OTHER SONGS

Songs written by Leonard Cohen

but recorded only by other artists



Priests

Recorded by Judy Collins (Wildflowers, in 1967),
Richie Havens (Richard P Havens, 1983, in 1969,
and Enrique Morente (Omega, in Spanish, in 1996)



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

Recorded twice by Buffy Saint-Marie
Illuminations (1970)
Up Where We Belong (1996)


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 . . .



Song of Bernadette

Written by Leonard Cohen and Jennifer Warnes
Recorded by Jennifer Warnes in 1986
on her album "Famous Blue Raincoat"

and later also by Christine Andreas, Arrandale,
Suzy Burke, Diane Davidson, Barbara Dickson,
Duo Balance, Tony Kenny, Deanna Kirk,
Bette Midler, Jane Mortifee, Anne Murray,
Aaron Neville, and Elizabeth von Trapp


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 around, we fall, we fly
We mostly fall, we mostly 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 ...



Way Down Deep

Written by Leonard Cohen and Jennifer Warnes,
recorded by Jennifer Warnes (Hunter, 1992)


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 ..




It Just Feels

Written by Leonard Cohen and David A Stewart,
recorded by Sylvie Marechal (Voie Lactee, France 1992)


It feels so good
And it feels so right
It feels like I've been rescued
In the middle of the night
And all the tricks and all the angels
And all the dirty rotten deals
They don't count now
They've been cancelled
And it feels, it just feels
Thank you Babe, thank you Babe

It feels so good
And it feels so right
It feels like I've been rescued
In the middle of the night
And the sweetest voice has spoken
And the deepest wound is healed
And the darkness is exploding
And it feels, it just feels
Thank you Babe, thank you Babe

It comes so sweet
And it comes so fast
It comes like windows breaking
I can take a breath at last
Thank you for the breaking
And thank you for the breath
And for sayin' it was nothing
Nothing meaning life or death
Thank you Babe…it just feels





Summertime

Written by Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson

recorded by Diana Ross
(Red hot rhythm and blues, USA 1987)

and Roberta Flack
(Set the night to music, USA 1991)


Summertime when will you come?
I wanna put my light things on
I wanna put my winter life away
Summertime I need a sunny day

I want those peaches on the table
Want the watermelon red
And the warm sun crepping through the window
To ease the outer pain

I want the sand out there to lie on
And the sea out there to swim
So my heart can take a holiday
From breaking over here

Summertime when will you come?
I wanna put my light things on
Wanna put my winter life away
Summertime I need a sunny day

And I wanna it dry forever
Wanna roll those windows down
Get the breeze back on my body
Get my feet back on the ground

I want the sand out there to lie on
And the sea out there to swim
So my heart can take a holiday
From breaking over here

Summertime when will you come?
I wanna put my light things on
I wanna put my winter life away
Summertime I need a sunny day

Thanks to Guadalupe Baqueiro for help



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