COHEN LIVE

LEONARD COHEN IN CONCERT

June 1994




Click on the song title to see the lyrics, or just scroll down.



1. Dance Me to the End of Love 6:10 - Toronto 17 June 1993
2. Bird on the Wire 6:53 - Toronto 17 June 1993
3. Everybody Knows 6:06 - Vancouver 29 July 1993
4. Joan of Arc 6:13 - Toronto 17 June 1993
5. There is a War 4:46 - Toronto 17 June 1993
6. Sisters of Mercy 6:15 - Toronto 18 June 1993
7. Hallelujah 6:54 - Austin 31 October 1988
8. I'm Your Man 5:29 - Toronto 17 June 1993
9. Who By Fire? 5:09 - Austin 31 October 1988
10. One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong 5:20 - San Sebastian 20 May 1988
11. If It Be Your Will 3:16 - Austin 31 October 1988
12. Heart With No Companion 4:50 - Amsterdam 19 April 1988
13. Suzanne 4:18 - Vancouver 29 July 1993

Total time 71:50. COL 471 171-2



Dance Me to the End of Love

La la la la la la...

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Yeah dance me to the end of love

Let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
And dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, both of us above
And dance me to the end of love
Yeah dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
And dance me to the end of love

La la la la la la...

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand, touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

La la la la la la...


Bird on the Wire

Like a bird on the wire,
Like a drunk in an old midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.

Like a worm on a hook,
Like a knight been down in some old fashioned book
It was the shape of our love that twisted me
If I have been unkind, if I have been unkind
Oh I hope you can find the way to let it all go right on by
If I have been un..., if I have been untrue, if I have been untrue
Just that I thought a lover had to be some kind of liar too

(Mr. Bobby Metzger on the guitar...)

(Mr. Paul Ostermayer...)

Like a little baby stillborn,
Like a beast with his horn
I have torn everyone who reached out for me.
But I swear by this song
By all that I have done wrong
I will make it all up to thee.

I don't cry, don't..., don't cry, I don't cry no more
It's all over now, it's over babe, don't cry no more
I say don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry anymore
It's over, it's finished, it's completed, it has..., it has been paid for.

Like a bird on the wire,
Like a drunk in some old midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.



Everybody Knows

co-written with Sharon Robinson

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

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody have got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody want a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose, everybody knows

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

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

Everybody knows that it's now or never
Everybody knows that it's me or you
Everybody knows that you live forever
When you have done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old Black Joe still pickin' cotton
For your ribbons and bows, everybody knows

Everybody knows that the Plague is coming
Everybody knows that it's moving fast
Everybody knows that your 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

Everybody knows 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 Mighty Heart
Before it blows 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
Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes, everybody knows



Joan of Arc

La la la la la la...

Now the flames they followe
d Joan of Arc
As she came riding through the dark;
No moon to keep her armour bright,
And no man to get her through this dark, this very smoky night.

She said, "I'm tired of the war,
I want the kind of work I had before,
With a wedding dress, something white
To wear upon swollen appetite."

La la la la la la...

Well I'm glad to..., to hear you talk this way,
You see I've watched you riding almost every single day
And there's something in me just yearns to win
Such a very cold and such a very lonesome heroine.

"Well then, who are you?" she sternly spoke
To the one beneath the smoke.
"Why, I'm..., I'm fire," he replied,
"And I love your solitude, oh how I love your sense of pride."

La la la la la la...
"Well then fire, make your body cold,
I'm gonna give you mine to hold,"
Saying this she climbed inside
To be his one, to be his only bride.

It was deep into his fiery heart
He took the dust of our Joan of Arc,
And high above all of these assembled wedding guests
He hung the ashes of her very lovely wedding dress.

La la la la la la...

It was deep deep into his fiery heart
He took the dust of our precious Joan of Arc,
Then she clearly, she clearly understood
If..., if he was fire, woah she must be wood.

I saw her wince, I saw her cry,
Saw the glory in her eye.
Myself I long..., I long for love and light,
But must it come so cruel, and must it..., must it be so very bright?

La la la la la la...



There Is A War

There is a war between the rich and poor,
A war between the man and the woman.
There is a war between the ones who say there is a war
And the ones who say there isn't.

