It's interesting how inspiration works. Cohen wrote that by writing a whole bunch of poems that fit the measure over the course of several years. Then he picked the best ones for the song.
Conversely, Gun's and Roses Sweet Child of Mine was thrown together in like an hour. Slash was just fucking around with a riff and they went with it. The "where do we go?" at the end was literally the band not knowing how to finish it off and asking where they should go.
Either way can create fantastic results.