Bob Dylan is no stranger to throwing out rarities and deep cuts when on-stage. During is 2026 setlist, Dylan as featured covers of Jerry Lee Lewis, played originals live for the first time, and kept his audience guessing with an ever-rotating instrumental line-up. His stage shows have often been this varied, not least when he first started the so-called Never-Ending Tour.
A performance at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California on this day in 1988 had Dylan perform covers of Leonard Cohen and Hank Snow. The Never-Ending Tour has seen Dylan perform across the globe every year since 1988, except for 2020 when he released Rough and Rowdy Ways during the Coronavirus pandemic. Dylan would offer up a staggering cover of Cohen’s Various Positions song.
A full setlist from his show at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California, can be found below.
- Subterranean Homesick Blues
- Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen cover)
- Masters of War
- Driftin’ Too Far From Shore
- You’re a Big Girl Now
- Highway 61 Revisited
- It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
- Lakes of Pontchartrain (traditional cover)
- It Ain’t Me, Babe
- I’m Glad I Got to See You Once Again (Hank Snow cover)
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Silvio (with Robert Hunter)
- In the Garden
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Barbara Allen (traditional cover)
- Blowin’ in the Wind
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
This would be the second and final time Dylan covered the song, with the first coming during a show in Quebec, Canada. Cohen was born in Quebec in 1934, and this cover of one of his greatest songs appeared to be a fitting tribute to the veteran songwriter. A description of the video upload reads: “Everyone knows of the Montreal version, it’s all over YouTube. But this is the other version of the only two ever performances of this Cohen classic, both in 1988. Dylan is the first ever to cover the song until it became popular after the ’90s. Bob was the first to recognize it.”
Fans of both Dylan and Cohen were delighted by the interpretation, with one writing: “Sublime and moving new arrangement by Bob Dylan that takes Leonard Cohen’s song to a higher nitch; I wish they sang and it together.” Another added: “Very urgent and honest an inner examination of his gospel years as well as his own wonderful song, Blind Willie McTell.”
Cohen would speak of his love of Dylan’s work in interviews given before his death, notably when he shared with The Guardian that it took two years and 80 verses to land on a version of Hallelujah that he was happy with. In contrast, Dylan rattled out one of his best ’80s songs, I and I, in just 15 minutes.
Cohen said to Dylan he “really liked I and I” and asked how long it had taken to write. “About fifteen minutes,” was Dylan’s reply. Cohen was later asked about the exchange with Dylan and suggested songwriting to him was more “like prayers” than anything else. He added: “That’s just the way the cards are dealt.”
You can listen to the second and last time Dylan performed Hallelujah below.
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