Naima Bock shares cover of Leonard Cohen's "So Long, Marianne"

"We (myself and the band) had been playing this song as a cover during our tours in 2022 and when we went in with Ali Chant we decided to record a live version of it. I always felt nervous about recording a cover of Leonard Cohen, it obviously never stands up to the original but I wanted to do it justice and if nothing else, try not to diminish it in any way," Bock explains.

"My feelings around this recording were somewhat complicated and although I could recognise how good the band (Meitar Wegman on Saxophone, Cassidy Hansen on drums, Clem Appleby on bass/ electric guitar and Oliver Hamilton on violin, everyone on backing vocals) sounded, I didn’t like my vocal delivery. That is until I heard the backing vocals come in on a later chorus and something inside me clicked and I fell in love with what we had done," she says.

"I have always felt hugely supported by the musicians I play with and when I heard their voices in this recording it reminded me to be accepting and LOVING of imperfections, imperfections in my voice which I have always (like many singers) been painfully aware of, imperfections in art, in myself," she continues.

"I thought if I didn’t want to present something imperfect to the world then where do I stand morally in regards to what people consume, perfection only? This is the reality for many people, not just in artistic expression but in appearance, career trajectory etc. perfection only pleases. This is not only unrealistic but also detrimental to our minds and souls, we never will be perfect and if all we consume feels like it is, then we must be less. This is not a game that I will support, so here it is, my lovingly given imperfect version of "So long, Marianne". I also altered the lyrics from ‘Violet park’ to ‘Fordham park’ to honour the Marianne who introduced me (from the other side) to Leonard Cohen."