Other songs performed/written by Cohen but not recorded by him
- Chelsea Hotel #1
- Priests
- God is Alive, Magic is Afoot (Lyrics: Cohen, recorded by Buffy Sainte-Marie)
- Minute Prologue
- Passing Through (written by ?)
- Please Don't Pass Me By (A Disgrace)
- Queen Victoria (A Cohen poem set to music)
- Die Gedanken Sind Frei (apparently completely/partly performed by Cohen)
- Store Room (by ?) [ I am less than happy with the lyrics transcribed here,
- Do I Have To Dance All Night
- Tennessee Waltz (New second verse written by Cohen)
- Misty Blue (outtake from RECENT SONGS)
- Song of Bernadette (written by Warnes/Cohen, recorded by Warnes)
- You Don't Know What It's Like (by ?)
- Whither Thou Goest (from the Book of Ruth)
- I've Counted What I Have (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- Wishing Window (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- The Throne of Desire (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- Throne of Desire Variations (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- Angels Eyes (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- The Law (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- The Promise (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- The Marriage March (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- The Third Invention (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- Clap! Clap! (Mirror Song) (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- Hunter's Lullaby (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- We Told You So (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- Fire (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- Song of Destruction (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- The Walls (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- Coming Back (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- Song to My Assassin (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- The Bells (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")
- Way Down Deep (written by Warnes/Cohen, recorded by Warnes)
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
You were talking so brave and so free.
Giving me head on the unmade bed
While the limousines wait in the street
And those were the reasons and that was New York,
I was running for the money and the flesh
That was called love for the workers in song,
It still is for those of us left.
But you got away, didn't you, baby?
You just threw it all to the crowd.
You got away, they can't pay you now
For making your sweet little song.
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
In the winter of 67.
My friends of that year they were all trying to go queer
And me I was just getting even
And those were the reasons and that was New York,
I was running for the money and the flesh
That was called love for the workers in song,
It still is for those of us left.
But you got away, didn't you, baby?
You just threw it all to the crowd.
You got away, they can't pay you now
For making your sweet little song.
And who will write love songs for you
when I am lord at last
and your body is some little highway shrine
that all my priests have passed,
that all my priests have passed?
My priests they will put flowers there,
they will stand before the glass,
but they'll wear away your little window, love,
they will trample on the grass,
they will trample on the grass.
And who will aim the arrow
that men will follow through your grace
when I am lord of memory
and all your armour has turned to lace,
and all your armour has turned to lace?
The simple life of heroes,
and the twisted life of saints,
they just confuse the sunny calendar
with their red and golden paints,
with their red and golden paints.
And all of you have seen the dance,
that God has kept from me,
but he has seen me watching you
when all your minds were free
when all your minds were free.
And who will write love songs for you ...
My priests they will put flowers there ...
God is alive, magic is afoot
God is alive, magic is afoot
God is alive, magic is afoot
God is afoot, magic is alive
Alive is afoot, magic never died
God never sickened
Many poor men lied
Many sick men lied
Magic never weakened
Magic never hid
Magic always ruled
God is afoot, God never died
God was ruler
Though his funeral lengthened
Though his mourners thickened
Magic never fled
Though his shrouds were hoisted
The naked God did live
Though his words were twisted
The naked magic thrived
Though his death was published
Round and round the world
The heart did not believe
Many hurt men wondered
Many struck men bled
Magic never faltered
Magic always lead
Many stones were rolled
But God would not lie down
Many wild men lied
Many fat men listened
Though they offered stones
Magic still was fed
Though they locked their coffers
God was always served
Magic is afoot, God is alive
Alive is afoot
Alive is in command
Many weak men hungered
Many strong men thrived
Though they boast of solitude
God was at their side
Nor the dreamer in his cell
Nor the captain on the hill
Magic is alive
Though his death was pardoned
Round and round the world
The heart would not believe
Though laws were carved in marble
They could not shelter men
Though altars built in parliaments
They could not order men
Police arrested magic and magic went with them
Mmmmm.... for magic loves the hungry
But magic would not tarry
It moves from arm to arm
It would not stay with them
Magic is afoot
It cannot come to harm
It rests in an empty palm
It spawns in an empty mind
But magic is no instrument
Magic is the end
Many men drove magic
But magic stayed behind
Many strong men lied
They only passed through magic
And out the other side
Many weak men lied
They came to God in secret
And though they left Him nourished
They would not tell who healed
Though mountains danced before them
They said that God was dead
Though his shrouds were hoisted
The naked God did live
This I mean to whisper to my mind
This I mean to laugh within my mind
This I mean my mind to serve
Til' service is but magic
Moving through the world
And mind itself is magic
Coursing through the flesh
And flesh itself is magic
Dancing on a clock
And time itself
The magic length of God
God is alive, magic is afoot . . .
I've been listening
to all the dissention.
I've been listening
to all the pain.
And I feel that no matter
what I do for you,
it's going to come back again.
But I think that I can heal it,
but I think that I can heal it,
I'm a fool, but I think I can heal it
with this song.
I saw Jesus on the cross on a hill called Calvary
"Do you hate mankind for what they done to you?"
He said, "Talk of love not hate, things to do - it's getting late.
I've so little time and I'm only passing through."
Passing through, passing through.
Sometimes happy, sometimes blue,
glad that I ran into you.
Tell the people that you saw me passing through.
I saw Adam leave the Garden with an apple in his hand,
I said "Now you're out, what are you going to do?"
"Plant some crops and pray for rain, maybe raise a little cane.
I'm an orphan now, and I'm only passing through."
