Leonard Cohen

[cleofus1]

Suzanne

C
Suzanne takes you down to her place by the river
F
You can hear the boats go by, you can spend the night beside her
C
And you know that she's half-crazy, but that's why you wanna be there
Em F
And she feeds you tea & oranges that come a ll the way from China
C F
And just when you mean to tell her that you h ave no love to give her
C Dm
Then she gets you on her wavelength & she l ets the river answer
C
That you've always been her lover


Chorus



------

Em F
And you want to travel with her, and you w ant to travel blind
C
And you know that she will trust you,
F C
For you've touched her perfect body with your mi nd



And Jesus was a sailor, when he walked upon the water

And he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower

And when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him he said

'All men will be sailors then, until the sky shall free them'

But he himself was broken, long before the sky would open

Forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone

And you want to travel with him, and you want to travel blind

And you know that you can trust him,

For he's touched your perfect body with his mind



Now Suzanne takes your hand and she leads you to the river

She is wearing rags & feathers from Salvation Army counter

And the sun pours down like honey on Our Lady of the Harbour

And she shows you where to look among the garbage & the flowers

There are heroes in the seaweed, there are children in the morning

They are leaning out for love, & they will lean that way forever

While Suzanne holds the mirror

And you want to travel with her, and you want to travel blind

And you know that she will trust you,

For you've touched her perfect body with your mind

[MissHoneychurch]

1. Take this Waltz

Now in vienna there’s ten pretty women
There’s a shoulder where death comes to cry
There’s a lobby with nine hundred windows
There’s a tree where the doves go to die
There’s a piece that was torn from the morning
And it hangs in the gallery of frost
Ay, ay, ay, ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz with the clamp on it’s jaws

Oh I want you, I want you, I want you
On a chair with a dead magazine
In the cave at the tip of the lily
In some hallways where love’s never been
On a bed where the moon has been sweating
In a cry filled with footsteps and sand
Ay, ay, ay, ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take it’s broken waist in your hand

This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz
With it’s very own breath of brandy and death
Dragging it’s tail in the sea

There’s a concert hall in vienna
Where your mouth had a thousand reviews
There’s a bar where the boys have stopped talking
They’ve been sentenced to death by the blues
Ah, but who is it climbs to your picture
With a garland of freshly cut tears?
Ay, ay, ay, ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz it’s been dying for years

There’s an attic where children are playing
Where I’ve got to lie down with you soon
In a dream of hungarian lanterns
In the mist of some sweet afternoon
And I’ll see what you’ve chained to your sorrow
All your sheep and your lilies of snow
Ay, ay, ay, ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
With it’s I’ll never forget you, you know!

This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz ...

And I’ll dance with you in vienna
I’ll be wearing a river’s disguise
The hyacinth wild on my shoulder,
My mouth on the dew of your thighs
And I’ll bury my soul in a scrapbook,
With the photographs there, and the moss
And I’ll yield to the flood of your beauty
My cheap violin and my cross
And you’ll carry me down on your dancing
To the pools that you lift on your wrist
Oh my love, oh my love
Take this waltz, take this waltz
It’s yours now. it’s all that there is.

[WCGreen]

2. More leonard....

The Partisan
When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender,
This i could not do;
I took my gun and vanished.

I have changed my name so often,
I've lost my wife and children
But i have many friends,
And some of them are with me.

An old woman gave us shelter,
Kept us hidden in the garret,
Then the soldiers came;
She died without a whisper.

There were three of us this morning
I'm the only one this evening
But i must go on;
The frontiers are my prison.

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
Through the graves the wind is blowing,
Freedom soon will come;
Then we'll come from the shadows.

Les allemands e'taient chez moi,
Ils me dirent, "signe toi,"
Mais je n'ai pas peur;
J'ai repris mon âme.

They said, "sign yourself,"
But i am not afraid
I have retaken my soul.]

J'ai change' cent fois de nom,
J'ai perdu femme et enfants
Mais j'ai tant d'amis;
J'ai la france entie`re.

I have lost wife and children
But i have so many friends
I have all of france]

Un vieil homme dans un grenier
Pour la nuit nous a cache',
Les allemands l'ont pris;
Il est mort sans surprise.

