Today, Mr. Cohen is probably best known for writing the song “Hallelujah,” which has been covered, often quite notably, by more or less everybody in the last 30 years. “Hallelujah,” is indeed a beautiful and memorable song, but the breadth of Mr. Cohen’s ability to write powerfully and evocatively about many subjects is extraordinary. Themes of betrayal and heartbreak are common in popular music, but the epistolary “Famous Blue Raincoat” explores the feeling of being cuckolded with unique despair. Mr. Cohen writes about sexuality as if sex was something that thinking grown-ups actually did. Lines like “you’ve touched her perfect body with your mind,” “I love to see you naked over there especially from the back. Oh take this longing from my tongue. All the useless things my hands have done,” or the song “Paper Thin Hotel,” are intelligent, and genuinely sensual.