the glory / Mine must be the shame Top class writing as expected from one of the masters. The opening track alone is worth it. The whole album is somewhat sad, somewhat angry and yet somewhat horny (as per my wife's description). It's great! This is a transformative album, not one you can reach out to on any given day, but it'll certainly make its presence felt on the days you need.

Leonard Cohen's music, from the few songs I knew prior to this, always feels very introspective, and this is no different. The opening track's sinister instrumentals really hooked me, and the rest of the songs were so hauntingly beautiful. I think the melodies were great and made his unique style of singing work well here. I ended up loving this much more than I was expecting to. Just gets you really in a mood, you know? Surprise 5, every track was a favourite

This selection of dirges reaches so deep that there may be no way out. Such strong lyrics and gorgeous music that it is undeniably virtuousic

Une masterclass. Toute une ambiance dans cet album, grave, mélancolique et chante avec un flegme terrible, dans la meme veine que d'autres œuvres comme la série The Wire Une pépite de Leonard Cohen !

Incroyable, j’adore l’album Thanks to the Dance et celui ci lui ressemble un peu, sa voix grave qui ressemble à un chuchotement, la lenteur, l’instrumental réduit au minimum J’ADORE

Holy fuck.

SO good. Also, I feel like I remember this coming out and it does not feel almost 10 years ago.

The original sadboy got sadder.

Very slow pace his early stuff was better

Simply amazing album!

Eld! Kändes verkligen som ett bra avslutningsalbum med bra musik rakt igenom

Amazing, did not come across such a good album in months

I had never heard this. Very good, haunting, and unexpected.

Good just not for me

It went down hill in 2016 Brexit The move of the Overton Window Populism Far right Trumpy cunt It all went to shit when Bowie died, correlation rather than causation. Maybe not. I never really listened to Cohen when he was alive, a recent discovery through this app. So thanks for that.

Leonard Cohen is my guru.

These meditations on love, religion, life and death confirm Cohen as a master singer/songwriter/poet. Goosebumps from start to finish.

Loved it! So dark and moody and the lyrics! He pulled me in right from the beginning.

Just a remarkable experience. Other than artists the died young, has anyone else had their last album possibly their best? How can he sound haunting and dark and yet optimistic and uplifting at the same time? I guess that's sort of his thing, huh? Well, not sure he ever did it better than on this album. My favorites were "You Want it Darker" and "It Seemed the Better Way," but that all had me sucked in. I had to stop the album multiple times because I wanted to make sure every song was getting my full attention.

Love the music. Could do without his vocals

A damn good album

So so good

From the very first listen, I found myself craving a cigarette. Second listen I nearly stopped to buy some… I don’t smoke. So yeah, this album hit a nerve…an edgy, unsettled feeling in my gut that few records manage to stir. Leonard has that rare power to evoke a visceral reaction, pulling me into places so raw and truthful it’s almost unnerving - yet intoxicating, leaving me a bit breathless. I would have loved to listen to this under a full moon, though instead I played it a second time through on my cloudy drive to the sea. It was no less moving the second time through. His voice, so haunting, wraps around every lyric; the opening of the album feels like a doorway into another world where he is communing with God and the ending arrives too soon…still it lingers, unsettled, and leaves you carrying the feels long after the last note fades.

You are correct, Leonard, I do want it darker. That because I deeply appreciate when an artist just really leans into their aesthetic. And Cohen has always sung from and about the shadows. On his final living release, here we have it all stripped pretty bare, the gravel of his voice laying the foundation for the path he leads us on. The notes a flickering candle that lights our way forward. Cohen's songs are both prayers and confessions. He often sings of faith, but in this way that feels at once grounded and human, and also rather gritty and soiled. I've also heard this approach in a few other of my favorite artists, notably Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and Low. Several of the tracks on this release also drip with a captivating, murky noir so reminiscent of radio legend Joe Frank. This record is gorgeous and it is captivating. Appropriate that Cohen would collaborate with a choir on this release. These songs are holy. Every track on this thing is essential. There is not a minute wasted. What a stunning way to close out a career and say goodbye.

My introduction to Leonard Cohen was through Pump Up the Volume with Concrete Blondes cover of Everybody Knows and Cohen is nothing if not consistent in his style and delivery. The last album before Cohen died, maybe I'm hearing it at a time when the themes that he plays on are closer but it hits home. As he got older, Cohen moved more towards a poetic delivery and this doesn't make it any less lyrical or musical. I popped it on again to listen to straight away. It reminded me of all the other bands I liked and makes me want to go exploring through my existing collection again. Sad that this is the last offering that we'll ever see.

