Leonard Cohen | Come Healing
Leonard Cohen’s “Come Healing” from Old Ideas - how a kitchen recitation turned into a church hymn in three minutes, featuring Patrick Leonard’s production and Dana Glover’s vocals at age 77.
Story Behind “Come Healing”
Three Minutes in the Kitchen
Patrick Leonard was at Leonard Cohen’s house in Los Angeles. Cohen handed him some lyrics in the kitchen and recited them. Leonard went across to the studio and wrote the music in three minutes. He didn’t even sit down.
“That song feels like it should be in church somewhere,” Leonard told Uncut. “Because the lyrics and intent are so rich. It’s in there already.”
Cohen was 77 when he recorded Old Ideas in 2012. His former manager had stolen his life savings, forcing him back on the road after 15 years. Three-hour shows every night, a tour that became legendary. When it finished in 2009, instead of retiring, Cohen went straight to work on this album. Finished it in less than 12 months.
The Full Catastrophe at 77
Cohen met Patrick Leonard through his son Adam. Leonard had worked with Madonna, and Cohen called him “a seminal figure in modern American music.” They worked together on four tracks for Old Ideas: “Going Home,” “Show Me the Place,” “Anyhow,” and “Come Healing.”
The album was recorded at Cohen’s own studio in his house and at 7th Street Sound. Cohen told The New York Times that “mortality was very much on his mind.” Old Ideas became his highest-charting US release—number 3 on the Billboard 200, forty-four years after his first album. At 77, he became the oldest chart-topper in Finland.
Cohen uses the phrase “penitential hymn” in “Come Healing.” When Jarvis Cocker suggested his songs fit that description, Cohen replied: “I’m not sure what that means, to be honest. Who’s to blame in this catastrophe? I never figured that out.” The catastrophe being life itself—borrowed from Zorba the Greek, that idea of embracing the “full catastrophe” of existence.
“Come Healing” Recording and Production Details
Patrick Leonard’s Three-Minute Composition
Patrick Leonard wrote, produced, arranged, engineered, programmed, and performed the music for “Come Healing.” The relaxed recording approach shaped the sound—Leonard and Cohen hanging out at Cohen’s house, working in a converted studio space, no pressure.
Leonard described the process: “Old Ideas we were never really in a studio. We hang out as we work, just me and him at his house, so it’s always relaxed. And the way the record sounds is a reflection of how it was done.”
The song features Dana Glover on vocals. She opens the track and provides backing vocals throughout. Glover was known for film songs like “Plan On Forever” from The Wedding Planner. Her voice gives “Come Healing” its church-like quality, that sense of sacred space Leonard wanted.
The Sound of Late-Period Cohen
Ed Sanders handled mixing alongside Patrick Leonard. Doug Sax and Robert Hadley mastered the track. The production is spare—Bela Santelli’s violin, Leonard’s programming, Cohen’s voice dropping lower than it ever had before.
Old Ideas marked a shift back to guitar for Cohen after albums dominated by synthesizers. The religious imagery was always there in his work, but at 77 it felt more urgent. Mortality wasn’t abstract anymore.
Cohen and Leonard worked on the song at multiple Los Angeles locations including Cohen’s Still Life Studio, Leonard’s Two Word Music, and 7th Street Sound. The whole album was recorded in less than a year—remarkable for an artist who’d spent eight years between his previous studio albums.
