Thought I saw an eagle
but it might have been a vulture,
I never could decide.
Then my father built an altar,
he looked once behind his shoulder,
he knew I would not hide.
You who build these altars now
to sacrifice these children,
you must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision
and you never have been tempted
by a demon or a god.
You who stand above them now,
your hatchets blunt and bloody,
you were not there before,
when I lay upon a mountain
and my father’s hand was trembling
with the beauty of the word.
And if you call me brother now,
forgive me if I inquire,
“Just according to whose plan?”
When it all comes down to dust
I will kill you if I must,
I will help you if I can.
When it all comes down to dust
I will help you if I must,
I will kill you if I can.
And mercy on our uniform,
man of peace or man of war,
the peacock spreads his fan.
Based on the Biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, this song from Songs From A Room (1969) reflects the contemporary conflict between the emerging counter-culture, with its demands for social and sexual freedom, and the hide-bound traditions of mainstream North American culture. Cohen nails his colours firmly to the counter-cultural mast.
Summertime
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
Written by Cohen and Sharon Robinson, it has been recorded by Diana Ross (on Red Hot Rhythm And Blues (1987)) and Roberta Flack (on Set The Night To Music (1991)), but never by Cohen himself.
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 that she’s half crazy
But that’s why you want to be there
And 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
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you’ve always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that 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 his 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
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you’ll trust him
For he’s touched your perfect body with his mind.
Now Suzanne takes your hand
And 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 lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among 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
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she’s touched your perfect body with her mind.
One of Cohen’s most famous songs, it is based on the poem ‘ Suzanne Takes You Down’ from Parasites Of Heaven, and was the first track on his first album Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967). A live version was included on Live In Concert (1994). The Suzanne of the title was a friend from Montreal, Suzanne Vaillancourt née Verdal (not Suzanne Elrod, the mother of Cohen’s children Lorca and Adam). She was known for serving Constant Comment tea, which is flavoured with orange rind. The “lonely wooden tower” is the chapel of Nôtre Dame de Bon Secours, the mariner’s church in old Montreal which features a statue of the Virgin Mary (“our lady of the harbour”) facing out to sea to bless departing ships.
Take This Longing
Many men have loved the bells
you fastened to the rein,
and everyone who wanted you
they found what they will always want again.
Your beauty lost to you yourself
just as it was lost to them.
Oh take this longing from my tongue,
whatever useless things these hands have done.
Let me see your beauty broken down
like you would do for one you love.
Your body like a searchlight
my poverty revealed,
I would like to try your charity
until you cry, “Now you must try my greed.”
And everything depends upon
how near you sleep to me
Just take this longing from my tongue
all the lonely things my hands have done.
Let me see your beauty broken down
like you would do for one you love.
Hungry as an archway
through which the troops have passed,
I stand in ruins behind you,
with your winter clothes, your broken sandal straps.
I love to see you naked over there
especially from the back.
Oh take this longing from my tongue,
all the useless things my hands have done,
untie for me your hired blue gown,
like you would do for one that you love.
You’re faithful to the better man,
I’m afraid that he left.
So let me judge your love affair
in this very room where I have sentenced
mine to death.
I’ll even wear these old laurel
