Watch “Jeff Buckley – “Hallelujah”” on YouTube

Well I’ve heard there was a secret chord
That David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
Well it goes like this:
The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya
She tied you to her kitchen chair
And she broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

But baby I’ve been here before
I’ve seen this room and I’ve walked this floor
You know, I used to live alone before I knew ya
And I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
And love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Well there was a time when you let me know
What’s really going on below
But now you never show that to me do ya
But remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya

And it’s not a cry that you hear at night
It’s not somebody who’s seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Leonard Cohen

Hallelujah lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Watch “Leonard Cohen – Sound Of Silence” on YouTube

Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence

“Fools” said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, “The words of the prophets

Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls”
And whisper’d in the sounds of silence

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Paul Simon

The Sound of Silence lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Watch “Leonard Cohen Chelsea Hotel #2 Live” on YouTube

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
You were talking so brave and so sweet
Giving me head on the unmade bed
While the limousines wait in the street
Those were the reasons and that was New York
We were running for the money and the flesh
And that was called love for the workers in song
Probably still is for those of them left

Ah but you got away, didn’t you babe
You just turned your back on the crowd
You got away, I never once heard you say
I need you, I don’t need you
I need you, I don’t need you
And all of that jiving around

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
You were famous, your heart was a legend
You told me again you preferred handsome men
But for me you would make an exception
And clenching your fist for the ones like us
Who are oppressed by the figures of beauty
You fixed yourself, you said, “Well never mind,
We are ugly but we have the music”

And you got away, didn’t you babe,
You just turned your back on the crowd
You got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don’t need you
I need you, I don’t need you
And all of that jiving around

I don’t mean to suggest that I loved you the best
I can’t keep track of each fallen robin
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
That’s all, I don’t even think of you that often

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Leonard Cohen

Chelsea Hotel #2 lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
You were talking so brave and so sweet
Giving me head on the unmade bed
While the limousines wait in the street
Those were the reasons and that was New York
We were running for the money and the flesh
And that was called love for the workers in song
Probably still is for those of them left

Ah but you got away, didn’t you babe
You just turned your back on the crowd
You got away, I never once heard you say
I need you, I don’t need you
I need you, I don’t need you
And all of that jiving around

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
You were famous, your heart was a legend
You told me again you preferred handsome men
But for me you would make an exception
And clenching your fist for the ones like us
Who are oppressed by the figures of beauty
You fixed yourself, you said, “Well never mind,
We are ugly but we have the music”

And you got away, didn’t you babe,
You just turned your back on the crowd
You got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don’t need you
I need you, I don’t need you
And all of that jiving around

I don’t mean to suggest that I loved you the best
I can’t keep track of each fallen robin
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
That’s all, I don’t even think of you that often

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Leonard Cohen

Chelsea Hotel #2 lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management

Watch “Leonard Cohen – Famous Blue Raincoat (Live in Dublin)” on YouTube

It’s four in the morning, the end of December
I’m writing you now just to see if you’re better
New York is cold, but I like where I’m living
There’s music on Clinton Street all through the evening

I hear that you’re building your little house deep in the desert
You’re living for nothing now, I hope you’re keeping some kind of record

Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You’d been to the station to meet every train, and
You came home without Lili Marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody’s wife

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well, I see Jane’s awake
She sends her regards

And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I’m glad you stood in my way

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Well, your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried

And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear

Sincerely, L Cohen

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Leonard Cohen

Famous Blue Raincoat lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Watch “You Want It Darker – Leonard Cohen” on YouTube

LYRICS

LISTEN

INTERESTING FINDS

PEOPLE ALSO SEARCH FOR

2. 
   

   If you are the dealer, I’m out of the game
   If you are the healer, it means I’m broken and lame
   If thine is the glory then mine must be the shame
   You want it darker
   We kill the flame

   Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name
   Vilified, crucified, in the human frame
   A million candles burning for the help that never came
   You want it darker

   Hineni, hineni
   I’m ready, my lord

   There’s a lover in the story
   But the story’s still the same
   There’s a lullaby for suffering
   And a paradox to blame
   But it’s written in the scriptures
   And it’s not some idle claim
   You want it darker
   We kill the flame

   They’re lining up the prisoners
   And the guards are taking aim
   I struggled with some demons
   They were middle class and tame
   I didn’t know I had permission to murder and to maim
   You want it darker

   Hineni, hineni
   I’m ready, my lord

   Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name
   Vilified, crucified, in the human frame
   A million candles burning for the love that never came
   You want it darker
   We kill the flame

   If you are the dealer, let me out of the game
   If you are the healer, I’m broken and lame
   If thine is the glory, mine must be the shame
   You want it darker

   Hineni, hineni
   Hineni, hineni
   I’m ready, my lord

   Hineni
   Hineni, hineni
   Hineni

   Source: LyricFind

   
   

   Songwriters: Leonard Cohen / Patrick Leonard

   You Want It Darker lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

   
   

Watch “Leonard Cohen Interview – Part 1 of 3” on YouTube

Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan’s

“How does it feel…To be all alone…

Like a complete unknown…

Like a rolling stone…”

Watch “Leonard Cohen – A Thousand Kisses Deep” on YouTube

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat.
You win a while, and then it’s done ?
Your little winning streak.
And summoned now to deal
With your invincible defeat,
You live your life as if it?s real,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed,
I’m back on Boogie Street.
You lose your grip, and then you slip
Into the Masterpiece.
And maybe I had miles to drive,
And promises to keep:
You ditch it all to stay alive,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

Confined to sex, we pressed against
The limits of the sea:
I saw there were no oceans left
For scavengers like me.
I made it to the forward deck.
I blessed our remnant fleet…
And then consented to be wrecked,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed,
I’m back on Boogie Street.
I guess they won’t exchange the gifts
That you were meant to keep.
And quiet is the thought of you,
The file on you complete,
Except what we forgot to do,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat .

Watch “Leonard Cohen-In My Secret Life” on YouTube

https://youtu.be/ym3_m_Apfas
LEONARD COHEN LYRICS

“In My Secret Life”

I saw you this morning.
You were moving so fast.
Can’t seem to loosen my grip
On the past.
And I miss you so much.
There’s no one in sight.
And we’re still making love
In My Secret Life.

I smile when I’m angry.
I cheat and I lie.
I do what I have to do
To get by.
But I know what is wrong,
And I know what is right.
And I’d die for the truth
In My Secret Life.

Hold on, hold on, my brother.
My sister, hold on tight.
I finally got my orders.
I’ll be marching through the morning,
Marching through the night,
Moving cross the borders
Of My Secret Life.

Looked through the paper.
Makes you want to cry.
Nobody cares if the people
Live or die.
And the dealer wants you thinking
That it’s either black or white.
Thank G-d it’s not that simple
In My Secret Life.

I bite my lip.
I buy what I’m told:
From the latest hit,
To the wisdom of old.
But I’m always alone.
And my heart is like ice.
And it’s crowded and cold
In My Secret Life.

The Traitor, Leonard Cohen With Martha Wainright (from I’m Your Man Show)

New! Read & write lyrics explanations

• Highlight lyrics and explain them to earn Karma points.

Now the swan it floated on the english river
Ah the rose of high romance it opened wide
A sun tanned woman yearned me through the summer
And the judges watched us from the other side

I told my mother “mother I must leave you
Preserve my room but do not she’d a tear
Should rumour of a shabby ending reach you
It was half my fault and half the atmosphere”

But the rose I sickened with a scarlet fever
And the swan I tempted with a sense of shame
She said at last I was her finest lover
And if she withered I would be to blame

The judges said you missed it by a fraction
Rise up and brace your troops for the attack
Ah the dreamers ride against the men of action
Oh see the men of action falling back

But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment
I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still
My falsity had stung me like a hornet
The poison sank and it paralysed my will

I could not move to warn all the younger soldiers
That they had been deserted from above
So on battlefields from here to barcelona
I’m listed with the enemies of love

And long ago she said “i must be leaving,
Ah but keep my body here to lie upon
You can move it up and down and when I’m sleeping
Run some wire through that rose and wind the swan”

So daily I renew my idle duty
I touch her here and there — I know my place
I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty
And people call me traitor to my face

Original Best of Leonard Cohen (1975 compilation)

Michael Kane

Published on Jul 27, 2015

The Best of Leonard Cohen (1975)

“Suzanne” – 0:00 – 3:47
“Sisters of Mercy” – 3:48 – 7:24
“So Long, Marianne” – 7:26 – 13:03
“Bird on the Wire” – 13:05 – 16:31
“Lady Midnight” – 16:33 – 19:33
“The Partisan” – 19:34 – 22:55
“Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” – 22:56 – 25:53
“Famous Blue Raincoat” – 25:55 – 31:02
“Last Year’s Man” – 31:05 – 37:02
“Chelsea Hotel #2” – 37:04 – 40:10
“Who by Fire” – 40:12 – 42:40
“Take This Longing” – 42:45 – 46:48

• Music

  • “Lady Midnight” by Leonard Cohen (Google Play • AmazonMP3 • iTunes)

LEONARD COHEN LYRICS

Suzanne

Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she’s half crazy
But that’s why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you’ve always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you’ve touched her perfect body with your mind.
And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said “All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them”
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you’ll trust him
For he’s touched your perfect body with his mind.

Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she’s touched your perfect body with her mind.

*******************************************************

LEONARD COHEN LYRICS

Sisters Of Mercy

Lyrics

Oh, the sisters of mercy, they are not departed or gone
They were waiting for me when I thought that I just can’t go on
And they brought me their comfort and later they brought me this song
Oh, I hope you run into them, you who’ve been travelling so long

Yes, you who must leave everything that you cannot control
It begins with your family, but soon it comes around to your soul
Well, I’ve been where you’re hanging, I think I can see how you’re pinned
When you’re not feeling holy, your loneliness says that you’ve sinned

Well, they lay down beside me, I made my confession to them
They touched both my eyes and I touched the dew on their hem
If your life is a leaf that the seasons tear off and condemn
They will bind you with love that is graceful and green as a stem

When I left they were sleeping, I hope you run into them soon
Don’t turn on the lights, you can read their address by the moon
And you won’t make me jealous if I hear that they sweetened your night
We weren’t lovers like that and besides, it would still be all right
We weren’t lovers like that and besides, it would still be all right

More Lyrics HERE

“The Traitor”, LEONARD COHEN

“The Traitor”,  LEONARD COHEN

Now the Swan it floated on the English river
Ah the Rose of High Romance it opened wide
A sun tanned woman yearned me through the summer
and the judges watched us from the other side
I told my mother “Mother I must leave you
preserve my room but do not shed a tear
Should rumour of a shabby ending reach you
it was half my fault and half the atmosphere”

But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever
and the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame
She said at last I was her finest lover
and if she withered I would be to blame

The judges said you missed it by a fraction
rise up and brace your troops for the attack
Ah the dreamers ride against the men of action
Oh see the men of action falling back

But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment
I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still
My falsity had stung me like a hornet
The poison sank and it paralysed my will

I could not move to warn all the younger soldiers
that they had been deserted from above
So on battlefields from here to Barcelona
I’m listed with the enemies of love

And long ago she said “I must be leaving,
Ah but keep my body here to lie upon
You can move it up and down and when I’m sleeping
Run some wire through that Rose and wind the Swan”

So daily I renew my idle duty
I touch her here and there — I know my place
I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty
and people call me traitor to my face

Antony singing If It Be Your Will (sometimes , people find their voice, and once in a while they recognize genius)

Antony singing If It Be Your Will (poem and song by the genius of Leonard Cohen )

Oggmonster

Uploaded on Oct 9, 2006

The Antony part in the Leonard Cohen documentary – I’m your Man

LEONARD COHEN LYRICS

Play Music

“If It Be Your Will”

If it be your will
That I speak no more
And my voice be still
As it was before
I will speak no more
I shall abide until
I am spoken for
If it be your will
If it be your will
That a voice be true
From this broken hill
I will sing to you
From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing
From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing

If it be your will
If there is a choice
Let the rivers fill
Let the hills rejoice
Let your mercy spill
On all these burning hearts in hell
If it be your will
To make us well

And draw us near
And bind us tight
All your children here
In their rags of light
In our rags of light
All dressed to kill
And end this night
If it be your will

If it be your will.

 

 

 

 

Writer(s): Leonard Cohen
Copyright: Bad Monk Publishing, Sony/ATV Songs LLC

 

Joan of Arc – Jennifer Warnes and Leonard Cohen

Eileen’s Videos (Adamfulgence)

The story of Joan of Arc is one of the most wonderful stories in the history of any nation of Europe. In the hour of France’s need, when she was being conquered by English armies, when her forces were so divided by civil war that it seemed as if there were no true Frenchmen, but that every lord and district were for themselves, when she had no recognized king, but only an uncrowned Dauphin…….in this hour of her need there appeared for France a Maiden, a deliverer. 

Joan died a cruel death, but the work which she had begun in France did not die with her. She had united the French and they did not fall apart again into quarrelsome factions. King Charles showed a new spirit as he began his reign. Even through the dangers of war he took time to unite his nobles and keep them in order under him. The English were driven out by this newly roused French nation. The Hundred Years’ War was ended, and a peace was concluded by which France was left free within her own provinces, untroubled by foreigners.

Many movies, books, poems, songs have been written on the subject of Joan of Arc. In this video, the Leonard Cohen song, “Joan of Arc” is featured as sung by Jennifer Warnes with several images that are hopefully interwoven to reflect a variety of Joan of Arc facets in the past and in our present day. I chose to focus on the face of Renée Maria Falconetti from the 1928 movie “La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc” -The director, Dreyer, wrote in his “Thoughts on My Craft”, “Nothing in the world can be compared to the human face. It is a land one can never tire of exploring”. Dreyer’s film was a visionary work of art which has to be seen to be appreciated. But, Falconetti’s performance was so intense for her that she suffered a mental breakdown after the filming.

Songs, poems, symbols are all able to carry multiple messages, depending on who is interpreting them (or when in their life they are doing the interpreting). I have chosen to interpret the fire as being God (Jesus for Joan). Some have said that they saw the fire as the Devil. Not I.

Best viewed at 720p on a full screen.

Now the flames they followed Joan of arc
As she came riding through the dark;
No moon to keep her armour bright,
No man to get her through this very smoky night.
She said, I’m tired of the war,
I want the kind of work I had before,
A wedding dress or something white
To wear upon my swollen appetite.Well, I’m glad to hear you talk this way,
You know I’ve watched you riding every day
And something in me yearns to win
Such a cold and lonesome heroine.
And who are you? she sternly spoke
To the one beneath the smoke.
Why, I’m fire, he replied,
And I love your solitude, I love your pride.Then fire, make your body cold,
I’m going to give you mine to hold,
Saying this she climbed inside
To be his one, to be his only bride.
And deep into his fiery heart
He took the dust of Joan of arc,
And high above the wedding guests
He hung the ashes of her wedding dress.

It was deep into his fiery heart
He took the dust of Joan of arc,
And then she clearly understood
If he was fire, oh then she must be wood.
I saw her wince, I saw her cry,
I saw the glory in her eye.
Myself I long for love and light,
But must it come so cruel, and oh so bright?

 Read more at  Here…

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

Jennifer Warnes
Birth name	Jennifer Jean Warnes
Born	March 3, 1947 (age 65)
Origin	Anaheim, California, United States
Genres	Pop, Country, Rhythm and Blues, Opera
Occupations	Singer, Songwriter, Arranger,Record producer Concert performer, Television performer
Years active	1967–present (singer, songwriter, arranger and producer)
Labels	CISCO, BoxStar Impex Records, Shout Factory
Associated acts	Bill Medley, Joe Cocker,Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman
Website	Official website

Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer. She is known for her interpretations of compositions written by herself and many others as well as an extensive playlist as a vocalist on movie soundtracks. She is a close friend of and collaborator with Canadian singer-songwriter and poet, Leonard Cohen.

Between 1979 and 1987, Warnes surpassed Frank Sinatra as the vocalist performing the most songs to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song (four times) and to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song (three times). Her biggest hits include “Up Where We Belong” (a duet with Joe Cocker from the 1982 film, An Officer and a Gentleman) and “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” (a duet with Bill Medleyfrom the 1987 film, Dirty Dancing).