Passing through, passing through ...
I was with Washington at Valley Ford, shivering in the snow.
I said, "How come the men here suffer like they do?"
"Men will suffer, men will fight, even die for what is right
even though they know they're only passing through"
Passing through, passing through ...
I was with Franklin Roosevelt's side on the night before he died.
He said, "One world must come out of World War Two" (ah, the fool)
"Yankee, Russian, white or tan," he said, "A man is still a man.
We're all on one road, and we're only passing through."
Passing through, passing through ...
(let's do it one more time)
Passing through, passing through ...
I was walking in New York City and I brushed up against the man in front of
me. I felt a cardboard placard on his back. And when we passed a streetlight,
I could read it, it said "Please don't pass me by - I am blind, but you can
see - I've been blinded totally - Please don't pass me by." I was walking
along 7th Avenue, when I came to 14th Street I saw on the corner curious
mutilations of the human form; it was a school for handicapped people. And
there were cripples, and people in wheelchairs and crutches and it was snowing,
and I got this sense that the whole city was singing this:
Oh please don't pass me by,
oh please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh please don't pass me by.
And you know as I was walking I thought it was them who were singing it, I
thought it was they who were singing it, I thought it was the other who was
singing it, I thought it was someone else. But as I moved along I knew it was
me, and that I was singing it to myself. It went:
Please don't pass me by,
oh please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, but you can see,
well, I've been blinded totally,
oh please don't pass me by.
Oh please don't pass me by.
Now I know that you're sitting there deep in your velvet seats and you're
thinking "Uh, he's up there saying something that he thinks about, but I'll
never have to sing that song." But I promise you friends, that you're going
to be singing this song: it may not be tonight, it may not be tomorrow, but
one day you'll be on your knees and I want you to know the words when the
time comes. Because you're going to have to sing it to yourself, or to another,
or to your brother. You're going to have to learn to sing this song, it goes:
Please don't pass me by,
ah you don't have to sing this .. not for you.
Please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh please don't pass me by.
Well I sing this for the Jews and the Gypsies and the smoke that they made.
And I sing this for the children of England, their faces so grave. And I sing
this for a saviour with no one to save. Hey, won't you be naked for me? Hey,
won't you be naked for me? It goes:
Please don't pass me by,
oh please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh now, please don't pass me by.
Now there's nothing that I tell you that will help you connect the blood
tortured night with the day that comes next. But I want it to hurt you, I
want it to end. Oh, won't you be naked for me? Oh now:
Please don't pass me by,
oh please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, but you can see,
but I've been blinded totally,
oh, please don't pass me by.
Well I sing this song for you Blonde Beasts, I sing this song for you Venuses
upon your shells on the foam of the sea. And I sing this for the freaks and
the cripples, and the hunchback, and the burned, and the burning, and the
maimed, and the broken, and the torn, and all of those that you talk about at
the coffee tables, at the meetings, and the demonstrations, on the streets,
in your music, in my songs. I mean the real ones that are burning, I mean the
real ones that are burning
I say, please don't pass me by,
oh now, please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, yeah but you can see,
ah now, I've been blinded totally,
oh no, please don't pass me by.
I know that you still think that its me. I know that you think that there's
somebody else. I know that these words aren't yours. But I tell you friends
that one day
You're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down ..
Oh, please don't pass me by,
oh, please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, yeah but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh, please don't pass me by.
Well you know I have my songs and I have my poems. I have my book and I have
the army, and sometimes I have your applause. I make some money, but you know
what my friends, I'm still out there on the corner. I'm with the freaks, I'm
with the hunted, I'm with the maimed, yes I'm with the torn, I'm with the down,
I'm with the poor. Come on now ...
Ah, please don't pass me by,
well I've got to go now friends,
but, please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, yeah but you can see,
oh, I've been blinded, I've been blinded totally,
oh now, please don't pass me by.
Now I want to take away my dignity, yes take my dignity. My friends, take my
dignity, take my form, take my style, take my honour, take my courage, take
my time, take my time, .. time .. 'Cause you know I'm with you singing this
song. And I wish you would, I wish you would, I wish you would go home with
someone else. Wish you'd go home with someone else. I wish you'd go home with
someone else. Don't be the person that you came with. Oh, don't be the person
that you came with, Oh don't be the person that you came with. Ah, I'm not
going to be. I can't stand him. I can't stand who I am. That's why I've got to
get down on my knees. Because I can't make it by myself. I'm not by myself
anymore because the man I was before he was a tyrant, he was a slave, he was
in chains, he was broken and then he sang:
Oh, please don't pass me by,
oh, please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, yes I am blind, Oh but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh, please don't pass me by.
Well I hope I see you out there on the corner. Yeah I hope as I go by that I
hear you whisper with the breeze. Because I'm going to leave you now, I'm
going to find me someone new. Find someone knew.
And please don't pass me by.
Queen Victoria,
My father and all his tobacco loved you,
I love you too in all your forms,
the slim and lovely virgin floating among German beer,
the mean governess of the huge pink maps,
the solitary mourner of a prince.
Queen Victoria,
I am cold and rainy,
I am dirty as a glass roof in a train station,
I feel like an empty cast iron exhibition,
I want ornaments on everything,
because my love, she gone with other boys.
Queen Victoria,
do you have a punishment under the white lace,
will you be short with her, will you make her read those little Bibles,
will you spank her with a mechanical corset.
I want her pure as power, I want her skin slightly musty with petticoats
will you wash the easy bidet out of her head?
