r harness and the wind going wild in the trees, and it ain't exactly prison but you'll never be forgiven for whatever you've done with the keys. O baby I waited... It's dark now and it's snowing O my love I must be going, The river has started to freeze. And I'm sick of pretending I'm broken from bending I've lived too long on my knees. Then she dances so graceful and your heart's hard and hateful and she's naked but that's just a tease. And you turn in disgust from your hatred and from your love and comes to you light as the breeze. O baby I waited... There's blood on every bracelet you can see it, you can taste it, and it's Please baby please baby please. And she says, Drink deeply, pilgrim but don't forget there's still a woman beneath this resplendent chemise. So I knelt there at the delta, at the alpha and the omega, I knelt there like one who believes. And the blessings come from heaven and for something like a second I'm cured and my heart is at ease Always (by Irving Berlin) Oh friends, [...] don't matter if you're a man or a woman. If you're in love with somebody, these are the words that you got to learn to say. Now listen carefully. Here it comes... I'll be loving you always with a love that's true, always When the thing you've planned needs my helping hand, I will understand, always, always Days may not be fair, always Yeah but that's when I'll be there, always Not for just an hour, Not for just a day, Not for just a year, but always. I said that I'll be loving you, always with a love that's true, always. When the thing you've planned needs my helping hand, I will, I will understand, always, always (Oh that's pretty... that's pretty too... Oh darling) The days may not be fair, always Yeah but that's when I'll be there, always Not for just a second, or a minute, or an hour, Not for just a weekend and a shake down in the shower, Not for just the summer and the winter going sour, But always, always, always (Ok if you don't want to quit, let's try it one more time) I'll be loving you, always with a love that's true, always. When the thing you've planned needs my helping hand, I will understand, I will, I will understand, always, always The days may not be fair, always (Don't worry, baby) That's when I'll be there, always Not for just an hour, Not for just a day, Not for just a year, but always. Tacoma Trailer (Instrumental)
 * Other songs performed/written by Cohen but not recorded by him *  Store Room I am less than happy with the lyrics transcribed here, if you can suggest corrections, by all mean do so. (DE) I love you, without caring whom you love. My hands below the belt, or my hands above in the arms of other men, or in my bed again. It's just a man, Taking what he needs, >From the store room, Store room, store room. I love to see you sitting there upon your throne, your preachers all around you being bored, and your prophet straight and tall. And yet they'll undermine it all. Just a man, just a man, taking what he needs, from the store room, store room, store room. Yeah, Shakespeare said it all, then he said no more and he left me feeling just like a two bit whore. Well the silence broke my heart, but yes I spread my legs apart. It's just a man... ????? ????? The hermit in the Wild, the parent in the child. Just a man... Oh my love, let us unpin you, ???? you done, bringing more: the mother and the father, the daughter and the son. But should one refuse to come, it does not subtract the sum It's just a man... It's not a (due?) of burning pounds that ruins your mind like a spoon that you turn and you turn and you don't unwind, Though these wars that you did not stop, they don't tear your sleep apart. It's just a man... ???? that keeps you up, What a (moon?) coming like a headlight through the window Not the thumbnail of a screen, (?) No best way to dream (?) It's just a man... Now the woman by your side is she awake? But there's nothing you want to give her, and there's nothing that you really want to take. You don't even try to prove that the noisy neighbor's making love. (?) It's just a man... I love you without caring whom you love... Priests (Written around 1968, but never recorded) And who will write love songs for you when I am lord at last and your body is some little highway shrine that all my priests have passed, that all my priests have passed? My priests they will put flowers there, they will stand before the glass, but they'll wear away your little window, love, they will trample on the grass, they will trample on the grass. And who will aim the arrow that men will follow through your grace when I am lord of memory and all your armour has turned to lace, and all your armour has turned to lace? The simple life of heroes, and the twisted life of saints, they just confuse the sunny calendar with their red and golden paints, with their red and