I’ve been spending the past few weeks slowly listening to and learning “The Stranger Song” by Leonard Cohen for an upcoming tribute concert. A bunch of my friends from DC are going to share their own renditions of songs by Leonard Cohen on Saturday December 2nd at Slash Run.
It’s been interesting taking the time to learn someone else’s song with the purpose of covering it. Memorizing lyrics with the intent of performing them takes up a whole different form of headspace than learning lyrics by casually listening to a song. Sometimes I start to get some hint of the meaning or mood of the song, but then it morphs a little each time I revisit it. There’s plenty of words to remember, and it’s really fun to lock into the rhythmic elements of Leonard’s poetry.
