Lyrics?

Leonard Cohen's previous album (January 2012)
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jerry
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Lyrics?

Post by jerry »

Have the lyrics been posted anywhere online for Old Ideas?
Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.
Leonard Cohen
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Goldin
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by Goldin »

1. Going Home; 3. Show Me the Place; 4. Darkness - Heck Of A Guy
2. Amen (as it was printed in 2011) - Scottish Review of Books
8. Banjo - viewtopic.php?f=55&t=31216#p294626
9. Lullaby (as it was sung in 2009) - http://old.currentcohen.com/lullaby

As far as I know, that's all for today.
We can't be sure about the invariability of Lullaby. This doesn't allow me to include Crazy to Love You in this list, lyrics should have been supplemented.

And we're waiting for the next portion of LC poetry - Different Sides, noticed by our Dutch friends.
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Stamatina
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by Stamatina »

1. Going Home
I love to speak with Leonard
He’s a sportsman and a shepherd
He’s a lazy bastard
Living in a suit

But he does say what I tell him
Even though it isn’t welcome
He just doesn’t have the freedom
To refuse

He will speak these words of wisdom
Like a sage, a man of vision
Though he knows he’s really nothing
But the brief elaboration of a tube

Going home without my sorrow
Going home sometime tomorrow
Going home to where it’s better
Than before

Going home without my burden
Going home behind the curtain
Going home without the costume
That I wore

He wants to write a love song
An anthem of forgiving
A manual for living with defeat

A cry above the suffering
A sacrifice recovering
But that isn’t what I need him to complete

I want him to be certain
That he doesn’t have a burden
That he doesn’t need a vision

That he only has permission
To do my instant bidding
Which is to say what I have told him
To repeat

Going home without my sorrow
Going home sometime tomorrow
Going home to where it’s better
Than before

Going home without my burden
Going home behind the curtain
Going home without this costume
That I wore

I love to speak with Leonard
He’s a sportsman and a shepherd
He’s a lazy bastard
Living in a suit


2. Amen
Tell me again when I’ve been to the river
And I’ve taken the edge off my thirst
Tell me again, we’re alone and I’m listening
I’m listening so hard that it hurts
Tell me again when I’m clean and I’m sober
Tell me again when I’ve seen through the horror
Tell me again, tell me over and over
Tell me that you want me then
Amen, amen, amen

Tell me again when the victims are singing
And the laws of remorse are restored
Tell me again that you know what I’m thinking
But vengeance belongs to the lord
Tell me again when I’m clean and I’m sober
Tell me again when I’ve seen through the horror
Tell me again, tell me over and over
Tell me that you love me then
Amen, amen, amen

Tell me again when the day has been ransomed
And the night has no right to begin
Try me again when the angels are panting
And scratching at the door to come in
Tell me again when I’m clean and I’m sober
Tell me again when I’ve seen through the horror
Tell me again, tell me over and over
Tell me that you need me then
Amen, amen, amen

Tell me again when the filth of the butcher
Is washed in the blood of the lamb
Tell me again when the rest of the culture
Has passed through the eye of the cam
Tell me again when I’m clean and I’m sober
Tell me again when I’ve seen through the horror
Tell me again, tell me over and over
Tell me that you love me then
Amen, amen, amen


3. Show Me The Place
Show me the place where you want your slave to go
Show me the place I’ve forgotten I don’t know
Show me the place for my head is bending low
Show me the place where you want your slave to go
Show me the place help me roll away the stone
Show me the place I can’t move this thing alone
Show me the place where the Word became a man
Show me the place where the suffering began

The troubles came I saved what I could save
A thread of light a particle a wave
But there were chains so I hastened to behave
There were chains so I loved you like a slave

Show me the place where you want your slave to go
Show me the place I’ve forgotten I don’t know
Show me the place for my head is bent and low
Show me the place where you want your slave to go

The troubles came I saved what I could save
A thread of light a particle a wave
But there were chains so I hastened to behave
There were chains so I loved you like a slave