Queen Victoria,
I'm not much nourished by modern love,
will you come into my life
with your sorrow and your black carriages,
And your perfect
memories.
Queen Victoria,
the Twentieth Century belongs to you and me.
Let us be two severe giants not less lonely for our partnership,
who discolour test tubes in the halls of Science,
who turn up unwelcome at every World's Fair,
heavy with proverbs and corrections,
confusing the star-dazed tourists
with our incomparable sense of loss.
Die Gedanken sind frei! Wer kann sie erraten?
Sie fliegen vorbei wie naechtliche Schatten.
Kein Mensch kann sie wissen,
kein Jaeger erschiessen
mit Pulver und Blei.
Die Gedanken sind frei!
[Thoughts are free! Who can guess them?
They fly along like nightly treasures
No man can know them
No hunter can shoot them
With powder and lead
Thoughts are free!]
Ich denke, was ich will und was mich begluecket,
doch alles in der Still und wie es sich schicket.
Mein Wunsch und Begehren
kann niemand verwehren,
es bleibet dabei:
Die Gedanken sind frei!
[I think about what I want and what makes me happy
But everything quietly, and just how it comes.
To my wish and desire
Nobody can oppose,
It stays this way:
Thoughts are free!]
Und sperrt man mich ein im finsteren Kerker,
das alles sind rein vergebliche Werke,
mit Pulver und Blei.
Die Gedanken sind frei!
[And if they lock me in a dark dungeon
That is something that can be forgiven
Cause my thoughts
Tear up the bars
And walls.
Thoughts are free!]
Ich denke, was ich will und was mich begluecket ...
[I think about what I want and what makes me happy ...]
Und sperrt man mich ein im finsteren Kerker ...
[And if they lock me in a dark dungeon ...]
Ich liebe den Wein, mein Maedchen vor allen,
sie tut mir allein am besten gefallen.
Ich bin nicht alleine
bei meinem Glas Weine,
mein Maedchen dabei:
Die Gedanken sind frei!
[I love wine, my girl most of all,
Only me she pleases best
I am not alone
With my glass of wine
My girl is with me:
Thoughts are free!]
Drum will ich auf immer den Sorgen entsagen
und will mich auch nimmer mit Grillen mehr plagen.
Man kann ja im Herzen
stets lachen und scherzen
und denken dabei:
Die Gedanken sind frei!
[That's why I will never worry anymore
And I will never tease myself with whims anymore
Because in one's heart
One can keep laughing and joking
While thinking
Thoughts are free!]
if you can suggest corrections, by all mean do so ]
I love you, without caring whom you love.
My hands below the belt, or my hands above
in the arms of other men,
or in my bed again.
It's just a man,
Taking what he needs,
From the store room,
Store room, store room.
I love to see you sitting there upon your throne,
your preachers all around you
being bored, and your prophet straight and tall.
And yet they'll undermine it all.
Just a man, just a man,
taking what he needs,
from the store room,
store room, store room.
Yeah, Shakespeare said it all, then he said no more
and he left me feeling just like a two bit whore.
Well the silence broke my heart, but yes
I spread my legs apart.
It's just a man ...
?????
?????
The hermit in the Wild,
the parent in the child.
Just a man ...
Oh my love, let us unpin you,
???? you done, bringing more:
the mother and the father, the daughter and the son.
But should one refuse to come, it does not subtract the sum
It's just a man ...
It's not a (due?) of burning pounds that ruins your mind
like a spoon that you turn and you turn and you don't unwind,
Though these wars that you did not stop,
they don't tear your sleep apart.
It's just a man ...
???? that keeps you up,
What a (moon?) coming like a headlight through the window
Not the thumbnail of a screen, (?)
No best way to dream (?)
It's just a man ...
Now the woman by your side is she awake?
But there's nothing you want to give her,
and there's nothing that you really want to take.
You don't even try to prove that the noisy neighbor's making love. (?)
It's just a man ...
I love you without caring whom you love ...
I'm Forty-One, the moon is full,
you make love very well.
You touch me like I touch myself,
I like you Mademoiselle.
You're so fresh and you're so new,
I do enjoy you, Miss.
There's nothing I would rather do
than move around just like this
But do I have to dance all night?
But do I have to dance all night?
Ooh tell me, Bird of Paradise,
do I have to dance all night?
You never really have to tell me what
you really think of me - alright.
Let's say I'm doing fine,
but do I have to dance all night?
Do I have to dance all night? ...
I learned this step a while ago.
I had to practice it while everybody slept.
I waited half my life for you, you know,
I didn't even think that you'd accept.
And here you are before me in the flesh
saying "Yes, yes, yes!"
But do I have to dance all night? ...
I learned this step a while ago ...
But do I have to dance all night? ...
I was dancin' with my darlin'
to the Tennessee Waltz
when an old friend I happened to see.
I introduced him to my darlin'
and while they were dancin'
my friend stole my sweetheart from me.
I remember the night
and the Tennessee Waltz
'cause I know just how much I have lost.
Yes, I lost my little darlin'
the night they were playing
that beautiful Tennessee Waltz
I remember the night ...
She goes dancin' with the darkness
to the Tennessee Waltz
and I feel like I'm falling apart
and it's stronger than drink
and it's deeper than sorrow
this darkness she left in my heart
I remember the night ...
That beautiful Tennessee Waltz
Oh but it's been such a long, long time.
Thought I'd got you off my mind.
Looks like I can't, just the thought of you
turns my whole world a misty blue.
Just the mention of your name
fans the flicker to a flame.
I can't forget the things we used to do.
My whole world turns misty blue.
