| "First We Take Manhattan" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byJennifer Warnes | ||||
| from the albumFamous Blue Raincoat | ||||
| B-side | "Famous Blue Raincoat" | |||
| Released | 1987 | |||
| Recorded | Spring 1986 | |||
| Genre | Folk rock | |||
| Length | 3:32 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter | Leonard Cohen | |||
| Producers |
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| Jennifer Warnes singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "First We Take Manhattan" onYouTube | ||||
"First We Take Manhattan" is a song written by Canadianfolk singer and songwriterLeonard Cohen. It was originally recorded by American singerJennifer Warnes on her sixth studio albumFamous Blue Raincoat (1986), a tribute to Cohen which consisted entirely of songs written or co-written by Cohen.
The song's oblique lyrics are suggestive of religious andend time themes, with references to prayer, meaningfulbirthmarks and signs in the sky. Writing forThe Guardian in 2015, Ben Hewitt drew attention to the lyrics' apocalyptic nature, imagining Cohen "greedily eyeingworld domination like aBond villain".[1]Rolling Stone magazine's Mikal Gilmore similarly described the song as a threatening vision of "social collapse and a terrorist's revenge".[2]The Daily Telegraph's Robert Sandall likewise observed the prophetic character of the song, but emphasized the song's political statement, placing it in the context ofthe last days of the Soviet Union.[3]
Cohen explained himself in a 1988 backstage interview:[4] "I think it means exactly what it says. It is aterrorist song. I think it's a response to terrorism. There's something about terrorism that I've always admired. The fact that there are noalibis 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 byIrving 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.'"
Cohen may have been referring to thisstanza from "The Search" by Irving Layton.[5]
Warnes' original recording is notable for the distinctive driving lead guitar played byStevie Ray Vaughan. ProducerRoscoe Beck was fromAustin, Texas and friends with Vaughan. In late February 1986, at the annualGrammy Awards inLos Angeles,California, 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 oldStratocasters instead. After working on a few technical problems, the finished recording was achieved after two or three takes.[6] According to Jennifer Warnes' official site, Vaughan finished recording his takes at 4:00 a.m.[7]
The music video for Warnes' version of "First We Take Manhattan" was directed by Paula Walker. Filmed inNew York City, the video featuresStevie Ray Vaughan playing his weathered "Number One" guitar (with its distinctive "SRV" logo) on theBrooklyn Bridge. Cohen also appears with Warnes in the video. The 20th anniversary edition of the music video contains a German intro about theWest Berlin discotheque bombing.[8]
The album version of the song is 3:47 in length, whereas the single is 3:32 long. A promotionaltwelve-inch single version, entitled "Jennifer Warnes — First We Take Manhattan, Radio Remix — featuring Stevie Ray Vaughan", contained extended and edited versions.
| "First We Take Manhattan" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byLeonard Cohen | ||||
| from the albumI'm Your Man | ||||
| Released | February 1988 | |||
| Recorded | 1987 | |||
| Genre | Synth-pop | |||
| Length | 5:56 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter | Leonard Cohen | |||
| Producer | Leonard Cohen | |||
| Leonard Cohen singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "First We Take Manhattan" onYouTube | ||||
Leonard Cohen's ownsynth-pop[9] version of "First We Take Manhattan" (with additional verses) was released in February 1988 as the first track on his eighth studio albumI'm Your Man. Cohen's then-girlfriend,Dominique Issermann, shot ablack and white promotional video for Cohen's version of the track.
On his 1988 tour, instead of the original,Eurodisco-influenced arrangement of his studio version, Cohen introduced the new,funk-influenced arrangement, suggested by his backing vocalistsPerla Batalla andJulie Christensen. 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 superhero filmWatchmen (2009).
The song has been covered dozens of times. Most notably,alternative rock bandR.E.M. contributed a cover version for the Cohentribute albumI'm Your Fan (1991). Their presence on the compilation led to a re-arranging of theI'm Your Fan track list. In the U.S. release of the tribute, R.E.M.'s cover appeared as the first track, rather thanthe House of Love's "Who by Fire" which was the starting track in all other countries. The song also appeared as aB-side on some versions of the single "Drive."Warren Zevon covered the song throughout the 1992 during his tour withOdds; with later posthumous digital archive releases of concert recordings from the tour quoting the song's lyrics for their titles as "The Monkey and the Plywood Violin (Live 1992)" recorded inBoulder, Colorado released in 2021, and "Moving Through The Station (Live Cleveland '92)" recorded inCleveland, Ohio which was released in 2022.[10][11][12]
English singerJoe Cocker covered "First We Take Manhattan" on his seventeenth studio albumNo Ordinary World (1999).
| Chart (1987) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[13] | 32 |
| Canadian Hot 100 | 43 |
| Canadian Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 6 |
| Italy Airplay (Music & Media)[14] | 11 |
| UK singles chart[15] | 74 |
| USBillboardHot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 29 |
| Chart (1992) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USBillboardModern Rock Tracks[16] | 11 |