Hid us for the night
The germans captured him
He died without surprise.]

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
Through the graves the wind is blowing,
Freedom soon will come;
Then we'll come from the shadows

[Bridget Burke]

3. Whenever anyone accuses Democrats of being "partisans"...

I wonder--why is that a bad thing? This song comes to mind.

My own Leonard Cohen moment: Sitting in a Dunkin Donuts many (20?) years ago, waiting to head to a corporate temporary job, I heard a familiar tune on the Muzak. It was "Famous Blue Raincoat."

All his lyrics are here: www.leonardcohen.com/DearHeather/index.cgi?section=music

[WCGreen]

9. The Iraqi Partisans are bushed insurgents.....

I am sure that Hitler called the french resistance an insurgency....

[Heidi]

12. He's the man of my dreams. (nt)

[cleofus1]

4. it's a shame

more people don't know who he is...so many great songs and so many years...a true genius...

kind of reminds me to tom waits...

[Spider Jerusalem]

5. "Democracy"

It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that this ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming through a crack in the wall;
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
It's coming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the sorrow in the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin'
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of God in the desert here
and the desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on
O mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
Past the Reefs of Greed
Through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.

It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the women and the men.
O baby, we'll be making love again.
We'll be going down so deep
the river's going to weep,
and the mountain's going to shout Amen!
It's coming like the tidal flood
beneath the lunar sway,
imperial, mysterious,
in amorous array:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on ...

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

[In_The_Wind]

7. Democracy !

[WCGreen]

10. Viva la Joani!!!!!!

[livetohike]

6. Thanks

:-) It's one of the first songs I learned to play on my guitar.

[graywarrior]

8. He's planning to be on the concert circuit soon

He financial manager stole 5 million of his retirement money while he was living with buddhist monks, so he will be touring again.

[Aristus]

11. I have just one word to say about Leonard Cohen:

Hallelujah! B-)

[Debi]

13. *swoon* n/t

[tigereye]

14. he has written so many great songs!

there are so many great songs, but I have always liked this one.

First We Take Manhattan
They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
For trying to change the system from within
I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'm guided by a signal in the heavens
I'm guided by this birthmark on my skin
I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, baby
I love your body and your spirit and your clothes
But you see that line there moving through the station?
I told you, I told you, told you, I was one of those

Ah you loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win
You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline
How many nights I prayed for this, to let my work begin
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I don't like your fashion business mister
And I don't like these drugs that keep you thin
I don't like what happened to my sister
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, baby ...

And I thank you for those items that you sent me
The monkey and the plywood violin
I practiced every night, now I'm ready
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I am guided

Ah remember me, I used to live for music
Remember me, I brought your groceries in
Well it's Father's Day and everybody's wounded
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. Hi everybody! Thanks, cleofus1 for this thread....Who can recommend

a CD for me?....I've never heard the guy's music, but I am intruiged by all these lyrics...

I'd like to buy a CD that would be representative of his work...

Perhaps a mixture of old and new songs...Let me hear what you recommend!

THANKS!

:grouphug:

[cleofus1]

16. here is link to his best selling cds

listed in order of amount sold...some very interesting selections

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/103-9555941-8542268

[AVulgarianHue]

17. Hey CP

I bet if you heard "Suzanne" it would be familiar. Also, "Everybody Knows." (which I sing at least once a day)

Everybody Knows

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you’ve been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you’ve been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows

And everybody knows that it’s now or never
Everybody knows that it’s me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when you’ve done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old black joe’s still pickin’ cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows that it’s moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But there’s gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows

And everybody knows that you’re in trouble
Everybody knows what you’ve been through
From the bloody cross on top of calvary
To the beach of malibu
Everybody knows it’s coming apart
Take one last look at this sacred heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows

Oh everybody knows, everybody knows
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows

[khashka]

18. As Kurt Cobain said

"I want a Leonard Cohen afterworld"


There was a great Austin City Limits double billed with Marianne Faithful.

I sat there slack jawed....

Khash.

[Heidi]

19. Kick. (nt)