Leonard Cohen – So long, Marianne [Studio Version] (“…I forget to pray for the angels And then the angels forget to pray for us…”)

Leonard Cohen – So long, Marianne [Studio Version]

ThePassenger

Uploaded on Feb 6, 2007 / 3,242,679 views

Leonard Cohen – So Long, Marianne Lyrics

Come over to the window, my little darling
I’d like to try to read your palm
I used to think I was some kind of Gypsy boy
Before I let you take me home

Now so long, Marianne, it’s time that we began
To laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again

Well you know that I love to live with you
But you make me forget so very much
I forget to pray for the angels
And then the angels forget to pray for us

Now so long, Marianne, it’s time that we began

We met when we were almost young
Deep in the green lilac park
You held on to me like I was a crucifix
As we went kneeling through the dark

Oh so long, Marianne, it’s time that we began

Your letters they all say that you’re beside me now
Then why do I feel alone?
I’m standing on a ledge and your fine spider web
Is fastening my ankle to a stone

Now so long, Marianne, it’s time that we began

For now I need your hidden love
I’m cold as a new razor blade
You left when I told you I was curious
I never said that I was brave

Oh so long, Marianne, it’s time that we began
Oh, you are really such a pretty one
I see you’ve gone and changed your name again
And just when I climbed this whole mountainside
To wash my eyelids in the rain

Oh so long, Marianne, it’s time that we began

Songwriters: COHEN, LEONARD

So Long, Marianne lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Related articles

• Leonard Cohen: Alexandra Leaving – with Sharon Robinson, great songs/interpretation

Leonard Cohen ~ Dance Me To The End Of Love – Tango Scene Al Pacino and Gabrielle Anwar – Scent of a Woman (1992), great songs/interpretations

Leonard Cohen ~ Dance Me To The End Of Love

Gloria Franchi

 

Published on Dec 31, 2013/3,840,477 views

Tango Scene ~ Al Pacino and Gabrielle Anwar ~ Scent of a Woman ~ Movie CLIP (1992)
Leonard Cohen ~ Dance Me To The End Of Love

Lyrics:

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic ’til I’m gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We’re both of us beneath our love, we’re both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I’m gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

►Check out my Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGloriafra
ڪےღڰۣ✿ Gloria

Scent of a Woman
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Martin Brest
Produced by	Martin Brest
Screenplay by	Bo Goldman
Based on	Il buio e il miele  by Giovanni Arpino
Starring	Al Pacino Chris O’Donnell
Music by	Thomas Newman
Cinematography	Donald E. Thorin
Edited by	William Steinkamp Michael Tronick Harvey Rosenstock
Production company	City Light Films
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	December 23, 1992
Running time	156 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$31 million[1]
Box office	$134,095,253

Leonard Cohen – Take This Waltz [Official Music Video], great songs/interpretations

Leonard Cohen – Take This Waltz [Official Music Video]

a1000kissesdeep

Uploaded on Mar 19, 2009 / 839,810 views

Promotional video clip for tribute LP “Poets In New York” (1986). Leonard Cohen performs Take This Waltz, his song based on his own translation of Garcia Lorca’s Pequeño vals vienés.

The Leonard Cohen Files says: “The video was filmed in Spain, in the city of Granada, famous for the Alhambra Castle. Leonard Cohen is shown in the house of Federico Garcia Lorca. 6 min, color.”

Note: This is 1986 version of the song, produced for the Spanish tribute album “Poets In New York”. Later, Cohen released the same track on his 1988 album I’m Your Man, adding Raffi Hakopian’s violin and Jennifer Warnes’ vocals in overlayers. So don’t be alarmed if you don’t hear Warnes’ duetting on some verses and no violin at all.

According to some sources, this wasn’t real video clip, but promotional clip which originally was the part of TV programme accompanying “Poets in New York” LP. Strangely enough, there’s another version at YouTube, recorded from TV Espana, two minutes longer, re-edited and re-cut – some extra shots show Cohen playing the piano, walking through Garcia Lorca’s house museum etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV97_R… My version is 4 minutes, while The Leonard Cohen Files says it should be six minutes. Nevertheless, my version is obviously also complete clip, and I took it from the home-made DVDR which was shown on Leonard Cohen Event organised by The LC Files, while the DVDR’s contents came from press kit tapes sent by Mr. Cohen, so…

Take This Waltz Lyrics

from Live In London

“Take This Waltz” is track #18 on the album Live In London. It was written by Cohen, Leonard / Lorca, Garcia.

Now in Vienna there’s ten pretty women
There’s a shoulder where death comes to cry
There’s a lobby with nine hundred windows
There’s a tree where the doves go to die
There’s a piece that was torn from the morning
And it hangs in theGallery of Frost

Aey, aey, aey, aey
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz with the clamp on its jaws

Oh I want you, I want you, I want you
On a chair with a dead magazine
In the cave at the tip of the lily
In some hallway where love’s never been
On a bed where the moon has been sweating
In a cry filled with footsteps and sand

Aey, aey, aey, aey
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take its broken waist in your hand
This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz
With its very own breath of brandy and death
Dragging its tail in the sea

There’s a concert hall in Vienna
Where your mouth had a thousand reviews
There’s a bar where the boys have stopped talking
They’ve been sentenced to death by the blues
But who is it climbs to your picture
With a garland of freshly cut tears?

Aey, aey, aey, aey
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz it’s been dying for years

There’s an attic where children are playing
Where I’ve got to lie down with you soon
In a dream of Hungarian lanterns
In the mist of some sweet afternoon
And I’ll see what you’ve chained to your sorrow
All your sheep and your lilies of snow

Aey, aey, aey, aey
Take this waltz, take this waltz
With its, I’ll never forget you, you know
This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz
With its very own breath of brandy and death
Dragging its tail in the sea

And I’ll dance with you in Vienna
I’ll be wearing a river’s disguise
The hyacinth wild on my shoulder
My mouth on the dew of your thighs
And I’ll bury my soul in a scrapbook
With the photographs there, and the moss

And I’ll yield to the flood of your beauty
My cheap violin and my cross
And you’ll carry me down on your dancing
To the pools that you lift on your wrist
Oh my love, oh my love
Take this waltz, take this waltz
It’s yours now, it’s all that there is

Aey, aey, aey, aey

Songwriters
COHEN, LEONARD / LORCA, GARCIA

Published by
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Read more: Leonard Cohen – Take This Waltz Lyrics | MetroLyrics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Partisan – Leonard Cohen (World Tour 2008), The Partisan Lyrics, great songs/interpretations

The Partisan – Leonard Cohen

(World Tour 2008)

The Partisan Lyrics

from Songs From The Road

“The Partisan” is track #9 on the album Songs From The Road. It was written by Zaret, Hy / Marly, Anna.

When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender
This I could not do
I took my gun and vanished

I have changed my name so often
I’ve lost my wife and children
But I have many friends
And some of them are with me

An old woman gave us shelter
Kept us hidden in the garret
Then the soldiers came
She died without a whisper

There were three of us this morning
I’m the only one this evening
But I must go on
The frontiers are my prison

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing
Through the graves the wind is blowing
Freedom soon will come
Then we’ll come from shadow

Les allemands étaient chez moi
Ils me dirent, “signe toi”
Mais je n’ai pas peur
J’ai repris mon âme

J’ai changé cent fois de nom
J’ai perdu femme et enfants
Mais j’ai tant d’amis
J’ai la France entière

Un vieil homme dans un grenier
Pour la nuit nous a caché
Les allemands l’ont pris
Il est mort sans surprise

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing
Through the graves the wind is blowing
Freedom soon will come
Then we’ll come from the shadow

Songwriters
ZARET, HY / MARLY, ANNA

Published by
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

 

Leonard Cohen: Alexandra Leaving – with Sharon Robinson, great songs/interpretation

Leonard Cohen: Alexandra Leaving – with Sharon Robinson

carlitopappas

Leonard Cohen – Alexandra Leaving -The Book of longing_FotoSketcher_FotoSketcher (Click to enlarge)

As someone long prepared for the occasion;
In full command of every plan you wrecked—
Do not choose a coward’s explanation
that hides behind the cause and the effect,

You who were bewildered by a meaning,
whose code was broken, crucifix uncrossed—
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving.
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost.

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• Leonard Cohen Live – A Thousand Kisses Deep: “…a light that doesn’t need to live,and doesn’t need to die…”
• Nick Cave Covers Leonard Cohen’s “Avalanche”

Leonard Cohen, Ghent, Alexandra Leaving 15-8-2012, (from the Book of Longing)

Leonard Cohen Ghent, Alexandra Leaving 15-8-2012

albertnoonan

Sharon Robinson sings Alexandra leaving at the Leonard Cohen Ghent concert on August 15th 2012.

*****Please read the poem ‘Alexandra Leaving’     HERE

‘I could’ve included the poem in this post but I really wanted to give my audience a chance to first read the poem and then watch the video and listen to the marvelous interpretation by Sharon Robinson.’

– Ge0rge-B. 🙂

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• He’s Your Man: Leonard Cohen on Tour
• Leonard Cohen: Live in Dublin (Review)

ALEXANDRA LEAVING, from Leonard Cohen’s ‘T h e B o o k o f L o n g i n g’

ALEXANDRA LEAVING,
from Leonard Cohen‘s

T h e  B o o k  o f  L o n g i n g

Leonard Cohen – Alexandra Leaving -The Book of Longing_FotoSketcher_FotoSketcher (Click to enlarge)

The song Alexandra Leaving on
Ten New Songs is based on this poem.

(based on The God Abandons Antony,
a poem by Constantine P. Cavafy)

Suddenly the night has grown colder.
Some deity preparing to depart.
Alexandra hoisted on his shoulder,
they slip between the sentries of your heart.

