A Thousand Kisses Deep

I'm spin cycling at the Tarrytown Y today and what should come on my iPod but the positively mesmerizing Leonard Cohen song, "A Thousand Kisses Deep."

And sometimes when the night is slow
The wretched and the meek
We gather up our hearts and go
A thousand kisses deep

As soon as I got home I started searching on the Internet for perhaps a live performance of this song from Mr. Cohen. What I found is something perhaps even better: Here's Leonard Cohen reciting his original poem of the same title, from which he later shaped the lyrics for the song:



And here's Chris Botti, first playing the song's gorgeous melody--cowritten by Sharon Robinson--and then improvising with his band to the haunting minor-key progression. (If you want to hear Cohen sing the song in his own gruff and goose-bump-raising way, pick up his 2001 album, Ten New Songs):