Leonard Cohen: Avalanche (1971)

 |   |  <1 min read

Leonard Cohen: Avalanche (1971)

In the course of sometimes interesting, occasionally haywire Q&A session after the screening of the film 20,000 Days on Earth in Auckland, Nick Cave was asked if he'd ever met Leonard Cohen and what his favourite Cohen song was.

He said he hadn't . . . but then offered an insightful response to the second part of the question. 

“When I was growing up in Wangaratta in Australia I felt very uncomfortable. I grew up in the  country as a child and I loved it, but there was something about the way Australia was, that I felt very uncomfortable in this town.

“I went around to a friend's house and his sister had this record and she put it on and gave me the cover. It was Songs of Love and Hate and she put on the first song Avalanche and for the first time I felt this kind of discomfort fall away and I heard something.

“I'd never heard before, it was to do with secrecy and darkness.

“I just fell into this man's voice. It was an incredibly powerful moment for me.

“That particular song Avalanche is an incredible song anyway.

“But that particular album is one of those small collection of songs that had this particular effect on me.”

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   From the Vaults articles index

GHP: Rapture Riders (2004)

GHP: Rapture Riders (2004)

One of the most famous tracks by GHP (British DJ/producer and remixer Mark Vidler), this breakthrough in mash-ups was so good it was approved by both Blondie and the Doors (whose Rapture and Riders... > Read more

The Contours: First I Look at the Purse (1965)

The Contours: First I Look at the Purse (1965)

One of the first groups signed to Berry Gordy's Motown label, the Contours had a huge hit with the much-covered Do You Love Me ("now that I can dance") which was in the set of Beatles-era... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

THE BARGAIN BUY: Alice Cooper; The Definitive Alice Cooper

THE BARGAIN BUY: Alice Cooper; The Definitive Alice Cooper

Many deacdes ago, when he was enjoying success with the album Aliens Ate My Buick, I interviewed Thomas Dolby who had sprung the hit song She Blinded Me with Science some years previous.... > Read more

BLIND BOY TRUMAN REDISCOVERED: Blues from the underground

BLIND BOY TRUMAN REDISCOVERED: Blues from the underground

Until recently, so little was known about the bluesman known as Blind Boy Truman that it was widely believed he only existed in the world of myth, if he existed at all. There was only one known... > Read more