"Democracy" by Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen, more widely known as a musician, shows off his skill as a poet and a spoken-word artist with his poem "Democracy."

From The United States of Poetry episode "The American Dream."

Copyright Washington Square Arts, 1995.

It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that it ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day;
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming through a crack in the wall,
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
It's coming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the sorrow on the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin'
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of G d in the desert here
and desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on
o mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
past the Reefs of Greed
through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on


I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean:
I love the country but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Category:

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Tags:

• United States of Poetry
• poetry
• poem
• Leonard Cohen
• democracy
• America

[jimbonepdx]

This is the anthem for Occupy 2012...and it will happen.

[colleenboye]

@jimbonepdx Amen to that.

[staroidster]

"Democracy" is shorthand for a system that values human rights, individual rights, as well as collective rights. It not only has voting rights, but a fair and equatable system of courts to iron out both small and large squabbles,and other institutions such as the press to help make things fair. Of course, its messy, but its better than the fascism we have now, which is the rule of the rich.

[DrDevilish1]

@staroidster Democracy is just a romantic dream. Fascism is not an ideal that the modern wealthy support.

[TheSirH]

@kingneddy Hahaha! If you know anything about them, you'd know NAZIs were only socialist in name. Go read a book. Take some classes. Come back a little bit wiser, hun. It's obvious you're only parroting what you heard some dunce on television crying.

...Oh, unless you're a troll. In which case, HOW SMART YOU ARE HOW WONDERFUL I LOVE YOU YOUR POINT IS SO VALID. Ignore that if you're not a troll. You're right we're not a democracy, though. But you know nothing of socialism or NAZIs.

[spiralsandlayers]

@JamesMasonFan I think the fact that he's Canadian is perfect; he sees the dysfunction and the hope in the USA from a close vantage point but from a more objective opinion than most Americans.

[JamesMasonFan]

How come nobody has commented on the fact he's Canadian?

[kingneddy]

democracy is code for socialism. its 2 wolves & a sheep deciding what's for dinner. national socialism (nazis) & the union of soviet socialist republic (ussr) are whats coming to the U.S.A. America is a constitutional republic not a democracy. you better listen to this song again.

[artusamrak1]

We live in hope!

[DrDangDOGGone]

Damn right it will happen! We are who we have been waiting for and we have arrived!. Long live the OWS/99% Movement!!!