Leonard Cohen "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye"

'Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye,' Leonard Cohen
From 1968's 'Songs of Leonard Cohen'

By Adam Stevens

'Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye,' off [Leonard Cohen's] first album, is one of the most perfect songs ever written. His command of the English language and the delivery of that song is really one of the most perfect things I've ever heard. He epitomizes the argument for putting music -- songwriting -- into a literary category. And obviously he was a poet first, but the songs that he wrote were so perfect and so well-composed. The words that he chose seemed extremely conscious and thought out in a beautiful way.

I remember when I got that record. It was a pretty important period of my life, actually. I was 18. Maybe that's why it rang so true. It was sort of right after my first real girlfriend ripped my heart out and stomped all over it. That record definitely resurrected me in some ways, or just made me dig deeper into the depression. But that song itself really stood out for me and still does every time I hear it.

Adam Stephens is one-half of indie rock duo Two Gallants. Their third album, a self-titled effort, hits stores on Sept. 25.

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