I first heard Leonard Cohen playing on an 8-track in a head shop (remember those?) in 1968. I’ve been a fan ever since. His music is as deep as Dylan, and to my ear, more durable.

A verse from Sisters of Mercy:

Well they lay down beside me,
I made my confession to them.
They touched both my eyes
and I touched the dew on their hem.
If your life is a leaf that the seasons
tear off and condemn
they will bind you with love that is
graceful and green as a stem.

In 2005, a group of unusual artists got together for a concert celebrating Cohen’s music. Last night we watched the DVD of that event and it’s quite good.

Cohen is interviewed at length and comes across as disarmingly witty and humble. Some of the celebrity commentators, such as U2’s Bono, gush a bit too much.

Plenty is made of Cohen’s poetry; curiously, nothing is said of his musical gifts. If you’ve never seen Robert Altman’s “McCabe and Mrs. Miller” check it out for the wonderful use of Cohen’s music, which seems to have been written just for the film. It wasn’t.

Here’s a taste, Martha Wainwright singing The Traitor.

And here’s Antony singing If It Be Your Will.