Leonard Cohen - Light as the breeze

She stands before you naked
you can see it, you can taste it,
and she comes to you light as the breeze.
Now you can drink it or you can nurse it,
it don't matter how you worship
as long as you're
down on your knees.
So I knelt there at the delta,
at the alpha and the omega,
at the cradle of the river and the seas.
And like a blessing come from heaven
for something like a second
I was healed and my heart
was at ease.

O baby I waited
so long for your kiss
for something to happen,
oh something like this.

And you're weak and you're harmless
and you're sleeping in your harness
and the wind going wild
in the trees,
and it ain't exactly prison
but you'll never be forgiven
for whatever you've done
with the keys.

O baby I waited ...

It's dark now and it's snowing
O my love I must be going,
The river has started to freeze.
And I'm sick of pretending
I'm broken from bending
I've lived too long on my knees.

Then she dances so graceful
and your heart's hard and hateful
and she's naked
but that's just a tease.
And you turn in disgust
from your hatred and from your love
and comes to you
light as the breeze.

O baby I waited ...

There's blood on every bracelet
you can see it, you can taste it,
and it's Please baby
please baby please.
And she says, Drink deeply, pilgrim
but don't forget there's still a woman
beneath this
resplendent chemise.

So I knelt there at the delta,
at the alpha and the omega,
I knelt there like one who believes.
And the blessings come from heaven
and for something like a second
I'm cured and my heart
is at ease

Category:

Music

Tags:

• leonard
• cohen
• light
• as
• the
• breeze

[Eagleray99]

"It don't matter how you worship

as long as you're down on your knees".

This is pretty well a summary of LC's take on the world, echoed in Hallellujah and other songs. He seems to believe that it doesn't matter how you get to the "Hallellujah", be it through love, lust, music, religion, grief or some other route; as long as you reach that point beyond the ordinary humdrum emotions of everyday life. I do agree with his view of life. Brilliant.

[louiseduvee]

absolutely a favourite from 'The Future'---

Thank you!

[Djehuti8]

To those that are dissing the Billy Joel version (which I don't remember hearing), Leonard Cohen himself has said, while discussing other people's covers of his songs that he thinks are better than his originals, that Joel's version is "the song that I meant, he really brought it to life".

[TribalChurch]

@kitschdeva YAY! Well said mate!

- as Meatloaf would say, 'you took the words right out of my mouth' ;D - and so saved me from having to say it! Dunno how any1 could even start to compare him with the likes of Billy Joel - Leonard Cohen's in a league of his own!

His voice could melt the Antarctic ice quicker than any global warming! hee-hee! His lyrics are amazingly sexy too - put them both together, and you've got a deadly combination that no1 could compete with! Sexy silver fox...

[kitschdeva]

Saw LC perform at Madison Square Garden two years ago. At age 75 he was onstage for a THREE HOUR performance. It WAS a spiritual experience.

And Billy Joel?? Please!! Billy Joel has his place but he's not a pimple on LC's butt. Something about that gravelly-whiskey-smoke-lustful­-raw-guttural voice just nails it every single time! No one does Cohen like Cohen. Nohen!

[MeteorShower97]

Leonard Freakin Cohen...saw him at Coachella Fest..A M A Z I N G!!!!!!!

[ellebasi69]

@allypallyable You're so right! Cohen makes beautiful songs but there's always somenone else (one) who makes the perfect version. In this case - Billy Joel.

[nomadicification]

@coloardokid103 heh, bad precedent.

[BurtaDiddley73]

Grab the audio from this track at thetunify doht cohm.

[slave2leather1]

I really wanted to use this song during a sado-masochistic session with a mistress but sadly it never came to fruition... :(

[allypallyable]

The lyrics for this are phenomenal. but Billy Joel's version really is one of the best songs ever recorded. He just gets it. I suspect Leonard would agree. If youve not heard it, give it a go