Famous Blue Raincoat

Product Information

Today, heard as a fascinating "historical artifact" of a bygone production era, the glossy arrangements and once sounding almost inappropriately ornate renderings of earthy Leonard Cohen songs, now present themselves as less jarring and somehow more pleasing. In 1994 Cohen said that "it was a song I've never been satisfied with". [1] In the 1999 book, The Complete Guide to the Music of Leonard Cohen, the authors comment that Cohen's question, "Did you ever go clear?", in the song, is a reference to the Scientology state of " Clear". [3] Taylor, Tom (November 7, 2021). "Leonard Cohen's 10 greatest songs of all time". Far Out . Retrieved April 27, 2023. Dale from Augusta, GaActually had this happen to me with my first wife. Except that she didn't stay with me. So this song, if you'll pardon the pun, stikes a real chord with me. Cohen is incredible. He's not a singer, he's a poet who sings.

Cohen's version is sung from the perspective of a man discussing with another man a woman they both had a relationship with. Many female artists have managed to flip the gender and make the song even more ambiguous. Joan Baez, Tori Amos, Laurie MacAllister and Jennifer Warnes are some of the artists who have covered this song. In 1987, Warnes released an entire album of Cohen's songs called Famous Blue Raincoat before contributing to the hit " (I've Had) The Time of My Life" later that year. In the liner notes to 1975's The Best of Leonard Cohen, which includes the song, he mentions that the famous blue raincoat to which he refers actually belonged to him, and not someone else: WAS: Brooding songs like Cohen's "Bird on a Wire" sound positively uplifting reframed in this manner and the recording itself is long been prized as an audiophile's dream demo disk.

Credits

I had a good raincoat then, a Burberry I got in London in 1959. Elizabeth thought I looked like a spider in it. That was probably why she wouldn't go to Greece with me. It hung more heroically when I took out the lining, and achieved glory when the frayed sleeves were repaired with a little leather. Things were clear. I knew how to dress in those days. It was stolen from Marianne's loft in New York City sometime during the early seventies. I wasn't wearing it very much toward the end.

Frank Nico from Kassel, GermanyIt's been now nearly 12 months since you´ve left me and I think this song is more than I could say about how I feel about this fact. Though you will never read this words, I´m glad to had you in my life. I´m sure that you will never cross this song - how sad! Keep your "famous blue raincoat" and grow old! Bye baby! Assistant engineers– Jeff Park, Nyya Lark, Terry Dunavan, Ken Fowler, Dan Reed, Sharon Rice, Garth Richardson, Duane Seykora, Russ Bracher, Joel Stoner First Aid Kit Release Who By Fire Live Tribute Album Honoring Leonard Cohen". Sony Music . Retrieved 30 April 2021.

Christgau, Robert (March 31, 1987). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York . Retrieved April 28, 2013. Adams, James (11 February 2006). "Legal battles? Cohen's Zen with that". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 18 January 2008 . Retrieved 8 April 2020.