The Lyrics of Leonard Cohen: Enhanced Edition Read online

  There ain’t no entertainment

  and the judgements are severe.

  The Maestro says it’s Mozart

  but it sounds like bubble gum

  when you’re waiting

  for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

  Waiting for the miracle

  There’s nothing left to do.

  I haven’t been this happy

  since the end of World War II.

  Nothing left to do

  when you know that you’ve been taken.

  Nothing left to do

  when you’re begging for a crumb

  Nothing left to do

  when you’ve got to go on waiting

  waiting for the miracle to come.

  I dreamed about you, baby.

  It was just the other night.

  Most of you was naked

  Ah but some of you was light.

  The sands of time were falling

  from your fingers and your thumb,

  and you were waiting

  for the miracle, for the miracle to come

  Ah baby, let’s get married,

  we’ve been alone too long.

  Let’s be alone together.

  Let’s see if we’re that strong.

  Yeah let’s do something crazy,

  something absolutely wrong

  while we’re waiting

  for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

  Nothing left to do ...

  When you’ve fallen on the highway

  and you’re lying in the rain,

  and they ask you how you’re doing

  of course you’ll say you can’t complain --

  If you’re squeezed for information,

  that’s when you’ve got to play it dumb:

  You just say you’re out there waiting

  for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

  Although included on The Future (1992), work on this song, co-written by Sharon Robinson (with whom Cohen had collaborated on ‘Everybody Knows’), had begun in the early Eighties. Versions of the song were apparently ready for inclusion on both Various Positions (1985) and I’m Your Man (1988), but in mood and for its contrast yet continuity with the themes explored in the other songs on The Future it is surely in its rightful place on that album.

  Way Down Deep

  way down, way way down

  way way down deep

  you’re got me way down, way way down,

  way way down deep

  you’re got me way down, way down deep

  I wander with you in my sleep

  I’m way down, way way down,

  way way down deep

  it came to me this morning

  I was walking down the street

  was like my soul could taste you

  and God, you tasted sweet

  finally I can breathe again

  finally I can speak

  I’ve got you in the glory place

  I’ve got you way down deep

  I’ve got you way down, way way down,

  way way down deep

  you’re got me way down, way way down,

  way way down deep

  you’re got me way down, way way down,

  I wander with you in my sleep

  I’m way down, way way down,

  way way down deep

  it’s a funny feeling

  but I cannot say I mind

  I know that I’m dealing with

  a love that’s far from blind

  I see every single angle

  I look before I leap

  how else can I put it

  when you’re got me way down deep

  you’ve got me way down, way way down,

  way way down deep

  you’ve got me way down, way way down,

  way way down deep

  you’ve got me way down, way down deep

  I wander with you in my sleep

  I’m way down, way way down,

  way way down deep

  don’t matter what we gave away

  was nothing we could keep

  don’t matter what we gave away

  you know that talk is cheap

  forgive me if I hate you

  you’re a liar and a thief

  but I’ve got you in the glory place

  I got you way down deep

  you’ve got me way down, way way down ...

  don’t matter if the road is long

  don’t matter if it’s steep

  don’t matter if the moon goes out

  and darkness is complete

  don’t matter if we lose our way

  I know we;re gonna meet

  I’ve got you in the glory place

  I’ve got you way down deep

  you’ve got me way down, way way down ..

  Written by Cohen and Jennifer Warnes, who recorded it on Hunter (1992), though Cohen himself never has.

  Who By Fire?

  And who by fire, who by water,

  who in the sunshine, who in the night time,

  who by high ordeal, who by common trial,

  who in your merry merry month of may,

  who by very slow decay,

  and who shall I say is calling?

  And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,

  who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,

  and who by avalanche, who by powder,

  who for his greed, who for his hunger,

  and who shall I say is calling?

  And who by brave assent, who by accident,

  who in solitude, who in this mirror,

  who by his lady’s command, who by his own hand,

  who in mortal chains, who in power,

  and who shall I say is calling?

  Included on both New Skin For The Old Ceremony (1974) and Live In Concert (1994), this song is based on the Jewish prayer ‘Mi Bamayin, Mi Ba Esh’ sung at Yom Kippur. “And who shall I say is calling?” – you do not need me to tell you it is Death.

  Why Don’t You Try

  Why don’t you try to do without him?

  Why don’t you try to live alone?

  Do you really need his hands for your passion?

  Do you really need his heart for your throne?

  Do you need his labour for your baby?

  Do you need his beast for the bone?

  Do you need to hold a leash to be a lady?

  I know you’re going to make, make it on your own.

  Why don’t your try to forget him?

  Just open up your dainty little hand.

  You know this life is filled with many sweet companions,

  many satisfying one-night stands.

  Do you want to be the ditch around a tower?

  Do you want to be the moonlight in his cave?

  Do you want to give your blessing to his power

  as he goes whistling past his daddy, past his daddy’s grave.

  I’d like to take you take you to the ceremony,

  well, that is if I remember the way.

  You see Jack and Jill they’re going to join their misery,

  I’m afraid it’s time for everyone to pray.

  You can see they’ve finally taken cover,

  they’re willing, yeah they’re willing to obey.

  Their vows are difficult, they’re for each other,

  so let nobody put a loophole, a loophole in their way.