Show me the place
Show me the place
Show me the place

Show me the place help me roll away the stone
Show me the place I can’t move this thing alone
Show me the place where the Word became a man
Show me the place where the suffering began


4. The Darkness
I caught the darkness
It was drinking from your cup
I caught the darkness
Drinking from your cup
I said "Is this contagious?"
You said "Just drink it up"

I've got no future
I know my days are few
The present's not that pleasant
Just a lot of things to do
I thought the past would last me
But the darkness got that too

I should have seen it coming
It was right behind your eyes
You were young and it was summer
I just had to take a dive
Winning you was easy
But darkness was the prize

I don't smoke no cigarette
I don't drink no alcohol
I ain't had much loving yet
But that's always been your call
And I don't miss it, baby,
I got no taste for anything at all

I used to love the rainbow
And I used to love the view
I love the early morning
I pretend that it was new
But I caught the darkness, baby
And I got it worse than you

I caught the darkness
It was drinking from your cup
I caught the darkness
Drinking from your cup
I said "Is this contagious?"
You said "Just drink it up"


5. Anyhow
You know, it really is a pity
the way you treat me now
I know you can’t forgive me
But forgive me anyhow

The ending, that’s so ugly
I even heard you say
You never ever loved me
But could you love me anyway

I dreamed about you baby
?? your dress
I know you have to hate me
But could you hate me less

I’ve used up all my chances
And you’ll never take me back
But there ain’t no harm in asking
Could you cut me one more slack

Now I’m naked and I’m filthy
And there’s sweat upon my brow
And both of us are guilty
Anyhow

Have mercy on me, baby
After all I did confess
Even though you have to hate me
Could you hate me less

It’s a shame and it’s a pity
I know you can’t forgive me
The ending, that’s so ugly
You never ever loved me
I dreamed about you, baby
I know you have to hate me
I’m naked and I’m filthy
Both of us are guilty
Have mercy on me, baby



can anyone tell me what the missing line is? because I listened to it a zillion times and I can't make out anything that makes sense :neutral:

I'll post the rest five songs soon, too.
"Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love
Oh tangle of matter and ghost
Oh darling of angels, demons and saints
And the whole broken-hearted host
Gentle this soul..."
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Goldin
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by Goldin »

Thank you, Stamatina! According to Canadian press, the missing line is "You were wearing half your dress".

Different Sides - it was posted by rpan: download/file.php?id=13877&mode=view

Finally, what I've found at Youtube:

6. Crazy to Love You

I had to go crazy to love you
Had to go down to the pit
Had to do time in the tower
Now I'm too tired to quit

I had to go crazy to love you
You who were never the one
Whom I chased through the
Souvenir heartache
Her braids and her blouse all undone

Sometimes I'd head for the highway
I'm old and the mirrors don't lie
But crazy has places to hide me
Deeper than any goodbye

I had to go crazy to love you
Had to let everything fall
Had to be people I hated
Had to be no one at all

Tired of choosing desire
I've been saved by a blessed fatigue
The gates of commitment unwired
And nobody trying to leave

Sometimes I'd head for the highway
I'm old and the mirrors don't lie
But crazy has places to hide me
Deeper than any goodbye
Last edited by Goldin on Tue Jan 24, 2012 6:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
holydove
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by holydove »

In Crazy To Love You:

I think it's: "HER braids and HER blouse all undone"

and: "Deeper than ANY goodbye"
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Goldin
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by Goldin »

Holydove, you're surely right. Didn't check that text, sorry.
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Stamatina
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by Stamatina »

I've been listening to the songs very carefully to either correct the lyrics we already have or find the ones we don't miss. Listening so hard that it hurts.
But honestly, I can't make half of the song "Come Healing". I think I'm getting a headache. :razz:

Roman, that's Anjani's version of Crazy To Love You. Leonard's version as I hear it is a bit different here and there:

6. Crazy To Love You
Had to go crazy to love you
Had to go down to the pit
Had to do time in the tower
Begging my crazy to quit

