Unlike his augmented debut, Cohen's sophomore effort is austere by comparison, with considerably less drums, and featuring a stripped-down approach that emphasize the words rather than the musical arrangements.

A lot of my friends who were musical purists had castigated me for the lushness and over-production of my first record and I was determined to do a very simple album."

In the same interview, Cohen confirmed that "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" was inspired by a woman[6] he had grown up with in Montreal: I think that the world throws up certain kinds of figures.

The album cover is a simple black-and-white photo heavily matted as to almost wash out Cohen's face.

The back cover features a black-and-white photo of his Norwegian girlfriend Marianne Ihlen sitting at a desk with a typewriter, books and some papers.

Cohen used their seven-year relationship as the basis for several of some his earliest songs, including "So Long, Marianne", "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye", and "Bird on the Wire".

Like his debut LP, it received mixed reviews from critics, who were put off by his unusual singing voice but intrigued by the songs.

In the original Rolling Stone review, Alec Dubro wrote, "Well, it looks like Leonard Cohen's second try won't have them dancing in the streets either.

And yet, the record grows on you..." Mark Deming of AllMusic calls it "something of a letdown" and "neither as striking or self-assured as Songs of Leonard Cohen" but concedes, "Despite the album's flaws, Songs from a Room's strongest moments convey a naked intimacy and fearless emotional honesty that's every bit as powerful as the debut, and it left no doubt that Cohen was a major creative force in contemporary songwriting."

Writing in 2011, Cohen biographer Anthony Reynolds declared, "Compared to the relative 'party' of the previous album, Songs From a Room is the hangover of the morning after...

In a 2014 Rolling Stone readers poll ranking the top ten Leonard Cohen songs, "Bird on a Wire" came in at #5.

A digitally remastered version, including two bonus tracks produced by David Crosby, was released in February 2007.

[13] "Bird on the Wire", described by Cohen as a simple country song, has been covered by many musicians including Jennifer Warnes (his one-time backup singer), The Neville Brothers, Joe Cocker, Willie Nelson, The Lilac Time, Esther Ofarim,[14] Johnny Cash, Fairport Convention and subsequently their guitarist Richard Thompson.

"Story of Isaac", based on the Old Testament story of God's demand that Isaac be sacrificed by his father Abraham, has also been covered by a number of musicians including Judy Collins, Suzanne Vega, Linda Thompson, The Johnstons, Pain Teens, and Roy Buchanan.

"Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" has been translated in Italian by Fabrizio De André and included in his album Volume 8 (1975).

[16] The rock journalist Alex Young notes, "[Cohen] is often incorrectly credited as the composer of the song – although he is certainly responsible for its survival."

Young also notes that the English translation that Cohen recorded differs from the French in that it excludes the direct references that d'Astier and Marly made in the original lyrics to the occupation of France by Nazi Germany.