Sad to hear of the death of Leonard Cohen at 82, who wrote such beautiful, elegiac, even magical songs. Most people probably know him as the author of Hallelujah, which originally had something like 80 stanzas! In the 60s, his lovely song Suzanne was one of the "underground" tunes of the day among the hippie crowd (of which I was a part), not a big hit, but one of the "hip" tunes that everybody in the counter culture knew and loved. Only a few months back he was informed that his former partner and muse Marianne Ihlen (immortalised in his song So Long Marianne) was dying. At the time Cohen sent her a note which read: "Well Marianne, it's come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine. And you know that I've always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom...but now I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love. See you down the road."
Sad but lovely.