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The Top 10 Leonard Cohen Songs Of Novelist Steve Erickson

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As a former English professor, I get asked the following question pretty much all the time: “What author should I be reading?”

My answer is always the same: “Steve Erickson.”

If you’re unfamiliar with Erickson’s novels, just imagine putting all your Thomas Pynchon, Philip K. Dick, Haruki Murakami, Hubert Selby Jr., and Jack Kerouac books in a blender. But before you hit “spin,” throw in some tunes by The Velvet Underground, The Doors, The Stooges, David Bowie, and Brian Eno.

What you pour from your blender will be nothing short of a literary miracle—the work of a guy who’s read all the right books, listened to all the right records, and, in the process, come up with a prose and narrative style all his own.

In my estimation, Erickson is hands down one of the greatest—if not the greatest—novelist writing in America today. I mean, the guy’s written knockout masterpieces like Days Between Stations, Tours of the Black Clock, The Sea Came in at Midnight, Our Ecstatic Days (find me a better book on 9/11: I dare you!), Zeroville, and These Dreams of You, which is his most recent and perhaps strongest novel to date.

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But here’s the thing. These novels aren’t just experimental triumphs; they’re also page-turners. That is, you can’t put them down. That is, you can’t stop reading them. (I did mention a certain Mr. Dick a few paragraphs back!).

It’s no surprise that Erickson loves Leonard Cohen. The two have a lot in common. They’re both innovators and entertainers—simultaneously. Indeed, they both make you think and feel—simultaneously.

That’s why it’s so cool that Erickson sat down with SEM to give us his list of his favorite Cohen songs—in his words—at “1:33 PST September 27, as opposed to five minutes from now when at least seven of the songs will have changed completely.”

Steve Erickson’s Top 10 Leonard Cohen Songs

1. “Famous Blue Raincoat,” Songs of Love and Hate, 1971

2. “If It Be Your Will,” Various Positions, 1984

3. “Joan of Arc,” Songs of Love and Hate, 1971

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHjnjIbwvGI

4. “Bird on the Wire,” Songs From a Room, 1969

5. “The Stranger Song,” Songs of Leonard Cohen, 1967

6. “Dance Me to the End of Love,” Various Positions, 1984

7. “Hallelujah,” Various Positions, 1984

8. “Sisters of Mercy,” Songs of Leonard Cohen, 1967

9. “A Thousand Kisses Deep,” Ten New Songs, 2001

10. “Story of Isaac,” Songs From a Room, 1969