The video for Leonard Cohen’s “The Hills” has made its debut on VEVO. The moving piece from Leonard Cohen’s posthumous release Thanks For The Dance was heralded as a “sweeping prophecy, like The Future” by the Daily Mail.
The release comes ahead of RTE One’s broadcast this Saturday night of the RTE Concert Orchestra and guests performing songs of Leonard Cohen
Recorded at Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in March, The Songs of Leonard Cohen with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra sees Phelim Drew, Mick Flannery, Lisa Hannigan, Moncrieff and Suzanne Savage paying tribute to the giant of music. It airs on RTÉ One on Saturday, April 25 at 10:30pm.
Directed by Vincent Haycock, the video follows French cinema star Issach de Bankolé in a journey into the unknown. As a world-weary protagonist on the streets of Texas, Bankolé reminisces on his past as he too tries on that iconic fedora and, for a moment, embodies the man behind the music.
The song origins begin in 2006 as a draft for the then titled, “Book Of Longing”. As the lyrics and arrangement evolved, “The Hills” was set to appear on You Want It Darker but was held, finalized, and then released for Thanks For The Dance. “The Hills” was written and scored by Leonard Cohen and co-produced by Adam Cohen and Patrick Watson.
Released last year, Thanks For The Dance is treasured selection of new songs from one of the most enduring cultural icons in modern history. Collaborating with producer Adam Cohen, friends and colleagues of Leonard Cohen gathered to support and complete the work he had begun, making an album that continues to influence and inspire audiences around the world.
Leonard Cohen was a master songwriter, musician, poet, novelist and visual artist whose stunning body of original work has touched the lives of millions with a career spanning six decades. With over 23 million albums worldwide and 12 published books, Cohen’s influence on musical and theatrical artists the world over, is inestimable.
Cohen was honoured as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient (2010), inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (2008), the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame (2006), the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame (2006) and the Songwriters Hall Of Fame (2010). He received the prestigious Principe de Asturias Prize (2011), the Glenn Gould Prize (2011), Canada’s highest civilian honours – Officer of the Order of Canada (1991), Companion to the Order of Canada (2003) and the Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec (2008).
