Leonard Cohen On Track: Every Album, Every Song Paperback – 20 Jun. 2025 (and Kindle)

Posted on by Opher

My latest tome in the Sonicbond On Track series is now due for release on 20th June!

I’m a little disappointed! It was due for release on my birthday (30th May) but for some reason the publishers put the release back a few weeks! Never mind!

Everything you ever wanted to know about Leonard Cohen and every single track he recorded!

Leonard Cohen On Track: Every Album, Every Song: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781789523591: Books

Other books I have written in this series:

Roy Harper

Bob Dylan

Captain Beefheart

Neil Young

Phil Ochs

Can be found here:

Amazon.co.uk : opher goodwin

Along with the two I have written in the classic album series:

Beatles White Album

Bob Dylan Bringing It All Back Home

Other books include:

Nick Harper – The Wilderness Years

The Blues Muse

In Search Of Captain Beefheart

Rock Routes

Opher’s World Tributes to Rock Geniuses

537 Essential Rock Albums – Pt. 1 The first 270 

and many more!!

PS – My Ian Dury book is down for release later in the year!

New Leonard Cohen book – Puppets

Posted on by Opher

Well, that’s it! I have just completed the final read through. It is sitting on my computer ready to send back to the publishers. All the work has been completed.

I am just taking a breath. Reflecting.

As I was reading through the track Puppets stood out. You might have noticed that I am none too fond of the MAGA cult and Trump. Leonard’s song/poem Puppets seem to sum up my sentiments. Too many people throughout history have allowed themselves to become beguiled and used by cynical fascist leaders. I think Trump is one of them – a cynical, self-serving, lying fascist. I thought I’d share that with you.

Hope you like the extract! Let me know your thoughts.

All the best

Opher

‘Puppets’ (Leonard Cohen, Adam Cohen)

In what is arguably the most important track on the album, the old teacher belies the words of the previous track and proves, through a series of 13 rhyming couplets, that he still has plenty to teach us. The ominous blows of the music, coupled with the surging of the choirs, create a dramatic backdrop.

   He reminds us that we are all puppets. Someone, or some divine force, pulls our strings. Every fascist tyrant and every charismatic totalitarian leader needs an army of goons to carry out their orders. From the terrible racist horror of the holocaust to Stalin, Pol Pot and Mao’s purges, leaders turn their followers into mindless puppets to carry out their will. But Leonard chooses a larger landscape than this. We are helpless puppets in the face of the forces of nature and the forces of time; even the mightiest is burnt to ashes. But what comes across so strongly to me is that same message that the anti-Nazi pastor Martin Niemöller so elegantly expounded in his powerful ‘First they came for the communists….’piece of prose. We cannot do anything about age and the forces of nature, but we can prevent ourselves from being used as puppets by tyrants. As Leonard so explicit says in the lyrics we do not have to turn our backs, shake our heads and take our puppet wives to bed. The future tyrants are at work.

   The poem first appeared in 2006’s The Book Of Longing; the words are brought to lifeby Leonard’s clear annunciation, packed with emotion and inflection, coupled with Adam’s sympathetic production. The use of the Shaar Hashomayim choir and Cantus Domus from Berlin adds a very poignant aspect with regard to the Holocaust. The Jewish choir brought a liturgical element and the way that was combined with the German choir reflected a great reconciliation. It also added great drama. As Adam reported in a Guardian interview: ‘Germans and Jews singing together as if in a classical Greek play’.

Leonard Cohen – Puppets (Official Video) – YouTube

A Glimpse at the Leonard Cohen book

Posted on by Opher

I have carried out the final edit on the Phil Ochs book and that is winging its way to coming out shortly. The publisher has it down for the end of this month!

I am putting the finishing touches to the Leonard Cohen book. That has a lot of work but has really gone well. I thought I might share the piece I have just been working on. What do you think??

Nevermind (Leonard Cohen, Patrick Leonard)

This first came to light as a poem on his website in 2005 and was released in 2006 in his Book Of Longing.

   Another Patrick Leonard collaboration. Leonard sings it in a husky drawl over an ominous computerised bubbling synth with a heavy beat and a bassline. The aftermath of 9/11 hangs over this one with Leonard more conflicted than ever. He deplores the violence but can see the reasoning behind it. He’s no lover of many aspects of American culture. The Middle-East flavour is accentuated by the two Arabic bursts of singing from Donna Delory.

