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Leonard Cohen : Recent Songs
1979

  1. The Guests
  2. Humbled In Love
  3. The Window
  4. Came So Far For Beauty
  5. The Lost Canadian (Un Canadien Errant)

  6. The Traitor
  7. Our Lady Of Solitude
  8. The Gypsy's Wife
  9. The Smokey Life
  10. Ballad Of The Absent Mare

The Guests

Em(v) x7605x
D(iii) x5403x
Em(v)
Em(v)
D(iii)
One by one, The Guests arrive
C
D(iii)
The Guests are coming through
Em(v)
D(iii)
The open-hearted many
C
E
The broken-hearted few
A
D
And no one knows where the night is going
A
D
And no one knows why the wine is flowing
C
Dm/c
C
Dm/c
C
Dm/c
C
Dm/c
C
Oh love, I need you, I need you, I need you, I need you
E
A
Oh... I need you now And those who dance begin to dance And those who weep begin And Welcome, Welcome cries a Voice Let all my guests come in And no one knows where the night is going And no one knows why the wine is flowing Oh love, I need you, I need you, I need you, I need you Oh... I need you now And all go stumbling through that house In lonely secrecy Saying, Do reveal yourself Or, Why hast thou forsaken me And no one knows where the night is going And no one knows why the wine is flowing Oh love, I need you, I need you, I need you, I need you Oh... I need you now All at once the torches flare The inner door flies open One by one they enter there In every style of passion And no one knows where the night is going And no one knows why the wine is flowing Oh love, I need you, I need you, I need you, I need you Oh... I need you now And here they take their sweet repast While house and grounds dissolve And one by one The Guests are cast Beyond the garden walls And no one knows where the night is going And no one knows why the wine is flowing Oh love, I need you, I need you, I need you, I need you Oh... I need you now And those who dance begin to dance Those who weep begin And those who earnestly are lost Are lost and lost again And no one knows where the night is going And no one knows why the wine is flowing Oh love, I need you, I need you, I need you, I need you Oh... I need you now One by one The Guests arrive The Guests are coming through The broken-hearted many The open-hearted few And no one knows where the night is going And no one knows why the wine is flowing Oh love, I need you, I need you, I need you, I need you Oh... I need you now

Humbled In Love

Cadd9 x32033
G#dim 456464 or xx0101
Fmaj7 xx3210
E
E
Am6/e
E7
Am/e
E7
Am/e
E
E
Am/e
E7
Am/e
E7
Am/e
Cadd9
G#7
G7
G7
G
G#dim
Am
Do you remember all those pledges
G
G#dim
Am
That we pledged in the passionate night
C
G
Ah, they're soiled now, they're torn at the edges
Cm
G#7
G7
Like moths on a stale yellow light Nor penance serves to renew them Nor massive transfusions of trust Why not even revenge can undo them
Cm
G
So twisted these vows and so crushed
A#
And you say you've been humbled in love
F
Cut down in your love
A#
Forced to kneel in the mud
F
Next to me
A#
Ah, but why so bitterly
F
Turn from the one
Am
Who kneels there
Fmaj7
E
As deeply as thee Children have taken these pledges They have ferried them out of the past Oh beyond all the graves and the hedges Where love must go hiding at last And here where there is no description Oh here in the moment at hand No sinner need rise up forgiven No victim need limp to the stand And you say you've been humbled in love Cut down in your love Forced to kneel in the mud Next to me Ah, but why so bitterly Turn from the one Who kneels there As deeply as thee And look dear heart, look at the virgin Look how she welcomes him into her gown Yes and mark how the stranger's cold armor Dissolves like a star falling down Why trade this vision for desire When you may have them both You will never see a man this naked I will never hold a woman this close And you say you've been humbled in love Cut down in your love Forced to kneel in the mud Next to me Ah, but why so bitterly Turn from the one Who kneels there As deeply as thee

