Leonard Cohen: Various Positions (1984)

I recently read The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah" by Alan Light. The book recounts the rise of the song Hallelujah from a position of relative obscurity to its current position as being one of the most recorded songs in history, with hundreds of cover versions. Even Leonard Cohen was quoted as saying that he thought that too many people sing the song. I happened to be familiar with the song well before Jeff Buckley sang it and even before John Cale sang it. In fact, when I heard the news about the then-upcoming I'm Your Fan tribute album, I was really interested in hearing Cale's take on the song and was curious as to which lyrics he would sing. I thought his cover version was extremely good, but even then, I had no idea that it would become such a huge song.

I can relate to the bizarre rise of the song Hallelujah. When I first heard Various Positions back in 1984, the strongest song for me was (and still is) If It Be Your Will. My second favorite was The Night Comes On. I liked Hallelujah but I was not dazzled by the production. In fact, the production is the weakest thing about this record. The atmosphere in the room studio seems to interfere with the music. I feel the same way about Dance me to the End of Love. Later live versions are much better.

Still, it's truly baffling to me that Various Positions was rejected by Cohen's US record label.