I used to view Mr Cohen's output as slit your wrists music but then I told myself that he can't help that voice of his and it's better than Bob Dylan's or Tom Waits although I do like the latter. After all what is a singing voice and who decides what is a good one and what is a bad one?
Neither Cohen nor Waits can sing in the accepted sense of the word. But often they put more emotion into a song than classically trained singers. There's nothing more pointless to me than a great rock song being butchered by a "real singer". Which takes me back to Leonard Cohen.
He didn't come to the public's attention until the relatively ancient age of 30 something. Up until then he had been a poet. Then he decided to put his poetry to music and his career really took off.
Who can ever forget that first album with classics like Suzanne. "Suzanne takes me down to a place by the river...she feeds me tea and oranges that come all the way from China" etc. Truly evocative lyrics and they just kept on coming.
Leonard Cohen was from Canada and not America as so many think. His most endearing song and the one he will always be remembered for is Hallelujah. It took him years of struggle to get the lyrics where he wanted them to be. So you could say it's his most thought-out song and arguably the best.
At one point the British pop charts had three versions of the song in the top 30. Alexander Burke's version was at number one, Geoff Buckley's was at number two and Cohen's version was number 26.
Since then so many artists have recorded it, including comedians and television presenters who have made and sold albums on the strength of their celebrity status and little more.
Alexander Burke's version got to the top of the charts because of her success in a TV talent show. Buckley's version got to number two because it's the best version bar none. Poor old Leonard was left floundering in the lower reaches probably because people didn't like his voice which poses the question is the original version automatically the best?
Of course, the answer is no. I can think of much better cover versions. Geoff Buckley of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, Joe Cocker's version of Lennon and McCartney's "With a Little Help From My Friends" and The Monkees version of John Stewart's Daydream Believer and virtually every cover of a Dylan song (sorry that's a touch controversial).
Towards the end of his life, Leonard Cohen added different verses to Hallelujah and sang different versions in different places. I think it was his way of thanking fans for loving the song.
At one of his last concerts somebody from the audience shouted "we love your voice Leonard." He seemed quite taken aback but recovered his composure to say "You're the only person who does," which quite obviously wasn't true.
Towards the end of his life Cohen was prolific with his songwriting as if he needed to get it out of his system before his demise.
Ironically Cohen's greatest song Hallelujah was on an LP entitled "Death of a Ladies Man" which was never released in the USA because the president of his record label obviously didn't like his music or voice. How bad a decision was that?
In the documentary Cohen was quite bitter about this and quite rightly so.
I have a friend of many years standing, and he will know who he is who deliberately wanted to have an anti Christmas. He turned off the heating, put on coats, gloves and scarves and played Leonard Cohen all Christmas Day.
That's not as eccentric as the young man who felt the best way to experience the full reality of Pink Floyd's music was to shut himself in his wardrobe with his stereo. Not sure if he took the clothes out first.