The Window

A
E
D
A
x2
A
E
Why do you stand by the window
D
A
Abandoned to beauty and pride
A
E
The thorn of the night in your bosom
D
A
The spear of the age in your side Lost in the rages of fragrance Lost in the rags of remorse Lost in the waves of a sickness
D
A
/a
/g#
/f#
That loosens the high silver nerves
E
Oh chosen love, oh frozen love
D
(
D
C#m
Bm
)
A
Oh tangle of matter and ghost
E
Oh darling of angels, demons and saints
D
(
D
C#m
Bm
)
A
And the whole broken-hearted host
/a
/g#
/f#
E
Gentle this soul And come forth from the cloud of unknowing And kiss the cheek of the moon The new Jerusalem glowing Why tarry all night in the ruin And leave no word of discomfort And leave no observer to mourn But climb on your tears and be silent Like the rose on its ladder of thorns Oh chosen love, oh frozen love Oh tangle of matter and ghost Oh darling of angels, demons and saints And the whole broken-hearted host Gentle this soul Then lay your rose on the fire The fire give up to the sun The sun give over to splendor In the arms of the High Holy One For the Holy One dreams of a letter Dreams of a letter's death Oh bless the continuous stutter Of the word being made into flesh Oh chosen love, oh frozen love Oh tangle of matter and ghost Oh darling of angels, demons and saints And the whole broken-hearted host
/a
/g#
/f#
E
D
/c#
/b
A
Gentle this soul, gentle this soul

Came So Far For Beauty

A+ x02221
D7sus4 xx0213
G13 323000
C/e 032010
Dm7/c x30211
A
A+
A7
D7sus4
D
I came so far for beauty
G
G13
G
C
/c
/b
/bb
I left so much behind
A
A+
A7
D7sus4
D
My patience and my family
G
G13
G
C
/c
/b
/bb
My masterpiece unsigned I thought I'd be rewarded For such a lonely choice And surely she would answer
G
G13
G
C
F
Gm
Am
To such a very hopeless voice
Bb
A
A+
A7
I practiced on my sainthood
Bb
A
A+
A7
I gave to one and all
F
C/e
Dm
Dm7/c
But the rumours of my virtue
Bb
C7
F
F
Gm
Am
They moved her not at all I changed my style to silver I changed my clothes to black And where I would surrender
Bb
C7
F
Now I would attack I stormed the old casino For the money and the flesh And I myself decided What was rotten and what was fresh And men to do my bidding And broken bones to teach The value of my pardon The shadow of my reach But no, I could not touch her With such a heavy hand Her star beyond my order Her nakedness unmanned I came so far for beauty I left so much behind My patience and my family My masterpiece unsigned

The Lost Canadian (Un Canadien Errant)

F
Bb
C7
C7
C7
F
F
F
Bb
C7
C7
C7
F
F
F
F
Un canadien errant
Dm
Bb
C7
Banni de ses foyers
F
Parcourait en pleurant
Gm
A7
Dm
Des pays etrangers
F
Bb
F
Parcourait en pleurant
Gm
C7
F
Des pays etrangers
Un jour, triste et pensif
Assis au bord des flots
Au courant fugitif
Il adressa ses mots
Au courant fugitif
Il adressa ses mots
Si tu vois mon pays
Mon pays malheureux
Va dire a mes amis
Que je me souviens d'eux
Va dire a mes amis
Que je me souviens d'eux
Oh jours si pleins d'appas
Vous etes disparus
Et mon pays, helas
Je ne le verrai plus
Et mon pays, helas
Je ne le verrai plus

The Traitor

A
E
D
A
E
D
A
A
D
A
Now the Swan it floated on the English River
A
D
A
Ah the Rose of High Romance it opened wide
C#
F#m
D
A
A suntanned woman yawned me through the summer
E
D
A
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 rumours 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
B
E
E7
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 The Dreamers ride against the Man of Action Oh see the Man of Action falling back But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still My falsity it stung me like a hornet The poison sank and it paralyzed my will I could not move to warn all the younger soldiers That they had been deserted from above So on battlefields from here to Barcelona
B
E7
I'm listed with the enemies of love And long ago she said, I must be leaving Ah, but keep my body here to lie upon You can move it up and down and when I'm sleeping Run some wire through that Rose and wind the Swan So daily I renew my idle duty I touch her here and there, I know my place I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty And people call me Traitor to my face

Our Lady Of Solitude

E
A
D
A
All summer long she touched me
A
D
A
She gathered in my soul
D
A
From many a thorn, from many a thicket
E
D
C#m
Bm
A
Her fingers like a weaver's, quick and cool
C#m
F#m
C#m
And the light came from her body
F#m
C#m
And the night went through her grace
D
A
All summer long she touched me
E
D
C#m
Bm
A
And I knew her, I knew her face to face And her dress was blue and silver And her words were few and small She is the vessel of the whole wide world
E
D
C#m
Bm
E
A
D
A
Mistress, oh mistress of us all Dear Lady, Queen of Solitude I thank you with my heart For keeping me so close to Thee While so many, oh so many stood apart And the light came from her body And the night went through her grace All summer long she touched me I knew her, I knew her face to face

