Leonard Cohen Various Postitions

Leonard Cohen Various Positions Playlist

Click above to listen to the full album

The 1980’s had been a time of new wave music where the traditional disco was being recreated and dance-pop was becoming popular. These being the primary genres of the time, it’s obvious that audiences were in the mood for exciting music that made them move. However, what audiences wanted and what Leonard Cohen released in 1984 differed greatly.

Various Positions was Cohen’s eighth album that he released. For this album, he opted to go against what was popular in music and instead decided to create and album that is moody and coarse. Instead of songs that are happy and go-lucky, he created an album that’s mood can be summed up by his song “Hallelujah”. The track begins with a synthesized piano that leads to the harsh and grainy voice that is Leonard Cohen. The song begins slow and drags on as Cohen lags on his verses. However, the introduction of numerous background vocals for the chorus create a holy and heavenly feeling as they basically save the song from collapse. The chorus continues to become more prevalent in the song until the song reaches a climax and it is nothing but the chorus being sung. Despite the gruff, and in my opinion distracting, voice of Cohen, the melodies and background vocals are the savior of this track and work together with his voice to create a feeling of unpolished beauty for the song and album as a whole.

Despite how famous Cohen became because of his music, he claims that he never had the intention of becoming a musician. The story goes that in middle school he had a crush on a girl and decided that the best way to woo her was to serenade her with the guitar. Not knowing how to play the guitar was only a small bump in the road for him since it took him essentially no time to learn the basics. After realizing his talent, Cohen then created his own band called the Buckskin Boys that helped him make a few bucks while he was in college.

Besides being a musician in college, Cohen also managed to become a published poet with his collection Let Us Compare Mythologies. Shortly after his graduation, he then shipped off to the island Hydra where he hoped he’d be able to find adventure and time to write. The drugs and ridiculous amounts of drinking that took place on Hydra must have done good for his soul because he returned years later more skillful and eloquent with words than before.

Cohen’s skills with words allowed for him to become an excellent lyricist; a skill which was then used to create songs like “Night Comes On” on the album.

Now I look for her always, I’m lost in this calling

I’m tied to the threads of some prayer

Saying when will she summon me, when will she come to me

What must I do to prepare?

These lyrics create a narrative of a person craving death in order to be reunited with their loved one. The story that is told here is without a doubt depressing, but to mix these lyrics with Cohen’s voice makes the song only especially dreary. However, the poeticism of the verse, and all other lyrics on the album, combined with the beautiful piano melodies creates a song that comes off as raw and emotional; this being the reason I believe that his songs were so greatly admired.

Synthesizers had become a valuable tool in creating music since the early 60’s; however, Cohen had waited until this album to introduce it into his music. With the use of a synthesizer, he had found a way to make his music modern while still being distinctive for the time.

The incorporation of the synthesizer in Various Positions created tracks that stood out from others because of their significantly more upbeat tunes. An example of a happier song on the album is “Dance Me to the End of Love”.  The synthesized piano and a flute open the song and manage to create an extremely cheerful melody that carries on throughout the entire song. The background vocalists give the song another layer of happiness with their repetitive melody of “la”. These instrumentals combined with the background vocals create a ridiculously cheerful tune that even Cohen’s somber voice cannot bring down: an occurrence that happens only twice on the album.

Despite not being my cup of tea, Leonard Cohen’s trademarks are his raspy voice and emotional lyrics. In Various Positions, Cohen simply played off these qualities, by keeping with the moodiness in each track while incorporating upbeat tunes and new elements like the synthesized piano. Together, these arguably created Cohen’s most emotional and culminating album that has managed to stand the test of time and remain in the hearts of many to this day.

R.I.P Leonard Cohen

Wham! Make It Big

Wham! Make It Big Playlist

Click above to listen to the full album.

While reflecting on those that have passed away in the music industry, I found myself reminiscing greatly on George Michael. George Michael died on Christmas of 2016 and in his later years had been know for songs off of his album Faith, which released in 1987, or even from his album Listen Without Prejudice Volume 1, which had released in the 90s. However, many people seem to forget that some of George Michael's most popular songs, such as "Wake Me up Before You Go-Go" and "Careless Whisper", actually come from Wham!'s album Make It Big.

Back in 1981, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley had come together to form an English musical duo called Wham! after the breakup of their first band, The Executive. Together, the two made three distinct albums in the course of six years and managed to become one of the biggest Pop bands in the 80's from the release of their second album, Make It Big. Their coordinating looks, extravagant outfits, and hair lead them to become the total embodiment of the 80s and well as the heartthrobs of teen girls across the United States and United Kingdom.

So, without further delay, here is the album that kicked off George Michael's career and has made his memory endure.

