Take This Waltz

This article is about the Leonard Cohen song. For the 2011 film, see Take This Waltz (film).

"Take This Waltz"
Single by Leonard Cohen
from the album I'm Your Man
Released	1986
Recorded	Studios Montmartre, Paris
Label	CBS Records
Writer(s)	Leonard Cohen Federico García Lorca
Producer(s)	Michel Reusser, Leonard Cohen

"Take This Waltz" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, originally released as part the 1986 Federico García Lorca tribute album Poets in New York (Poetas en Nueva York) and as a single.

The song was later included in Cohen's 1988 studio album I'm Your Man, in slightly re-arranged version (with addition of violin and Jennifer Warnes's duet vocals, both absent from the 1986 version).

The song's lyrics are a loose translation, into English, of the poem "Pequeño vals vienés" by the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca (one of Cohen's favorite poets). The poem was first published in Lorca's seminal book Poeta en Nueva York.

The song reached number one in Spain in 1986.

Covers

Actor/Singer Sven Wollter recorded a version of the song with lyrics translated into Swedish on his 1989 album Nån sorts man.

Zorán Sztevanovity covered the song in 1991 with Cohen's original music but with different lyrics in Hungarian language written by his brother Dusán. The title of the song is "Volt egy tánc" ("There was a dance").

Enrique Morente and Lagartija Nick covered the song in 1996 with Cohen's music and Lorca's original verse on the album Omega. Two years later, Spanish singer Ana Belén covered the song in Spanish for her album Lorquiana.

In 2009 Israel musician Shlomi Shaban covered the song in Hebrew for his tribute album "Tower of song" named after another song by Leonard Cohen covered there as well.

The film Take This Waltz directed by Sarah Polley takes its name from the song which was also featured prominently in the movie.

The Canadian singer Patricia O'Callaghan performs the song on her 2001 album Real Emotional Girl.

External links

• http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/poetasny.html