You know I should forget you
I really should,
and heaven knows that I tried.
But when I told you,
when I said that we were through
deep in my heart I lied
Baby, oh what a long, long time.
Thought I'd get you off my mind.
Oh but I can't, just the thought of you
turns my world misty blue
And the very mention of your name
fans the flicker to a flame.
I think of things we used to do,
my whole world turns misty blue.
There was a child named Bernadette
I heard the story long ago
She saw the Queen of Heaven once
And kept the vision in her soul
No one believed what she had seen
No one believed what she heard
That there were sorrows to be healed
And mercy, mercy in this world
So many hearts I find
Broke like yours and mine
Torn by what we've done and can't undo
I just want to hold you
Won't you let me hold you
Like Bernadette would do
We've been, we fall, we fly
We mostly fall, we moostly run
And every now and then we try
To mend the damage that we've done
Tonight, tonight I cannot rest
I've got this joy inside my breast
To think that I did not forget
That child, that song of Bernadette
So many hearts I find ...
There's a light, a very special light,
never ever shone on me.
I would like my whole life to be,
with someone like you ...
with someone ... with someone like ...
You don't know what it's like,
You don't know what it's like,
to love somebody,
to love somebody,
the way I love you.
There's a way, a very special way,
To look at each and every single thing.
Ah, but what good would that bring,
if I ain't got you ...
if I ain't ... if I ain't got you.
You don't know what it's like,
I don't think you really, really know what it's like,
to love somebody,
to love somebody,
the way I love you,
the way I love you.
There's a light, a special kind of light,
never ever shone on me.
I would like my whole life to be,
with someone like you ...
with someone ... with someone like ...
Baby, you don't know what it's like,
You, you just don't know what it's like,
to love somebody,
to love somebody,
the way I love you.
You don't know what it's like,
I don't think you really, really know what it's like,
to love somebody,
to love
the way I love you.
Whither thou goest I will go
Whither thou lodgest I will lodge
Thy people shall be,
My people.
Whither thou goest I will go
Whither thou goest I will go ...
Whither thou goest I will go ...
(Michael) I've counted what I have; it's not enough
And what I need I do not dare to say.
I've heard the soul is diamond in the rough
That pain must polish it to a bright display;
But mine is diamond dust that's blown away.
(Angels) I've counted what I have; it's not enough
And what I need I do not dare to say.
I've heard the soul is diamond in the rough
That pain must polish it to a bright display;
But mine is diamond dust that's blown away.
(Michael) And covered up the world with glittering --
Come back my soul, I cry, it won't obey,
And I'm the empty shape of everything ...
Come back my soul, come back to me I sing.
I'm sick with greed, with unrequited greed
And everyman becomes my enemy.
I need his woman, his career I need
For what he has, he's taken it from me
And what is mine he uses clumsily.
That pagan there pretending he can dance,
This Christian peddling his humility,
These carbons of Hitlerian romance,
These lovers photographed without their pants.
(Frank, Louis & Then, Doubt, sloppy mother mistress that you
Jean-Marc) Can't get rid of, who loves you more the more
You turn away, whose perfume's pity, who
Isn't feeling well, whose shoulder's sore --
Doubt comes generous as a dinosaur.
(Doubt) O love forget this metaphysic bit
About the lost world and the grieving heart
You really can't believe is haunting it;
While you brood here, other lovers part
Their lips, prettier than you, and just as smart.
(F, L & J-M) Doubt has all the reasons why you have to fail
And you agree, you've heard them all before.
Her heart is broken and her breath is stale
And you say, Tell me more my nightingale.
(Doubt) Give up your conquering plan, give up your plan.
Time makes a choir of our lonely art
And women know that since the world began
There never was, there is no leading man!
(F, L & J-M) Oo tell me more my nightingale.
(Doubt & Pinky) And women know that since the world began
There never was, there is no leading man.
(Michael) I've counted what I have; it's not enough.
And women know that since the world began
There never was, there is no leading man.
(F, L & J-M) Tell me more my nightingale.
(Doubt & Pinky) There's no leading man - no leading man!
(Angels) Come, sleeper to the window, do you know
Us know? Have we changed? Have you seen us here
Before? Do you remember long ago
You summoned us across the high frontier
Of sleep, and bid us urgently appear.
You called, we came, we waited every night,
Like crystals in solution coming clear,
Until your dream was sharp enough and bright
To waken you with stabs of appetite.
(Michael) Is this the moment in my story when
The messengers of destiny prepare
The usual historic specimen,
Some lonely little hero starving there,
And feed him with the fruits of solitaire?
Is this my miracle of bread and fishes?
This the mystery of answered prayer?
Is this my table laid with golden dishes?
(Angels) Let us not say prayer, let's just say wishes.
Don't stand there dreaming, let us in,
It wasn't all that easy getting here. We had
To metamorphosize at least a hundred
Thousand times through all the dreary realms of
Sense, just to get us from the astral, to
The mental, to the solid and the dense.
And that's not counting countless times we spent
Manifesting aimlessly as
Elements of chaos in the undifferentiated
Anti-universe before
We even had a chance to be unborn
As shadowy particals in streams of light --
Now hurry up, we haven't got all night!
(Michael) What am I supposed to do?
(Angels) Ask for something.
(Michael) I can't think.
(Angels) Come on darling.
(Michael) Help me!
(Angels) You can ask for peace on earth. There's a few
That do. Or you can ask for peace of mind.
It's very rare but we've had one or two.
Or ask that human suffering unwind
And justify itself by what's behind.
Too abstract -- somewhat off the beaten track.
