to all the people that you became,
your body lost in legend, the beast so very tame.
But here, right here,
between the birthmark and the stain,
between the ocean and your open vein,
between the snowman and the rain,
once again, once again,
love calls you by your name.
The women in your scrapbook
whom you still praise and blame,
you say they chained you to your fingernails
and you climb the halls of fame.
Oh but here, right here,
between the peanuts and the cage,
between the darkness and the stage,
between the hour and the age,
once again, once again,
love calls you by your name.
Shouldering your loneliness
like a gun that you will not learn to aim,
you stumble into this movie house,
then you climb, you climb into the frame.
Yes, and here, right here
between the moonlight and the lane,
between the tunnel and the train,
between the victim and his stain,
once again, once again,
love calls you by your name.
Where are you, Judy, where are you, Anne?
Where are the paths your heroes came?
Wondering out loud as the bandage pulls away,
was I, was I only limping, was I really lame?
Oh here, come over here,
between the windmill and the grain,
between the sundial and the chain,
between the traitor and her pain,
once again, once again,
love calls you by your name.
This song, included on Songs Of Love And Hate (1971), is a rewritten version of an earlier song entitled ‘Love Tries To Call You By Your Name.
Love Itself
The light came through the window,
Straight from the sun above,
And so inside my little room
There plunged the rays of Love.
In streams of light I clearly saw
The dust you seldom see,
Out of which the Nameless makes
A Name for one like me.
I’ll try to say a little more:
Love went on and on
Until it reached an open door –
Then Love Itself
Love Itself was gone.
All busy in the sunlight
The flecks did float and dance,
And I was tumbled up with them
In formless circumstance.
I’ll try to say a little more:
Love went on and on
Until it reached an open door –
Then Love Itself
Love Itself was gone.
Then I came back from where I’d been.
My room, it looked the same –
But there was nothing left between
The Nameless and the Name.
All busy in the sunlight
The flecks did float and dance,
And I was tumbled up with them
In formless circumstance.
I’ll try to say a little more:
Love went on and on
Until it reached an open door –
Then Love itself,
Love Itself was gone.
Love Itself was gone.
One of Ten New Songs (2001) co-written by Sharon Robinson. The “LW” to whom this song is dedicated is the American writer Leon Wieseltier.
Lover Lover Lover
I asked my father,
I said, “Father change my name.”
The one I’m using now it’s covered up
with fear and filth and cowardice and shame.
Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover,
lover come back to me,
yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover,
lover come back to me.
He said, “I locked you in this body,
I meant it as a kind of trial.
You can use it for a weapon,
Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover,
lover come back to me
yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover,
lover come back to me.
“Then let me start again,” I cried,
“please let me start again,
I want a face that’s fair this time,
I want a spirit that is calm.”
Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover,
lover come back to me
yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover,
lover come back to me.
“I never never turned aside,” he said,
“I never walked away.
It was you who built the temple,
it was you who covered up my face.”
Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover,
lover come back to me
yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover,
lover come back to me.
And may the spirit of this song,
may it rise up pure and free.
May it be a shield for you,
a shield against the enemy.
Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover,
lover come back to me
yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover,
lover come back to me.
Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover,
lover come back to me
yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover,
lover come back to me.
This song, included on New Skin For The Old Ceremony (1974), was written in the Sinai desert during Cohen’s 1973 visit to Israel on the eve of the Yom Kippur War. He volunteered to help Israel in its anticipated forthcoming battle with Egypt and (in a rare example of an army deploying volunteers ina role for which they have prior expertise) was sent to entertain the troops gathered there to meet the overtly expressed threat from the Egyptian army. A live version was included on Field Commander Cohen – Tour Of 1979 (2001).
Master Song
I believe that you heard your master sing
when I was sick in bed.
I suppose that he told you everything
that I keep locked away in my head.
Your master took you travelling,
well at least that’s what you said.
And now do you come back to bring
your prisoner wine and bread?