  Though this song from New Skin For The Old Ceremony (1974) must be classified as a love song, it is a curious one. He begs his lover to leave him, praises the single life, and rather ungallantly asks “do you need to hold a leash to be a lady?”. When he asks “do you need his labour for your baby?” – and an overwhelming majority of mothers surely do want some assistance from the father of their baby during its infancy – one suspects that Cohen has lost his usually acute touch in discussing male-female relationships. A live version was included on Field Commander Cohen – Tour Of 1979 (2001).

&nb
sp; Winter Lady

  Trav’ling lady, stay awhile

  until the night is over.

  I’m just a station on your way,

  I know I’m not your lover.

  Well I lived with a child of snow

  when I was a soldier,

  and I fought every man for her

  until the nights grew colder.

  She used to wear her hair like you

  except when she was sleeping,

  and then she’d weave it on a loom

  of smoke and gold and breathing.

  And why are you so quiet now

  standing there in the doorway?

  You chose your journey long before

  you came upon this highway.

  Trav’ling lady stay awhile

  until the night is over.

  I’m just a station on your way,

  I know I’m not your lover.

  Included on Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967), this song, although addressed to one woman (the “trav’ling lady”) is clearly about another who really is his lover and who occupies his thoughts even when he is away from her. There are autobiographical echoes of Cohen’s then fading relationship with Marianne Ihlen, and his sense of male-female relationships as a battleground and his own war-weariness are eloquently and poignantly expressed.

  You Have Loved Enough

  I said I’d be your lover.

  You laughed at what I said.

  I lost my job forever.

  I was counted with the dead.

  I swept the marble chambers,

  But you sent me down below.

  You kept me from believing

  Until you let me know:

  That I am not the one who loves –

  It’s love that seizes me.

  When hatred with his package comes,

  You forbid delivery.

  And when the hunger for your touch

  Rises from the hunger,

  You whisper, “You have loved enough,

  Now let me be the Lover.”

  I swept the marble chambers,

  But you sent me down below.

  You kept me from believing

  Until you let me know:

  That I am not the one who loves –

  It’s love that chooses me.

  When hatred with his package comes,

  You forbid delivery.

  And when the hunger for your touch

  Rises from the hunger …

  This song from Ten New Songs (2001), co-written by Sharon Robinson, seems a simple love song, with an elegant twist on Cohen’s sense of victimhood – “it’s love that seizes me”. But we know enough of Cohen to suspect apparent simplicity. Given that at the time of writing this song Cohen was living in Roshi’s monastery in California, and taking into account that the beloved to whom he addresses the song forbids the delivery of hatred, we can read the song as the portrayal of a spiritual journey and an expression of Cohen’s Buddhist beliefs.

  You Know Who I Am

  I cannot follow you, my love,

  you cannot follow me.

  I am the distance you put between

  all of the moments that we will be.

  You know who I am,

  you’ve stared at the sun,

  well I am the one who loves

  changing from nothing to one.

  Sometimes I need you naked,

  sometimes I need you wild,

  I need you to carry my children in

  and I need you to kill a child.

  You know who I am...

  If you should ever track me down

  I will surrender there

  and I will leave with you one broken man

  whom I will teach you to repair.

  You know who I am...

  I cannot follow you, my love,

  you cannot follow me.

  I am the distance you put between

  all of the moments that we will be.

  You know who I am...

  Included on Songs From a Room (1967), and also on Live Songs (1973), this song fails to avoid the danger inherent in using the “I” voice – the danger of becoming ego-bound and failing to generalise an individual experience so as to make it relevant and interesting to others. His need for his lover “to kill a child” is selfish if it refers to abortion, and frankly obscene if it doesn’t. Perhaps appropriately for his first album, it is an immature song.

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  Credits

  All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.

  Ain’t No Cure For Love

  Words & Music by Leonard Cohen

  © Copyright 1986 Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Limited.

  Alexandra Leaving

  Words & Music by Leonard Cohen & Sharon Robinson

  © Copyright 2001 Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Limited/

  Sharon Robinson Songs (ASCAP)/IQ Music Limited

  Always

  Words & Music by Irving Berlin

  © Copyright 1925 Berlin Irving Music Corporation.

  Francis Day & Hunter Limited.

  Anthem

  Words & Music by Leonard Cohen

  © Copyright 1992 Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Limited.

  Avalanche

  Words & Music by Leonard Cohen

  © Copyright 1967 Sony/ATV Songs LLC, USA.

  Chrysalis Songs Limited.

  Ballad Of The Absent Mare

  Words & Music by Leonard Cohen

  © Copyright 1979 Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Limited.

  Be For Real

  Words & Music by Frederick Knight

  © Copyright East Memphis Music Corporation/Two Knight

  Publishing Company, USA.

  Universal Music Publishing Limited.

  All rights in Germany administered by Universal Music

  Publ. GmbH.

  Because Of

  Words & Music by Leonard Cohen

  © Copyright 2004 Sony/ATV Songs LLC, USA.

  Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Limited.

  All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.

  Bird On The Wire

  Words & Music by Leonard Cohen

  © Copyright 1968 Sony/ATV Songs LLC, USA.

  Chrysalis Songs Limited.

  Boogie Street