While a plethora of websites identify Leonard Cohen as the singer-songwriter of “Woke Up This Morning” aka the opening theme for The Sopranos (a Google search this morning for the words, Woke Up This Morning Leonard Cohen, turns up 626,000 results), that song was written by, remixed and performed by the British band Alabama 3.1
References to the notion held by some that “Woke Up This Morning” is influenced by Leonard Cohen’s vocal style and by his song, “Democracy,” can be found, including Anjani’s declaration:
Few articulate the truth as poignantly and astutely as [Leonard Cohen] does; and he is prescient. At the time of its release, people thought “Democracy” was one hell of a grim tune. As with many of his songs, odds are good that ten or twenty years later some other artist will reintroduce it or rip it off successfully into pop culture (i.e. The Sopranos theme).
Anjani Thomas
And Rob Spragg (aka Larry Love), does emulate Leonard’s graciousness in his response to the false rumor that Leonard Cohen wrote the song:
A little bit of mystery in rock ’n’ roll is cool. If people think Leonard Cohen wrote it it’s a compliment to me.2
Other Posts In This Category Can Be Found At Errors About Leonard Cohen
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- Alabama 3 frontman Rob Spragg wrote the song after hearing about the 1996 murder case of Sara Thornton, who stabbed her husband after 20 years of abuse, mistreatment and neglect. The song is co-written with Jake Black. (Wikipedia) [↩]
- Waking Up To The Sound Of Alabama by Róisín Gadelrab New Camden Journal, 6 August 2009 [↩]