Leonard Cohen...

Rock stars used to die of drug overdoses, now they’re dying of old age… which gives them the time and opportunity for a valedictory album. David Bowie left the stage with Black Star, and now - with a tip of the hat and the release of You Want it Darker - Leonard Cohen is gone. I knew his music from the first album, Songs From a Room, and can’t say I ever found his songs depressing.

His lyrics look better on the page than Dylan's lyrics. Cohen might have been a more deserving recipient of the Nobel Prize, and, having been ripped off by his manager, he would have appreciated the money. My favourite album of his songs is Famous Blue Raincoat, by Jennifer Warnes, and my favourite song on the album is The Song of Bernadette, which she co-wrote with Cohen…