Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick
The one that makes me scream” she said
“The one that makes me laugh” she said
And threw her arms around my neck
“Show me how you do it
And I promise you I promise that
I’ll run away with you
I’ll run away with you”

Spinning on that dizzy edge
I kissed her face and kissed her head
And dreamed of all the different ways I had
To make her glow
“Why are you so far away?” she said
“Why won’t you ever know that I’m in love with you
That I’m in love with you”

You
Soft and only
You
Lost and lonely
You
Strange as angels
Dancing in the deepest oceans
Twisting in the water
You’re just like a dream

Daylight licked me into shape
I must have been asleep for days
And moving lips to breathe her name
I opened up my eyes
And found myself alone alone
Alone above a raging sea
That stole the only girl I loved
And drowned her deep inside of me

You
Soft and only
You
Lost and lonely
You
Just like heaven

Well courtesans
Shed no tears
When you leave them high and dry
They just go on, they just go on
To the next guy

‘Cause courtesans
Only want
Compensation for their time
A few kind words, a few kind words
They need not rhyme

A sable coat, maybe a hat,
How I wish I could be like that
But courtesans
Are not like me
They won’t take love very hard
Their hearts are free, their hearts are free
How avant garde

If no one loves them when they’re old
They’ll sit and count their chains of gold
You say you’ll love them ’til they die
And they don’t care if it’s a lie

‘Cause courtesans
Don’t believe
In anybody but themselves
And Santa Claus, and Santa Claus
And his twelve elves

I met a woman long ago
her hair the black that black can go,
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Soft she answered no.

I met a girl across the sea,
her hair the gold that gold can be,
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Yes, but not for thee.

I met a man who lost his mind
in some lost place I had to find,
follow me the wise man said,
but he walked behind.

I walked into a hospital
where none was sick and none was well,
when at night the nurses left
I could not walk at all.

Morning came and then came noon,
dinner time a scalpel blade
lay beside my silver spoon.

Some girls wander by mistake
into the mess that scalpels make.
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to break.

One morning I woke up alone,
the hospital and the nurses gone.
Have I carved enough my Lord?
Child, you are a bone.

I ate and ate and ate,
no I did not miss a plate, well
How much do these suppers cost?
We’ll take it out in hate.

I spent my hatred everyplace,
on every work on every face,
someone gave me wishes
and I wished for an embrace.

Several girls embraced me, then
I was embraced by men,
Is my passion perfect?
No, do it once again.

I was handsome I was strong,
I knew the words of every song.
Did my singing please you?
No, the words you sang were wrong.

Who is it whom I address,
who takes down what I confess?
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to rest.

Oh teachers are my lessons done?
I cannot do another one.
They laughed and laughed and said, Well child,
are your lessons done?
are your lessons done?
are your lessons done?

Perhaps one of the finest songs ever written, with the possible exception of Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes.
-

The Mississippi Delta was shining
Like a national guitar
I am following the river
Down the highway
Through the cradle of the civil war
I’m going to Graceland, Graceland
In Memphis, Tennessee
I’m going to Graceland
Poor boys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to graceland
My travelling companion is nine years old
He is the child of my first marriage
But I’ve reason to believe
We both will be received
In Graceland

She comes back to tell me she’s gone
As if I didn’t know that
As if I didn’t know my own bed
As if I’d never noticed
The way she brushed her hair from her forehead
And she said losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you’re blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow

I’m going to Graceland
Memphis, Tennessee
I’m going to Graceland
Poor boys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland
And my travelling companions
Are ghosts and empty sockets
I’m looking at ghosts and empties
But I’ve reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland

There is a girl in New York City
Who calls herself the human trampoline
And sometimes when I’m falling, flying
Or tumbling in turmoil I say
Oh so this is what she means
She means we’re bouncing into Graceland
And I see losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you’re blown apart
Everbody feels the wind blow
In Graceland, in Graceland
I’m going to Graceland
For reasons I cannot explain
There’s some part of me wants to see Graceland
And I may be obliged to defend
Every love, every ending
Or maybe there’s no obligations now
Maybe I’ve got a reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland.

I posted the lyrics to this a long time ago….

Leonard Cohen will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008 for his status among the “highest and most influential echelon of songwriters.”

He certainly deserves it.

On January 13, 2008, Cohen quietly announced to fans a long-anticipated concert tour. The tour, Cohen’s first in 15 years, will begin in May 2008 and encompass the US, Canada and Europe.

I spent a week drinking the sunlight of Winnetka, California
Where they understand the weight of human hearts
You see, sorrow gets too heavy and joy it tends to hold you
With the fear that it eventually departs

And the truth is I’ve been dreaming of some tired tranquil place
Where the weather won’t get trapped inside my bones
And if all the years of searching find one sympathetic face
Then it’s there I will plant these seeds and make my home

I visited my brother on the outskirts of Olympia
Where the forest and the water become one
And we talked about our childhood, like a dream we were convinced of
That perfect peaceful street where we came from

And I know he heard me strumming all those sad and simple chords
As I sat inside my room so long ago
And it hurts that he’s still shaking from those secrets that were told
By a car closed up airtight and a heart turned cold

I spent a day dreaming of dying in Mesa, Arizona
Where all the green of life had turned to ash
And I felt I was on fire, with the things I could have told you
I guess I just assumed that you eventually would ask

And I wouldn’t have to bring up my so badly broken heart
And all those months I just wanted to sleep
And though spring, it did come slowly, I guess it did it’s part
My heart has thawed and continues to beat

And I went to San Diego, the birthplace of the summer
And watched the ocean dance under the moon
And there was a girl I knew there, one more potential lover
I guess that something’s got to happen soon

Because I know I can’t keep living in this dead or dying dream
And as I walked along the beach and drank with her
I thought about my true love, the one I’ve never seen
With eyes that burn so bright, they make me pure

They make me pure
They make me pure
I long to be with you

these time’s useless inventions
satisfy inquiring minds
what about a piece of pretention
in production ugly schemes
realize the world of quick fix dreams

come on and purchase the new one
be the first to strap it on
lose antiquated fixations
that you cannot be without
for a nice try change this model out

feed on a stroke of brilliance sometimes
to cover up the oldness in your eyes
from noticing the coldness in our lies
don’t know if its a miracle or a curse
maybe we can help you to feel worse

these days useless inventions
simplify or complicate
you’ve got the keys to the kingdom
that through which you quickly move
that from small beginnings must improve

feed on a stroke of brilliance sometimes
to cover up the oldness in your eyes
from noticing the coldness in our lies
don’t know if its a miracle or a curse
maybe we can help you to feel worse

tap the curiosity of your youth
are you seeking dare or taking truth
never knowing what will come up next
will it be the panic switch or select

well its, too late to change your connection
didn’t even get through inspection
copyright divine interventions
getting tired or useless inventions

(click the pic…really…)

Candy, it’s been really nice, but I’ve got to go
’cause I can’t be the part of your life you don’t wanna know
and I can’t keep lying all the time
and I know you’ll find a better man
they’re all too easy to find
and I’ll just go away somewhere and slowly lose my mind.

Candy, they called you a baby, they called you a whore
and I can’t see, the light at the end for you anymore
and I can’t keep lying all the time
and I know you’ll find a better man
they’re all too easy to find
and I’ll just go away somewhere and slowly lose my mind

Candy, I can’t be the man they want me to be
Maybe it was only with you that I could be me
and I can’t keep lying all the time
and I know you’ll find a better man
they’re all too easy to find
and I’ll just go away somewhere and slowly lose my mind