You Want It Darker

You Want It Darker
You Want It Darker
Studio album by Leonard Cohen
Released	October 21, 2016
Recorded	April 2015 – July 2016
Studio	Leonard Cohen's house in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles
Genre	Folk rock
Length	36:07
Label	Columbia
Producer	Adam Cohen; Patrick Leonard;
Leonard Cohen chronology
Singles from You Want It Darker
	"You Want It Darker"; Released: September 21, 2016; "Traveling Light"; Released: February 23, 2017;

You Want It Darker is the fourteenth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released on October 21, 2016, by Columbia Records, 17 days before Cohen's death.^[1]^[2] The album was created at the end of his life and focuses on death, God, and humor. It was released to critical acclaim. The title track was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance in January 2018. It was Cohen's last album released during his lifetime and was followed by the posthumous album Thanks for the Dance in November 2019.

Background

After touring extensively between 2008 and 2013, Leonard Cohen began to suffer "multiple fractures of the spine" among other physical problems, according to his son Adam Cohen.^[3] Due to Leonard Cohen's mobility issues, You Want It Darker was recorded in the living room of his home in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles and then sent by e-mail to his musical collaborators.^[4]

Cohen has said his condition helped him eliminate any distractions during the recording of the album: "In a certain sense, this particular predicament is filled with many fewer distractions than other times in my life and actually enables me to work with a little more concentration and continuity than when I had duties of making a living, being a husband, being a father".^[4] Despite his medical condition, Adam Cohen said that "occasionally, in bouts of joy, he would even, through his pain, stand up in front of the speakers, and we'd repeat a song over and over like teenagers".^[3]

Music

Musically, the album is "a little bit more sparse and acoustic" compared to his recent albums, according to Adam Cohen. Blues dominates the album.^[3]^[5] Due to the fact that Cohen's Jewish faith was important to him, he invited Cantor Gideon Zelermyer and Shaar Hashomayim Choir, from his childhood synagogue in Quebec to join him on the album.^[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.8/10^[7]
Metacritic	92/100^[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[9]
The A.V. Club	B+^[10]
Chicago Tribune	^[11]
The Daily Telegraph	^[12]
Entertainment Weekly	A−^[13]
The Guardian	^[14]
The Independent	^[15]
Pitchfork	8.5/10^[16]
Rolling Stone	^[17]
Vice (Expert Witness)	A−^[18]

You Want It Darker received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 92, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 28 reviews.

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Year	Rank
The A.V. Club	The A.V. Club's Top 50 Albums of 2016	2016	11^[19]
The Independent	Best Albums of 2016	2016	3^[20]
Mojo	The 50 Best Albums of 2016	2016	5^[21]
Paste	The 50 Best Albums of 2016	2016	17^[22]
Pitchfork	The 50 Best Albums of 2016	2016	17^[23]
Pitchfork	The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s	2019	118^[24]
Rolling Stone	50 Best Albums of 2016	2016	9^[25]
Stereogum	The 50 Best Albums of 2016	2016	34^[26]
The Wire	Top 50 Releases of the Year	2016	22^[27]

Commercial performance

In Canada, You Want It Darker debuted atop the album charts, with 19,400 in traditional sales and a total of 20,000 units.^[28] The album occupied the top position for three consecutive weeks and sold 106,000 units by the end of the year in Canada.^[29] In the United States, You Want It Darker debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 with 25,000 units, 24,000 of which were pure album sales.^[30] It is Cohen's second American top 10 album.^[30] In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number four on the UK Albums Chart, selling 20,330 copies in its first week and becoming Leonard Cohen's fifth top 10 album in the UK.^[31] The album reached No. 1 on the Flemish Albums Chart and stayed there for 7 weeks.^[32]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Leonard Cohen.