Upheld by the simplicities of pleasure,
they gain the light, they formlessly entwine;
and radiant beyond your widest measure
they fall among the voices and the wine.

lt’s not a trick, your senses all deceiving,
a fitful dream the morning will exhaust—
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving,
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost.

Even though she sleeps upon your satin.
Even though she wakes you with a kiss.
Do not say the moment was imagined,
Do not stoop to strategies like this.

As someone long prepared for this to happen,
Go firmly to the window. Drink it in.
Exquisite music, Alexandra laughing.
Your first commitments tangible again.

You who had the honor of her evening,
And by that honor had your own restored—
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving.
Alexandra leaving with her lord.

As someone long prepared for the occasion;
In full command of every plan you wrecked—
Do not choose a coward’s explanation
that hides behind the cause and the effect,

You who were bewildered by a meaning,
whose code was broken, crucifix uncrossed—
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving.
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost.

Hydra, Greece
September 1999

Great men talking: Leonard Cohen’s: Prince Of Asturias Award Speech (Quote: “Poetry comes from a place that no one commands, that no one conquers.”

Leonard Cohen‘s Prince Of Asturias Speech – No Overdubbing

Allan Showalter

Uploaded on Oct 25, 2011/223,934 views

How I Got My Song, Leonard Cohen’s speech at the Oct 21, 2011 Prince of Asturias Awards is already available on video uploads, all of which suffer from overdubbing in Spanish that sometimes obscures Cohen’s words. In this version, however, all but the first 2-3 minutes of the talk are played from an audio tape with no overdubbing. While that portion of the tape contains ambient noise and some volume and pitch fluctuations, it is significantly easier to understand. A direct English transcript is also available at 1HeckOfAGuy.com: http://1heckofaguy.com/2011/10/24/leo…….

Español: Ceremonia de entrega de los Premios Príncipe de Asturias 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The transcription begins just after the Cohen’s opening salutations to the audience.

Transcription:

It is a great honour to stand here before you tonight. Perhaps, like the great maestro, Riccardo Muti,

English: Prince of Asturias Foundation Emblem (Prince of Asturias Awards) Español: Escudo de la Fundación Príncipe de Asturias (Premios Príncipe de Asturias) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m not used to standing in front of an audience without an orchestra behind me, but I will do my best as a solo artist tonight.

I stayed up all night last night wondering what I might say to this assembly. After I had eaten all the chocolate bars and peanuts from the minibar, I scribbled a few words. I don’t think I have to refer to them. Obviously, I’m deeply touched to be recognized by the Foundation. But I have come here tonight to express another dimension of gratitude; I think I can do it in three or four minutes.

When I was packing in Los Angeles, I had a sense of unease because I’ve always felt some ambiguity about an award for poetry. Poetry comes from a place that no one commands, that no one conquers. So I feel somewhat like a charlatan to accept an award for an activity which I do not command. In other words, if I knew where the good songs came from I would go there more often.

I was compelled in the midst of that ordeal of packing to go and open my guitar. I have a Conde guitar, which was made in Spain in the great workshop at number 7 Gravina Street. I pick up an instrument I acquired over 40 years ago. I took it out of the case, I lifted it, and it seemed to be filled with helium it was so light. And I brought it to my face and I put my face close to the beautifully designed rosette, and I inhaled the fragrance of the living wood. We know that wood never dies. I inhaled the fragrance of the cedar as fresh as the first day that I acquired the guitar. And a voice seemed to say to me, “You are an old man and you have not said thank you, you have not brought your gratitude back to the soil from which this fragrance arose. And so I come here tonight to thank the soil and the soul of this land that has given me so much.

Because I know that just as an identity card is not a man, a credit rating is not a country.

Now, you know of my deep association and confraternity with the poet Frederico Garcia Lorca. I could say that when I was a young man, an adolescent, and I hungered for a voice, I studied the English poets and I knew their work well, and I copied their styles, but I could not find a voice. It was only when I read, even in translation, the works of Lorca that I understood that there was a voice. It is not that I copied his voice; I would not dare. But he gave me permission to find a voice, to locate a voice, that is to locate a self, a self that that is not fixed, a self that struggles for its own existence.

As I grew older, I understood that instructions came with this voice. What were these instructions? The instructions were never to lament casually. And if one is to express the great inevitable defeat that awaits us all, it must be done within the strict confines of dignity and beauty.

And so I had a voice, but I did not have an instrument. I did not have a song.

And now I’m going to tell you very briefly a story of how I got my song.

Because – I was an indifferent guitar player. I banged the chords. I only knew a few of them. I sat around with my college friends, drinking and singing the folk songs and the popular songs of the day, but I never in a thousand years thought of myself as a musician or as a singer.

One day in the early sixties, I was visiting my mother’s house in Montreal. Her house was beside a park and in the park was a tennis court where many people come to watch the beautiful young tennis players enjoy their sport. I wandered back to this park which I’d known since my childhood, and there was a young man playing a guitar. He was playing a flamenco guitar, and he was surrounded by two or three girls and boys who were listening to him. I loved the way he played. There was something about the way he played that captured me. It was the way that I wanted to play and knew that I would never be able to play.

And, I sat there with the other listeners for a few moments and when there was a silence, an appropriate silence, I asked him if he would give me guitar lessons. He was a young man from Spain, and we could only communicate in my broken French and his broken French. He didn’t speak English. And he agreed to give me guitar lessons. I pointed to my mother’s house which you could see from the tennis court, and we made an appointment and settled a price.

He came to my mother’s house the next day and he said, “Let me hear you play something.” I tried to play something, and he said, “You don’t know how to play, do you?’

I said, “No, I don’t know how to play.” He said “First of all, let me tune your guitar. It’s all out of tune.” So he took the guitar, and he tuned it. He said, “It’s not a bad guitar.” It wasn’t the Conde, but it wasn’t a bad guitar. So, he handed it back to me. He said, “Now play.”

I couldn’t play any better.

He said “Let me show you some chords.” And he took the guitar, and he produced a sound from that guitar I had never heard. And he played a sequence of chords with a tremolo, and he said, “Now you do it.” I said, “It’s out of the question. I can’t possibly do it.” He said, “Let me put your fingers on the frets,” and he put my fingers on the frets. And he said, “Now, now play.”

It was a mess. He said, ” I’ll come back tomorrow.”

He came back tomorrow, he put my hands on the guitar, he placed it on my lap in the way that was appropriate, and I began again with those six chords – a six chord progression. Many, many flamenco songs are based on them.

I was a little better that day. The third day – improved, somewhat improved. But I knew the chords now. And, I knew that although I couldn’t coordinate my fingers with my thumb to produce the correct tremolo pattern, I knew the chords; I knew them very, very well.

The next day, he didn’t come. He didn’t come. I had the number of his, of his boarding house in Montreal. I phoned to find out why he had missed the appointment, and they told me that he had taken his life. That he committed suicide.

I knew nothing about the man. I did not know what part of Spain he came from. I did not know why he came to Montreal. I did not know why he played there. I did not know why he he appeared there at that tennis court. I did not know why he took his life.

I was deeply saddened, of course. But now I disclose something that I’ve never spoken in public. It was those six chords, it was that guitar pattern that has been the basis of all my songs and all my music. So, now you will begin to understand the dimensions of the gratitude I have for this country.

Everything that you have found favourable in my work comes from this place. Everything , everything that you have found favourable in my songs and my poetry are inspired by this soil.

So, I thank you so much for the warm hospitality that you have shown my work because it is really yours, and you have allowed me to affix my signature to the bottom of the page.

This entry was posted in Leonard Cohen and tagged LC Honors, Prince Of Asturias Award. Bookmark the permalink.

 

thinking of a song: Leonard Cohen & U2 : Tower Of Song (I’m your man), QUOTE: “And all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed But I feel so close to everything that we lost We’ll never, we’ll never have to lose it again”

Leonard Cohen & U2 : Tower Of Song

Bzitoun

Uploaded on Jul 7, 2011/ 971,673 views

Tower Of Song – Video clip from the film ‘I’m Your Man’
Video INCLUDED in DVD version – U2 : Window in the Skies

Tower of Song Lyrics

from Live In London

“Tower of Song” is track #20 on the album Live In London. It was written by Cohen, Leonard.

