Leonard Cohen would have been 83 today, born 21st Sept 1934. He wrote many of his songs in his house

Leonard Cohen in Greece - Part of the film "Songs from the life of Leonard Cohen" (1988)

Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934 – November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, poet, novelist, and painter. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality, and personal relationships.

In the video, Leonard Cohen revisits his house in Hydra, where he wrote Bird on a Wire ( "and there's the wire"!)and many other songs. This is the house he shared with Marianne, his muse, and the Marianne of "So long Marianne" . He is accompanied by his backing singers Perla Batalla and Julie Chistensen. Part of the 1988 film "Songs from the life of Leonard Cohen".

During the interview for that film I asked him whether his Marianne was the same Marianne as David Blue's Marianne. "How do you know that?" he asked. But of course it was in his lyrics:

I loved Marianne in the winter

In the loft of her favorite lover

She was growing older

The winter nights were cold

She told me I'm frightened

I said yes I know

Her eyes held me to her

They burned with such a fire

For the saints on the walls

Holy candles in the halls

For those who had left her

I held her and cried

Oh Marianne you are beautiful

To be this friend

To a stranger who

Leaves you only to fall

Do not cry you have helped me

I will not say goodbye

I knew her from another song

Her older poet wrote before

We played it in the morning laughing on the floor

Till he came knocking on the lower East Side door

Yes you know I miss her

Her and her stories of the night

I called her a rabbit

She gave me back my life

I haven't heard her voice since the Isle of Wight

Oh Marianne you are beautiful

To be this friend

To a stranger who

Leaves you only to fall

Do not cry you have helped me

I will not say goodbye

In the interview Leonard calls her MariannAH, just as David Blue sings her name.