Story of Isaac — 1969
Cohen’s story of the binding of Isaac is itself spellbinding. It’s one of only a few times he uses anything approaching an overtly narrative method. Yet that approach doesn’t restrict the acoustic telling: the song remains a mysterious centrepiece of Songs from a Room.
Last Year’s Man — 1971
This luminous little strum is about surviving a love triangle. The problem, Cohen once offered, “is that I’ve forgotten the actual triangle… of course, I always felt that there was an invisible male seducing the woman I was with, now whether this one was incarnate or merely imaginary I don’t remember...” How very fitting for one of the standout tracks from his Songs of Love and Hate.
[Missing Credit]
Avalanche — 1971
From the same long-player: a simple guitar chord, sustained and distended, is snapped off savagely by a whoosh of strings (supplied by Elton John’s orchestral arranger, of all people) before the artist’s rumbling meditation on the premature death of his father. If you don’t think this is one of his most muscular works, be prepared to argue the toss with Nick Cave.
Lover Lover Lover — 1974
Cohen’s first dispatch from the Sinai during the Yom Kippur war: a dreamy, desirous track scratched out in the corner of the military encampment where he stationed himself with the soldiers of the IDF (including a younger Ariel Sharon). The song would go on to anchor his most oriental-flavoured album, New Skin for the Old Ceremony.
Hallelujah — 1984
Yeah, it’s the accidental smash hit that first surfaced on Various Positions. The song went on to seemingly inspire every last American Idol finalist, barmitzvah candidate and drive-by mystic to take a crack at covering it. But none of that diminishes the glory of the “secret chord” Cohen created.
First We Take Manhattan — 1986
No, not the sombre original from I’m Your Man, but the rather more dynamic version by back-up vocalist Jennifer Warnes on her subsequent collection of Jenny-does-Lenny covers. Bonus points for a ridiculously sexy video on YouTube and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan’s ace guitar work.
[Missing Credit]
Closing Time — 1992
One of many wonderful end-of-the-world moments from The Future album, this has Cohen blending the Nashville sound of his first band, The Buckskin Boys, with the klezmer grooves his mother, Masha, first introduced him to as a kid.
Who By Fire (live) — 1994
Heavy, devastating lyrical ideas — as befits the Yom Kippur prayer that inspired the song — meet a soothing musical glow in this live performance. It’s a glow that would become the staple of his wildly popular late-career tours.
[Missing Credit]
The Great Event — 1997
A spoken-word vignette rather than a conventional song, this is one of the most eccentric pieces from the Cohen back-catalogue. It’s also a fascinatingly spooky glimpse into his mindset.
Recitation: A Thousand Kisses Deep — 2009
As dazzlingly captured on Live in London, this spoken poetry styling of one of the artist’s most lyrically naked love songs remains a career-capping highlight.
Almost Like the Blues — 2014
The bravest of Cohen’s late-period compositions, Almost Like the Blues turns world affairs into a catalogue threaded with sly humour. Electrifying, elliptical and exhilarating too, it moves along like a long evening, from the faint translucent gloaming to the inky cerulean black – a trajectory not unlike the performer’s own career.
[Missing Credit] 
[Missing Credit]