Songs of Love and Hate

Songs of Love and Hate
Studio album by Leonard Cohen
Publication (s)	March 1971
Label (s)	Columbia Records
Format (s)	LP, CD
Genre (s)	Folk / singer-songwriter
Title (number)	8th
running time	44 min 17s
occupation	Leonard Cohen: lyrics, vocals, guitar Paul Buckmaster : arrangements, conductor Ron Cornelius : guitar Charlie Daniels : bass, violin, guitar Elkin Fowler : bass, banjo, guitar Bob Johnston : piano Michael Sahl : Strings Corlynn Hanney, Susan Mussmano, London Corona Academy: background vocals
production	Bob Johnston
Studio (s)	Columbia Studio A , Nashville and Trident Studios , London
chronology Songs from a Room Songs of Love and Hate New Skin for the Old Ceremony

Songs of Love and Hate is the third studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen , released in March 1971 . As the title ( Songs of Love and Hate ) suggests, it is one of his most emotional works.

Emergence

For his third album Cohen remained loyal to his producer Bob Johnston , this time there was also a conductor for the various strings . The background music was recorded in the Trident studios in London.

The piece Dress Rehearsal Rag existed in 1966, Cohen sang it along with Suzanne (from Songs of Leonard Cohen ) at his first meeting with Judy Collins and published it in the same year on her album In My Life .

Style and content

The album is mostly about deep feelings. The style is less melancholic than in the songs before, these seem to be dressed in elaborate metaphors and sometimes in ironic desperation. Cohen often sings in a heavily vibrating, dark voice. The instrumental parts are stronger than in the two previous albums, which further increases the intensity of the pieces. The accompanying singers also have larger roles for the first time.

Probably the best-known song on the album is Famous Blue Raincoat , which, with its description of an intricate love triangle, can be seen as a kind of setting of Cohen's second novel, Beautiful Losers (1966). Dress Rehearsal Rag describes a person's mood before suicide. Cohen's particular fascination at this time was apparently the figure of Joan of Arc , next to Joan of Arc she also appears in Last Year's Man , which also includes the Babylon metaphor, which Cohen later frequently used for the first time . It is assumed that Joan of Arc is also a declaration of love to the Velvet Underground singer Nico .

Success and aftermath

The album only reached number 145 on the Billboard charts in the USA , so it was less successful than its predecessors. In the UK , however, it made it to fourth place and was again well received by critics.

Famous Blue Raincoat , in particular , has been covered many times by Tori Amos , Joan Baez , BAP , Judy Collins and Jennifer Warnes , who in 1986 named an entire Cohen tribute album after the piece. Other pieces of the album were also covered by other artists and Cohen himself often played at his concerts. Christiane Rösinger named an album Songs of L. and Hate in 2010 ; The cover design of that album, however, is reminiscent of Bob Dylan's album Bringing It All Back Home .

Track list

A side

1. Avalanche (4:59)
2. Last Year's Man (5:55)
3. Dress Rehearsal Rag (6:01)
4. Diamonds in the Mine (3:46)

B side

1. Love Calls You by Your Name (5:36)
2. Famous Blue Raincoat (5:05)
3. Sing Another Song, Boys (6:10)
4. Joan of Arc (6:21)

Bonus track on the remastered edition (2007)

1. "Dress Rehearsal Rag" - 5:37

Web links

• Lyrics and audio samples
• Songs of Love and Hate on Allmusic (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ z. B. Alex Beam in The Boston Globe , Aug. 23, 2000, reproduced in the Leonard Cohen Files