You met him at some temple, where
they take your clothes at the door.
He was just a numberless man in a chair
who’d just come back from the war.
And you wrap up his tired face in your hair
and he hands you the apple core.
Then he touches your lips now so suddenly bare
of all the kisses we put on some time before.
And he gave you a German Shepherd to walk
with a collar of leather and nails,
and he never once made you explain or talk
about all of the little details,
such as who had a worm and who had a rock,
and who had you through the mails.
Now your love is a secret all over the block,
and it never stops not even when your master fails.
And he took you up in his aeroplane,
which he flew without any hands,
and you cruised above the ribbons of rain
that drove the crowd from the stands.
Then he killed the lights in a lonely Lane
and, an ape with angel glands,
erased the final wisps of pain
with the music of rubber bands.
And now I hear your master sing,
you kneel for him to come.
His body is a golden string
that your body is hanging from.
His body is a golden string,
my body has grown numb.
Oh now you hear your master sing,
your shirt is all undone.
And will you kneel beside this bed
that we polished so long ago,
before your master chose instead
to make my bed of snow?
Your eyes are wild and your knuckles are red
and you’re speaking far too low.
No I can’t make out what your master said
before he made you go.
Then I think you’re playing far too rough
for a lady who’s been to the moon;
I’ve lain by this window long enough
to get used to an empty room.
And your love is some dust in an old man’s cuff
who is tapping his foot to a tune,
and your thighs are a ruin, you want too much,
let’s say you came back some time too soon.
I loved your master perfectly
I taught him all that he knew.
He was starving in some deep mystery
like a man who is sure what is true.
And I sent you to him with my guarantee
I could teach him something new,
and I taught him how you would long for me
no matter what he said no matter what you’d do.
I believe that you heard your master sing
while I was sick in bed,
I’m sure that he told you everything
I must keep locked away in my head.
Your master took you travelling,
well at least that’s what you said,
And now do you come back to bring
your prisoner wine and bread?
Included on Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967), this song is based on the poem ‘I Believe I Heard Your Master Sing’ from Parasites Of Heaven. Its theme – a philosophically complicated ménage a trois between the singer, his lover and her “master” – is one that Cohen had explored in his novel Beautiful Losers. It is interesting to note that, not long after writing this song, Cohen met his own “master”, the Buddhist Joshu Sasaki (known as Roshi) and is not known to have sung the song since.
Memories
Frankie Lane, he was singing ‘Jezebel’
I pinned an Iron Cross to my lapel
I walked up to the tallest and the blondest girl
I said, Look, you don’t know me now but very soon you will
So won’t you let me see
I said “won’t you let me see”
I said “won’t you let me see
Your naked body?”
Just dance me to the dark side of the gym
Chances are I’ll let you do most anything
I know you’re hungry, I can hear it in your voice
And there are many parts of me to touch, you have your choice
Ah but no you cannot see
She said “no you cannot see”
She said “no you cannot see
My naked body”
So We’re dancing close, the band is playing ‘Stardust’
Balloons and paper streamers floating down on us
She says, You’ve got a minute left to fall in love
In solemn moments such as this I have put my trust
And all my faith to see
I said all my faith to see
I said all my faith to see
Her naked body
Cohen’s tribute to Fifties Rock’n’Roll, this song was included on Death Of A Ladies’ Man (1977). A live version was included on Field Commander Cohen – Tour Of 1979 (2001). Frankie Laine (1913-2007) was an American singer with an eclectic range of styles – from crooning to rock to jazz – who had a million-selling hit with ‘Jezebel’ in 1951. ‘Stardust’ was a standard of the Great American Songbook, with music by Hoagy Carmichael and words by Mitchell Parish.
Minute Prologue
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.
Recorded live in 1972, ‘Minute Prologue’ (as in “sixty seconds” rather than “very small”, though the ambiguity serves a poetic purpose), was included on Cohen’s first live album Live Songs (1973). The recording is the only known occasion on which Cohen has sung this song.
