The Night of Santiago

Album: Thanks for the Dance (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "'Night of Santiago' was originally a poem penned by Leonard Cohen, which he based on Federico Garcia Llorca's 1928 Spanish poem "La Casada Infiel." His producer/son Adam recalled to Apple Music: "I'd heard it under construction for years, on the front lawn or while we were having coffee or dinner, and I'd always begged him to attempt to write music to it. In a weakened state, he said, 'Look, I'll just recite the poem to a certain tempo and you go ahead and you write the music and try to tell the story."
  • Adam Cohen recorded part of the song in Los Angeles, where he ran into Beck. Engineer and musician Michael Chaves recalled to Uncut magazine: "They got talking, he came down to listen to what we were up to. He had a couple of ideas for The Night of Santiago and put them down, a nice beautiful acoustic part and some Jew's harp, which was very dear to Leonard in the old days."
  • The Jew's harp is a musical instrument consisting of an iron frame, held in the teeth, which has a steel strip twanged with the fingers. Different notes are obtained by changing the shape of the mouth. Other songs that feature a Jew's harp include:

    "Join Together" by The Who

    "Give It Away" by Red Hot Chili Peppers

    "Potholes in My Lawn" by De La Soul.
  • The song was partly recorded in Spain. Spanish guitarist Javier Mas, who accompanied Leonard Cohen on stage for his last eight years of touring, helps give it that flamenco twist.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Christmas Songs

Christmas SongsFact or Fiction

Rudolf, Bob Dylan and the Singing Dogs all show up in this Fact or Fiction for seasonal favorites.

Dean Pitchford

Dean PitchfordSongwriter Interviews

Dean wrote the screenplay and lyrics to all the songs in Footloose. His other hits include "Fame" and "All The Man That I Need."

Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike + The Mechanics)

Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike + The Mechanics)Songwriter Interviews

Mike Rutherford talks about the "Silent Running" storyline and "Land Of Confusion" in the age of Trump.

Director Nick Morris ("The Final Countdown")

Director Nick Morris ("The Final Countdown")Song Writing

Nick made some of the biggest videos on MTV, including "The Final Countdown," "Heaven" and "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)."

Steve Morse of Deep Purple

Steve Morse of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple's guitarist since 1994, Steve talks about writing songs with the band and how he puts his own spin on "Smoke On The Water."

Movie Stars In Music Videos

Movie Stars In Music VideosSong Writing

Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Mila Kunis and John Malkovich are just a few of the film stars who have moonlighted in music videos.