Why don't you come on back to the war
Why don't you come on back to the war

Ah yes I live here with a woman and a child,
The situation makes me kind of nervous.
Yes, I rise up from her arms, she says "I guess you call this love";
I call it room service.

Why don't you come on back to the war
Why don't you come on back to the war

You cannot stand what I've become,
You much prefer that gentleman I was before.
I was so easy to defeat, I was so easy to control,
I didn't even know there was a war.

Why don't you come on back to the war
Why don't you come on back to the war

Come on back to the war
Come on back to the war

There is a war between the rich and poor,
A war between the man and the woman.
There is a war between the left and right,
A war between the black and white,
A war between the odd and the even.

Why don't you come on back to this war
Why don't you come on back to the war
Why don't you come on back to the war

Come on back to the war
Come on back to the war
Come on back to the war
Come on back to the war



Sisters of Mercy

All the sisters of mercy, they are not departed or gone.
They were waiting for me when I thought that I just cannot go on.
And they brought me their comfort, later they brought me this song.
Ah yes I hope you run into them, you who've been travelling so long.

Ra ra ra ra ra ra...
Yeah you who must leave everything that you cannot control.
It begins with your family, but soon it comes around to your soul.
Well I've been where you're hanging and I think I can see how you're pinned:

Yeah when you're not feeling holy, your loneliness tells you, you've sinned.

Ra ra ra ra ra ra...

They lay down beside me, I made my confession to them.
They touched both my eyes, I touched the dew on their hem.
If your life is a leaf that the seasons tear off and condemn
Ah they will bind you with love that is graceful and green as a stem.

Ra ra ra ra ra ra...

I left, they were sleeping, I hope you run into them soon.
Don't turn on the lights, you can read their address by the moon.
And you won't make me jealous if I hear that they sweetened your night:
Ah we weren't lovers like that and besides it would still be all right,

Ra ra ra ra ra ra...



Hallelujah

Baby, I've been here before.
I know this room, I've walked this floor.
I used to live alone before I knew you.

Yeah I've seen your flag on the marble arch,
But listen, love is not some kind of victory march,
No it's a cold and it's a very broken Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, (Hallelujah...)

There was a time you let me know
What's really going on below,
Ah but now you never show it to me, do you?

Yeah but I remember, yeah when I moved in you,
And the holy dove, she was moving too,
Yes every single breath that we drew was Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Maybe there's a God above,
As for me, all I've ever seemed to learn from love
Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.

Yeah but it's not a complaint that you hear tonight,
It's not the laughter of someone who claims to have seen the light
No it's a cold and it's a very lonely Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

I did my best, it wasn't much.
I couldn't feel, so I learned to touch.
I've told the truth, I didn't come all this way to fool you.

Yeah even tough it all went wrong
I'll stand right here before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my lips but Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.



I’m Your Man

If you want a lover, I'll do anything you ask me to
And if you want another kind of love, I'll wear my leather mask for you
If you want a partner, take my hand
Or if you wanna strike me down in anger, here I stand
I'm your man
If you want a boxer, I will step into the ring for you
And if you want a Jewish doctor, I'll uncover every inch of you
If you want a driver, climb inside
Or if you wanna take me for a ride, well you know you can
I'm your man

Yeah the moon's too bright
And the chain's too tight
And the beast won't go to sleep
I've been running through all these promises to you
That I made and I could not keep
Ah but a man never got a woman back
Not by begging on his knees
Or I'd crawl to you baby
And I'd fall at your feet
And I'd howl at your beauty
Like a dog in heat
And I'd claw at your heart
And I'd tear at your sheet
I'd say please
I'm your man

If you've got to sleep for a minute on the road, I will steer for you
And if you want to work the street alone, I'll..., I'll disappear for you
If you want a father for your child
Or only wanna walk with me another mile across the sand
I'm your man

Yeah the moon's too bright
And the chain's too tight
And the beast won't go to sleep
I've been running through all these promises to you
That I made and I could not keep
Ah but a man never got a woman back
Not by begging on his knees
Or I'd crawl to you baby
And I'd fall at your feet
And I'd howl at your beauty
Like a dog in heat
And I'd claw at your heart
And I'd tear at your sheet
I'd say please
I'm your man



Who By Fire

And who by fire, who by water,
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time,
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial,
Who in your merry merry month of may,
Who by very slow decay,
And who..., who shall I say is calling?