No.	Title	Music	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"You Want It Darker"	Patrick Leonard	Adam Cohen	4:44
2.	"Treaty"	L. Cohen	Leonard	4:02
3.	"On the Level"	Sharon Robinson	A. Cohen	3:27
4.	"Leaving the Table"	L. Cohen	A. Cohen	3:47
5.	"If I Didn't Have Your Love"	Leonard	Leonard	3:35
6.	"Traveling Light"	Leonard A. Cohen	A. Cohen	4:22
7.	"It Seemed the Better Way"	Leonard	A. Cohen	4:21
8.	"Steer Your Way"	L. Cohen	A. Cohen	4:23
9.	"String Reprise / Treaty"	L. Cohen	Leonard	3:26
Total length:				36:09

Personnel

Leonard Cohen – vocals
Athena Andreadis – background vocals on "Traveling Light"
Bill Bottrell – electric guitar, pedal steel guitar
Michael Chaves – keyboards, bass guitar, drum programming
Adam Cohen – classical guitar
Dana Glover – background vocals on "On the Level" and "Steer Your Way"
Alison Krauss – background vocals on "Steer Your Way"
Patrick Leonard – keyboards, organ, piano, bass synthesizer, bass guitar, percussion, drum programming
Howard Bilerman – engineer on "You Want It Darker" and "It Seemed the Better Way"
Rob Humphreys – drums
Brian MacLeod – drums
Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue Choir (Roï Azoulay, Director; Cantor Gideon Zelermyer, vocal soloist)
Zac Rae – guitar, classical guitar, mandolin, keyboards, Mellotron, celesta, piano, Wurlitzer, floor tom, octophone

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[33]	2
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[34]	1
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[35]	1
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[36]	1
Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[37]	1
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)^[38]	1
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)^[39]	1
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[40]	1
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)^[41]	7
French Albums (SNEP)^[42]	3
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[43]	2
Greek Albums (IFPI Greece)^[44]	12
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)^[45]	5
Irish Albums (IRMA)^[46]	1
Italian Albums (FIMI)^[47]	8
Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[48]	242
South Korean Albums (Circle)^[49]	87
South Korean International Albums (Circle)^[50]	12
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[51]	1
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[52]	1
Polish Albums (ZPAV)^[53]	1
Portuguese Albums (AFP)^[54]	1
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[55]	4
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[56]	3
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[57]	1
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[58]	2
Taiwanese Albums (Five Music)^[59]	14
UK Albums (OCC)^[60]	4
US Billboard 200^[61]	7
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)^[62]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2016)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[63]	42
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[64]	7
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[65]	4
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[66]	26
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)^[67]	37
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)^[68]	9
French Albums (SNEP)^[69]	46
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[70]	22
Icelandic Albums (Plötutíóindi)^[71]	35
Italian Albums (FIMI)^[72]	88
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[73]	20
Polish Albums (ZPAV)^[74]	5
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[75]	29
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[76]	30
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[77]	9
UK Albums (OCC)^[78]	53
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)^[79]	75
Chart (2017)	Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[80]	16
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[81]	86
Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[82]	17
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)^[83]	60
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[84]	69
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[85]	34
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)^[86]	44
Chart (2019)	Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[87]	151

Certifications

Certifications for *You Want It Darker*
Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)^[88]	Gold	35,000^{^}
Austria (IFPI Austria)^[89]	Platinum	15,000^*
Belgium (BRMA)^[90]	Platinum	30,000^*
Canada (Music Canada)^[91]	Platinum	80,000^‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)^[92]	Platinum	20,000^‡
France (SNEP)^[93]	Platinum	100,000^‡
Germany (BVMI)^[94]	Platinum	200,000^‡
Hungary (MAHASZ)^[95]	Gold	1,000^{^}
New Zealand (RMNZ)^[96]	Gold	7,500^‡
Poland (ZPAV)^[97]	3× Platinum	60,000^‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)^[98]	Gold	20,000^‡
Sweden (GLF)^[99]	Gold	20,000^‡
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)^[100]	Platinum	20,000^{^}
United Kingdom (BPI)^[102]	Gold	153,460^[101]
Summaries
Worldwide	—	1,100,000^[103]
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone. ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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External links

Official website

[1] Monroe, Jazz (August 12, 2016). "Leonard Cohen Announces New Album You Want It Darker". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 16, 2016.

