Leonard Cohen - The Future

"The Future", (1992)

Lyrics:
Give me back my broken heart
My mirrored room, my secret life
It's lonely here
There's no one left to torture

Give me absolute control
Over every living soul
And lie beside me, baby
That's an order

Give me crack, anal sex
Take the only tree that's left
Stuff it up the hole
In your culture

Give me back the Berlin Wall
Give me Stalin and St. Paul
I've seen the future, brother
It is murder

Things are going to slide
Slide in all directions
Won't be nothing
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard
The blizzard of the world
Has crossed the threshold
And it's overturned the order of the soul

When they said repent
Repent
I wonder what they meant

You don't know me from the wind
You never will, you never did
I'm the little Jew
Who wrote the bible

I've seen the nations rise and fall
I've heard their stories, heard them all
But love's the only engine
Of survival

Your servant here, he has been told
To say it clear, to say it cold
It's over
It ain't going any further

And now the wheels of heaven stop
You feel the devil's riding crop
Get ready for the future
It is murder

Things are going to slide
Slide in all directions
Won't be nothing
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard
The blizzard of the world
Has crossed the threshold
And it's overturned the order of the soul

When they said repent
Repent
I wonder what they meant

There'll be breaking of the ancient Western code
Your private life will suddenly explode
There'll be phantoms, there'll be fires on the road
And a white man dancing
You'll see a woman hanging upside down
Her features covered by her fallen gown
And all the lousy little poets come around
Trying to sound like Charlie Manson
And the white man dancing

Give me back the Berlin Wall
Give me Stalin and St. Paul
Give me Christ or give me Hiroshima
Destroy another foetus now
We don't like children anyhow
I've seen the future, baby
It is murder

Things are going to slide
Slide in all directions
Won't be nothing
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard
The blizzard of the world
Has crossed the threshold
And it's overturned the order of the soul

When they said repent
Repent
I wonder what they meant

Category:

Music

Tags:

• The
• Future
• leonard
• cohen
• 1992
• lyrics

[deansusky]

Magnifico ,,,loved it when it was used in the movie ,,,nice post man

[HeadfulOfHollow]

@deansusky What movie was that used in?

[laneese1970]

Cohen is amazing!!! Great Video!!!

[Stevethesearcher]

This song has his best lyrics. Each word hits you like a punch from Mike Tyson. I remember I heard this back in 1992 and was blown away by the words. Its like a warning to mankind from a very wise man. Its truly sage like. He has never written a song like this since. This was his high point creatively as far as I am concerned.

[Obelisk2290]

was an honor to see him at 75 in 2009

[unclejay1000]

This man is truly one of a kind - who knows when or even if we will ever experience another like him. Thank you very much for this HeadofHollow.

[deansusky]

@HeadfulOfHollow Natural born killers .

[BjavaBbotBme]

Great tune!

[ThePeaceableKingdom]

I followed jenzeppelin here. Wow! I've never heard this song before. What a dark and prescient vision. Cohen is amazing. He make it look easy. He has a gift...

[jenzeppelin]

one of my favourite LC songs.