We'd like to have this contract sealed and signed.
Then we must get back -- ask for what you lack
And we will leave you, sweet insomniac.
(Michael) Well could I have someone to love?
(Angels) You can
(Michael) Can I send her away?
(Angels) We have written it down.
(Michael) Then could I call her back again?
(Angels) You certainly can, you merry-go-man.
(Michael) Could I write whatever's in my heart?
(Angels) It's on your desk, the writer's mighty pen.
(Michael) And could I sing whatever's in my heart?
(Angels) Just close your eyes and keep your lips apart.
(Michael) I could have my heart's desire when
And where and how my heart desires it?
And could I bring the whole world to my heart?
(Angels) O Jesus, not the heart, the heart again
So boring. Everyone's like everyone
Your famous heart is like an onion,
All layers and layers of wild distress
All gathered into rings round nothingness.
(Michael) But can I have it, can I have it?
(Angels) Yes!
(Michael) If woman, heart and song are mine
The rest will come, where do I sign?
(Troupe) But could he write whatever's in his heart?
(Angels) It's on his desk, the writer's mighty pen.
(Troupe) And could he sing whatever's in his heart?
(Angels) He'll close his eyes and keep his lips apart
(Everyone) And could he have his heart's desire when
And where and how his heart desires it?
(Michael) And could I bring the whole world to my heart?
(Everyone) O Jesus, not the heart, the heart again
So boring. Everyone's like everyone
Your famous heart is like an onion,
All layers and layers of wild distress
All gathered into rings round nothingness.
(Michael) But can I have it?
(Troupe) Can he have it?
(Angels) Yes!
(Michael) Can I have it?
(Troupe) Can he have it?
(Everyone) Yes!
(Angels) The night is ending, we have many duties
Still, much gold and silver light to spill
On anxious girls and frightened boys like you,
All brooding deeply on some window sill.
But one condition there remains to fill.
One term before the heart begins to play
With other hearts the music of its will.
(Michael) If I don't agree?
(Angels) Still you have to pay
The ordinary price that humans pay...
With suff'ring, joy, redemption, and decay!
(Michael) All my heart's desire ... let's keep the part
about joy.
(Angels) It's a package.
(Michael) ...Suffering, redemption, and decay!
(Angels) It's a bitch.
(Michael) I have to get some sleep, I'm opening
tomorrow night.
(Angels) Then you agree?
(Michael) Yes, yes, I agree.
(Angels) ...Do you remember long ago
You summoned us across the high frontier
Of sleep and bid us urgently appear.
(Michael) Their bodies Triumphant
Their power unfurled
I know I am nothing
And women the world!
A slave to their favours
Their no and their yes
I'm crushed in the crease
Of a cotton dress
And I'm dead except
In their company
And I'm only at rest
When they motion to me
And night after night
I turn to myself
And I raise them
Out of my panic
And they come to me
Willing at last
Inflamed and fast
Mutual and graphic.
And suddenly they drill my heart
With cavities of absence
And they cover their thighs
with cellophane
And they cover their breasts
with a shadow
And they nail my good right hand
to a wall in the attic
O take me away
From the thorns and the fire
And let me recline
On the Throne of Desire
From the Throne of Desire
I make this solemn decree
Every woman I want
Will want, will want, will want
Will more than want me!
o o o
Let me start with you Miss Shy
Bundled up in your mother's lie
Tip toe, tip toe
Hiding your silky pleasure
Miss Shy come to me
Along the snowy paths of modesty
Tip toe, tip toe
Hiding your silky treasure
Come to me with downcast eyes
Come to me and claim the prize
Of your outrageous pleasure
How I like you Miss Shy
Bundled up in your mother's lie
Tip toe --
Claim your outrageous pleasure!
o o o
And you I want strong
With your hatred intact
With your father's pipe
And your brother's bat
And your quaint belief
In holy authority
With your discipline
And your Darwin claws
And your legal eye
On the peacock's flaws
I see what fallen man
Was meant to be
With your absolute
No man can refute
Your absolutely unique
Contempt for the weak
Down on our paws
There are no laws
Kiss me where I can not speak
You I want strong
With your hatred intact
With your father's pipe
And your brother's bat
Now kiss me
Where I cannot speak!
o o o
You I want for my friend
To gossip with me and drink tea
To walk down by the river's bend
You I want for my friend
To watch the water going by
The swallows climbing above
To tell me that I lie
When I tell you I cannot love,
Cannot love
To know my heart better than me
To be my friend in charity
To speak of lovers old and new
To say to me, what they've done to you
You I want for my friend
To make some sense of our difference
To eat and drink together
To comfort one another,
And may our conversation never end!
o o o
And you
I want your
Beauty hidden
From all
Sight but my
Own
So none may know
your womanhood
Or hear you moan
Your pleasures
To an infant thumb
You will be
True to me
There will be no
Infidelity
For I will weave
A cloak so tight
About your loveliness
No man will ever guess
The wild commands you whisper
From your childhood to the night
And what
Drops the moon
About a man
And draws
Him tidal to
Your lips
And lets your nipples
harden I can
Hear you moan
Your pleasures
To an infant thumb
And you I want
To wink at me
And you I want
To think of me
You I want above
I want you below
You I want veiled
And you to know
I want you clumbsy
I want you skilled
You be ferocious
You be mild...