golden paints. And all of you have seen the dance, that God has kept from me, but he has seen me watching you when all your minds were free when all your minds were free. And who will write love songs for you... My priests they will put flowers there... God is alive, magic is afoot (Lyrics by Cohen, recorded by Buffy Sainte-Marie in 1969) God is alive, magic is afoot God is alive, magic is afoot God is alive, magic is afoot God is afoot, magic is alive Alive is afoot, magic never died God never sickened Many poor men lied Many sick men lied Magic never weakened Magic never hid Magic always ruled God is afoot, God never died God was ruler Though his funeral lengthened Though his mourners thickened Magic never fled Though his shrouds were hoisted The naked God did live Though his words were twisted The naked magic thrived Though his death was published Round and round the world The heart did not believe Many hurt men wondered Many struck men bled Magic never faltered Magic always lead Many stones were rolled But God would not lie down Many wild men lied Many fat men listened Though they offered stones Magic still was fed Though they locked their coffers God was always served Magic is afoot, God is alive Alive is afoot Alive is in command Many weak men hungered Many strong men thrived Though they boast of solitude God was at their side Nor the dreamer in his cell Nor the captain on the hill Magic is alive Though his death was pardoned Round and round the world The heart would not believe Though laws were carved in marble They could not shelter men Though altars built in parliaments They could not order men Police arrested magic and magic went with them Mmmmm.... for magic loves the hungry But magic would not tarry It moves from arm to arm It would not stay with them Magic is afoot It cannot come to harm It rests in an empty palm It spawns in an empty mind But magic is no instrument Magic is the end Many men drove magic But magic stayed behind Many strong men lied They only passed through magic And out the other side Many weak men lied They came to God in secret And though they left Him nourished They would not tell who healed Though mountains danced before them They said that God was dead Though his shrouds were hoisted The naked God did live This I mean to whisper to my mind This I mean to laugh within my mind This I mean my mind to serve Til' service is but magic Moving through the world And mind itself is magic Coursing through the flesh And flesh itself is magic Dancing on a clock And time itself The magic length of God God is alive, magic is afoot... Die Gedanken sind frei (reportedly performed by Cohen at some stage) (apparently completely/partly performed by Cohen) Die Gedanken sind frei! Wer kann sie erraten? Sie fliegen vorbei wie naechtliche Schatten. Kein Mensch kann sie wissen, kein Jaeger erschiessen mit Pulver und Blei. Die Gedanken sind frei! [Thoughts are free! Who can guess them? They fly along like nightly treasures No man can know them No hunter can shoot them With powder and lead Thoughts are free!] Ich denke, was ich will und was mich begluecket, doch alles in der Still und wie es sich schicket. Mein Wunsch und Begehren kann niemand verwehren, es bleibet dabei: Die Gedanken sind frei! [I think about what I want and what makes me happy But everything quietly, and just how it comes. To my wish and desire Nobody can oppose, It stays this way: Thoughts are free!] Und sperrt man mich ein im finsteren Kerker, das alles sind rein vergebliche Werke, mit Pulver und Blei. Die Gedanken sind frei! [And if they lock me in a dark dungeon That is something that can be forgiven Cause my thoughts Tear up the bars And walls. Thoughts are free!] Ich denke, was ich will und was mich begluecket... [I think about what I want and what makes me happy...] Und sperrt man mich ein im finsteren Kerker... [And if they lock me in a dark dungeon...] Ich liebe den Wein, mein Maedchen vor allen, sie tut mir allein am besten gefallen. Ich bin nicht alleine bei meinem Glas Weine, mein Maedchen dabei: Die Gedanken sind frei! [I love wine, my girl most of all, Only me she pleases best I am not alone With my glass of wine My girl is with me: Thoughts are free!] Drum will ich auf immer den Sorgen entsagen und will mich auch nimmer mit Grillen mehr plagen. Man kann ja im Herzen stets lachen und scherzen und denken dabei: Die Gedanken sind frei! [That's why I will never worry anymore And I will never tease myself with whims anymore Because in one's heart One can keep laughing and joking While thinking Thoughts are free!] Do I have to dance all night I'm Forty-One, the moon is full, you make love very well. You touch me like I touch myself, I like you Mademoiselle. You're so fresh and you're so new, I do enjoy you, Miss. There's nothing I would rather do than move around just like this But