Well my friends are gone and my hair is gray
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I’m crazy for love but I’m not coming on
I’m just paying my rent every day in the tower of song

I said to Hank Williams, “How lonely does it get?”
Hank Williams hasn’t answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
Oh, a hundred floors above me in the tower of song

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
And twenty-seven angels from the great beyond
They tied me to this table right here in the tower of song

So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll
I’m very sorry, baby, doesn’t look like me at all
I’m standing by the window where the light is strong
Ah they don’t let a woman kill you not in the tower of song

Now you can say that I’ve grown bitter but of this you may be sure
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there’s a mighty judgment coming, but I may be wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices in the tower of song

I see you standing on the other side
I don’t know how the river got so wide
I loved you baby, way back when
And all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed
But I feel so close to everything that we lost
We’ll never, we’ll never have to lose it again

Now I bid you farewell, I don’t know when I’ll be back
They’re moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you’ll be hearing from me baby, long after I’m gone
I’ll be speaking to you sweetly from a window in the tower of song

Yeah, my friends are gone and my head is gray
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I’m crazy for love but I’m not coming on
I’m just paying my rent every day in the tower of song

Songwriters
COHEN, LEONARD

Published by
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Read more: Leonard Cohen – Tower Of Song Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Related articles

• 2015 Grammy Hall of Fame
• Leonard Cohen Live – A Thousand Kisses Deep: “…a light that doesn’t need to live,and doesn’t need to die…”

thinking of a song: Dance me to the end of love, LEONARD COHEN

Dance me to the end of love, LEONARD COHEN

Yota Moe

 

Uploaded on Jun 15, 2008/ 2,832,237 views

Leonard Cohen on Jools Holland Show

“Dance Me To The End Of Love”

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic ’til I’m gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We’re both of us beneath our love, we’re both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I’m gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

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thinking of a tune: Leonard Cohen – Did I Ever Love You (Lyric Video)

Leonard Cohen – Did I Ever Love You (Lyric Video)

LeonardCohenVEVO

 

Published on Oct 3, 2014 / 360,403

Music video by Leonard Cohen performing Did I Ever Love You. (C) 2014 Sony Music Entertainment

Did I Ever Love You Lyrics

from Popular Problems

Music Video

“Did I Ever Love You” is track #5 on the album Popular Problems. It was written by Cohen, Leonard / Leonard, Patrick.

Did I ever love you
Did I ever need you
Did I ever fight you
Did I ever want to

Did I ever leave you
Was I ever able
Or are we still leaning
Across the old table

Was it ever settled
Was it ever over
And is it still raining
Back in November

The lemon trees blossom
The almond trees whither
Was I ever someone
Who could love you forever

Did I ever love you
Does it really matter
Did I ever fight you
You don’t need to answer

Did I ever leave you
Was I ever able
And are we still leaning
Across the old table

Songwriters
COHEN, LEONARD / LEONARD, PATRICK

Published by
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Read more: Leonard Cohen – Did I Ever Love You Lyrics | MetroLyrics

 

Thinking of a tune: Leonard Cohen – In My Secret Life

Leonard Cohen – In My Secret Life

LeonardCohenVEVO

Uploaded on Mar 10, 2010/ 3,021,109

Music video by Leonard Cohen performing In My Secret Life. YouTube view counts pre-VEVO: 619,026 (C) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC (CANADA) INC.

Lyrics:

In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life

I saw you this mornin’
You were movin’ so fast
Cant seem to loosen my grip
On the past

And I miss you so much
There’s no one in sight
And were still makin’ love

In my secret life
In my secret life

I smile when I’m angry
I cheat and I lie
I do what I have to do
To get by

But I know what is wrong
And I know what is right
And Id die for the truth

In my secret life
In my secret life

Hold on, hold on, my brother
My sister, hold on tight
I finally got my orders
Ill be marching through the mornin’
Marchin’ through the night
Movin ‘cross the borders of my secret life

Looked through the paper
Makes you want to cry
Nobody cares if the people
Live or die
And the dealer wants you thinkin’
That its either black or white
Thank God its not that simple
In my secret life

I bite my lip
I buy what I’m told
From the latest hit
To the wisdom of old

But I’m always alone
And my heart is like ice
And its crowded and cold

In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life

In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life

Songwriters
COHEN, LEONARD / ROBINSON, SHARON

Published by
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Read more: Leonard Cohen – In My Secret Life Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Leonard Cohen Live – A Thousand Kisses Deep: “…a light that doesn’t need to live,and doesn’t need to die…”

Leonard Cohen Live – A Thousand Kisses Deep

MF

Uploaded on Nov 2, 2010/372,870 views

The poem is about accepting things we can’t change, and accepting a path we didn’t exactly envision for ourselves. Believe there is a quiet courage in accepting the path that is laid ahead of you, as you gather up your heart and go a thousand kisses deep..

(Thanks so much Monsieur Leonard Cohen!)

 

 

 

1. You came to me this morning
And you handled me like meat.
You´d have to live alone to know
How good that feels, how sweet.
My mirror twin, my next of kin,
I´d know you in my sleep.
And who but you would take me in
A thousand kisses deep?

2. I loved you when you opened
Like a lily to the heat.
I´m just another snowman
Standing in the rain and sleet,
Who loved you with his frozen love
His second-hand physique –
With all he is, and all he was
A thousand kisses deep.

3. All soaked in sex, and pressed against
The limits of the sea:
I saw there were no oceans left
For scavengers like me.
We made it to the forward deck
I blessed our remnant fleet –
And then consented to be wrecked
A thousand kisses deep.

4. I know you had to lie to me,
I know you had to cheat.
But the Means no longer guarantee
The Virtue in Deceit.
That truth is bent, that beauty spent,
That style is obsolete –
Ever since the Holy Spirit went
A thousand kisses deep.

5. (So what about this Inner Light
That´s boundless and unique?
I´m slouching through another night
A thousand kisses deep.)

6. I´m turning tricks; I´m getting fixed,
I´m back on Boogie Street.
I tried to quit the business –
Hey, I´m lazy and I´m weak.
But sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go
A thousand kisses deep.

7. (And fragrant is the thought of you,
The file on you complete –
Except what we forgot to do
A thousand kisses deep.)

8. The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat.
You win a while, and then it´s done –
Your little winning streak.
And summoned now to deal
With your invincible defeat,
You live your life as if it´s real
A thousand kisses deep.

9. (I jammed with Diz and Dante –
I did not have their sweep –
But once or twice, they let me play
A thousand kisses deep.)

10. And I´m still working with the wine,
Still dancing cheek to cheek.
The band is playing “Auld Lang Syne” –
The heart will not retreat.
And maybe I had miles to drive,
And promises to keep –
You ditch it all to stay alive
A thousand kisses deep.

11. And now you are the Angel Death
And now the Paraclete;
And now you are the Savior’s Breath
And now the Belsen heap.
No turning from the threat of love,
No transcendental leap –
As witnessed here in time and blood
A thousand kisses deep.

September 21, 1998

 

 

 

“Hello darkness, my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again”: L. Cohen And Simon and Garfunkel: “the sound of silence”

Leonard Cohen – Sound of Silence (tribute to Paul Simon)

natales

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence 1966 live

fritz51139

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence 1966 live

Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

“Fools”, said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, “The words of the prophets are written
on the subway walls And tenement halls”
And whispered in the sounds of silence

 

New Books: Mandy Aftel author of Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent| Podomatic (I hope you’ll find the interview inspiring as I did!)

Mandy Aftel is widely acclaimed as a trailblazer in natural perfumery. Over two decades of sourcing the finest aromatic ingredients from all over the world and creating artisanal fragrances, she has been an evangelist for the transformative power of scent. In Fragrant, through five major players in the epic of aroma, she explores the profound connection between our sense of smell and the appetites that move us, give us pleasure, make us fully alive. The Avid Reader Show is sponsored by Wellington Square Bookshop in Chester County, PA. The show airs every Monday at 5PM EST. Please visit our website at http://www.wellingtonsquarebooks.com

 

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The Traitor_Martha Wainwright_Leonard Cohen_I’m Your Man: “…Standing guiltless in the predicament…”

The Traitor_Martha Wainwright_Leonard Cohen_I’m Your Man_720HD-022711.avi

George Bost

A divine composition based on a unique poem, made a complete Leonard Cohen pièce de résistance, and the rendition beyond the realm of words by Martha Wainwright not to forget the out of this world musical arrangement: I am so happy to be able to appreciate this historic moment of excellence in the making. The explanation given by Mr. Cohen to the meaning of the verse describes a predicament in which each and every one of us found ourselves at least once in life, which makes it our life story, within which we can dissolve completely.

The world is indeed the theater in which we’re actors, directors and spectators:

The traitor, by Leonard Cohen

Now the Swan it floated on the English river
Ah the Rose of High Romance it opened wide
A sun tanned woman yearned me through the summer
and the judges watched us from the other side

I told my mother “Mother I must leave you
preserve my room but do not shed a tear
Should rumour of a shabby ending reach you
it was half my fault and half the atmosphere”

But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever
and the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame
She said at last I was her finest lover
and if she withered I would be to blame

The judges said you missed it by a fraction
rise up and brace your troops for the attack
Ah the dreamers ride against the men of action
Oh see the men of action falling back

But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment
I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still
My falsity had stung me like a hornet
The poison sank and it paralysed my will

I could not move to warn all the younger soldiers
that they had been deserted from above
So on battlefields from here to Barcelona
I’m listed with the enemies of love

And long ago she said “I must be leaving,
Ah but keep my body here to lie upon
You can move it up and down and when I’m sleeping
Run some wire through that Rose and wind the Swan”

So daily I renew my idle duty
I touch her here and there — I know my place
I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty
and people call me traitor to my face

Leonard Cohen: “It was called “The traitor”. It was about the feeling that we have of betraying some mission that we were mandated to fulfill, and being unable to fulfill it, and then coming to understand that the real mandate was not to fulfill it, and that the deeper courage was to stand guiltless in the predicament in which you found yourself”.