The Gypsy's Wife

Em7 055400
Em7
. . . . .
E
. . . . .
E|--------------|-------------|-------------|--------------|
B|------0---0---|-----0---0---|-----0---0---|-----0---0----|
G|----4---4---4-|---4---4---4-|---1---1---1-|---1---1---1--|
D|--------------|-------------|-------------|--------------|
A|--------------|-------------|-------------|--------------|
E|--0-----------|-0-----------|-0-----------|-0------------| x4
C#m
G#m
C#m
And where, where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight?
C#m
G#m
C#m
I've heard all the wild reports, they can't be right
B
A
But whose head is this she's dancing with on the threshing floor?
B
F#m
Whose darkness deepens in her arms a little more?
A
E
And where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight?
A
E
Em7
E
Where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight? Ah the silver knives are flashing in the tired old cafe A ghost climbs on the table in a bridal negligee She says "My body is the light, my body is the way" I raise my arm against it all and I catch the bride's bouquet And where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight? Where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight? Too early for the rainbow, too early for the dove These are the final days, this is the darkness, this is the flood And there is no man or woman who can't be touched But you who come between them will be judged And where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight? Where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight?

The Smokey Life

F13 131231
G#dim xx0101 / 456464
E7/g# 420100
E/d xx0100 / xx0454
A
A/g
F#m7
F13
A
A/g
F#m7
F13
E
E
F#m/e
E7
A/e
Bm/e
E
A
A/g
F#m7
F13
I've never seen your eyes so wide
A
A/g
F#m7
F13
Em
I've never seen your appetite quite this occupied
D
Dm7
A
G#dim
A
E7/g#
A
E7/g#
Elsewhere is your feast of love, I know
A
A/g
F#m7
F13
Long ago we agreed to keep it light
A
A/g
F#m7
F13
Em
So let's be married one more night
D
Dm7
A
E7/g#
It's light, light enough
A
E7/g#
A
E7/g#
To let it go
D
Dm7
A
G#dim
It's light enough
A
Bm7
C
To let it go
C#
F#m
B7
F#m
B7
Remember when the scenery started fading
C#
F#m
B7
F#m
B7
I held you 'til you learned to walk on air
D
E/d
So don't look down, the ground is gone
C#m7
F#m
There's no one waving anyway
B
Bm7
E
The smokey 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 or you'll be late There's nothing to investigate It's light enough, light enough To let it go 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 waving anyway The smokey life is practiced everywhere Come on back if the moment lends You can look up all my very closest friends Light, light enough To let it go It's light, light enough
A
A/g
F#m7
F13
A
To let it go

Ballad Of The Absent Mare

A
E
E
D
A
A
A
Say a prayer for the cowboy, his mare's run away
D
And he'll walk till he finds her, his darling, his stray
A
But the river's in flood and the roads are awash
E
D
A
And the bridges break up in the panic of loss And there's nothing to follow, there's nowhere to go She's gone like the summer, gone like the snow And the crickets are breaking his heart with their song As the day caves in and the night is all wrong Did he dream, was it she who went galloping past And bent down the fern and broke open the grass And printed the mud with the iron and the gold That he nailed to her feet when he was the Lord And although she goes grazing a minute away He tracks her all night and he tracks her all day Oh blind to her presence except to compare His injury here with her punishment there Then at home on his branch in the highest tree A songbird sings out so suddenly Oh the sun is warm and the soft winds ride On the willow trees by the riverside Oh the world is sweet and the world is wide And she's there where the light and the darkness divide And the steam's coming off her, she's huge and she's shy And she steps on the moon when she paws at the sky And she comes to his hand but she's not really tame She longs to be lost and he longs for the same And she'll bolt and she'll plunge through the first open pass To roll and to feed in the sweet mountain grass Or she'll make a break for the high plateau Where there's nothing above and there's nothing below And it's time for their burden, it's time for the whip Will she walk through the flame, can he shoot from the hip So he binds himself to the galloping mare And she binds herself to the rider there And there is no space but there's left and right And there is no time but there's day and night And he leans on her neck and he whispers low Wither thou goest, I will go And they turn as one and they head for the plain No need for the whip, no need for the rein Now the clasp of this union who fastens it tight Who snaps it asunder the very next night Some say the rider, some say the mare Or that love's like the smoke, beyond all repair But my darling says, Leonard, just let it go by That old silhouette on the great Western sky So I pick out a tune and they move right along And they're gone like the smoke and they're gone like this song