Notes About “Come Healing” by Leonard Cohen
Release Date: January 27, 2012 (international), January 31, 2012 (US)
Duration: 2:53
Genre: Contemporary Folk / Art Pop / Singer-Songwriter
Album: Old Ideas (12th studio album, track 7)
Producers: Patrick Leonard, Leonard Cohen
Label: Columbia Records / Sony Music Entertainment
Notable Usage: Featured in Sons of Anarchy season 5
Chart Performance: Album reached #3 US Billboard 200, topped charts in 11 countries
Leonard Cohen “Come Healing” Era Band Details
Album Details
Album: Old Ideas
Release Date: January 27, 2012 (international), January 31, 2012 (US)
Label: Columbia Records / Sony Music Entertainment
Producers: Patrick Leonard, Ed Sanders, Anjani Thomas, Dino Soldo, Leonard Cohen
Recording Studios: Still Life Studio (Cohen’s home), Two Word Music (Patrick Leonard), 7th Street Sound (Ed Sanders), Lars Nova (Neil Larsen), 1 Thread Telegraph Office (Dino Soldo), Small Mercies Studio (Sharon Robinson)
Album Concept: Return to guitar-based songwriting, meditation on mortality and spirituality
Critical Reception: Uniformly positive reviews from Rolling Stone, Chicago Tribune, The Guardian
Band Members/Personnel
Leonard Cohen - Vocals, mixing
Patrick Leonard - Music composition, production, arrangement, engineering, programming (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7)
Dana Glover - Vocals on “Come Healing,” “Going Home,” “Anyhow,” “Different Sides”
Bela Santelli - Violin
Ed Sanders - Mixing engineer
Doug Sax - Mastering engineer
Robert Hadley - Mastering engineer
Jesse String - Assistant engineer
Album Production Notes
Recorded in less than 12 months after Cohen’s triumphant world tour
First studio album since 2004’s Dear Heather (8-year gap)
Cohen originally wanted “Old Ideas” as title for 2004 album but feared confusion with compilation
Co-written with Patrick Leonard, Anjani Thomas
“Darkness” and “Lullaby” debuted on tour before studio recording
Became Cohen’s highest US chart position at age 77
Bob Dylan cited three songs from album as favorite Cohen tracks
Album featured return to guitar after synthesizer-heavy recent work
Interesting Facts About “Come Healing”
The Webb Sisters and the Live Version
When “Come Healing” was performed live, the Webb Sisters (Hattie and Charley) sang the opening verses. They joined Cohen’s touring band and brought that angelic harmony Leonard wanted for the track. In one interview, they recalled nearly being late to soundcheck once—running up and down roads trying to flag taxis. “If you were on time, you were late” in Cohen’s band.
The song became a highlight of his late-period tours. Those three-hour shows that saved his career after his manager stole everything. At 77, performing this song about healing and mortality night after night, Cohen wasn’t theorizing anymore. He was living it.
Sons of Anarchy and Sacred Television
“Come Healing” appeared in season 5 of Sons of Anarchy. The show’s creator Kurt Sutter used the full track over intense, heavy imagery. Fans of the show remember how Cohen’s voice—that impossibly deep baritone—transformed violent scenes into something almost sacred.
One viewer described it: “The images were very intense and heavy but the sound of Leonard’s voice with Hattie and Charley Webb were so healing to say the least.” The contrast between the show’s darkness and Cohen’s prayer for healing created something powerful. Which was probably the point. Cohen spent his whole career finding transcendence in the catastrophe.
Common Questions
Q: What is “Come Healing” by Leonard Cohen about? A: “Come Healing” is a prayer for physical and spiritual healing, exploring themes of brokenness, mercy, and the struggle between darkness and light. Cohen described it as a “penitential hymn,” using religious imagery to address mortality and the quest for grace. The song was written when Cohen was 77, after his triumphant return to touring following financial ruin.
Q: Who wrote the music for “Come Healing”? A: Patrick Leonard composed the music in three minutes after Leonard Cohen recited the lyrics to him in Cohen’s kitchen. Leonard wrote, produced, arranged, engineered, and programmed the track. Cohen told Uncut that Leonard “didn’t even sit down” before writing it because “the lyrics and intent are so rich.”
Q: Who sings on “Come Healing” by Leonard Cohen? A: Leonard Cohen provides lead vocals, with Dana Glover singing backing vocals. The live version featured the Webb Sisters (Hattie and Charley Webb) performing the opening harmony. Glover was known for film songs including “Plan On Forever” from The Wedding Planner.
Q: What album is “Come Healing” on? A: “Come Healing” is track 7 on Leonard Cohen’s twelfth studio album Old Ideas, released January 27, 2012. The album became Cohen’s highest-charting US release, reaching #3 on the Billboard 200 at age 77, and topped charts in 11 countries including Finland.
Q: Was “Come Healing” used in Sons of Anarchy? A: Yes, “Come Healing” appeared in season 5 of Sons of Anarchy. The show used the complete track over intense visual sequences, creating a powerful contrast between the show’s violence and Cohen’s spiritual themes of healing and grace.