Feist Releases Faithful Cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye”

Canada’s Juno Awards in April paid tribute to the late Leonard Cohen, who died almost a year ago. During the segment, Feist performed a faithful rendition of Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye,” from his debut album Songs of Leonard Cohen, against the backdrop of archival images of the departed singer. Feist is also set to participate in honoring Cohen again when she and other artists come together Nov. 6 for Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen in Montreal. Ahead of the event, she has shared the studio version of her cover.

Like with her performance at the Juno Awards, she stays true to the original while minimally scaling back on instrumentation, committing to a spare accompaniment of backing vocals and a lone acoustic guitar. Listen to the poignant cover below, and compare it to the Cohen original underneath, plus a Cohen performance from the Paste Cloud. Feist also paid tribute to another fellow Canadian, Gord Downie, by covering The Tragically Hip’s “The Stranger”—listen here.