It's no accident that Leonard Cohen's songs are full of dark, literary power—he spent years as a poet before forging a career as Canada's premier troubadour. With his deep, moody murmur and spindly Spanish guitar patterns, he delivered songs that mined the deepest reaches of human emotion. His evocative lyrics and mysterious aura established him as a major figure on the '60s folk circuit and a cult hero in the '70s. Cohen had an unlikely renaissance in the '80s when he revamped his sound on I'm Your Man, and enjoyed even greater success after coming out of retirement in the '00s.