First We Take Manhattan

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"First We Take Manhattan"
"First We Take Manhattan" cover
Song by Leonard Cohen
from the album I'm Your Man
Released February 1988
Length 5:56
Label Columbia Records
Writer(s) Leonard Cohen
I'm Your Man track listing
"First We Take Manhattan"
(1)
Ain't No Cure for Love
(2)

"First We Take Manhattan" is a 1988 song by Leonard Cohen. The song is the first track on the album I'm Your Man.

Cohen's then girlfriend, Dominique Isserman, shot a black and white promotional video for "First We Take Manhattan". Interestingly, Cohen's longtime collaborator Jennifer Warnes had already recorded a "cover" of this song (and also made a video) and of "Ain't No Cure for Love" in 1987.

R.E.M. contributed a cover for the Cohen tribute album I'm Your Fan. Their presence on the indie rock compilation led to a re-arranging of the I'm Your Fan tracklist. In the United States release of the tribute, R.E.M.'s cover appeared as the first track, which was the House of Love's "Who by Fire" everywhere else. The song also appeared as a B-side on some versions of Drive.

This song bears the closest resemblence to synthpop on the album.