The Night Comes On


I went down to the place
Where I knew she lay waiting
Under the marble and the snow
I said, Mother I'm frightened
The thunder and the lightning
I'll never come through this alone
She said, I'll be with you
My shawl wrapped around you
My hand on your head when you go
And the night came on
It was very calm
I wanted the night to go on and on
But she said, Go back to the World
We were fighting in Egypt
When they signed this agreement
That nobody else had to die
There was this terrible sound

The Old Revolution


I finally broke into the prison,
I found my place in the chain.
Even damnation is poisoned with rainbows,
all the brave young men
they're waiting now to see a signal
which some killer will be lighting for pay.
Into this furnace I ask you now to venture,
you whom I cannot betray.
I fought in the old revolution
on the side of the ghost and the King.
Of course I was very young
and I thought that we were winning;
I can't pretend I still feel very much like singing
as they carry the bodies away.
Into this furnace I ask you now to venture...
Lately you've started to stutter

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, [The Germans were at my home

The Promise


(Written By Cohen, Performed In "Night Magic")
(Judy) Once I was happy to
Roam through the gold and blue
Now something haunts me
I know it's real
Someone returns
The desire I feel
(Angels) We could have passed him by
(Judy) Should have passed him by
So many others cry
(Angels) One more human cry
(Judy) So many others
Reaching for
A thread through the night
Or one lover more
He has a dream
(Angels) It's his dream
(Judy) I dream it too

The Smokey Life


I've never seen your eyes so wide
I've never seen your appetite quite this occupied
Elsewhere is your feast of love
I know ... where long ago we agreed to keep it light
So lets be married one more night
It's light, light enough
To let it go
It's light enough to let it go
Remember when the scenery started fading
I held you til you learned to walk on air
So don't look down the ground is gone,
there's no one waiting anyway
The Smoky Life is practiced
Everywhere
So set your restless heart at ease
Take a lesson from these Autumn leaves
They waste no time waiting for the snow
Don't argue now you'll be late
There is nothing to investigate
It's light enough, light enough

The Stranger Song


It's true that all the men you knew were dealers
who said they were through with dealing
Every time you gave them shelter
I know that kind of man
It's hard to hold the hand of anyone
who is reaching for the sky just to surrender.
And then sweeping up the jokers that he left behind
you find he did not leave you very much
not even laughter
Like any dealer he was watching for the card
that is so high and wild
he'll never need to deal another
He was just some Joseph looking for a manger
He was just some Joseph looking for a manger.
And then leaning on your window sill
he'll say one day you caused his will
to weaken with your love and warmth and shelter
And then taking from his wallet
an old schedule of trains, he'll say
I told you when I came I was a stranger
I told you when I came I was a stranger.
But now another stranger seems to want you to ignore h

The Third Invention


(Written By Cohen, Performed In "Night Magic")
(Angels) Blindly he worked
At his third invention
Taking the chances
Of one who is lost
Feeling his way
To a cleaner expression
Of whatever it was
He stumbled across
All for the sake
Of a possible woman
He goaded himself
With a technical hope
For the sake of his longing
We came to the window
He put on his cloths
And he walked through the smoke
All for the sake
Of an interested woman
Riding to him
On a flicker of hope
Some tourist of beauty

The Throne Of Desire


(Written By Cohen, Performed In "Night Magic")
(Michael) Their bodies Triumphant
Their power unfurled
I know I am nothing
And women the world!
A slave to their favours
Their no and their yes
I'm crushed in the crease
Of a cotton dress
And I'm dead except
In their company
And I'm only at rest
When they motion to me
And night after night
I turn to myself
And I raise them
Out of my panic
And they come to me
Willing at last

The Traitor


Now the Swan it floated on the English river
Ah the Rose of High Romance it opened wide
A sun tanned woman yearned me through the summer
and the judges watched us from the other side
I told my mother "Mother I must leave you
preserve my room but do not shed a tear
Should rumour of a shabby ending reach you
it was half my fault and half the atmosphere"
But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever
and the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame
She said at last I was her finest lover
and if she withered I would be to blame
The judges said you missed it by a fraction
rise up and brace your troops for the attack
Ah the dreamers ride against the men of action
Oh see the men of action falling back
But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment
I kissed her lips as though I thirsted sti

The Walls


(Written By Cohen, Performed In "Night Magic")
(Michael) It's late, it's very late
How did it get so late?
(Judy) What was it we were thinking of?
(Michael & Judy) We didn't want this,
did we?
(Judy) There must be some mistake
(Michael) What was it I forgot to tell you?
(Judy) What was it I forgot?
There was a promise here
A child who knew me
A bitter bedtime story
(Michael & Judy) Another house of some forgotten family
It's very late
There must be some mistake
And now this place
for none
(Michael) There was a woman here