You be foolish
You be wise
You stay here
You stay outside
You comb out your hair
You keep it curled
I want, I want, I want
I want to know the world
You comb out your hair
You keep yours curled
I want, I want to know the world!
o o o
And you
Who did not come tonight
I will wait for you
And you
Who are not born
I will write for you
And you
Who must appear
In veils of chance
And mystery
I will kneel
I will kneel
Like a child
Who's watching Mary
As she stands
Upon the air
In gentle splendour
In the black
Mouth of a cave
Open-armed and radiant
To save mankind
And all the broken
World to mother
And I swear
By the obscure
Truth
Of this
Enfolded heart
I swear
By
The unrequited greed
Of this
Human heart
And all
Its
Disappointed pleasures
I swear
By
The deep light
Of my soul
Stained
And covered over
With
Intrigues of pride
Whose mercy is
To let me sing
I swear
That I will be
For the one
Who will not come
To me
I swear that
I will be
Her lover
Her eternal
And imperfect
Spirit lover.
(Angels) You are an angel, dare
You mess around down there
Arms open wide to save
Mankind you are depraved
What is wrong oh what?
(Judy) I'm in love
(Angels) You nut!
(Michael) Angel eyes
You've been crying lately
Paradise
Ain't like it used to be
Can't get to sleep
Can't face the light
Weep baby weep
You've no angel tonight
(Judy) Angel eyes
You've been crying lately
Paradise
Ain't like it used to be
Can't get to sleep
Can't face the light
Weep baby weep
You've no angel tonight
(Michael & You've been bad
Angels) You've been good
You've been around
Like a good angel should
(Judy) One more heart
One more town
Falling apart
When there's no one around
(Angels) Falling angel, angel...
(Michael & Judy) Angel eyes
You've been crying lately
All this time
Aren't you tired baby
Trying to fly when you
Don't have the height
Cry baby cry
You're no angel tonight
(Michael & Holy ground
Angels) Hollywood
You've been around
Like a good angel should
(Judy) One more heart
One more town
Falling apart
When there's no one around
(Angels) Falling angel, angel...
You've got to be kidding
Yes we know what you're
Thinking about but you'd
Better stop dreaming, Angel
Better stop by here and now
He's just an ordinary man
And you're all mixed up
Why are you listening to him?
Why say Angel - say Angel
Angel, Angel... oo - oo - oo
(Michael) You're no angel, baby
(Judy) You're no angel, baby
(Michael & Judy) Can't get to sleep
Can't face the light
Weep baby weep
You're no angel,
You're no angel tonight!
(Valkyries) You are the messengers
Of celestial machinery
You only arrange
You cannot change the scenery
It is writ in stone
And capitals bold
You do, you do
Just what you're told
And you have fun
Lots of fun
Because you do
What must be done
We've told you once
And we'll tell you again
Creatures that fly
Will only die
If they lie
In the arms of men!
And this we must condemn!
(Judy) Once I was happy to
Roam through the gold and blue
Now something haunts me
I know it's real
Someone returns
The desire I feel
(Angels) We could have passed him by
(Judy) Should have passed him by
So many others cry
(Angels) One more human cry
(Judy) So many others
Reaching for
A thread through the night
Or one lover more
He has a dream
(Angels) It's his dream
(Judy) I dream it too
(Angels) It's not your dream
(Judy) He dreams of the promise
We swore we would come through
(Angels) The promise is not yours alone to honor
(Judy) But we said we'd...
(Angels) This is not our part
(Judy) Open his heart
(Angels) Now it is open
(Judy) No, now it must start
(Michael) You promised me whatever was in my heart
(Angels) We promised him whatever was in his heart
(Michael) You swore that I could speak from the heart
(Angels) Yes, we said he'd speak from his heart
(Michael) Now I have chosen
And you must obey
(Judy) I will obey
(Michael) It's my heart that commands
And it must have its way
I want you
I need you
I can't live without you
Anymore
(Judy) Your heart commands me
And I will obey you
I need you
I can't live without you
Anymore
(Judy & Angels) We promised him whatever was
in his heart
(Michael) You promised me whatever was
in my heart
(Judy & Angels) We said that he could speak
from the heart
(Michael) You swore that I could speak
from the heart
(Judy) And now he has chosen
And now I must choose
Tho' garlands of planets
And starlight I lose
(Angels) Now you must choose
Starlight, starlight
You're gonna lose him
(Judy & Michael) I want you, I need you
I can't live without you
(Everyone) I want you, I need you
I can't live without you
Anymore
(Everyone) The whole work holds its breath again
The marriage ring it shines
The billionth trillionth walk begins
As another world sighs
Sights and best of wishes and
A silence you can hear
The vow that breaks the world are spoke
And the whole world sheds a tear
(Beggar) Out of the joy of your marriage feast
O brother be good to me
The way is long and the shrine is far
Where my weary feet would be
And feasting is always somewhat sad
To those outside the door
Still love is only a dream
And life itself is hardly more
(Everyone) The human company draws close
And lends an ear
The vows that break the world are spoke
As the whole world sheds a tear
The vows that break the world
And the whole world sheds a tear
(Angels) Blindly he worked
At his third invention
Taking the chances
Of one who is lost
Feeling his way
To a cleaner expression
Of whatever it was
He stumbled across
All for the sake
Of a possible woman
He goaded himself
With a technical hope
For the sake of his longing
We came to the window
He put on his cloths
And he walked through the smoke
All for the sake
Of an interested woman
Riding to him
On a flicker of hope
Some tourist of beauty
In full disappointment
Ready to fall
In love with a ghost
And here was his ghost
With his third invention
The usual claim
To the highest reward
And now it was ready
His third invention
Ready to fall
In love with the world
And he falls back
And she comes forward
The eye of his labour
Measures them both
And she lies in the arms
Of his third invention
And back in his room
He commences the fourth
This is the work
Of the highest pretension
An automatic
Ode to the world
O deep in comfort
O full employment
He's lost to the fourth
He's lost to the third.
