"First We Take Manhattan" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

. It was originally recorded by American singer

Jennifer Warnes Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter. She has performed as a vocalist on a number of film soundtracks. She has won two Grammy Awards, in 1983 for the Joe Cocker duet "Up Where We Belong" and in 1987 for ...

on her 1986 Cohen tribute album ''

Famous Blue Raincoat "Famous Blue Raincoat" is a song by Leonard Cohen. It is the sixth track on his third album, ''Songs of Love and Hate'', released in 1971. The song is written in the form of a letter (many of the lines are written in amphibrachs). The lyric tells ...

'', which consisted entirely of songs written or co-written by Cohen.

Meaning

The song's oblique lyrics are suggestive of religious and end time themes, with references to prayer, meaningful

birthmark A birthmark is a congenital, benign irregularity on the skin which is present at birth or appears shortly after birth—usually in the first month. They can occur anywhere on the skin. Birthmarks are caused by overgrowth of blood vessels, melanocy ...

s and signs in the sky. Writing for ''The Guardian'' in 2015, Ben Hewitt drew attention to the lyrics' apocalyptic nature, imagining Cohen "greedily eyeing

world domination World domination (also called global domination or world conquest or cosmocracy) is a hypothetical power structure, either achieved or aspired to, in which a single political authority holds the power over all or virtually all the inhabitants ...

like a Bond villain". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine's Mikal Gilmore similarly described the song as a threatening vision of "social collapse and a terrorist's revenge". ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''s Robert Sandall likewise observed the prophetic character of the song, but emphasized the song's political statement, placing it in the context of the last days of the Soviet Union. Cohen explained himself in a backstage interview at 1988: "I think it means exactly what it says. It is a terrorist song. I think it's a response to terrorism. There's something about terrorism that I've always admired. The fact that there are no alibis or no compromises. That position is always very attractive. I don't like it when it's manifested on the physical plane – I don't really enjoy the terrorist activities – but Psychic Terrorism. I remember there was a great poem by Irving Layton that I once read, I'll give you a paraphrase of it. It was 'well, you guys blow up an occasional airline and kill a few children here and there', he says. 'But our terrorists, Jesus, Freud, Marx, Einstein. The whole world is still quaking.'"

Jennifer Warnes version

Warnes' original recording is notable for the distinctive driving lead guitar played by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Producer

Roscoe Beck Charles Roscoe Beck is an American bassist with a reputation as "a solid bottom-liner". Beck has played with artists like Robben Ford, Eric Johnson, Leonard Cohen, and The Dixie Chicks. He is also a successful record producer with two Grammy ...

was from

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

and friends with Vaughan. In late February 1986, at the annual Grammy Awards in

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, Beck asked Vaughan to record the guitar for the song. In a 2007 interview, Beck recalls that Vaughan did not have his guitar or amp with him, and used one of Beck's old Strats instead. After working on a few technical problems, the finished recording was achieved after two or three takes. According to Jennifer Warnes' official site, Vaughan finished recording his takes at 4:00a.m.

Music video

The music video for Warnes' version of "First We Take Manhattan" was directed by Paula Walker. Filmed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, the video features Stevie Ray Vaughan playing his weathered "Number One" guitar (with its distinctive "SRV" logo) on the Brooklyn Bridge. Cohen also appears with Warnes in the video. The 20th anniversary edition of the music video contains a German intro about the

West Berlin discotheque bombing On 5 April 1986, three people were killed and 229 injured when ''La Belle'' discothèque was bombed in the Friedenau district of West Berlin. The entertainment venue was commonly frequented by United States soldiers, and two of the dead and 7 ...

.John Brunton (14 January 2009). . The album version of the song is 3:47 in length, whereas the single is 3:32 long. A promotional 12-inch single version, entitled "Jennifer Warnes — First We Take Manhattan, Radio Remix — featuring Stevie Ray Vaughan", contained extended and edited versions.

Personnel

* Vocals –

* Lead guitar – Stevie Ray Vaughan * Guitar –

Robben Ford Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, Rick Sprin ...

* Bass guitar –

* Drums –

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Cola ...

* Percussion – Lenny Castro * Synthesizer –

Russell Ferrante Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion band founded in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. History In 1977, guitarist Robben Ford, for his first solo album, recruited keyboardist Russell Ferrante, electric bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Ri ...

* Synthesizer programmed by –

Gary Chang Gary Chang is an American composer of scores for film and television. Working primarily in the action and thriller genres, he has composed the scores to over seventy films, including '' Under Siege, Sniper'', and '' The Island of Dr. Moreau.'' He ...

Leonard Cohen version

Leonard Cohen's own quasi- synth-pop version of "First We Take Manhattan" (with additional verses) was released in 1988 as the first track on his album '' I'm Your Man''. Cohen's then-girlfriend, Dominique Issermann, shot a black and white promotional video for Cohen's version of the track. On his 1988 tour, instead of the original, Euro-disco-influenced arrangement of his studio version, Cohen introduced the new, funk-influenced arrangement, suggested by his backing singers

Perla Batalla Perla Batalla (born 1964) is an American vocalist, composer and arranger who first gained international attention as a backup singer for Leonard Cohen before embarking on a solo career at his encouragement. Her debut album, ''Perla Batalla'', ...

and

Julie Christensen Julie Christensen (born January 21, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter. Noted for its versatility, Christensen's music has been praised by critics. As a solo artist, Christensen has released five albums, and in January 2016 released the ...

. He continued to perform the song this way in 1993, 2008 and 2009 tours. Cohen's studio recording plays over the closing credits of the 2009 film ''

Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is an American comic book maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-vo ...

''.

Personnel

Jeff Fisher Jeffrey Michael Fisher (born February 25, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach and general manager for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL). He is a former cornerback and return specialist. He ...

– arranger and performer *

– vocals and production * Anjani – vocals * Peter Kisilenko – Bass

Other cover versions

The song has been covered dozens of times. Most notably,

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

contributed a cover for the Cohen

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

'' I'm Your Fan'' (1991). Their presence on the compilation led to a re-arranging of the ''I'm Your Fan'' track list. In the US release of the tribute, R.E.M.'s cover appeared as the first track, rather than House of Love's "Who by Fire" which was the starting track in all other countries. The song also appeared as a B-side on some versions of the single " Drive". Joe Cocker covered "First We Take Manhattan" on his 1999 album '' No Ordinary World''.

Charts

Jennifer Warnes version

R.E.M. version

References

{{authority control 1987 singles 1987 songs 1988 singles Ariola Records singles Black-and-white music videos Columbia Records singles Jennifer Warnes songs Joe Cocker songs Leonard Cohen songs R.E.M. songs Songs about New York City Songs written by Leonard Cohen Warren Zevon songs Works about terrorism