   When we are young and idealistic the world is black and white and taking sides is easy. Looking back at past actions and stances can sometimes seem uncomfortable. We missed the nuance. Remember, Leonard went off to fight in the Yom Kippur War. As he told The Daily Telegraph in 2014: ‘There comes a point, I think, as you get a little older, you feel that nothing represents you. You can see the value of many positions, even positions that are in savage conflict with one another. You can locate components on both sides that resonate within you.’ Sometimes you have to take stock, re-evaluate and change position. Things can look different with distance. There is deliberate deception.

   There is bitterness in the lyrics: ‘This was your heart, this swarm of flies. This was once your mouth, this bowl of lies. You serve them well – I’m not surprised. You’re of their kin, you’re of their kind. Never mind, never mind. I had to leave my life behind. The story’s told with facts & lies. You own the world, so never mind.’ Leonard reflects on the way the powerful spread their propaganda, sow their lies. We have to pick our way through it. He reflects on the way some things are of vital importance to some but are meaningless to others. As the song progresses Charlean Carmon and a synthesiser provides some light relief and as we approach the last verse there is the addition of eastern percussion and Charlean dueting the chorus. All incredibly effective. Leonard no longer knows what to believe he just gets on with his life. You can’t nail him down. Ultimately nothing matters. Besides he’s a different person now.

   The final words, written in Arabic, are about peace and reconciliation.

New Book Contract with SonicBond Press – Leonard Cohen.

Posted on by Opher

My relationship with SonicBond Press goes from strength to strength. I now have seven books either released or scheduled. The eighth has just been agreed. I am going to write a volume on Leonard Cohen – another of my heroes.

What a privilege to be able to write about the musicians I love!

Search – opher (burningshed.com)

Roy Harper Roy Harper: Every Album, Every Song (On Track): Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789521306: Books

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan 1962 to 1970 On Track (Decades) : Opher Goodwin: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Bob Dylan Bringing It All Back Home: Rock Classics: Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789523140: Books

Captain Beefheart – Captain Beefheart On Track: Every Album, Every Song : Opher Goodwin: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Beatles The Beatles: White Album – Rock Classics: Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789523331: Books

Phil Ochs Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song: Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789523263: Books

Neil Young Neil Young 1963 to 1970: Every Album, Every Song (On Track…): Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789522983: Books

I have written a number of other books on Rock Music. Including the one I worked on with the great Nick Harper:

Nick Harper: The Wilderness Years: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9798815185630: Books

Anyway – thank you for all the glowing reviews and ratings. They make my day!

Here’s yesterday’s start on the Leonard Cohen book! So keen to get my teeth into it!!

Introduction

Back in the heady days of 1967/1968 the Underground was at its peak. The music scene had exploded into a vast array of genres and styles – folk, country, psychedelic, jazz fusion, heavy metal, acid rock, prog rock, soul, electronic, avant garde, experimental, blues, r&b, Indian, reggae, ethnic, brass and strings all competed for the ears of the discerning. Music was serious stuff, the expression of a generation, the voice of the sixties revolution. Everything was mixed up in some glorious musical goulash. The festivals were garnished with the spice of diversity. A solo singer songwriter like Roy Harper might sit next to a psychedelic band like Pink Floyd, followed by the heavy guitar of Jimi Hendrix, blues of Pete Green’s Fleetwood Mac, stringed pieces of the Third Ear Band and mad capers of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. All part of the rich collage of sound and wide open minds of the audience. Back then we were tribal but unified, open-minded and receptive, always on the lookout for something new.

   In 1968 the music industry was homing in on the burgeoning underground scene. CBS, like other labels, was trying to break into this lucrative new market. They came up with a snazzy ploy. They released a cut-price sampler album to highlight their latest acquisitions. These new underground acts were hoping to break through. They put a track from each of the acts together on one album, called it The Rock Machine Turns You On, and put it out for 14 shillings and eleven pence – 75p.

Apart from well-established acts like Bob Dylan, Byrds and Simon & Garfunkel, it featured a number of new acts. We were introduced to the wonders of Roy Harper, Taj Mahal, Tim Rose, Moby Grape, Spirit, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Electric Flag and Blood Sweat and Tears. An intriguing glimpse. I purchased a number of albums on the basis of those tantalising tracks.

One of the stand-out tracks was Leonard Cohen’s ‘Sisters OF Mercy’. I found myself instantly drawn to the number. Everything about it was different. The arrangement sounded simple and yet was not even in the style of the new contemporary folk. The vocal was rich, full of melancholy and felt ‘worldly’ and detached. Then there were the lyrics – poetic and enigmatic. Leonard was painting a story but it was an intriguing unique story that sucked me in. I already had a few of the albums highlighted, the Roy Harper, Byrds, Simon and Garfunkel and Tim Rose. My first port of call was to purchase that Cohen album –The Songs of Leonard Cohen. That was it the start of a lifetime’s enthralling enjoyment.