[2] "LEONARD COHEN'S YOU WANT IT DARKER IN STORES OCTOBER 21". Columbia Records. September 21, 2016. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.

[Greene-3] "Inside Leonard Cohen's Late-Career Triumph 'You Want It Darker'". rollingstone.com. Retrieved January 14, 2017.

[Remnick-4] "Leonard Cohen Makes It Darker". newyorker.com. Retrieved January 14, 2017.

[5] "Review: Leonard Cohen's 'You Want It Darker' Possibly His Darkest LP Yet". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2017-12-01.

[6] "CANADA: You Want It Darker - Leonard Cohen". 200worldalbums.com. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2023.

[adm-7] "You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved May 29, 2018.

[8] "Reviews for You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen". Metacritic. Retrieved October 20, 2016.

[9] Jurek, Thom. "You Want It Darker – Leonard Cohen". AllMusic. Retrieved October 21, 2016.

[10] Zaleski, Annie (October 21, 2016). "Leonard Cohen examines his life and details his laments on You Want It Darker". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 21, 2016.

[11] Kot, Greg (October 28, 2016). "Leonard Cohen finds path through darkness on latest album". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 18, 2016.

[12] McCormick, Neil (October 18, 2016). "Leonard Cohen's You Want It Darker is a bleak masterpiece – review". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved October 21, 2016.

[13] Greenblatt, Leah (October 14, 2016). "Leonard Cohen's 'You Want It Darker': EW Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.

[14] Petridis, Alexis (October 20, 2016). "Leonard Cohen: You Want It Darker review – still changing, still full of life". The Guardian. London. Retrieved October 21, 2016.

[15] Gill, Andy (October 19, 2016). "Album reviews: Lady Gaga, Leonard Cohen, Pretenders and more". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 2022-05-07. Retrieved October 21, 2016.

[16] Anderson, Stacey (October 24, 2016). "Leonard Cohen: You Want It Darker". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 13, 2016.

[17] Hermes, Will (October 21, 2016). "Review: Leonard Cohen's 'You Want It Darker' Possibly His Darkest LP Yet". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 18, 2016.

[18] Christgau, Robert (February 18, 2017). "An Incorrigibly Courteous Liar's Last Act: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Retrieved February 18, 2017.

[19] "The A.V. Club's Top 50 Albums of 2016". The A.V. Club. December 12, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.

[20] "Best Albums of 2016". The Independent. November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.

[21] "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Mojo. November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.

[22] "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Paste. November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.

[23] "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Pitchfork. December 13, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2019.

[24] "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s". Pitchfork. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.

[25] "50 Best Albums of 2016". Rolling Stone. November 29, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.

[26] "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Stereogum. December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.

[27] "Rewind 2016: Releases of the Year 1–50". The Wire. No. 395. London. January 2017. p. 30 – via Exact Editions. (subscription required)

[FYI-28] "On The Charts | FYIMusicNews". Fyimusicnews.ca. 2016-10-31. Archived from the original on 2017-01-12. Retrieved 2016-11-13.

[canada_sales-29] "Nielsen Music Releases 2016 Canada Year-end Report" (PDF). Nielsen SoundScan. 5 January 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2016.

[Billboard-30] Caulfield, Keith (30 October 2016). "Seven Albums Debut in Top 10 of Billboard 200 Chart, Led by Lady Gaga, Michael Buble & Pentatonix". Billboard. Retrieved 31 October 2016.

[31] Jones, Alan (28 October 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: Elvis tops the albums chart again". Music Week. NewBay Media. Retrieved 30 October 2016.

[32] "Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker". ultratop.be. Retrieved 14 January 2017.

[ac_Australia_Leonard_Cohen-33] "Australiancharts.com – Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 November 2016.

