It Seemed the Better Way

Album: You Want It Darker (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This heavily spiritual song finds Leonard Cohen grappling with the issues of faith and belief. Cohen described the lyrical content in press materials as, "The feeling of a prayer that's been there forever, but the spiritual comforts of the past no longer available."
  • The song features Cantor Gideon Zelermyer and the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue Choir, who also appear on the album's title track. They are the current male choir of the Montreal synagogue that Cohen attended as a child.

    Asked about the significance of the cantor's involvement, Cohen commented during an album Q&A: "I've never thought of myself as a religious person. I don't have any spiritual strategy, I kind of limp along, like so many of us do in these realms."
  • Cohen had already been thinking about a male choir when his son Adam, who produced the record suggested it. "Our light bulbs lit up at the same time," Cohen recalled to Macleans. "I always wanted to work with these singers. I had been playing a lot a cantorial music, wondering how to fit it in."
  • The weeping violin is played by Nashville-based session violinist David Davidson.
  • An early version of the lyrics appeared online in 2003.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Queen

QueenFact or Fiction

Scaramouch, a hoople and a superhero soundtrack - see if you can spot the real Queen stories.

Matt Sorum

Matt SorumSongwriter Interviews

When he joined Guns N' Roses in 1990, Matt helped them craft an orchestral sound; his mezzo fortes and pianissimos are all over "November Rain."

Kristian Bush of Sugarland

Kristian Bush of SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.

Annie Haslam of Renaissance

Annie Haslam of RenaissanceSongwriter Interviews

The 5-octave voice of the classical rock band Renaissance, Annie is big on creative expression. In this talk, she covers Roy Wood, the history of the band, and where all the money went in the '70s.