Leonard Cohen – In My Secret Life lyrics plus: make music part of your life series (“…Looked through the paper. Makes you want to cry. Nobody cares if the people Live or die…”)

Leonard Cohen – In My Secret Life

   LeonardCohenVEVO

Music video by Leonard Cohen performing In My Secret Life. YouTube view counts pre-VEVO: 619,026 (C) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC (CANADA) INC.
*************************************************************************

LEONARD COHEN LYRICS

“In My Secret Life”

I saw you this morning.
You were moving so fast.
Can’t seem to loosen my grip
On the past.
And I miss you so much.
There’s no one in sight.
And we’re still making love
In My Secret Life.

I smile when I’m angry.
I cheat and I lie.
I do what I have to do
To get by.
But I know what is wrong,
And I know what is right.
And I’d die for the truth
In My Secret Life.

Hold on, hold on, my brother.
My sister, hold on tight.
I finally got my orders.
I’ll be marching through the morning,
Marching through the night,
Moving cross the borders
Of My Secret Life.

Looked through the paper.
Makes you want to cry.
Nobody cares if the people
Live or die.
And the dealer wants you thinking
That it’s either black or white.
Thank G-d it’s not that simple
In My Secret Life.

I bite my lip.
I buy what I’m told:
From the latest hit,
To the wisdom of old.
But I’m always alone.
And my heart is like ice.
And it’s crowded and cold
In My Secret Life.

 

LEONARD COHEN LYRICS “Suzanne (…And when he knew for certain Only drowning men could see him He said “All men will be sailors then Until the sea shall free them”…): great compositions/performances

ha2009pty

LEONARD COHEN LYRICS

“Suzanne”

Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she’s half crazy
But that’s why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you’ve always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you’ve touched her perfect body with your mind.

And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said “All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them”
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you’ll trust him
For he’s touched your perfect body with his mind. Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she’s touched your perfect body with her mind.

LEONARD COHEN : Story of Isaac

 

Related articles

• LEONARD COHEN : Story of Isaac (“…And mercy on our uniform, Man of peace or man of war, The peacock spreads his fan…”)

Leonard Cohen & U2 : Tower Of SongTower Of Song – (Video clip from the film ‘I’m Your Man’ Video INCLUDED in DVD version – U2)

[youtube.com/watch?v=0wbDSd17uzE]

Tower Of Song – Video clip from the film ‘I’m Your Man’
Video INCLUDED in DVD version – U2 : Window in the Skies

LEONARD COHEN

Tower Of Song Lyrics

Songwriters: Cohen, Leonard;

Well my friends are gone and my hair is gray
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I’m crazy for love but I’m not coming on
I’m just paying my rent every day in the tower of song

I said to Hank Williams, “How lonely does it get?”
Hank Williams hasn’t answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
Oh, a hundred floors above me in the tower of song

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
And twenty-seven angels from the great beyond
They tied me to this table right here in the tower of song

So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll
I’m very sorry, baby, doesn’t look like me at all
I’m standing by the window where the light is strong
Ah they don’t let a woman kill you not in the tower of song

Now you can say that I’ve grown bitter but of this you may be sure
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there’s a mighty judgment coming, but I may be wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices in the tower of song

I see you standing on the other side
I don’t know how the river got so wide
I loved you baby, way back when
And all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed
But I feel so close to everything that we lost
We’ll never, we’ll never have to lose it again

Now I bid you farewell, I don’t know when I’ll be back
They’re moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you’ll be hearing from me baby, long after I’m gone
I’ll be speaking to you sweetly from a window in the tower of song

Yeah, my friends are gone and my head is gray
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I’m crazy for love but I’m not coming on
I’m just paying my rent every day in the tower of song

Related articles

• Leonard Cohen & U2 : Tower Of Song
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• Leonard Cohen and U2 Perform ‘Tower of Song,’ a Meditation on Aging, Loss & Survival

LEONARD COHEN : Story of Isaac (“…And mercy on our uniform, Man of peace or man of war, The peacock spreads his fan…”)

[youtube.com/watch?v=fIQOmbIMYls]

Leonard Cohen – Story Of Isaac Lyrics

The door it opened slowly,
My father he came in,
I was nine years old.
And he stood so tall above me,
His blue eyes they were shining
And his voice was very cold.
He said, “I’ve had a vision
And you know I’m strong and holy,
I must do what I’ve been told.”
So he started up the mountain,
I was running, he was walking,
And his axe was made of gold.

Well, the trees they got much smaller,
The lake a lady’s mirror,
We stopped to drink some wine.
Then he threw the bottle over.
Broke a minute later
And he put his hand on mine.
Thought I saw an eagle
But it might have been a vulture,
I never could decide.
Then my father built an altar,
He looked once behind his shoulder,
He knew I would not hide.

You who build these altars now
To sacrifice these children,
You must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision
And you never have been tempted
By a demon or a god.
You who stand above them now,
Your hatchets blunt and bloody,
You were not there before,
When I lay upon a mountain
And my father’s hand was trembling
With the beauty of the word.

And if you call me brother now,
Forgive me if I inquire,
“just according to whose plan?”
When it all comes down to dust
I will kill you if I must,
I will help you if I can.
When it all comes down to dust
I will help you if I must,
I will kill you if I can.
And mercy on our uniform,
Man of peace or man of war,
The peacock spreads his fan.

Songwriters: COHEN, LEONARD

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• Great Compositions/Performances: Leonard Cohen – Story of Isaac (live performance 1985)
• LEONARD COHEN : Story of Isaac (“A scheme is not a vision And you never have been tempted By a demon or a god.”)
• Leonard Cohen – The Story of Isaac
• Famous Blue Raincoat and Black Hat

Leonard Cohen – The Partisan the “…freedom comes from shadows…”

[youtube.com/watch?v=oG4ndbhOkpI]

Leonard Cohen – The Partisan

The Partisan.
When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender,
this I could not do;
I took my gun and vanished.
I have changed my name so often,
I’ve lost my wife and children
but I have many friends,
and some of them are with me.

An old woman gave us shelter,
kept us hidden in the garret,
then the soldiers came;
she died without a whisper.

There were three of us this morning
I’m the only one this evening
but I must go on;
the frontiers are my prison.

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we’ll come from the shadows.

Les Allemands e’taient chez moi, (The Germans were at my home)
ils me dirent, “Signe toi,” (They said, “Sign yourself,”)
mais je n’ai pas peur; (But I am not afraid)
j’ai repris mon arme. (I have retaken my weapon.)

J’ai change’ cent fois de nom, (I have changed names a hundred times)
j’ai perdu femme et enfants (I have lost wife and children)
mais j’ai tant d’amis; (But I have so many friends)
j’ai la France entie`re. (I have all of France)

Un vieil homme dans un grenier (An old man, in an attic)
pour la nuit nous a cache’, (Hid us for the night)
les Allemands l’ont pris; (The Germans captured him)
il est mort sans surprise. (He died without surprise.)

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we’ll come from the shadows.

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• The partisan

make music part of your life series: The Traitor-Martha Wainwright-Leonard Cohen-I’m Your Man (…the deeper courage was to stand guiltless in the predicament in which you found yourself”. (Leonard Cohen)

[youtube.com/watch?v=TWQR6ELgKfY]

The Traitor_Martha Wainwright_Leonard Cohen_I’m Your Man_720HD-022711.avi

A divine composition based on a unique poem, made a complete Leonard Cohen pièce de résistance, and the rendition beyond the realm of words by Martha Wainwright not to forget the out of this world musical arrangement: I am so happy to be able to appreciate this historic moment of excellence in the making. The explanation given by Mr. Cohen to the meaning of the verse describes a predicament in which each and every one of us found ourselves at least once in life, which makes it our life story, within which we can dissolve completely.

