The 90s single that David Gilmour said it was his favorite one

The singer and guitarist David Gilmour joined Pink Floyd in 1967, being an important element of the band’s sound that helped them to become one of the most successful bands of all time. With the release of groundbreaking albums like “Dark Side Of The Moon” (1973) and “The Wall” (1979), the group broke many records. Those albums were crucial to make them sell an estimated amount of more than 250 million records worldwide.

Even though the band’s music was mainly focused on Progressive Rock, Gilmour was influenced and likes to hear other music genres. That diversity is shown in the single that Gilmour revealed that it was his favorite one from the 90s.

The single from the 90s that David Gilmour said it was his favorite one:

When social networks and livestreams didn’t exist yet and the internet was still crawling to connect artists with their fans, David Gilmour was part of a MSN webcast back in 2000. He answered many questions of the fans. One of them was which was his favorite single from the 90s.

“‘Closing Time’ by Leonard Cohen. I spent a lot of time trying to analyse those lyrics,” David Gilmour said. Two years later, during another Q&A session with fans, but with Dotmusic, he chose the track once again as his favorite. “That was a great album by Leonard Cohen. I really liked the whole album and that song. I spent a lot of time trying to analyse what the lyrics meant,” David Gilmour said.

The track was featured on Leonard Cohen’s 1992 album “The Future”. Two of the main inspirations for Cohen’s songwriting at that record were the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Los Angeles riots in 1992.

That album appeared on the Top 40 in the United Kingdom album charts. It also sold a quarter of a million copies in the United States. Other famous tracks from that record are “Always” and “Waiting For The Miracle”.

Gilmour covered many Leonard Cohen songs with his family

During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, David Gilmour’s wife Polly Samson, who became his lyricist over the years, released a fiction book called “A Theatre For Dreamers”. That book tells the story of a fictionalized account of life on the Greek island of Hydra in the 60s. The story features real-life characters who lived that at the time. One of them was Leonard Cohen.

In order to promote the book and talk with fans during the lockdown, Gilmour livestreamed on his social networks in 2020 a special musical presentation and chat with his family. Those presentations were watched by millions of fans around the world.

Alongside his wife and children, he performed many Leonard Cohen songs. Some of them were “If It Be Your Will”, “Bird On The Wire”, “Who By Fire”, “So Long , Marianne” and “Thanks For The Dance”.

David Gilmour said that Leonard Cohen was a good guitar player and did things he can’t do

A few days after that live stream, Gilmour talked in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine about the late legendary Canadian singer. He was then asked what he had learn playing those songs.

“One thing I did learn is how bloody good he is as a guitar player. You tend to think of singer-songwriters as people who are just using the guitar accompaniment to carry the words that they’re doing.”

“But Leonard was an absolutely brilliantly accomplished guitar player in fingerstyle things that I just cannot do. And of course, he’s about the best lyricist that I know of,” David Gilmour said.

During his career he released 15 studio albums and 10 live records. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008 by Lou Reed. He said in his speech that everyone was “so lucky to be alive at the same time Leonard Cohen is”. The late Canadian singer is often compared to Bob Dylan, because of the depth of his songs.

His compositions transcended his music genre and one of the biggest examples is “Hallelujah“. The track from his 1984 album “Various Positions” became a religious anthem. Curiously, the track is played all around the world at churches, but many people think it’s a traditional religious track when they first hear it. Not many musicians have the chance to go that far with a song they composed.

Leonard Cohen died back in 2016 at the age of 82. The cause was leukemia, coagulation defects, and falls.