Had to go crazy to love you
You who were never the one
Whom I chased through the souvenir heartache
Her braids and her blouse all undone

Sometimes I’d head for the highway
I’m old and the mirrors don’t lie
But crazy has places to hide in
That are deeper than any goodbye

Had to go crazy to love you
Had to let everything fall
Had to be people I hated
Had to be no one at all

I’m tired of choosing desire
I’ve been saved by a blessed fatigue
The gates of commitment unwired
And nobody trying to leave

Sometimes I’d head for the highway
I’m old and the mirrors don’t lie
But crazy has places to hide in
That are deeper than any goodbye

Had to go crazy to love you
You who were never the one
Whom I chased through the souvenir heartache
Her braids and her blouse all undone



There are such small and unimportant differences between the printed lyrics of Different Sides and the song:

10. Different Sides
We find ourselves on different sides
Of a line nobody drew
Though it all may be one in the higher eye
Down here where we live it is two

I to my side call the meek and the mild
You to your side call the Word
By virtue of suffering I claim to have won
You claim to have never been heard

Both of us say there are laws to obey
Yeah, but frankly I don’t like your tone
You want to change the way I make love
(But) I want to leave it alone

The pull of the moon, the thrust of the sun
Thus the ocean is crossed
The waters are blessed while a shadowy guest
Kindles a light for the lost

Both of us say there are laws to obey
But frankly I don’t like your tone
You want to change the way I make love
(But) I want to leave it alone

Down in the valley the famine goes on
The famine up on the hill
I say that you shouldn’t, you couldn’t, you can’t
You say that you must and you will

You want to live where the suffering is
I want to get out of town
Come on, baby, give me a kiss
Stop writing everything down

Both of us say there are laws to obey
Yeah, but frankly I don’t like your tone
You want to change the way I make love
(But) I want to leave it alone

Both of us say there are laws to obey
Yeah, but frankly I don’t like your tone
You want to change the way I make love
(But) I want to leave it alone…



And here is what I made out of half hour of listening to Come Healing (which, only for that, just became my least favourite song on the album :razz: )
I expect there are a lot of mistakes (it might be even consisted by only blanks and mistakes), but it's the best I could do. :(

7. Come Healing
(Oh gather up ???????
??
The fragrance of those promises
you never ?? about

The ?? that you carry
The cross you left behind
Come healing of the body
Come healing of the mind

And let the heavens hear it
The penitential hymn
Come healing of the spirit
Come healing of the limb)

Behold the gates of mercy
In our ?? space
And none of us deserving
The cruelty or the grace

Oh ?? of longing
Where love has been confined
Come healing of the body
Come healing of the mind

Oh, see the darkness yielding
Then tore the light apart
Come healing of the reason
Come healing of the heart

Oh, troubled us concealing
An undivided love
The heart beneath is teaching to
The broken heart above
And let the heavens falter
Let the earth proclaim
Come healing of the altar
Come healing of the name

Oh, longing of the branches
to lift the little bird
Oh longing of the arteries (???)
to purify the blood (??)

And the let the heavens hear it
The penitential hymn
Come healing of the spirit
Come healing of the limb
"Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love
Oh tangle of matter and ghost
Oh darling of angels, demons and saints
And the whole broken-hearted host
Gentle this soul..."
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Stamatina
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by Stamatina »

Just realized how different the lyrics to Lullaby are on the album than on the tour. :( :( I liked the tour version better. :roll: I'm missing two words, so, please, someone help me. :razz:


8. Banjo
There’s something that I’m watching
Means a lot to me
There’s something that I’m watching
Means a lot to me

It’s a broken banjo bobbing
On the dark infested sea
It’s a broken banjo bobbing
On the dark infested sea

Don’t know how it got there
Maybe taken by the wave
Don’t know how it got there
Probably taken by the wave

Off of someone’s shoulder
Or out of someone’s grave
Off of someones shoulder
Or out of someone’s grave

It’s coming for me, darling
No matter where I go
It’s coming for me, darling
No matter where I go