"Wake Me up Before You Go-Go"

This is indubitably one of the biggest hits from this album. With it's consistently cheery beat and catchy lyrics, it is easy for anyone to revel in the song and get the chorus stuck in their head. The song begins by introducing the sounds of a funky keyboard and a deep voice and then counters it with the pulse of a tambourine. The introduction ultimately downplays what is to come in the song until the piano blares and the beat of the song picks up. The piano and tambourine continue to carry the song and allow it to build until the pause of instrumentation and addition of drums create a dramatic entry to the song's chorus. The song continues with this back and forth of building and lowering. While formulaic, this makes the song flow effortlessly and undeniably adds a sense of pleasance for anyone listening. A trumpet is introduced and carries on the tune until the chorus is brought back in and repeated to close out the song. A slow fade out prevents and abrupt ending in the song and supports the continuation of the song in any listener's head. This fun and lively song can surely lift anyone's spirit and create and intense desire to dance which must be the reason it became so widely known and loved in the 80s.

"Everything She Wants"

Yet again the funky keyboard is the star of the show. This song manages to maintain the upbeat tone of the album while bringing more weighty lyrics. The chorus of "Somebody tell me/Won't you tell me/Why I work so hard for you?/All to give you money" definitely struck a chord with some listeners and made the artists seem more relatable from the idea that they too had gone through relationship struggles. Despite not being the most popular from the album, this song should still not be overlooked on account of the groovy beats and melodies that it holds.

“Heartbeat”

I can't imagine this song being intended for anything other than an 80's middle school dance.  While still a catchy song, the intense keyboard introduction and swinging beat takes you back to the 80s, the only time that this song could have been considered cool and innovative. This track continues to take the album in a more serious direction by trimming down on the amount of exultant tones and introducing lyrics that more people could have connected with. In this case, the lyrics would have primarily connected with teens at the time who are dreaming of their perfect man thinking the same things this song was claiming: "You know that I long to be by your side/ We could even be together/ Tonight". Although this is not my favorite from the album, I can understand that there was definitely an audience for this particular type of song.

“Like A Baby”

I would have never expected such a song to be on this album. The track continues to slow down the pace of the album by being mostly instrumental. The easy pace of the keyboard and smooth tones of the guitar create an extremely calm and relaxing sound for this track. If something like this were constantly playing in the background of my everyday life, I wouldn't mind it.

“Freedom”

This song begins the revival of the cheerful and lively beats in this album. The keyboard and use of some form of brass instrument work together to create an amazing tune to bop to. Then, unlike most lyrics tend to do to the instrumentation in a song, the lyrics build upon the beat by creating a catchy bridge and chorus that you can't stop from singing along to. Despite the instrumentation and chorus of the song being great, the actual meaning of the lyrics make the song even better by actually making sense and having some meaning. The lyrics "I don't want nobody baby/ Part time love just brings me down/ I don't want your freedom/ Girl, all I want right now is you" would make any girl fall in love with whomever is singing to her. Having great music, lyrics, and being catchy would obviously make for any song to be a hit.

“If You Were There”

Continuing the cheerful incline in the album is the track "If You Were There". Despite there not being an extreme amount of variance in the instrumentals of this song, the vocals of George Michael gracefully maximizes and minimizes the intensity throughout the song. Again, this song had not been the most popular at the time; however, the effortless melody created by the keyboard, piano, and drums is extremely pleasant and once again could lift anyone's spirits.

“Credit Card Baby”

There is no other way to describe this song than cheery and bouncy. The point of this track is to tell of a relationship gone wrong. In this case, the girl is not as sweet as everyone perceives her and is constantly taking money from the singer. The lyrics "You can have my credit card baby/ But keep your red hot fingers off my heart lady" not only are somewhat satirical and amusing, but also create a rhythm that are too easy to sing along to and get stuck in your head. Despite not being one of the most talked about songs on the track, I can see how the lyrics and the wonderful beat of this song could have resonated with people at the time of the album's release.

“Careless Whisper”

The album then finishes off with this classic. After all of the energetic tunes from this album, this track takes a step back and focuses on the cadence that the keyboard and drums work together to create. This beautiful melody works together with the lyrics to build up to the introduction of the saxophone which creates a passionate tone. This chorus has become one of the most well known parts of this song. The smooth rhythm of the keyboard and drums are brought back and continue to carry you throughout the song until the chorus is again repeated. The singer's intensity gradually builds until the song finishes off with a fade. While generally simple, this song is the definition of sensual. I can only imagine how unique and interesting this song had been at the time of its release. Because of the individuality and identity that this song has, I believe that it will continue to be recognized and adored even as years pass.

While I can't imagine that this album would be nearly as successful today as it was back then, I do see how the amazing instrumentation and relatable lyrics allowed this album and the band Wham! to make it big, as their album name suggests. With classics like "Wake me up Before You Go-Go" and "Careless Whisper" as well as distinct tracks like "Everything She Wants" and "Credit Card Baby", this album made a name for itself at the time and will continue to be relevant and apart of music history for as long as I can see.

R.I.P George Michael