I have been listening to this album since its initial release in the late 1980s. Never having been a folk music enthusiast, I was not that familiar with Leonard Cohen . . . and in reality, because of my background as an instrumentalist, never gave lyricists their due. Warnes' interpretation of these songs changed the way I listen to "songs". It took several listenings (because the arrangements and instrumental performances are so rich and creative) for me to actually focus on the words. When I did I was knocked out. Twenty years later I still am bowled over by the artistic feeling in this music.