The very best song of the 1990s, according to David Gilmour
David Gilmour has always kept his finger on the pulse, leading to constant musical evolution and preserving his relevance when so many of his peers have faded into stuffy prog obscurity.
After the undisputed executive, Roger Waters, departed Pink Floyd, the guitarist kept the band afloat and moved them into the new age sphere with The Division Bell and The Endless River. It was a tremendous departure from the odd psychedelia of their early chapter, reflecting how far Gilmour had come.
It says a lot about David Gilmour’s nature as a music consumer and artist that he has frequently discussed the brilliance of another famed for merging unique aptitude and innovation: Jeff Beck. Like Gilmour, the Londoner was one of the first to realise the vibrant potential of the Fender Stratocaster’s three single-coil pickups and the instrument’s ability to blur the lines of genre to create a distinctive sound.
In his famously cerebral way, when talking to Guitar World in 2015, Gilmour described Beck as a “tightrope walker” and said that even after 40 years since he came to prominence with psychedelic pioneers The Yardbirds, he was the only figure really continuing to push himself. He said: “He’s never retreading old ground; he’s always looking for a new challenge”. Gilmour revealed he had been enamoured with Beck since his psychedelic classic ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ arrived in 1967, when he was just 20. He had been closely watching his every move since.
Gilmour took much from Beck as a guitarist. However, most importantly, he learned the power of continually striving to push himself forward as an artist and to do something new with each project, whether with Pink Floyd, as a solo musician or otherwise. He has looked for this when listening to other performers, with songwriters committing to their own authentic arcs that are particularly appealing to him.
Naturally, this led Gilmour to Leonard Cohen. The late Canadian had a career like no other, personally and creatively. He was undoubtedly one of the finest sonic craftsmen the world has ever seen, with his poetry and music rivalling even that of Bob Dylan. Producing 15 studio albums in his time, all his fans have their candidate for his finest song, ranging from ‘Suzanne’ to ‘Ballad of The Absent Mare’.
What set Cohen apart, and likely appealed to Gilmour, was his ability to evolve without losing his core identity. While many artists struggled to adapt to changing musical landscapes, Cohen embraced them in subtle ways, allowing new textures and production styles to filter into his work without diluting the strength of his writing. It meant that even decades into his career, his music retained a sense of immediacy that felt both contemporary and timeless.
There was also a precision to his lyricism that invited repeated listening. Cohen’s songs rarely revealed themselves in full on first pass, instead offering layers of meaning that unfolded over time. For a musician like Gilmour, whose own work often prioritised atmosphere and emotional depth, that kind of craftsmanship would have held a particular resonance, encouraging a deeper engagement with the material.
According to Gilmour, when speaking as part of a sprawling Webcast in 2000, Cohen’s work was so good that he even deemed one of his tracks his favourite of the entire 1990s. This was the powerful ‘Closing Time’ from 1992’s politically-charged The Future. An upbeat number for the Canadian, it undoubtedly features some of his best descriptive work, with his whiskey-soaked voice perfect for lines such as “And the band is really happening / And the Johnny Walker wisdom running high”.
It was a masterful way to soundtrack the world teetering on the precipice of doom, given the world’s state when he recorded the album, with the Los Angeles riots and the Fall of the Berlin Wall impacting proceedings. It makes you wonder what Cohen would think of the current existential crisis we’re hurtling toward.
Asked what his favourite single of the previous decade was, Gilmour said: “‘Closing Time’ by Leonard Cohen. I spent a lot of time trying to analyse those lyrics.”
The Future made a significant impact on Gilmour. When appearing on Desert Island Discs in 2003, one of the songs he chose to take with him to the fictional isle was ‘Anthem’, the fifth track on the album. Famed for being used in Oliver Stone’s 1994 cult classic Natural Born Killers, it is one of Cohen’s ultimate career highlights. After celebrating the “slight Islamic” angle of the effort, Gilmour explained that the songwriter is one of his “favourite artists” ever.
Listen to ‘Closing Time’ by Leonard Cohen tomorrow.