do I have to dance all night? But do I have to dance all night? Ooh tell me, Bird of Paradise, do I have to dance all night? You never really have to tell me what you really think of me - alright. Let's say I'm doing fine, but do I have to dance all night? Do I have to dance all night?... I learned this step a while ago. I had to practice it while everybody slept. I waited half my life for you, you know, I didn't even think that you'd accept. And here you are before me in the flesh saying ``Yes, yes, yes!'' But do I have to dance all night?... I learned this step a while ago... But do I have to dance all night?... Tennessee Waltz (First verse is the traditional, second verse by Cohen) I was dancin' with my darlin' to the Tennessee Waltz when an old friend I happened to see. I introduced him to my darlin' and while they were dancin' my friend stole my sweetheart from me. I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz 'cause I know just how much I have lost. Yes, I lost my little darlin' the night they were playing that beautiful Tennessee Waltz I remember the night... She goes dancin' with the darkness to the Tennessee Waltz and I feel like I'm falling apart and it's stronger than drink and it's deeper than sorrow this darkness she left in my heart I remember the night... That beautiful Tennessee Waltz Misty Blue (outtake from the Recent Songs sessions) Oh but it's been such a long, long time. Thought I'd got you off my mind. Looks like I can't, just the thought of you turns my whole world a misty blue. Just the mention of your name fans the flicker to a flame. I can't forget the things we used to do. My whole world turns misty blue. You know I should forget you I really should, and heaven knows that I tried. But when I told you, when I said that we were through deep in my heart I lied Baby, oh what a long, long time. Thought I'd get you off my mind. Oh but I can't, just the thought of you turns my world misty blue And the very mention of your name fans the flicker to a flame. I think of things we used to do, my whole world turns misty blue. Song of Bernadette (co-written with Jennifer Warnes, recorded by Warnes on her album Famous Blue Raincoat) There was a child named Bernadette I heard the story long ago She saw the Queen of Heaven once And kept the vision in her soul No one believed what she had seen No one believed what she heard That there were sorrows to be healed And mercy, mercy in this world So many hearts I find Broke like yours and mine Torn by what we've done and can't undo I just want to hold you Won't you let me hold you Like Bernadette would do We've been, we fall, we fly We mostly fall, we moostly run And every now and then we try To mend the damage that we've done Tonight, tonight I cannot rest I've got this joy inside my breast To think that I did not forget That child, that song of Bernadette So many hearts I find... To love somebody (originally by the Bee Gees) There's a light, a very special light, never ever shone on me. I would like my whole life to be, with someone like you... with someone... with someone like... You don't know what it's like, You don't know what it's like, to love somebody, to love somebody, the way I love you. There's a way, a very special way, To look at each and every single thing. Ah, but what good would that bring, if I ain't got you... if I ain't... if I ain't got you. You don't know what it's like, I don't think you really, really know what it's like, to love somebody, to love somebody, the way I love you, the way I love you. There's a light, a special kind of light, never ever shone on me. I would like my whole life to be, with someone like you... with someone... with someone like... Baby, you don't know what it's like, You, you just don't know what it's like, to love somebody, to love somebody, the way I love you. You don't know what it's like, I don't think you really, really know what it's like, to love somebody, to love the way I love you. Whither thou goest (from the Book of Ruth) Whither thou goest I will go Whither thou lodgest I will lodge Thy people shall be, My people. Whither thou goest I will go Whither thou goest I will go... Whither thou goest I will go... Way down deep (co-written with Jennifer Warnes, recorded by Warnes on her album The Hunter) 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..
 * Bibliography *  Books Albums

Cohen's

Bootlegs

Cohen's songs performed by others

 * Sources *  This lyrics collection compiled from various sources by
Dean Engelhardt (dean@cs.adelaide.edu.au)
Special thanks to Maurice Maes, Rheal Nadeau, Jo Meachem, Kjetil Dimmen, Brian Cameron, and Rudi Schmid. The original edition was modified, LaTeXed and then Webbed by
Giovanni Pensa (pensa@ghost.dsi.unimi.it)
And, of course, suggestions and corrections are welcomed.
Giovanni Pensa (pensa@dsi.unimi.it)