He couldn't dance, but that didn't stop him from dancing.
He had a fling with Janis Joplin, was engaged to Rebecca de Mornay, and charmed countless others.
He was the only popular singer-songwriter other than Bob Dylan to win national and international awards not only for his music, but for his poetry and writing. And like Dylan, many loved him despite his singing.
He was noteworthy enough that for his 82nd birthday, the national news gave a list of 82 reasons to love him.
He had critical acclaim (and resulting 'covers' of his songs) with albums in the 1960s, but didn't have a best-selling album of his own until almost 1990.
He was born in a Jewish family, but his most famous songs included 'Hallelujah' and 'Joan of Arc".
He let one of his backup singers record an album of his songs, including most of the material from an album he was still working on - it was an international hit for her. He went on to credit her on his album not as a backup, but with her name next to his under 'vocals by'...
He met a young woman from Norway with a new son, who had arrived in the Greek Islands (where he lived) only to find her husband had abandoned her. He bought her a glass of wine, and over time helped her come to grips with her situation. Their affair didn't last, but their friendship did, and he continued to write both songs and poems for her throughout his life.
He spent five years in a zen center, becoming a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk and taking the name Jikan - which means 'silence'.
He wrote one of his most famous songs, titled with a woman's name, about the wife of a close friend that he never had a relationship with - and not the woman (of the same name) who had two children with him.
He was our man - and he died today - and he was Leonard Cohen.
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded - Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed.
Everybody knows that the war is over - Everybody knows that the good guys lost.
Everybody knows the fight is fixed; the poor stay poor and the rich get rich.
That's how it goes...
Everybody knows.