"Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" is a song by

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 first released in November 1967, in a version by

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

on her album '' Wildflowers''."Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye", ''Secondhand Songs''
Retrieved 2 December 2016 The following month, Cohen's own version was issued on his debut album ''

Songs of Leonard Cohen ''Songs of Leonard Cohen'' is the debut album by Canadian folk singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released on December 27, 1967, on Columbia Records. Less successful in the US than in Europe, ''Songs of Leonard Cohen'' foreshadowed the kind of cha ...

''. Cohen wrote the song when staying at the Penn Terminal Hotel on 34th Street in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1966. He wrote:

The room is too hot. I can't open the windows. I am in the midst of a bitter quarrel with a blonde woman. The song is half-written in pencil but it protects us as we manoeuvre, each of us, for unconditional victory. I am in the wrong room. I am with the wrong woman.

It was covered in 1969 by

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the Billboard Magazine, ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like M ...

on her debut album '' First Take'', and has been recorded by many other singers, notably

Lianne La Havas Lianne Charlotte Barnes (born 23 August 1989), known professionally as Lianne La Havas ( ), is a British singer-songwriter and record producer. Her career began after being introduced to various musicians, including singer Paloma Faith, for who ...

, also the Vogues on their last album together in 1970. Feist,

Ariel Engle Ariel Engle is a Canadian indie pop singer and songwriter who records and performs as a solo artist and with Broken Social Scene. Ben Rayner, "Broken Social Scene put it back together for Hug of Thunder". ''Toronto Star'', July 5, 2017. Engle fir ...

and

Daniela Gesundheit Daniela Gesundheit (born 15 April 1982) is a singer, songwriter, musician, composer, lyricist, and Cantor living between Los Angeles, California and Toronto, Ontario. Daniela Gesundheit holds a BA in music from Wesleyan University, where she focus ...

performed the song at the 2017 '' Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen'' concert"Watch Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen on Wednesday, January 3 on CBC"

CBC Arts CBC Arts (french: Radio-Canada Arts) is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's div ...

, December 29, 2017.

References

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