Classic Album Review : Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man (1988)
We’re finally here. The moment that made Leonard Cohen who he is and who he’ll forever remain in collective consciousness: the world-weary crooner who can look cool while eating a goddamn banana. I’m Your Man is the most important and enduring album of Leonard Cohen’s career. I have no intent to debate or disprove that. There is no controversial take to possibly have on I’m Your Man. I’m just here to tell you how fucking awesome it is.
There are eight songs on I’m Your Man and six are considered Leonard Cohen classics. The idiosyncratic and oddly danceable opener First We Take Manhattan is carried by the power of its political statement. It doesn’t matter if the keyboard aged weird, lines like: “you loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win” and “I don’t like your fashion business mister/And I don’t like these drugs that keep you thin” surf effortlessly on the melody.
First We Take Manhattan is immortal, but it’s only the first song. By far, not the best on the record. I’m Your Man is really the moment in Leonard Cohen’s career where he learned to tell his stories on melodies that had their own legs. There’s a level of trust between his production team and him that borderlines symbiosis, which you can best hear on First We Take Manhattan in these gorgeous duets with backup singer Jennifer Warnes. Their chemistry is intoxicating.
Another staple of I’m Your Man is the song Everybody Knows, which many people (myself included) discovered because of the soundtrack for the movie Pump Up The Volume. It’s another politically loaded song, where Leonard Cohen takes position against the cut-throat nature of modern living on an obsessive keyboard loop. That’s one thing that makes I’m Your Man stand out: it’s both aggressively political and aggressively commercial.
That’s a thing with Leonard Cohen. He more or less always had the substance, but on I’m Your Man he really nails the format. He breaks free from the shackles of lyrics-first folk. The title song is another classic that both transcend its era and melody. It tells the story of a man who’s filled with such desire and love that he’s ready to do anything for the woman he longs for. It’s a song that’s as popular in karaoke that it is in wedding. It’s sexy and emotionally committed.
It’s not the type of song you sing to someone you only kind of like.
Ain’t No Cure For Love and the musical rendition of Frederico Garcia Lorca’s poem Take This Waltz are considered “B-level classics” on I’m Your Man. They are great on their own, but slightly clash with the otherwise darker nature of the record. Especially the latter, which features luscious, anachronistic saxophones. Why did anyone thought it was a good idea to include sax in popular music? But once again the lyrics carry it through.
But the most important cultural monolith on I’m Your Man is, I believe, the closer Tower of Song. A fan favorite that is both oddly intimate and that has relatable lines like: “my friends are gone and my hair is grey/I ache in all the places where I used to play”. It exudes a serenity and a playfulness that transcends the human condition. There’s no other song that I know of where an artist looks back on his legacy and immortality with such humility.
Instead of pondering the weight of his words and his relationship to his adoring audience, Cohen sings about shacking up with Hank Williams and his enduring passion for his craft going way beyond the grave. That speaks volumes about the man’s character. The delicate Casio keyboard melody that runs almost like an afterthought is such a delicate detail that makes Tower of Song more than the some of its pieces.
It’s like a discreet an friendly wink that sets the tone.
The only criticism I can have towards I’m Your Man is that is constantly shifts between warm and inspiring love songs and world-weary political statements, but the overall quality of songs is so high it doesn’t warrant real negativity. It’s just hits after hits after hits. There are forgettable songs like Jazz Police on it too, but they don’t really exist. They have been properly forgotten and I’m Your Man is properly celebrated for the many immortals it gave us.
I’m Your Man is fucking awesome and it deserves to live forever.
9.3/10