(Michael) I never thought I'd get this far
(Audience) We always knew you would
(Michael) I've put a little weight on
(Audience) Not really, it looks good.
(Michael) These lines around my mouth are new
(Audience) They're the lines of wisdom
(Michael) This puffiness around my eyes?
(Audience) The burden of the kingdom!
(Michael) You know I like to talk with you
(Audience) We do too, we never knew
Someone who we could talk to
Who was quite as smart as you.
We would like to hear you talk all night
But tell us if we might
Interrupt you with applause
If you should chance to pause.
We would love to rock the walls
Again and again with curtain calls
And a standing ovation
For your brilliant conversation ...
(Michael) Clap, clap!
Now silence
Have you noticed people wear...
(Audience) Copies of your favourite hat?
(Michael) You have noticed that my dears?
(Audience) O yes we have noticed that.
(Michael) They wear copies of my shoes
(Audience) Two by twos they wear your shoes
(Michael) And they like to sing my blues
(Audience) Echoes of your ah's and ooh's.
(Michael) You know I like to talk with you
(Audience) We do too, we never knew
Someone who we could talk to
Who was quite as smart as you.
(Michael) I'm afraid that I've become
For nearly everyone
A model of behaviour
A devil or a saviour.
(Audience) He's afraid that he's become
For next to nearly everyone
The very latest model of behaviour
He's a devil, he's a saviour
(Michael) They read my news and
they hold their views
On whether I'm the devil
or a saviour
(Audience) He's afraid that he's become
For almost everyone
The very latest model of behaviour
He's a devil, he's a saviour
(Michael) I'm the very latest model of behaviour
But I've paid my dues
(Audience) We know you have!
We hold your views!
(Michael) You read my news?
(Audience) Of course we do!
(Michael) I've been a bum.
(Audience) How very, very, very, very far you've come!
(Michael) I've crossed this country on my thumb.
I've met a lot of people...
(Audience) Good and evil?
(Michael) Good and evil!
I've been up hills
(Audience) You've been down hills.
(Michael) I've been on junk.
(Audience) You've beaten junk.
(Michael) I don't mean pills
(Audience) You don't mean pills!
(Michael) I mean the needle
(Audience) He means the needle
He means the needle!
He means the needle!
(Michael) I've noticed my words on everyone's lips
And women are always leaving me slips
Of paper
I'm supposed to get back to them later
And sometimes I do
(Audience) It's only your due
After all that you've been through
To lie down with some grateful stranger
To think he honours someone's bed
With his wine and with his bread
And his legendary member
It is April in December
It's charity
It's religion
Saint Francis with the birds
Jesus with the leper
Please talk to us forever
And ever and ever
(Michael) Clap, clap
Now silence!
But now I make my confession
Before all the mirrors of history
This power was given to me
It must have been given to me
For something more
Than a star on the door
And a foot in this shabby profession
(Audience) This is surely the sound
Of the most profound
Remark that has ever been made
From the pulpit or the stage
Or even the gates of heaven
(Michael) There's something waiting for me
There's something I must feel
There's something that must bend its knee
And I must see it kneel
There's nothing to be conquered there
A beast that keeps the crown
And marble steps into the air
And one man looking down
(Audience) He's smiling
He's smiling
There is something that is waiting for him
Something that he must feel
Something that must bend its knee
And it's he must see it kneel
There is something to be conquered there
There's a beast that keeps the crown
And marble steps into the air
And one man looking down
Smiling, smiling
(Michael) Clap clap!
(Audience) Smiling, smiling
(Michael) Clap, clap!
[cf lyrics from the Cohen album "Various Positions"]
(Judy) Your father's gone a-hunting
Into the forest wild
He cannot take his wife with him
He cannot take his child
Your father's gone a-hunting
In the quicksand and the clay
A woman cannot follow him
Although she knows the way
Your father's gone a-hunting
Through the mirror and the glass
Where only greed can enter
But spirit cannot pass
Your father's gone a-hunting
For the beast he cannot bind
And he's left a baby sleeping
And his blessings all behind
Your father's gone a-hunting
And he's lost my lucky charm
And he's lost the guardian heart
That keeps the hunter from the harm
There's a darkness in the thicket
That was not there before
And among the tangled undergrowth
There is one tangle more
Your father's gone a-hunting
(Angels) We told you so
We told you dear
You didn't have
To come here
The human life
Is full of quirks
We can't work it out
Nothing works
It's a lemon
This mechanic
Live, love, suffer
Die and panic
It lives, it loves
Suffers and dies
It eats cow's meat
And apple pies
Dumb, dumb, dumb
And full of fear
Anxiety and strife..
This is the human life!
...We have many duties still
Much gold and silver light to spill
On anxious boys and frightened girls like you...
(Michael) I burnt the house of love tonight
It made a perfect ring
In which I saw some weeds and stone
Beyond not anything
Certain creatures of the air
Frightened by the night
They came to see the world again
And they perished in the light
So now I sail from sky to sky
And all the blackness sings
Against the boat that I have made
Of mutilated wings
Fire in this house of mine
Fire of my own design
Fire from the sky
Fire from the sea
Come fire come
Fire onto thee
Fire in the house of love
I burnt the house of love tonight
I burnt the house of love tonight
I burnt the house of love tonight
(Frank & Louis) Are you still here? What are you waiting for?
