--- title: Six Leonard Cohen Tracks You Should Listen to Right Now description: Leonard Cohen, the singer and bard who spoke in gravelly zenlike frankness about sex and God, is dead. He was 82 canonical: https://time.com/4567414/leonard-cohen-best-songs-listen-essential/ author: Nash Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-11T03:52:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T16:05:53.000Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Six Leonard Cohen Tracks You Should Listen to Right Now og:description: The Canadian songwriter died on Thursday night at the age of 82 og:url: https://time.com/4567414/leonard-cohen-best-songs-listen-essential/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0680f7fdd1f1dbc9/6988ae1b8e0601db704683a3/gettyimages-76390217.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Leonard Cohen Hammersmith og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Six Leonard Cohen Tracks You Should Listen to Right Now twitter:description: The Canadian songwriter died on Thursday night at the age of 82 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0680f7fdd1f1dbc9/6988ae1b8e0601db704683a3/gettyimages-76390217.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Six Leonard Cohen Tracks You Should Listen to Right Now by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:05 PM UTCPublished: Nov 11, 2016 3:52 AM UTC  Leonard Cohen Performing at the Hammersmith Odeon in London in 1985 Leonard Cohen Performing at the Hammersmith Odeon in London in 1985Tom Sheehan—Sony Music Archive/Getty Images by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:05 PM UTCPublished: Nov 11, 2016 3:52 AM UTC Leonard Cohen, the singer and bard who spoke in gravelly, zenlike frankness about sex and God, and who oscillated between folk and funk and who could even do them both at once, [is dead](http://time.com/4567411/leonard-cohen-dead-obituary/?xid=homepage). He was 82. From the time he released his first record, _The Songs of Leonard Cohen,_ in 1967, he was prolific; _You Want It Darker,_ his 14th studio album, was released just three weeks ago. And so there’s a lot of material to work with when it comes to grieving his loss appropriately — by listening to him, of course — but here’s where you should start: **1\. “Hallelujah” (1984)** Maybe it’s trite to list his best-known track, perhaps, but how could you not? It’s been called one of the most lyrically beautiful songs ever written, and that’s hard to disagree with. **2\. “Suzanne” (1967)** Cohen’s debut album was thoroughly acoustic and thoughtful. Its first track, “Suzanne,” is a sad, sweet meditation on love. **3\. “So Long, Marianne” (1967)**The beautiful “So Long, Marianne” was inspired by Cohen’s muse and girlfriend Marianne Jensen, who he lived with for most of the 60s. **4\. “Ain’t No Cure for Love” (1988)**This is one of those cases where the cover of a song is superior to the original. An underrated ballad. **5\. “I’m Your Man” (1988)**The synth-pop-style “I’m Your Man” is a thinly-disguised homage to the act of lovemaking. “If you want a doctor,” Cohen sings, “I’ll examine every inch of you.” **6\. “You Want It Darker” (2016)**Even at the very end of his career, Cohen was true to his roots — haunting, spare lyrics that offered both commentary and poetry. The titular track from his final album speaks to this. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4567414/leonard-cohen-best-songs-listen-essential/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4567414/leonard-cohen-best-songs-listen-essential/"},"headline":"Six Leonard Cohen Tracks You Should Listen to Right Now","datePublished":"2016-11-11T03:52:22.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T16:05:53.000Z","description":"The Canadian songwriter and poet died on Thursday night","url":"https://time.com/4567414/leonard-cohen-best-songs-listen-essential/","keywords":["celebrities","Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0680f7fdd1f1dbc9/6988ae1b8e0601db704683a3/gettyimages-76390217.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0680f7fdd1f1dbc9/6988ae1b8e0601db704683a3/gettyimages-76390217.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Leonard Cohen Hammersmith","caption":"Leonard Cohen Hammersmith","creditText":"Tom Sheehan—Sony Music Archive/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4567414/leonard-cohen-best-songs-listen-essential/","name":"Six Leonard Cohen Tracks You Should Listen to Right Now"}}]}] ```