Songfacts®:

• Cohen released two versions of the song because, although he considers it one of his most personal songs, he prefers the version produced by Henry Iglesias.
• Burly, grown men have sobbed in front of Cohen when he has played them the song and several have confessed all variety of past sins against their dead fathers.
• A restaurant in Cohen's neighborhood plays the song each and every Father's Day by special request of the maitre d'. "By the end of the song," she claims, "There's never a dry eye left in the place."
• Cohen created the instrumental middle portion of the song immediately following his father's death, then composed and attached the lyric sections some 13 years later.
• The mournful, wailing saxophone is provided by George Englund, son of Academy Award winner Cloris Leachman. Producer Henry Iglesias suggested Englund's heart-rending sax would best capture the remorse Cohen felt for his deceased father. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Arnie - Los Angeles, CA, for all above