There ain’t no entertainment
and the judgements are severe.
The Maestro says it’s Mozart
but it sounds like bubble gum
when you’re waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.
Waiting for the miracle
There’s nothing left to do.
I haven’t been this happy
since the end of World War II.
Nothing left to do
when you know that you’ve been taken.
Nothing left to do
when you’re begging for a crumb
Nothing left to do
when you’ve got to go on waiting
waiting for the miracle to come.
I dreamed about you, baby.
It was just the other night.
Most of you was naked
Ah but some of you was light.
The sands of time were falling
from your fingers and your thumb,
and you were waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come
Ah baby, let’s get married,
we’ve been alone too long.
Let’s be alone together.
Let’s see if we’re that strong.
Yeah let’s do something crazy,
something absolutely wrong
while we’re waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.
Nothing left to do ...
When you’ve fallen on the highway
and you’re lying in the rain,
and they ask you how you’re doing
of course you’ll say you can’t complain --
If you’re squeezed for information,
that’s when you’ve got to play it dumb:
You just say you’re out there waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.
Although included on The Future (1992), work on this song, co-written by Sharon Robinson (with whom Cohen had collaborated on ‘Everybody Knows’), had begun in the early Eighties. Versions of the song were apparently ready for inclusion on both Various Positions (1985) and I’m Your Man (1988), but in mood and for its contrast yet continuity with the themes explored in the other songs on The Future it is surely in its rightful place on that album.
Way Down Deep
way down, way way down
way way down deep
you’re got me way down, way way down,
way way down deep
you’re got me way down, way down deep
I wander with you in my sleep
I’m way down, way way down,
way way down deep
it came to me this morning
I was walking down the street
was like my soul could taste you
and God, you tasted sweet
finally I can breathe again
finally I can speak
I’ve got you in the glory place
I’ve got you way down deep
I’ve got you way down, way way down,
way way down deep
you’re got me way down, way way down,
way way down deep
you’re got me way down, way way down,
I wander with you in my sleep
I’m way down, way way down,
way way down deep
it’s a funny feeling
but I cannot say I mind
I know that I’m dealing with
a love that’s far from blind
I see every single angle
I look before I leap
how else can I put it
when you’re got me way down deep
you’ve got me way down, way way down,
way way down deep
you’ve got me way down, way way down,
way way down deep
you’ve got me way down, way down deep
I wander with you in my sleep
I’m way down, way way down,
way way down deep
don’t matter what we gave away
was nothing we could keep
don’t matter what we gave away
you know that talk is cheap
forgive me if I hate you
you’re a liar and a thief
but I’ve got you in the glory place
I got you way down deep
you’ve got me way down, way way down ...
don’t matter if the road is long
don’t matter if it’s steep
don’t matter if the moon goes out
and darkness is complete
don’t matter if we lose our way
I know we;re gonna meet
I’ve got you in the glory place
I’ve got you way down deep
you’ve got me way down, way way down ..
Written by Cohen and Jennifer Warnes, who recorded it on Hunter (1992), though Cohen himself never has.
Who By Fire?
And who by fire, who by water,
who in the sunshine, who in the night time,
who by high ordeal, who by common trial,
who in your merry merry month of may,
who by very slow decay,
and who shall I say is calling?
And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,
who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,
and who by avalanche, who by powder,
who for his greed, who for his hunger,
and who shall I say is calling?
And who by brave assent, who by accident,
who in solitude, who in this mirror,
who by his lady’s command, who by his own hand,
who in mortal chains, who in power,
and who shall I say is calling?
Included on both New Skin For The Old Ceremony (1974) and Live In Concert (1994), this song is based on the Jewish prayer ‘Mi Bamayin, Mi Ba Esh’ sung at Yom Kippur. “And who shall I say is calling?” – you do not need me to tell you it is Death.
Why Don’t You Try
Why don’t you try to do without him?
Why don’t you try to live alone?
Do you really need his hands for your passion?
Do you really need his heart for your throne?
Do you need his labour for your baby?
Do you need his beast for the bone?
Do you need to hold a leash to be a lady?
I know you’re going to make, make it on your own.
Why don’t your try to forget him?
Just open up your dainty little hand.
You know this life is filled with many sweet companions,
many satisfying one-night stands.
Do you want to be the ditch around a tower?
Do you want to be the moonlight in his cave?
Do you want to give your blessing to his power
as he goes whistling past his daddy, past his daddy’s grave.
