Favorite City Songs #9 - "First We Take Manhattan"
@teamfreak16 (43634)
Denver, Colorado
September 11, 2017 3:06am CST
This is not the first time I've ripped off, err, been inspired by @FourWalls , who did this first. I'm talking about my Favorite City Songs series, which consists of songs with the names of cities in the title. We are at #9: "First We Take Manhattan" by the late, great Leonard Cohen.
Written by Cohen, "First We Take Manhattan" was originally performed by Jennifer Warnes in 1987, with Cohen releasing his own version a year later. The song has been covered by R.E.M., who took the song to #11 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. Joe Cocker covered the tune in 1999, and Warren Zevon performed it live on the tour for his Mr. Bad Example album.
It's Leonard Cohen's version that is the definitive one, however. It is, after all, his song, no matter how much success Warnes and R.E.M. had with it.
I've linked to the official video, which was shot in black and white by Cohen's girlfriend at the time, Dominique Issermann.
R.I.P., Leonard. Thank you for the music.
(Info verified by Wikipedia)
(C) 1988 Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc. Leonard Cohen's official video for First We Take Manhattan. Click to listen to Leonard Cohen on Spotify: http:/...
8 people like this
7 responses
@teamfreak16 (43634)
• Denver, Colorado
11 Sep 17
I love the way he sang. He had a very distinct style.
@amadeo (111937)
• United States
11 Sep 17
@teamfreak16 I guess sultry was not the word?what do I know
1 person likes this
@TiarasOceanView (70020)
• United States
18 Sep 17
If ever there was a great man, it was Leonard..love love love him RIP.
1 person likes this
@TiarasOceanView (70020)
• United States
18 Sep 17
@teamfreak16 He certainly was..he was fascinating without a lot of fluff at all. Just so cool.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43634)
• Denver, Colorado
18 Sep 17
@TiarasOceanView - One school of thought is that The Sisters of Mercy named themselves after his song "Sister of Mercy."
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43634)
• Denver, Colorado
18 Sep 17
He was a big influence on a lot of bands.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
12 Sep 17
it is probably his best song - for some reason I thought it was called Berlin for years, the city he sings about taking over next after Manhattan
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43634)
• Denver, Colorado
12 Sep 17
This, "Sister of Mercy," so many great songs. But I agree, this is probably his best.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86766)
• United States
12 Sep 17
I approve. And yes, Zevon did this song on the Mr. Bad Example tour. I saw him on that one.
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1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86766)
• United States
12 Sep 17
@teamfreak16 -- if you remember when I used his version of Steve Winwood's "Back in the High Life" he did the exact same thing. He was very good at that.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43634)
• Denver, Colorado
12 Sep 17
Wow. That's a totally different song. Talk about making a song yours. Awesome.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
27 Sep 17
I like the REM version.
1 person likes this
@SerenityEngel (525)
• United Kingdom
12 Sep 17
Ah Mr Cohen, for some reason at about 7am in the morning on a dark wet cold English morning, catching the bus and then the walk to work make sense so long as Leonard was playing. I tended to go for his latter day 'the future is murder' type stuff. That suited my mood as I approached work LOL! I had a dream earlier on this year and first we take manhattan was playing in the dream. Not sure what this songs means to my subconscious, but I'm sure Freud or Jung could tell me.
1 person likes this