Your lives to change? An oracle to speak?
Some version of the wounded matador
Who turns toward the bull his other cheek
And entertains you with a torn physique?
Some prisoner in pyjamas dancing lewd
Trablinka waltzes, while another freak
Hangs himself to concentrate your mood
And sweeten up your putrid solitude?
(Michael) My drummer is the only one I trust
Let the drums go rolling through the night
And let them pulverise my deep disgust
With steady thunder, whips and dynamite
The man of sticks and skins is always right.
I found him near the cremetorium
Humiliated, begging for a fight.
I wrote the name of honour on a drum
O drummer tell the people why I've come!
O listen to him and his saxophone
(Frank & Louis) Our musical genital unicorn
(Michael) He's very well hung with his golden horn
He'd like to be standing out here alone
The light on his hands, his mouth, and his bone.
(Frank & Louis) So take your solo now and loose your way
In every fingered hole and brassy groan...
You'll soon begin to choke on what you play
(Michael) You're choking now exactly as I say!
(Michael, Frank As for the deeper spirits in the hall
& Louis) Annointed ones and truely different
Whom orgy doesn't satisfy at all
Who loathe the horizontal argument
(Frank & Louis) It is to such as you that he was sent.
(Michael) I understand the loyalties that insist
You burn a child or shoot a president
Or tattoo numbers on a woman's wrist
I know the sorrow of the good idealist.
It is to such as you that I was sent
To speak directly to your deepest shame
And light the fires of experiment
And burn all hesitation in the flame --
I claim you now, I claim you in the name
Of that which you have never done before
And having done it never be the same.
The victim shall be smitten on his sore.
The haughty one shall have a visitor.
(Michael, Frank We heard that drummer, do not think we missed
& Louis) Your subtle derivation from the beat
(Michael) Which I established with an iron fist
A thousand years ago, a small deceit
To be enlarged until you have complete
Control of the mood and the atmosphere --
Your crooked time endangering my defeat --
Now all your instruments must disappear
And on your traitor's face pursue your
dark career!
(Michael) It's late, it's very late
How did it get so late?
(Judy) What was it we were thinking of?
(Michael & Judy) We didn't want this,
did we?
(Judy) There must be some mistake
(Michael) What was it I forgot to tell you?
(Judy) What was it I forgot?
There was a promise here
A child who knew me
A bitter bedtime story
(Michael & Judy) Another house of some forgotten family
It's very late
There must be some mistake
And now this place
for none
(Michael) There was a woman here
A woman who knew me
A table set before me
(Michael & Judy) It is the walls
it is the victory of the walls
It is the room
it is the distance of the room
(Michael) Without her...
(Judy) Without you.
(Angels) You can't do this
You must do what
We must do what must be done
(Judy) I hear my baby calling
He is asking to be born
I see the curtains parting
That our kisses have outworn ...
(Angels) Kisses all outworn...
(Judy) I'll raise a tent of shelter
Now though every thread is torn
(Angels) Every thread is torn...
(Judy) I take my life from realms of light
And hang it on a thorn
(Angels) Hanging on a thorn...
(Judy) I hear the children calling
Asking to be born
I see the curtains parting
And my life upon a thorn
The stars have lost their fire
And the moon has lost her voice
And I'm coming back to find you
I have made the human choice.
(Angels) You've made your choice
The world you choose
Garlands of planets and starlight
Now you lose
(Judy) He's the only one who knows me
He's the riddle of my life
And they'll never tell the story
Of the husband and the wife
(Angels) The world she chooses, she loses...
(Judy) He's the stone that broke my heart
The foundation of my home --
(Angels) This we must do!
(Judy) He's the sweetness of the sweetness
Of the sweetness honeycomb
(Angels) We must do what we must do!
(Judy) And he's welcome to his glory
And he's buried in my life
And they'll never tell the story
Of the husband and the wife
(Angels) She takes her life from realms of light
(Valkyries) She hangs it on a thorn
(Angels) She disobeys the law
(Valkyries) The law is broken
You must get them
(Angels) Get him.
(Valkyries) Get them!
Messenger
Listen
Messenger
Do what must be done
And our will be done
Will be done
(Michael) We were chosen, we were chosen
Miles and miles apart
I to love your kingdom
You to love my heart
(Angels) We were chosen
We do what must
What must be done
(Michael) The love is intermittent
The discipline continues
I work on your spirit
You work on my sinews.
(Angels) We work on his sinews
And the discipline continues
We have fun 'cause
We do what must
What must be done
(Michael) I watch myself from where you are
Please do not be mistaken
The spider web you see me through
Is the view I've always taken
Begin the ceremony now
That we have been preparing
I'm tired of this marble floor
That we have both been sharing.
(Angels) Now we will be sharing
What he has been preparing!
(Girls) He's the only one
He's the only one
He's the riddle of the music
He's the music of my life
(Boys) Now it begins
Now it begins
He's the riddle of the music
He's the music of the sacrifice
(Valkyries) Messenger
Messenger
Our will
Will be done
(Angels) We work on his sinews
And the discipline continues
(Everyone) Begin the ceremony
Begin the sacrifice ...
[cf the lyrics to the song "Anthem" on the Cohen album "The Future"]
(Judy) The birds they sang at break of day
Start again, I heard them say
Nor dwell on what has passed away
Or what is yet to be.
The wars they will be fought again
The holy dove be caught again
Bought and sold and bought again
Until we set them free.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
The light behind to see.
Add up the parts, not yours the sum
Strike up the march, there is no drum
Every heart to love must come
Like a refugee
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 ..
Return to main document