Call it Emmylou Harris Syndrome

A backup singer known for sterling anonymity courts obliquity when she becomes a lead vocalist. Every other featured player on Jennifer Warnes' version of Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan" sears: Stevie Ray Vaughan, the vulgar gleam of the synthesizers, Cohen's vampiric lyrics. Meanwhile, I didn't buy a note of Warnes' vocal; she sounds like Pat Nixon imitating Dennis Hopper. Why is she more convincing on her big hit, released the same year as her modest selling Famous Blue Raincoat -- "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", her schlockarama duet with Bill Medley for the Dirty Dancing soundtrack? Guess the L.A.-approved euphoria of the song's melody and words jived with Warnes' own aesthetic.

Crestfallen, I replayed my second-favorite Cohen album Various Positions. Well, I was floored all over again by the heartbreaking manner in which she cushions Cohen's croak on "If It Be Your Will." I'm wary of angel metaphors, but Warnes does sound like a some kind of celestial guardian offering the peace Cohen demands (her trills at the 3:19 mark are goosepimply perfection).