Morning Glory
No words this time? No words. No, there are times when nothing can be done.
Not this time. Is it censorship? Is it censorship? No, it’s evaporation. No, it’s
evaporation. Is this leading somewhere? Yes. We’re going down the lane. Is this
going somewhere? Into the garden. Into the backyard. We’re walking down the
driveway. Are we moving towards.... We’re in the backyard. ...some transcen-
dental moment? It’s almost light. That’s right. That’s it. Are we moving towards
some transcendental moment? That’s right. That’s it. Do you think you’ll be able
to pull it off? Yes. Do you think you can pull it off? Yes, it might happen. I’m all
ears. I’m all ears. Oh the morning glory!
Included on Dear Heather (2004), this “song” is recited rather than sung, hence its prosaic layout.
Never Any Good
I was never any good at loving you
I was never any good at coming
through for you
You’re going to feel much better
When you cut me loose forever
I was never any good
Never any good
I was never any good at loving you
I was dying when we met
I bet my life on you
But you called me and I folded
like you knew I’d do
You called my ace, my king, my bluff
Okay, you win, enough’s enough
I was never any good
Never any good
I was never any good at loving you
I was pretty good at taking out
the garbage
Pretty good at holding up the wall
Dealing with the fire and the earthquake
But that don’t count
That don’t count
That don’t count for nothing much at all
I was never any good at loving you
I was just a tourist in your bed looking
at the view
But I can’t forget where my lips
have been
Those holy hills, that deep ravine
I was never any good
Never any good
I was never any good at loving you
I was pretty good at taking out the garbage
Pretty good at holding up the wall
I’m sorry for my crimes against
the moonlight
I didn’t think
I didn’t think
I didn’t think the moon would mind at all
I was never any good at loving you
At doing what a woman really wants
a man to do
You’re going to feel much better
When you cut me loose forever
I was never any good
Never any good
I was never any good at loving you
Unreleased until included on More Best Of Leonard Cohen (1997), this song is an entertaining excursion to a familiar corner of the Cohen theme park. With all the confidence of a man who, having leant from his mistakes, can repeat them with precision, Cohen applies his considerable skill to seducing his beloved into leaving him. The card-playing imagery in the second stanza is a good example of
Cohen’s literary skill – not only is the metaphor an effective one in itself but the ambiguity of “called” (matched a bet or telephoned/visited) and “folded” (declined a bet or crumpled) adds poetic value to the lyric.
Night Comes On
I went down to the place
Where I knew she lay waiting
Under the marble and the snow
I said, Mother I’m frightened
The thunder and the lightning
I’ll never come through this alone
She said, I’ll be with you
My shawl wrapped around you
My hand on your head when you go
And the night came on
It was very calm
I wanted the night to go on and on
But she said, Go back to the World
We were fighting in Egypt
When they signed this agreement
That nobody else had to die
There was this terrible sound
And my father went down
With a terrible wound in his side
He said, Try to go on
Take my books, take my gun
Remember, my son, how they lied
And the night comes on
It’s very calm
I’d like to pretend that my father was wrong
But you don’t want to lie, not to the young
We were locked in this kitchen
I took to religion
And I wondered how long she would stay
I needed so much
To have nothing to touch
I’ve always been greedy that way
But my son and my daughter
Climbed out of the water
Crying, Papa, you promised to play
And they lead me away
To the great surprise
It’s Papa, don’t peek, Papa, cover your eyes
And they hide, they hide in the World
Now I look for her always
I’m lost in this calling
I’m tied to the threads of some prayer
Saying, When will she summon me
When will she come to me
What must I do to prepare
When she bends to my longing
Like a willow, like a fountain
She stands in the luminous air
And the night comes on
And it’s very calm
I lie in her arms and says, When I’m gone
I’ll be yours, yours for a song
Now the crickets are singing
The vesper bells ringing
The cat’s curled asleep in his chair
I’ll go down to Bill’s Bar