Classic Cohen

Even at 140 (or however old he was when he recorded this album) Leonard Cohen sounds like a guy who can charm the pants off of anyone. Even when he's singing about mortality and regret. This album is the first panty-dropper death album, and as great and near-perfect of an accomplishment as it is, I don't know if I'd ever want to hear another album like it.

Perfection.

Day 11 I had already listened to this album once before but I didn't remember much. Second listen- His lyricism always brings me to tears. Especially if i didn't have your love! CRYING!!! The album just pulls you in and takes you along this incredibly emotional journey and I just have to give it a 5/5. Sublime album.

Anyone into LC get what they want, even a touch darker. Everyone else is getting the same. Making this a binary decision.

Leonard will always get a five from me. Deceptively simple lyrics that set you pondering endlessly if you want to be caught in their spell.

Damn

When it came to stately, revelatory farewells, 2016 was a banner year. It was bookmarked by records that pushed limits stylistically whilst reminding listeners of the powers possessed and the vitality that came in regards to approaching the end. Leonard Cohen's You Want It Darker, the second of such albums, wraps a neat bow on what made him an enigmatic performer. While not a defiant flick of the finger towards death, it does approach it with a readiness and gruff grace that only Leonard grasped and its instrumental sparseness helped it a great deal in getting its point across. You Want It Darker may not be the most conventional path towards Leonard Cohen and his repertoire but, in some cases, the end can be the beginning.

This album is so somber and heartfelt and genuine. Reminds me (obviously) a ton of Blackstar; a man reflecting on his life and his mortality. Cohen's voice works wonders as spoken poetry over this really beautiful album. I loved it, and I hope Cohen was proud of this before he passed. You Want It Darker, Treaty, and Steer Your Way were my favorites, but this probably works best as a full 36 minute playthrough.

You Want it Darker? Leonard Cohen is happy to oblige. Recorded as he was dying in his living room, because he wasn't well enough to move, this is the master of dark gospel meditating on his death. He's going to meet his maker soon, and his final gift to the world is to give us a peek in his mind as he's doing it. I actually had to hunt this album down a bit, and I'm so glad I did. I don't listen to Leonard Cohen often enough; consider how much I love it when I do. He makes a man believe in God.

i had an absolute crisis rating this and my brain is now giving this a 5.

Deep, wise, and poetic. A farewell filled with grace and reflection. There’s so much wisdom in this album.

Fantastic. The Great Poet left us a masterpiece just before his death, how amazing, wonderful and unbelievable is that. The title track is just bliss.

Ongelooflijk album. Constant kippenvel. Je voelt aan dit album dat Cohen zijn laatste dagen ingaat en dat is tegelijkertijd ongelooflijk mooi, maar ook zeer pijnlijk. De ruwheid in zijn stem raakt je zeer hard en dat maakt dat dit album de 5 sterren verdient. 5.0

4.5 - One of the few greats to stay great imo

Magical, nostalgic, music of an older world

I andantes it darker. And got it darker.

Weirdly this was the album that got me into the music of Leonard Cohen. Such a devastatingly beautiful album and a real testament to what a fantastic songwriter he was.

Just as powerful as everything he ever did. Beautiful, painful, redemptive. We killed the flame.

Wow!! Just wow!! This was amazing! I had no clue what to expect, and I was blown away by all of it. I’ve never really listened to him before other than a song here or there. I will do a deeper dive after hearing this album.

After several decades of “ignoring” Leonard Cohen’s music, i heard the title track to this album on an NPR podcast and couldn’t escape the majesty in his voice, the music that his words sat upon, and the message within. I bought the album the next day and played it many, many times - then and now. I’ve added half a dozen more albums of his and am very grateful that I came across that NPR podcast that day (thanks Bob).

This was surprisingly moving and poignant and telling of a story. More Leonard Cohen will find it's way to me

Outstanding. The final words of a man coming to terms with his mortality and coming to terms with his relationship with life, god, love, and death. 10/10 album.

