13. Leonard CohenNew Skin For The Old Ceremony
The key Cohen line, to me, is, "There is a crack in everything /That’s how the light gets in." I think that in itself is a viewpoint, an outlook to the world, that those of us who are Cohen fans share. I admire Cohen’s bravery. He holds his nerve. He’s a bit of a monster, and he doesn’t always reveal the best side of himself. But there’s something so alluring about that, something so comforting. He’s forever the scorned, broken man but he’s forever the honest one.
It’s the delicacy of his songs as well, twinned with this very self-aware, often immoral character, which he is in many ways. New Skin For The Old Ceremony, particularly, was a really resonant album, which I really got into when I was 18. I went through a period where I couldn’t sleep without listening to it in full, probably for about six months. And what’s so beautiful about his work is the simplicity. He’s not really a musician, yet he can create works of great depth and vision.