Its duty is to harm me
My duty is to know
Its duty is to harm me
My duty is to know

There’s something that I’m watching
Means a lot to me
There’s something that I’m watching
Means a lot to me

It’s a broken banjo bobbing
On the dark infested sea
It’s a broken banjo bobbing
On the dark infested sea


9. Lullaby
Sleep, baby, sleep
The days are on the run
The wind in the trees
Is talking in ??
If your heart is torn
I don't wonder why
If the night is long
Here's my lullaby
Here's my lullaby

Well, the mouse ate the crumb
Then the cat ate the ??
Now they've fallen in love
And they're talking in ??
If your heart is torn
I don't wonder why
If the night is long
Here's my lullaby
Here's my lullaby

Sleep, baby, sleep
There's the morning to come
The wind in the trees
They're talking in ??
If your heart is torn
I don't wonder why
If the night is long
Here's my lullaby
Here's my lullaby
"Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love
Oh tangle of matter and ghost
Oh darling of angels, demons and saints
And the whole broken-hearted host
Gentle this soul..."
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Goldin
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by Goldin »

Stamatina wrote:Just realized how different the lyrics to Lullaby are on the album than on the tour. :( :( I liked the tour version better. :roll: I'm missing two words, so, please, someone help me. :razz:
Yeah, LC seems to have broken the code of their frozen love :roll:
Again, the articles give answers to the most urgent questions ;-)

"Well the mouse ate the crumb / Then the cat ate the crust / Now they've fallen in love / They're talking in tongues."
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Stamatina
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by Stamatina »

Tongues?! :neutral:

I did think I heard something like that, but it didn't make any sense to me, so I thought it must be something else.. :roll: Thanks, Roman! :)

EDIT:

Just saw on Tumblr: all the song lyrics have been uploaded at random lyrics website: http://lyricstosongtitle.tumblr.com/pos ... d-ideas-lp

All this effort for nothing, if only I could have waited just another day! :razz:
"Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love
Oh tangle of matter and ghost
Oh darling of angels, demons and saints
And the whole broken-hearted host
Gentle this soul..."
die visser
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by die visser »

Is this a step further with 'Come healing'?

Come healing

Oh gather up the brokenness
Breathe it to me now
The fragrance of those promises
you never dare to vow

The splinters that you carry
The cross you left behind
Come healing of the body
Come healing of the mind

Then let the heavens hear it
The penitential hymn
Come healing of the spirit
Come healing of the limb

Behold the gates of mercy
In arbitrary space
And none of us deserving
The cruelty or the grace

Oh solitude of longing
Where love has been confined
Come healing of the body
Come healing of the mind

Oh, see the darkness yielding
That tore the light apart
Come healing of the reason
Come healing of the heart

Oh, trouble dust concealing
An undivided love
The heart beneath is teaching to
The broken heart above
And let the heavens falter
Let the earth proclaim
Come healing of the altar
Come healing of the name

Oh, longing of the branches
to lift the little bird
Oh longing of the arteries
to purify the blood
And let the heavens hear it
The penitential hymn
Come healing of the spirit
Come healing of the limb
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Goldin
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by Goldin »

Stamatina, thanks for your work and the final posting of all the lyrics to Old Ideas!
You're the best.
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Stamatina
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by Stamatina »

Goldin wrote:Stamatina, thanks for your work and the final posting of all the lyrics to Old Ideas!
You're the best.
ohh, thank you! I'm quite touched by the fact that you (or anyone else) noticed this! :razz: :D
"Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love
Oh tangle of matter and ghost
Oh darling of angels, demons and saints
And the whole broken-hearted host
Gentle this soul..."
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surrender
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by surrender »

Stamatina,
your effort was very heartwarming. It was race against time but you made it.
Energy of youth; we are lucky to have you here!
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After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music...
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by IrishMar »

Stamatina

I too am delighted with your work. I love Leonard's lyrics and I really enjoyed reading the lyrics of all the songs.

I am still holding out and not listening until Friday, it can't come soon enough!!

Mar
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