Cohen's first album since 2004, due in January, is called Old Ideas, and that's pretty much what its first official song is all about: a 77-year-old folk O.G. getting in touch with the essentials of his songwriting. His Cookie Monster-does-Deuteronomy baritone has long transcended ephemeral considerations like melody and tone, and the somber piano and stark religious imagery – warmed by a French-Canadian parlor-folk accompaniment and background vocals from old pal Jennifer Warren – will remind many of "Hallelujah." "Show me the place where the word became a man / Show me the place where the suffering began," Cohen growls, bringing to mind hard-nosed meditations on mortality by fellow septuagenarians Bob Dylan and Paul Simon. He's staring down the eternal with unblinking honesty and a primordial sense of purpose. 

Listen to "Show Me The Place":

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