LEONARD COHEN

NOW, WE TURN TO THE POET WHOSE LYRICS ARE THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG
AND WE'LL JUST SCHMUNTZ TO THE VERSION OF A YIDDISHE LOVE SONG
GREAT LIKENESS, LEONARD, OY THE VIOLIN!

Leonard Cohen - Dance Me to the End Of Love

Leonard Cohen - Everybody Knows

Leonard Cohen - One of Us Cannot Be Wrong

Leonard cohen - the future. Jools Holland

THE LAST SONG IS DEDICATED TO 'LADY LIBERTY' THAT SOPHISTICATED AND HYPOCRITICAL WHORE WHO STANDS
OFF NEW YORK CITY, WHO WELCOMES EVERYONE IN THE WORLD WITH OPEN ARMS AND THE BEST LINE THEY EVER HEARD
AND YES, I'M THE UNCIRCUMCISED DESCENDANT
OF A COUPLE OF JEWS WHO WERE MASS-BAPTIZED IN A CROWDED
SQUARE IN LISBON, IN THE 1400-1500'S
'WHEN THEY SAID REPENT, I WONDERED WHAT THEY MEANT'
KING D. MANUEL'S RESPONSE TO QUEEN ISABELLA OF SPAIN'S INJUNCTION THAT HE EXTERMINATE OR EXPEL 'THEM',
AS SHE WAS DOING
AND MY RESPONSE IS, 'YOU MAKE ME WANNA PUKE, BITCH!'
I GIVE MY ANSCESTORS CREDIT FOR EVERY OUNCE OF COMPASSION I OWN, SOMETHING SOME OF MY 'BROTHERS'
IN ISRAEL FORGOT TO INCLUDE IN THEIR DREAM OF ZION
NO ONE ENVISIONED THE 'WAY' IT ALL TURNED OUT, THE NIGHTMARE WE ALL HAVE TO THANK THESE FOLK FOR
AND ONE OF THE BIG REASONS FOR WHAT JUST HAPPENED IN EGYPT
THE LESSON TO LEARN HERE? WE'RE ON EARTH TO LEARN TO CARE AND BE KIND TO OTHERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE
WITH LESS THAN US
KATE HEPBURN SAID SOMETHING LIKE THAT, AND I AGREE

Leonard Cohen "Democracy"

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.

LEONARD COHEN

NO, IT ISN'T HERE YET, CONTRARY TO WHAT YOU'D BEEN LEAD TO THINK
'WE'RE WORKING ON IT'
WELL, LET'S HOPE IT GETS HERE SOON