Various Positions, the seventh studio album by Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen

Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...

, was released in December 1984 (and February 1985). It marked not only Cohen's turn to the modern sound and use of synthesizers (particularly on the opening track), but also - after her work on harmonies and background vocals on the previous Recent Songs

Recent Songs

Recent Songs was the sixth studio album by Leonard Cohen, released in 1979. Produced by Henry Lewy and the artist himself, the album was a return to Cohen's acoustic folk music after the Phil Spector experimentation of Death of a Ladies' Man, but now with many jazz and Oriental influences.The album...

(1979) - an even greater contribution from Jennifer Warnes

Jennifer Warnes

Jennifer Jean Warnes is an American singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. She is known for her interpretations of compositions written by herself and many others, as well as an extensive playlist as a vocalist on movie soundtracks.Between 1979 and 1987 Warnes surpassed Frank Sinatra as...

, who is credited equally to Cohen as vocalist on all of the tracks.

Release history

After the abandoned 1975 project Songs for Rebecca Cohen again joined forces with producer John Lissauer. However, Cohen's label Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 refused to release Various Positions in the United States. Walter Yetnikoff

Walter Yetnikoff

Walter Yetnikoff is a former music executive.Yetnikoff has retired and gone on to write his memoirs, "Howling at the Moon"...

, president of the company, called him to his office in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and said, "Look, Leonard; we know you're great, but we don't know if you're any good". It was subsequently picked up by the independent label Passport Records. The album was finally included in the catalogue in 1990 when Columbia released the Cohen discography on compact disc

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

. A remastered CD was issued in 1995.

Track listing

All songs were written by Leonard Cohen.
Side one

1. "Dance Me to the End of Love
   Dance Me to the End of Love
   "Dance Me to the End of Love" is a 1984 song by Leonard Cohen. It was first performed by Cohen, on his 1984 album Various Positions. It has since been recorded by various artists, and has been described as "trembling on the brink of becoming a standard"....
   
   " – 4:38
2. "Coming Back to You" – 3:32
3. "The Law" – 4:27
4. "Night Comes On" – 4:40

Side two

1. "Hallelujah" – 4:36
2. "The Captain" – 4:06
3. "Hunter's Lullaby" – 2:24
4. "Heart With No Companion" – 3:04
5. "If It Be Your Will" – 3:43

Personnel

• Piano and Keyboard Orchestrations arranged by John Lissauer
• Backing Vocals - Anjani Thomas, Crissie Faith, Erin Dickins, John Crowder, John Lissauer, Lani Groves, Merle Miller, Ron Getman, Yvonne Lewis
• Bass - John Crowder
• Drums - Richard Crooks
• Assistant Engineer - Lee Friedman
• Guitar - Leonard Cohen, Sid McGinnis
  Sid McGinnis
  Sid McGinnis is an American musician and guitarist, best known for his work on the CBS Television show, Late Show with David Letterman, as part of the CBS Orchestra....
  
  
• Photography [Polaroid Shot] - Leonard Cohen
• Producer, Arranged By - John Lissauer
• Recorded By [Additional] - Jon Smith
• Recorded By, Mixed By - Leanne Ungar
• Violin - Kenneth Kosek
• Vocals - Jennifer Warnes
  Jennifer Warnes
  Jennifer Jean Warnes is an American singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. She is known for her interpretations of compositions written by herself and many others, as well as an extensive playlist as a vocalist on movie soundtracks.Between 1979 and 1987 Warnes surpassed Frank Sinatra as...
  
  , Leonard Cohen

Songs

"Dance Me to the End of Love", which Allmusic calls "Serge Gainsbourg

Serge Gainsbourg

Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...

-esque" in their review of the album, remains one of Cohen's signature songs. In 2004, jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux

Madeleine Peyroux

Madeleine Peyroux is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Peyroux is noted for her vocal style, which has been compared to that of Billie Holiday....

 covered the song in her album "Careless Love

Careless Love (album)

Careless Love is a 2004 jazz album by American jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux. All the tracks are cover versions, except for "Don't Wait Too Long," which Peyroux co-wrote with Jesse Harris and Larry Klein. It is Peyroux's most critically acclaimed album so far and her song choices were praised...

"; the version even became a hit in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. The unusually straightforward love song "Coming Back to You" was covered by both Trisha Yearwood

Trisha Yearwood

Patricia Lynn Yearwood, professionally known as Trisha Yearwood , is an American country music artist. She is best known for her ballads about vulnerable young women from a female perspective that have been described by some music critics as "strong" and "confident."Trisha Yearwood signed with MCA...

 and Martin L. Gore on the Cohen tribute album Tower of Song. Ron Sexsmith

Ron Sexsmith

Ronald Eldon "Ron" Sexsmith is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario, currently based in Toronto. He started his own band when he was fourteen years old, and released the first recordings of his own material seven years later, in 1985...

 performed "Heart With No Companion" on his eponymous 1995 release. The best-known, and most-covered song on the album, however, is the fifth track, "Hallelujah". "If It Be Your Will" also appears on Tower of Song, performed by Jann Arden

Jann Arden

Jann Arden is a Canadian singer-songwriter.-Life and career:Arden was born and raised near Calgary in Springbank, Alberta and attended Springbank Community High School. Her breakthrough came with her critically acclaimed 1993 debut album Time for Mercy and her first single "I Would Die For You"...

. The song was further covered by Antony and the Johnsons

Antony and the Johnsons

Antony and the Johnsons is a music group presenting the work of Antony Hegarty and his collaborators.-Career:British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label. The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released...

frontman Antony Hegarty for the 2005 documentary, "I'm Your Man".