And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,
Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,
And who by avalanche, who by powder,
Who for his greed, who for his hunger,
And who..., who shall I say is calling?

And who by brave assent, who by accident,
Who in solitude, who in this mirror,
Who by his lady's command, who by his own hand,
Who in mortal chains, who in power,
And who..., who shall I say is calling?

And who..., who shall I say is calling?

And who by fire, who by water,
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time,
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial,
Who in your merry merry month of may,
Who by very slow decay,
And who..., who shall I say is calling?

And who..., who shall I say is calling?



One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong

I lit a thin green candle to make you jealous of me.
But the room just filled up with mosquitos,
They heard that my body was free.

Then I took the dust from a long and a sleepless night
And I have put it in your little shoe.
And then I confess that I tortured the dress
That you wore for the world to look through.

I showed my heart to the doctor: he said I just have to quit.
Then he wrote himself a prescription,
Your name was mentioned in it!

And he locked himself into a library shelf
Ah with all of the details of our..., our shabby honeymoon,
And I hear from the nurse, yeah that he's got much worse
And his..., his practice has fallen into ruin.

And I heard of a saint who'd loved you, yeah I studied all night in his school.
He taught that the duty of lovers
Is to tarnish the..., the golden rule.
And just when I was sure that his teachings were pure
He went and drowned himself in the pool.
His body is gone, yeah but back here on the lawn
his spirit continues to drool.

An Eskimo showed me that movie, he'd recently taken of you:
While the poor man could hardly stop shivering,
His lips, his fingers were blue.
I suppose he froze when the wind tore off your clothes
And I..., I guess he just never got warm.
But you stand there so nice, in your blizzard of ice,
oh please let me come into the storm.

I suppose he froze when the wind tore off your clothes
And I..., I guess he just never got warm.
But you stand there so nice, in your blizzard of ice,
oh please let me come into..., come into the storm.



If It Be Your Will

If it be your will
That I speak no more
And my voice be still
As it was before
I will speak no more
I shall abide until
I am spoken for
If it be your will

If it be your will
If a voice be true
>From this broken hill
I will sing to you
>From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing

If it be your will
If there is a choice
Let the rivers fill
Let the hills rejoice
Let your mercy spill
On all these burning hearts in hell
If it be your will
To make us well

and draw us near
Oh bind us tight
All your children here
In their rags of light
In our rags of light
All dressed to kill
And end this night
If it be your will

If it be your will.



Heart With No Companion

Now I greet you from the other side
Of sorrow and despair
With a love so vast and so shattered
It will reach you everywhere

And I sing this for the captain
Whose ship has not been built
For the mother in confusion
Her cradle still unfilled

For the heart with no companion
For the soul without a king
For the prima ballerina
Who cannot dance to anything

Through the days of shame that are coming
Through the nights of wild distress
Though your promise count for nothing
You must keep it nonetheless

You must keep it for the captain
Whose ship has not been built
For the mother in confusion
Her cradle still unfilled

For the heart with no companion
For the soul without a king
For the prima ballerina
Who cannot dance to anything

Now I greet you from the other side
Of sorrow and despair
Ah with a love so vast and so shattered
It will reach you everywhere

And I sing this for the captain
Whose ship has not been built
For the mother in confusion
Her cradle still unfilled

For the heart with no companion
For the soul without a king
For the prima ballerina
Who cannot dance to anything



Suzanne

Suzanne takes you down
To her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know she's half crazy
But that's why you want to be there
She feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
She gets you on her wavelength
She lets the river answer
You've always been her lover.

And you want to travel with her
You want to travel blind
You know she will trust you
For you've touched her perfect body with your mind.

And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From a 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 sea 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
You want to travel blind
And you know he will find you
For he's touched your perfect body with his mind.

Suzanne takes your hand now
She leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our..., our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Amid the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror.

And you want to travel with her
You want to travel blind
And you know she will find you
For she's touched your perfect body with her mind.



In 1997 Sony France issued a special edition of this album in the "CD Livres" series.
It's a 48 page colourful book (photos and Cohen's biography) plus the CD in a wallet.




Copyright © 1994 Leonard Cohen and
Sony/ATV Music Publishing Canada Company


Thanks to Kayhan Yavuz for help in creating this page.





[PREV PAGE] [NEXT PAGE] [INDEX PAGE] [SUB INDEX PAGE]