I’d like to take you take you to the ceremony,
well, that is if I remember the way.
You see Jack and Jill they’re going to join their misery,
I’m afraid it’s time for everyone to pray.
You can see they’ve finally taken cover,
they’re willing, yeah they’re willing to obey.
Their vows are difficult, they’re for each other,
so let nobody put a loophole, a loophole in their way.
Though this song from New Skin For The Old Ceremony (1974) must be classified as a love song, it is a curious one. He begs his lover to leave him, praises the single life, and rather ungallantly asks “do you need to hold a leash to be a lady?”. When he asks “do you need his labour for your baby?” – and an overwhelming majority of mothers surely do want some assistance from the father of their baby during its infancy – one suspects that Cohen has lost his usually acute touch in discussing male-female relationships. A live version was included on Field Commander Cohen – Tour Of 1979 (2001).
&nb
sp; Winter Lady
Trav’ling lady, stay awhile
until the night is over.
I’m just a station on your way,
I know I’m not your lover.
Well I lived with a child of snow
when I was a soldier,
and I fought every man for her
until the nights grew colder.
She used to wear her hair like you
except when she was sleeping,
and then she’d weave it on a loom
of smoke and gold and breathing.
And why are you so quiet now
standing there in the doorway?
You chose your journey long before
you came upon this highway.
Trav’ling lady stay awhile
until the night is over.
I’m just a station on your way,
I know I’m not your lover.
Included on Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967), this song, although addressed to one woman (the “trav’ling lady”) is clearly about another who really is his lover and who occupies his thoughts even when he is away from her. There are autobiographical echoes of Cohen’s then fading relationship with Marianne Ihlen, and his sense of male-female relationships as a battleground and his own war-weariness are eloquently and poignantly expressed.
You Have Loved Enough
I said I’d be your lover.
You laughed at what I said.
I lost my job forever.
I was counted with the dead.
I swept the marble chambers,
But you sent me down below.
You kept me from believing
Until you let me know:
That I am not the one who loves –
It’s love that seizes me.
When hatred with his package comes,
You forbid delivery.
And when the hunger for your touch
Rises from the hunger,
You whisper, “You have loved enough,
Now let me be the Lover.”
I swept the marble chambers,
But you sent me down below.
You kept me from believing
Until you let me know:
That I am not the one who loves –
It’s love that chooses me.
When hatred with his package comes,
You forbid delivery.
And when the hunger for your touch
Rises from the hunger …
This song from Ten New Songs (2001), co-written by Sharon Robinson, seems a simple love song, with an elegant twist on Cohen’s sense of victimhood – “it’s love that seizes me”. But we know enough of Cohen to suspect apparent simplicity. Given that at the time of writing this song Cohen was living in Roshi’s monastery in California, and taking into account that the beloved to whom he addresses the song forbids the delivery of hatred, we can read the song as the portrayal of a spiritual journey and an expression of Cohen’s Buddhist beliefs.
You Know Who I Am
I cannot follow you, my love,
you cannot follow me.
I am the distance you put between
all of the moments that we will be.
You know who I am,
you’ve stared at the sun,
well I am the one who loves
changing from nothing to one.
Sometimes I need you naked,
sometimes I need you wild,
I need you to carry my children in
and I need you to kill a child.
You know who I am...
If you should ever track me down
I will surrender there
and I will leave with you one broken man
whom I will teach you to repair.
You know who I am...
I cannot follow you, my love,
you cannot follow me.
I am the distance you put between
all of the moments that we will be.
You know who I am...
Included on Songs From a Room (1967), and also on Live Songs (1973), this song fails to avoid the danger inherent in using the “I” voice – the danger of becoming ego-bound and failing to generalise an individual experience so as to make it relevant and interesting to others. His need for his lover “to kill a child” is selfish if it refers to abortion, and frankly obscene if it doesn’t. Perhaps appropriately for his first album, it is an immature song.
If you enjoyed The Lyrics of Leonard Cohen, why not try some of our other great titles.
Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen has probably had millions of words written about him during his long career. Few of them can have conjured such a riveting picture of the dark, droll and mystical poet/singer-songwriter as his own thoughtful responses in the course half a century of interviews. Here, in his own words taken from countless interviews between 1966 and 2012, is Leonard Cohen On Leonard Cohen.
