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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“Youth Knows No Pain”

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”