The world is indeed the theater in which we’re actors, directors and spectators:

The traitor, by Leonard Cohen

Now the Swan it floated on the English river
Ah the Rose of High Romance it opened wide
A sun tanned woman yearned me through the summer
and the judges watched us from the other side

I told my mother “Mother I must leave you
preserve my room but do not shed a tear
Should rumour of a shabby ending reach you
it was half my fault and half the atmosphere”

But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever
and the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame
She said at last I was her finest lover
and if she withered I would be to blame

The judges said you missed it by a fraction
rise up and brace your troops for the attack
Ah the dreamers ride against the men of action
Oh see the men of action falling back

But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment
I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still
My falsity had stung me like a hornet
The poison sank and it paralysed my will

I could not move to warn all the younger soldiers
that they had been deserted from above
So on battlefields from here to Barcelona
I’m listed with the enemies of love

And long ago she said “I must be leaving,
Ah but keep my body here to lie upon
You can move it up and down and when I’m sleeping
Run some wire through that Rose and wind the Swan”

So daily I renew my idle duty
I touch her here and there — I know my place
I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty
and people call me traitor to my face

“It was called “The traitor”. It was about the feeling that we have of betraying some mission that we were mandated to fulfill, and being unable to fulfill it, and then coming to understand that the real mandate was not to fulfill it, and that the deeper courage was to stand guiltless in the predicament in which you found yourself”. (Leonard Cohen)

 

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• The Traitor_Martha Wainwright_Leonard Cohen_I’m Your Man_720HD-022711.avi
• The Traitor_Martha Wainwright_Leonard Cohen_I’m Your Man (“…But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever and the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame She said at last I was her finest lover and if she withered I would be to blame…”)
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Joan Baez－Famous Blue Raincoat

[youtube.com/watch?v=I5uCE8wTlRs]

“Famous Blue Raincoat“

It’s four in the morning, the end of December
I’m writing you now just to see if you’re better
New York is cold, but I like where I’m living
There’s music on Clinton Street all through the evening.
I hear that you’re building your little house deep in the desert
You’re living for nothing now, I hope you’re keeping some kind of record. Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear? Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You’d been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without Lili Marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody’s wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane’s awake —

She sends her regards.

And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I’m glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear —

Sincerely, L. Cohen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia“Famous Blue Raincoat” is a song by Leonard Cohen. It is the sixth track on his third album, Songs of Love and Hate, released in 1971. The song is written in the form of a letter (although many of the lines are written in amphibrachs). The lyric tells the story of a love triangle between the speaker, a woman named Jane, and the male addressee, who is identified only briefly as “my brother, my killer.”
The lyrics contain references to the German love song “Lili Marlene,” to Scientology, and to Clinton Street. Cohen lived on Clinton Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 1970s when it was a lively Latino area.^[1]In the 1999 book, The Complete Guide to the Music of Leonard Cohen, the authors comment that Cohen’s question, “Did you ever go clear?”, in the song, is a reference to the Scientology state of “Clear“.^[2] Cohen was very briefly a member of the Church of Scientology, which he had heard was a “good place to meet women.” ^[3][4]

In the liner notes to 1975’s The Best of Leonard Cohen, which includes the song, he mentions that the famous blue raincoat to which he refers actually belonged to him, and not someone else:

I had a good raincoat then, a Burberry I got in London in 1959. Elizabeth thought I looked like a spider in it. That was probably why she wouldn’t go to Greece with me. It hung more heroically when I took out the lining, and achieved glory when the frayed sleeves were repaired with a little leather. Things were clear. I knew how to dress in those days. It was stolen from Marianne’s loft in New York sometime during the early seventies. I wasn’t wearing it very much toward the end.

Ron Cornelius played guitar on Songs of Love and Hate and was Cohen’s band leader for several years. He told Songfacts: “We played that song a lot before it ever went to tape. We knew it was going to be big. We could see what the crowd did – you play the Royal Albert Hall, the crowd goes crazy, and you’re really saying something there. If I had to pick a favorite from the album, it would probably be ‘Famous Blue Raincoat.'” ^[5]

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Leonard Cohen: I Can’t Forget (…but I don’t remember what!…)

[youtube.com/watch?v=QtL-fkTH2Qc]

I stumbled out of bed
I got ready for the struggle
I smoked a cigarette
And I tightened up my gut
I said this can’t be me
Must be my double
And I can’t forget, I can’t forget
I can’t forget but I don’t remember what
I’m burning up the road
I’m heading down to Phoenix
I got this old address
Of someone that I knew
It was high and fine and free
Ah, you should have seen us
And I can’t forget, I can’t forget
I can’t forget but I don’t remember who

I’ll be there today
With a big bouquet of cactus
I got this rig that runs on memories
And I promise, cross my heart,
They’ll never catch us
But if they do, just tell them it was me

Yeah I loved you all my life
And that’s how I want to end it
The summer’s almost gone
The winter’s tuning up
Yeah, the summer’s gone
But a lot goes on forever
And I can’t forget, I can’t forget
I can’t forget but I don’t remember what

 

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Leonard Cohen Live – A Thousand Kisses Deep (“A light that doesn’t need to live and Doesn’t need to die”)

The poem is about accepting things we can’t change, and accepting a path we didn’t exactly envision for ourselves. Believe there is a quiet courage in accepting the path that is laid ahead of you, as you gather up your heart and go a thousand kisses deep.. 

[Thanks so much Monsieur Leonard Cohen!]

A Thousand Kisses Deep (poem) Lyrics

Leonard Cohen

You came to me this morning
And you handled me like meat.
You´d have to be a man to know
How good that feels, how sweet.
My mirror twin, my next of kin,
I´d know you in my sleep.
And who but you would take me in
A thousand kisses deep?

I loved you when you opened
Like a lily to the heat.
You see, I´m just another snowman
Standing in the rain and sleet,
Who loved you with his frozen love
His second-hand physique –
With all he is, and all he was
A thousand kisses deep.

I know you had to lie to me,
I know you had to cheat.
To pause all hot and high behind
the veils of sheer deceit
Our perfect porn aristocrat
So elegant and cheap
I’m old, but I’m still into that
A thousand kisses deep

I’m good at love, I’m good at hate
It’s in between I freeze
I’d work it out but it’s too late
It’s been too late for years
But you look good, you really do
They love you on the street
If you were here I’d kneel for you
A thousand kisses deep

The Autumn moved across your skin
Got something in my eye
A light that doesn’t need to live and 
Doesn’t need to die
A riddle in the book of love
obscure and obsolete
To witness tear and time and blood
A thousand kisses deep

And I’m still working with the wine
Still dancing cheek to cheek
The band is playing Auld Lang Syne
But the heart will not retreat
I ran with Diz I sang with Ray –
I did not have their sweep –
But once or twice, they let me play
A thousand kisses deep

I loved you when you opened
Like a lily to the heat
You see, I´m just another snowman
Standing in the rain and sleet,
Who loved you with his frozen love
His second-hand physique –
With all he is and all he was
A thousand kisses deep

But you don’t need to hear me now
And every word I speak
It counts against me anyhow
A thousand kisses deep

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Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah (Original Studio Version)

Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah (Original Studio Version)

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Great Compositions/Performances: Leonard Cohen London 2009 live – If It Be Your Will

If it be your will,  Leonard Cohen(London 2009 – live) 

If it be your will 
That I speak no more 
And my voice be still 
As it was before 
I will speak no more 
I shall abide until 
I am spoken for 
If it be your will 
If it be your will 
That a voice be true 
From this broken hill 
I will sing to you 
From this broken hill 
All your praises they shall ring 
If it be your will 
To let me sing 
From this broken hill 
All your praises they shall ring 
If it be your will 
To let me sing 

If it be your will 
If there is a choice 
Let the rivers fill 
Let the hills rejoice 
Let your mercy spill 
On all these burning hearts in hell 
If it be your will 
To make us well 

And draw us near 
And bind us tight 
All your children here 
In their rags of light 
In our rags of light 
All dressed to kill 
And end this night 
If it be your will 

If it be your will

 

The Traitor_Martha Wainwright_Leonard Cohen_I’m Your Man_720HD-022711.avi

The Traitor_Martha Wainwright_Leonard Cohen_I’m Your Man
A divine composition based on a unique poem, made a complete Leonard Cohen pièce de résistance, and the rendition beyond the realm of words by Martha Wainwright not to forget the out of this world musical arrangement: I am so happy to be able to appreciate this historic moment of excellence in the making. The explanation given by Mr. Cohen to the meaning of the verse describes a predicament in which each and every one of us found ourselves at least once in life, which makes it our life story, within which we can dissolve completely.