[ac_Austria_Leonard_Cohen-34] "Austriancharts.at – Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2016.

[ac_Flanders_Leonard_Cohen-35] "Ultratop.be – Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2016.

[ac_Wallonia_Leonard_Cohen-36] "Ultratop.be – Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 November 2016.

[ac_BillboardCanada_Leonard_Cohen-37] "Leonard Cohen Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 October 2016.

[ac_Czech_-38] "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 43.Týden 2016 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 31 October 2016.

[ac_Denmark_Leonard_Cohen-39] "Danishcharts.dk – Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 November 2016.

[ac_Netherlands_Leonard_Cohen-40] "Dutchcharts.nl – Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2016.

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v t e Leonard Cohen
Discography Awards
Studio albums	Songs of Leonard Cohen Songs from a Room Songs of Love and Hate New Skin for the Old Ceremony Death of a Ladies' Man Recent Songs Various Positions I'm Your Man The Future Ten New Songs Dear Heather Old Ideas Popular Problems You Want It Darker Thanks for the Dance
Live albums	Live Songs Cohen Live Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979 Live in London Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 Songs from the Road Live in Dublin Can't Forget: A Souvenir of the Grand Tour
Compilations	The Best of Leonard Cohen So Long, Marianne More Best of Leonard Cohen The Essential Leonard Cohen
Tribute albums	Famous Blue Raincoat I'm Your Fan Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man Judy Collins Sings Leonard Cohen: Democracy The Songs of Leonard Cohen Covered
Concert tours	Leonard Cohen Tour 2008–2010 Old Ideas World Tour
Songs	"Ain't No Cure for Love" "Avalanche" "Bird on the Wire" "Dance Me to the End of Love" "Everybody Knows" "Famous Blue Raincoat" "First We Take Manhattan" "The Gypsy's Wife" "Hallelujah" "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" "I'm Your Man" "In My Secret Life" "Joan of Arc" "The Partisan" "So Long, Marianne" "Suzanne" "Take This Waltz" "Tower of Song" "Who by Fire" "You Want It Darker"
Books	Let Us Compare Mythologies The Spice-Box of Earth The Favourite Game Flowers for Hitler Beautiful Losers Selected Poems 1956–1968 Book of Mercy Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs Book of Longing The Flame A Ballet of Lepers
Film and television	Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Leonard Cohen Angel McCabe & Mrs. Miller Beware of a Holy Whore Bird on a Wire I Am a Hotel Night Magic Looking for Leonard Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song So Long, Marianne
Collaborators	Bob Johnston Marianne Ihlen Sharon Robinson Jennifer Warnes Perla Batalla Julie Christensen Anjani: Blue Alert Alan Light: The Holy or the Broken
Category

v t e Juno Award for Album of the Year (2000–2025)
2000s	Alanis Morissette, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (2000) Barenaked Ladies, Maroon (2001) Diana Krall, The Look of Love (2002) Avril Lavigne, Let Go (2003) Sam Roberts, We Were Born in a Flame (2004) Billy Talent, Billy Talent (2005) Michael Bublé, It's Time (2006) Nelly Furtado, Loose (2007) Feist, The Reminder (2008) Nickelback, Dark Horse (2009)
2010s	Michael Bublé, Crazy Love (2010) Arcade Fire, The Suburbs (2011) Michael Bublé, Christmas (2012) Carly Rae Jepsen, Kiss (2013) Arcade Fire, Reflektor (2014) Leonard Cohen, Popular Problems (2015) The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness (2016) Leonard Cohen, You Want It Darker (2017) Arcade Fire, Everything Now (2018) Shawn Mendes, Shawn Mendes (2019)
2020s	Alessia Cara, The Pains of Growing (2020) The Weeknd, After Hours (2021) Charlotte Cardin, Phoenix (2022) The Weeknd, Dawn FM (2023) Charlotte Cardin, 99 Nights (2024) Tate McRae, Think Later (2025)

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