Once, I was confined to a room for a few months, recovering from certain self-inflicted wounds. It was then that the Patron-Saint of modern poetry came and healed me with the balm of this album. Released in 1969, ‘Songs from a Room’ was Leonard Cohen’s second album, after the cracker debut of ‘Songs of Leonard Cohen’. Musically sparse and poetically rich, it is a worthy successor.

The healing begins the moment the needle hits Side 1 of the vinyl with the song going like this. "Like a bird on the wire, Like a drunk in a midnight choir, I have tried in my way to be free. Cohen always started his live concerts with this anthem saying, “It seems to return me to my duties.”

Because of the spiritual stature of Bird on the Wire, the other tracks pale in comparison. But there are more gems inside this ‘Room’.

There is the biblical Story of Isaac, narrated from Isaac’s point of view before a subtle reference to the Vietnam War (this was 1969) comes in. Then there is The Partisan, a song inspired by a French Resistance song during the World War II with lines like…

There were three of us this morning, I’m the only one this evening (Here, our friend Dylan would’ve written ‘And two of them died’) But I must go on; The frontiers are my prison.

You also have the classics like The Butcher and You Know Who I Am on Side 2. But Lady Midnight takes the limelight on Side 2. She shines with lyrics like…

I cried, "Oh, Lady Midnight, I fear that you grow old, The stars eat your body and the wind makes you cold." "If we cry now," she said, "it will just be ignored." So I walked through the morning, sweet early morning, I could hear my lady calling, "You've won me, you've won me, my lord.

The album ends with a mirthful Tonight Will Be Fine, with it shimming, whistle and For a While. Now, the saint is gone but his songs live on. And they will always heal you if you want. Even the darkest ones from Leonard Cohen’s grand tower of songs, have that strange ability to heal you.It’s probably because he used to spend so much time crafting them, meditating with the words. Consider this reflection from the man. “I’m writing all the time. And as the songs begin to coalesce, I’m not doing anything else but writing. I wish I were one of those people who wrote songs quickly. But I’m not. So it takes me a great deal of time to find out what the song is. So I’m working most of the time.”

You can listen to his swan song album, the brilliant ‘You Want It Darker’ to know what he means. As for his exit, I think ‘words’ will be feeling orphaned for a while.

Rating: ****

Year: 1969 Genre: Folk Duration: 35:38 Label: Columbia Producer: Bob Johnston

Reviewed by Meraj Hasan

Meraj Hasan is a Mumbai based communication professional (and an amateur poet/musician) with a passion for listening to music the vinyl way. His 25 year old Technics turntable along with a humble collection of LPs across genres like Classic rock, Classical, Blues and Jazz (amongst others) are his prized possessions.

He can be reached at +91 9833410791 or email: meraj.hasan@gmail.com