Great album-love it

Darkened

When I face my inevitable end, I only hope I can do it with a much composure, peace and humour as Leonard Cohen did. This album is wonderful, and it's honestly the first I've heard of Cohen outside of hallelujah, but it got me properly emotional for a complete stranger. I ended up listening to it twice over in quick succession, and will have to go back again later - what an album this is

It's insane how some people seem to make an album and just know that they will die so soon after. Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, and Johnny Cash just to name a few all released absolutely haunting albums all so soon before their deaths. And this one might just be the best of the bunch. The rawness is unmatched and it really does feel like he's trying to use the music to tell you he's dying.

love love love. music as a grounding experience. music to increase awareness of self.

Staggeringly beautiful the last opus of a dying man light and shade wonderful poetry love and loss and death. It gets no better than this.

This album hit me in a similar way to David Bowie's "Blackstar." Though David Bowie is a pinnacle of musical artistry for me, and "Blackstar" is at the top of my all-time favorite albums, I still found "You Want it Darker" affecting, beautiful, and tragic. I also found it a great listen and something I definitely will revisit. I'd give it 4.5 stars.

Excelent

What a voice!!!

Instant fave. Absolute peak of angsty old man looking back at his life music, a genre I really resonate with. The voice! The atmosphere! Will be coming back to this one.

Music to lay down in a field and rot to.

He gave it to us darker. One of the great storytellers says his farewells.

Beautiful swan song from one of the best songwriters.

His voice may have had a low register, but Leonard Cohen went out on a high note. As usual, his penchant for brilliant lyrics still shines through. I'm not religious, but I feel his sentiments here anyway and clearly understand what he's doing here. It's even more impressive given his poor health when he recorded it, and no wonder he's staring down mortality. Thankfully his wit was still intact, which keeps this from being a total downer. Really great album, and a reminder I need to dig deeper into his catalogue than I have. "Traveling Light" is a new favorite.

Great album by Cohen, this is the music I will remember him. No duds on this record, and his voice is deeper than ever. Amazing stuff.

vampire vibes! banger lyrics! no skips! yes! yes! yes! if I discover one of these every 100 albums I'm happy with this list 👌

Amazing low voice, great songs

9/10 O melhor até o momento, lindo e melancólico.

Having bought this on release, listened to it once and shelved it during 2016, this has been an absolute joy to rediscover. I don't think Cohen could've had a finer swan song. His delivery of sparse lyrics, the rattle of his voice, the understated instrumentation, the various genres covered and in some cases - fused, the brevity ensures none of his final moments on tape were wasted. A 5/5 - an incredible surprise - and will trigger me re-evaluating his other work.

I really enjoyed this which was surprising. I thought the opening to the album was excellent tasteful strings throughout. Nice length of record. I initially gave it 4 stars, however after a week, I came back and gave it 5, as I have listened to parts of it every day and absolutely love the record. I didn't realise it was released 17 or so days before he died and it definitely adds extra depth to it.

underbar mörkröst!

Loved it. I’m fully aware that Cohen is a huge influence on Nick Cave, and I love Nick Cave, but I’ve just not got around to listening to his music before

9/10 Always been in awe of his voice, I know it's not everyones cup of tea but the deep baritone just grips me. Deeply poetic lyrics. Not everyone gets to say goodbye like Cohen did and I think he recognises the significance of that. Songs added to playlist: - you want it darker - leaving the table

So smooth. So unbelievably effortless considering the circumstances. So good. Best tracks: Treaty, Leaving The Table, If I Didn't Have Your Love & Steer Your Way.

incredible. you can feel the life in this and what really bound him to music, his spirit

One of the most gorgeous final albums. Bowie’s may have been more forward looking, but Cohen made something so poignant and moving.

Really enjoyed this, spoken word I would say. Cohen was a brilliant man. Amazing songwriter of beautiful songs. I still think his Hallelujah is the best version out there. Great album from a great artist.

This is the kind of album the 1001 list is for - something I never would have picked, but I'm glad I listened to. Heartfelt, witty, melancholic.

I loved this album and everything about it. From Leonard’s deep baritone voice to the instrumentation. The music set a dark brooding tone with each song. It was almost like a film noir for music. The lyrics were fantastic! Songs of loss, love, and longing made it relatable to anyone who has experienced these situations. Favorite songs are “You Want It Darker” (That bass line is awesome), “On The Level”, “Leaving The Table”(That guitar just back there moving the song along and then the solo), “Traveling Light” (The flamenco guitar + violin + back up singers = perfection) and “It Seemed a Better Way” (again great violin and that bass line). I reached the end and as Leonard said, “it’s over now, the water, and the wine, we were broken then and now we are borderline” but lucky for me I can hit play and start all over.

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?