This blues track My Oh My is the second song presented here from Leonard Cohen’s thirteenth studio album album Popular Problems (2014). The previous entry was Did I Ever Love You. Popular Problems flies by, with only nine songs in 36 minutes. Yet the music creates a space for reflection that expands with each listen. A full band appears in most tracks, but others are just Cohen and Leonard enjoying a dialogue in the studio, augmented by the ubiquitous backing singers who have long represented Cohen’s anima and muse. The Canadian was 80 years old when he released Popular Problems – he didn’t become a recording artist until he was a published poet, a good few years older than his contemporaries (Bob Dylan, Neil Young).
[Intro]
Wasn’t hard to love you
Didn’t have to try
Wasn’t hard to love you
Didn’t have to try
Held you for a little while
My, oh, my, oh my
Held you for a little while
My, oh, my, oh my
[Hook]
Drove you to the station
Never asked you why
Drove you to the station
Never asked you why
Held you for a little while
My, oh, my, oh my
Held you for a little while
My, oh, my, oh my
Popular Problems peaked at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 20,000 copies in its first week. In the United States, the album debuted at No. 15 on Billboard 200. Interestingly, the last song on the album You Got Me Singing closes out the 2023 Netflix Documentary Hallelujah. I dedicated You Got Me Singing to my daughter Katherine when she was born and Cohen’s Hallelujah to my son Jesus when he was baptised. Cohen’s music, you could say runs deep in our family.
Today’s featured track My Oh My is a loose tune cheered by brass. Cohen enjoys the memory of a short love. “Held you for a little while/My oh my” – the “my, oh my” speaking volumes. The stuff of Popular Problems is the stuff we all struggle with: the problems of the people. The final laugh comes at the end – ‘You Got Me Singing‘
References:
1. First Listen: Leonard Cohen, ‘Popular Problems’ – NPR
2. Leonard Cohen: Popular Problems review – brief, satisfying, full of surprises – The Guardian
3. Popular Problems: Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
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