With a foreword by Suzanne Vega, insights from friends and fans as well as eight pages of photos, this definitive anthology presents Cohen talking candidly about his classic songs, his ill-fated collaboration with producer Phil Spector, his affairs, his years in a Zen monastery and his long battle with depression. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it also reveals Leonard Cohen to be as compelling a conversationalist as he is a writer.
‘... Burger’s discerning editorial hand selects those conversations with Cohen that offer insights into his music. For longtime fans as well as newcomers to Cohen’s work.’ - Publishers Weekly
Buy the Ebook Here
The Little Black Songbook: Leonard Cohen
A pocket-sized collection of over seventy Leonard Cohen hits, in chord songbook format, with complete lyrics and Guitar chords. Perfect for strumming a quick song or for reference during a gig!
Songs include: Ain't No Cure for Love * Bird on the Wire * Closing Time * Death of a Ladies' Man * First We Take Manhattan * Hallelujah * Lady Midnight * Lover Lover Lover * So Long Marianne * Winter Lady * and many more.
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Stevie Nicks: Visions, Dreams & Rumours
Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks is a musical visionary, a poet and an enduring style icon with a truly phenomenal life story. This celebratory book traces Stevie’s life from her Arizona childhood, through the hedonistic years that followed and the magic moment when she joined Fleetwood Mac to become what Mick Fleetwood described as the band’s ‘Queen Bee’.
Crowned ‘The Reigning Queen of Rock And Roll’ by Rolling Stone, and with gold and platinum solo albums to her credit, Stevie Nicks outlived her defining Fleetwood Mac image to become a perennially successful recording artist in her own right. Hers is a story of hard work, self-belief and a fierce devotion to musical creativity. Researched through exclusive interviews with many of Stevie’s close associates and collaborators, Stevie Nicks: Visions, Dreams & Rumours is a revealing and inspiring portrait of one of rock’s great women.
Stevie Nicks: Dreams Visions & Rumours is an Omnibus enhanced edition. The book includes an interactive Digital Timeline of Stevie’s life as well as curated playlists for each chapter. Surround yourself with the music of Stevie Nicks and all that surrounded her.
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Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now
Joni Mitchell was one of the defining singer/songwriters of the late 1960s and ’70s - a fixture of the era’s California music scene who went on to make albums that continued to be thoughtful, innovative and original throughout her career. Behind her effortlessly haunting voice was the soul of a musical junkie who in her youth had adored Ray Charles, Chuck Berry and The Everly Brothers. Behind her lyrics lay a true poet’s sensibility, and the thing that bound everything together was her inextinguishable creativity.
In Both Sides Now: Conversations With Joni Mitchell, Marom encourages Joni to examine her creative impulse, on the way discussing childhood and aging, love and loss, acclaim and criticism, poverty and affluence. It makes for a compelling portrait of a uniquely and variously talen
ted woman
Whether crafting music and lyrics, painting or poetry, Joni Mitchell has always prized the freedom to make her own voice heard. This beautifully illustrated book includes Mitchell’s fine art and selected lyrics, celebrating the life and work of a truly original woman who helped shape the music of her generation and that of so many musicians who have followed.
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Credits
All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.
Ain’t No Cure For Love
Words & Music by Leonard Cohen
© Copyright 1986 Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Limited.
Alexandra Leaving
Words & Music by Leonard Cohen & Sharon Robinson
© Copyright 2001 Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Limited/
Sharon Robinson Songs (ASCAP)/IQ Music Limited
Always
Words & Music by Irving Berlin
© Copyright 1925 Berlin Irving Music Corporation.
Francis Day & Hunter Limited.
Anthem
Words & Music by Leonard Cohen
© Copyright 1992 Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Limited.
Avalanche
Words & Music by Leonard Cohen
© Copyright 1967 Sony/ATV Songs LLC, USA.
Chrysalis Songs Limited.
Ballad Of The Absent Mare
Words & Music by Leonard Cohen
© Copyright 1979 Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Limited.
Be For Real
Words & Music by Frederick Knight
© Copyright East Memphis Music Corporation/Two Knight
Publishing Company, USA.
Universal Music Publishing Limited.
All rights in Germany administered by Universal Music
Publ. GmbH.
Because Of
Words & Music by Leonard Cohen
© Copyright 2004 Sony/ATV Songs LLC, USA.
Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Limited.
All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.
Bird On The Wire
Words & Music by Leonard Cohen
© Copyright 1968 Sony/ATV Songs LLC, USA.
Chrysalis Songs Limited.
Boogie Street
The Lyrics of Leonard Cohen: Enhanced Edition Page 14