The world is indeed the theater in which we’re actors, directors and spectators:

The traitor, by Leonard Cohen

Now the Swan it floated on the English river
Ah the Rose of High Romance it opened wide
A sun tanned woman yearned me through the summer
and the judges watched us from the other side

I told my mother “Mother I must leave you
preserve my room but do not shed a tear
Should rumour of a shabby ending reach you
it was half my fault and half the atmosphere”

But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever
and the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame
She said at last I was her finest lover
and if she withered I would be to blame

The judges said you missed it by a fraction
rise up and brace your troops for the attack
Ah the dreamers ride against the men of action
Oh see the men of action falling back

But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment
I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still
My falsity had stung me like a hornet
The poison sank and it paralysed my will

I could not move to warn all the younger soldiers
that they had been deserted from above
So on battlefields from here to Barcelona
I’m listed with the enemies of love

And long ago she said “I must be leaving,
Ah but keep my body here to lie upon
You can move it up and down and when I’m sleeping
Run some wire through that Rose and wind the Swan”

So daily I renew my idle duty
I touch her here and there — I know my place
I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty
and people call me traitor to my face 

Leonard Cohen: “It was called “The traitor”. It was about the feeling that we have of betraying some mission that we were mandated to fulfill, and being unable to fulfill it, and then coming to understand that the real mandate was not to fulfill it, and that the deeper courage was to stand guiltless in the predicament in which you found yourself”.

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• “The angels of mercy are other people” Leonard Cohen
• Leonard Cohen: Still Our Man
• Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man
• Leonard Cohen and U2 Perform ‘Tower of Song,’ a Meditation on Aging, Loss & Survival

 

Famous Blue Raincoat – Leonard Cohen

Lyrics
Its four in the morning, the end of december
Im writing you now just to see if youre better
New york is cold, but I like where Im living
Theres music on clinton street all through the evening.

I hear that youre building your little house deep in the desert
Youre living for nothing now, I hope youre keeping some kind of record.

Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
Youd been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without lili marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobodys wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see janes awake —

She sends her regards.
And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
Im glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear

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Leonard Cohen – The Partisan

The Partisan, by Leonard Cohen

When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender,
this I could not do;
I took my gun and vanished.
I have changed my name so often,
I’ve lost my wife and children
but I have many friends,
and some of them are with me.

An old woman gave us shelter,
kept us hidden in the garret,
then the soldiers came;
she died without a whisper.

There were three of us this morning
I’m the only one this evening
but I must go on;
the frontiers are my prison.

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we’ll come from the shadows.

Les Allemands e’taient chez moi, (The Germans were at my home)
ils me dirent, “Signe toi,” (They said, “Sign yourself,”)
mais je n’ai pas peur; (But I am not afraid)
j’ai repris mon arme. (I have retaken my weapon.)

J’ai change’ cent fois de nom, (I have changed names a hundred times)
j’ai perdu femme et enfants (I have lost wife and children)
mais j’ai tant d’amis; (But I have so many friends)
j’ai la France entie`re. (I have all of France)

Un vieil homme dans un grenier (An old man, in an attic)
pour la nuit nous a cache’, (Hid us for the night)
les Allemands l’ont pris; (The Germans captured him)
il est mort sans surprise. (He died without surprise.)

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we’ll come from the shadows.

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Great Compositions/Performances: Leonard Cohen – Story of Isaac (live performance 1985)

“The Story Of Isaac”, by Leonard COhen

Well, the door it opened slowly,
my father he came in,
I was nine years old.
And he stood so tall above me,
and his blue eyes they were shining
and his voice was very cold.
He said, “I’ve had a vision
and you know I’m strong and holy,
I must do what I’ve been told.”
So we started up the mountain,
I was running, he was walking,
and his axe was made of burning gold.

Well, the trees they got much smaller,
yes, the lake a lady’s mirror
when we stopped to drink some wine.
Then he threw the bottle over,
broke a minute later
and he put his hand on mine.
Thought I saw an eagle
but it might have been a vulture,
I never could decide.
Then my father built an altar,
he looked once behind his shoulder,
I guess he knew I would not hide.

You who build these altars now
to sacrifice our children,
you must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision
and you never have been tempted
by a demon or a god.
You who stand above them now,
your hatchets blunt and bloody,
you were not there before.
When I lay upon a mountain
and my father’s hand was trembling
with the beauty, I mean the beauty of the word.

And if you call me brother now,
forgive me but I must inquire,
“Just according to whose plan?”
When it all comes down to dust
I will kill you if I must,
I will help you if I can.
When it all comes down to dust
I will help you if I must,
I’ll kill you if I can.
And mercy, mercy on our uniform,
man of peace, man of war,
the peacock spreads his deadly fan. 

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2012-08-12 Leonard Cohen, Gent: I can’t forget

 

LEONARD COHEN LYRICS

 

“I Can’t Forget“

 

I stumbled out of bed 
I got ready for the struggle 
I smoked a cigarette 
And I tightened up my gut 
I said this can’t be me 
Must be my double 
And I can’t forget, I can’t forget 
I can’t forget but I don’t remember what 
I’m burning up the road 
I’m heading down to Phoenix 
I got this old address 
Of someone that I knew 
It was high and fine and free 
Ah, you should have seen us 
And I can’t forget, I can’t forget 
I can’t forget but I don’t remember who 

I’ll be there today 
With a big bouquet of cactus 
I got this rig that runs on memories 
And I promise, cross my heart, 
They’ll never catch us 
But if they do, just tell them it was me 

Yeah I loved you all my life 
And that’s how I want to end it 
The summer’s almost gone 
The winter’s tuning up 
Yeah, the summer’s gone 
But a lot goes on forever 
And I can’t forget, I can’t forget 
I can’t forget but I don’t remember what

The Best of Leonard Cohen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

Rufus Wainwright – Everybody Knows (From I’m Your Man) Twenty Five Answers to as Many Questions Nobody Asked!

Rufus Wainwright covers Everybody Knows of Leonard Cohen
(From I’m Your Man)

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PORTLAND “Joan of Arc” tour debut, Leonard Cohen with Hattie Webb, Nov 11.12 Rose Garden Arena

Published on Nov 12, 2012

Leonard Cohen performed a tour debut of “Joan of Arc” featuring an exquisite duet with Hattie Webb of the Webb Sisters backing singers. (Portland, OR at the Rose Garden Arena, Non 11.12). Leonard Cohen and the band all wore Poppies to commemorate Remembrance Day (Armistice Day)
http://onboogiestreet.blogspot.com/

Leonard Cohen – Joan Of Arc Lyrics
Songwriters: WEBB, RICHARD / COHEN, DAVID JONATHAN / NORRIS, CAROLINE

 

Now the flames they followed Joan of Arc
As she came riding through the dark;
No moon to keep her armour bright,
No man to get her through this very smoky night.
She said, “i’m tired of the war,
I want the kind of work I had before,
A wedding dress or something white
To wear upon my swollen appetite.”

Well, I’m glad to hear you talk this way,
You know I’ve watched you riding every day
And something in me yearns to win
Such a cold and lonesome heroine.
“and who are you? ” she sternly spoke
To the one beneath the smoke.
“why, I’m fire,” he replied,
“and I love your solitude, I love your pride.”

“then fire, make your body cold,
I’m going to give you mine to hold,”
Saying this she climbed inside
To be his one, to be his only bride.
And deep into his fiery heart
He took the dust of joan of arc,
And high above the wedding guests
He hung the ashes of her wedding dress.

It was deep into his fiery heart
He took the dust of joan of arc,
And then she clearly understood
If he was fire, oh then she must be wood.
I saw her wince, I saw her cry,
I saw the glory in her eye.
Myself I long for love and light,
But must it come so cruel, and oh so bright?

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Leonard Cohen & U2 : Tower Of Song

Tower Of Song – Video clip from the film ‘I’m Your Man‘
Video INCLUDED in DVD version – U2 : Window in the Skies

 Send “Tower Of Song” Ringtone to your Cell 

Well, my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I’m crazy for love but I’m not comin’ on
I’m just payin’ my rent every day in the Tower of Song

I said to Hank Williams: “How lonely does it get?”
Hank Williams hasn’t answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
Oh, a hundred floors above me in the Tower of Song

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
And twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond
They tied me to this table right here in the Tower of Song

So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll
I’m very sorry, baby, it doesn’t look like me at all
I’m standin’ by the window where the light is strong
Ah, they don’t let a woman kill you, not in the Tower of Song

Now, you can say that I’ve grown bitter but of this you may be sure:
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there’s a mighty Judgement comin’ but I may be wrong
You see, I hear these funny voices in the Tower of Song

I see you standin’ on the other side
I don’t know how the river got so wide
I loved you, baby, way back when…
And all the bridges are burnin’ that we might’ve crossed
But I feel so close to everything that we lost
We’ll never, we’ll never have to lose it again

Now, I bid you farewell, I don’t know when I’ll be back
They’re movin’ us tomorrow to the tower down the track
But you’ll be hearin’ from me, baby, long after I’m gone
I’ll be speakin’ to you sweetly from a window in the Tower of Song.

Yeah, my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I’m crazy for love but I’m not comin’ on
I’m just payin’ my rent everyday in the Tower of Song

 Send “Tower Of Song” Ringtone to your Cell