I believe that first heard Leonard Cohen on the beach at Cap d'Ail when I was about 17. A dark curly-haired chap was singing to a guitar and trying to impress Lena, a Swedish girl who I was interested in as well.... I asked him if he had written them himself and he said he had. I distinctly remember him singing 'Marianne'. We were on the beach together for a few days but I never got to know him well.
I have always loved his songs, though more for the poetry than his voice, and was happy that he had started touring again - though I seem to have missed him in all the venues he's been to so far!
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in
Leonard Cohen - The Future
