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COHEN LIVE / 1994

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Dance Me to the End of Love

La la la la la la...

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin

Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in

Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove

Dance me to the end of love

Yeah dance me to the end of love

Let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone

Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon

Show me slowly what I only know the limits of

And dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on

Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long

We're both of us beneath our love, both of us above

And dance me to the end of love

Yeah dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born

Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn

Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn

And dance me to the end of love

La la la la la la...

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin

Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in

Touch me with your naked hand, touch me with your glove

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love

La la la la la la...


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Bird on the Wire

Like a bird on the wire,

Like a drunk in an old midnight choir

I have tried in my way to be free.

Like a worm on a hook,

Like a knight been down in some old fashioned book

It was the shape of our love that twisted me

If I have been unkind, if I have been unkind

Oh I hope you can find the way to let it all go right on by

If I have been un..., if I have been untrue, if I have been untrue

Just that I thought a lover had to be some kind of lier too

(Mr. Bobby Metzger on the guitar...)

(Mr. Paul Ostermayer...)

Like a little baby stillborn,

Like a beast with his horn

I have torn everyone who reached out for me.

But I swear by this song

By all that I have done wrong

I will make it all up to thee.

I don't cry, don't..., don't cry, I don't cry no more

It's all over now, it's over babe, don't cry no more

I say don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry anymore

It's over, it's finished, it's completed, it has..., it has been paid for.

Like a bird on the wire,

Like a drunk in some old midnight choir

I have tried in my way to be free.



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Everybody Knows

co-written with Sharon Robinson

Everybody knows the dice are loaded

Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed

Everybody knows the war is over

Everybody knows the good guys lost

Everybody knows the fight was fixed

The poor stay poor, rich get rich

That's how it goes, everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking

Everybody knows that the captain lied

Everybody have got this broken feeling

Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets

Everybody want a box of chocolates

And a long stem rose, everybody knows

Everybody knows you love me baby

Everybody knows that you really do

And everybody knows that you've been faithful

Give or take a night or two

Everybody knows that you've been discreet

But there were so many people you just had to meet

Without your clothes, everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That's how it goes, everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That's how it goes, everybody knows

Everybody knows that it's now or never

Everybody knows that it's me or you

Everybody knows that you live forever

When you have done a line or two

Everybody knows the deal is rotten

Old Black Joe still pickin' cotton

For your ribbons and bows, everybody knows

Everybody knows that the Plague is coming

Everybody knows that it's moving fast

Everybody knows that your naked man and woman

Are just a shining artifact of the past

Everybody knows the scene is dead

But there's gonna be a meter on your bed

That will disclose what everybody knows

Everybody knows you're in trouble

Everybody knows what you've been through

>From the bloody cross on top of Calvary

To the beach of Malibu

Everybody knows it's coming apart

Take one last look at this Mighty Heart

Before it blows and everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That's how it goes, everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That's how it goes, everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That's how it goes, everybody knows



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Joan of Arc

La la la la la la...

Now the flames they followe

d Joan of Arc

As she came riding through the dark;

No moon to keep her armour bright,

And no man to get her through this dark, this very smoky night.

She said, "I'm tired of the war,

I want the kind of work I had before,

With a wedding dress, something white

To wear upon swollen appetite."

La la la la la la...

Well I'm glad to..., to hear you talk this way,

You see I've watched you riding almost every single day

And there's something in me just yearns to win

Such a very cold and such a very lonesome heroine.

"Well then, who are you?" she sternly spoke

To the one beneath the smoke.

"Why, I'm..., I'm fire," he replied,

"And I love your solitude, oh how I love your sense of pride."

La la la la la la...

"Well then fire, make your body cold,

I'm gonna give you mine to hold,"

Saying this she climbed inside

To be his one, to be his only bride.

It was deep into his fiery heart

He took the dust of our Joan of Arc,

And high above all of these assembled wedding guests

He hung the ashes of her very lovely wedding dress.

La la la la la la...

It was deep deep into his fiery heart

He took the dust of our precious Joan of Arc,

Then she clearly, she clearly understood

If..., if he was fire, woah she must be wood.

I saw her wince, I saw her cry,

Saw the glory in her eye.

Myself I long..., I long for love and light,

But must it come so cruel, and must it..., must it be so very bright?

La la la la la la...



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There Is A War

There is a war between the rich and poor,

A war between the man and the woman.

There is a war between the ones who say there is a war

And the ones who say there isn't.

Why don't you come on back to the war

Why don't you come on back to the war

Ah yes I live here with a woman and a child,

The situation makes me kind of nervous.

Yes, I rise up from her arms, she says "I guess you call this love";

I call it room service.

Why don't you come on back to the war

Why don't you come on back to the war

You cannot stand what I've become,

You much prefer that gentleman I was before.

I was so easy to defeat, I was so easy to control,

I didn't even know there was a war.

Why don't you come on back to the war

Why don't you come on back to the war

Come on back to the war

Come on back to the war

There is a war between the rich and poor,

A war between the man and the woman.

There is a war between the left and right,

A war between the black and white,

A war between the odd and the even.

Why don't you come on back to this war

Why don't you come on back to the war

Why don't you come on back to the war

Come on back to the war

Come on back to the war

Come on back to the war

Come on back to the war



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Sisters of Mercy

All the sisters of mercy, they are not departed or gone.

They were waiting for me when I thought that I just cannot go on.

And they brought me their comfort, later they brought me this song.

Ah yes I hope you run into them, you who've been travelling so long.

Ra ra ra ra ra ra...

Yeah you who must leave everything that you cannot control.

It begins with your family, but soon it comes around to your soul.

Well I've been where you're hanging and I think I can see how you're pinned:

Yeah when you're not feeling holy, your loneliness tells you, you've sinned.

Ra ra ra ra ra ra...

They lay down beside me, I made my confession to them.

They touched both my eyes, I touched the dew on their hem.

If your life is a leaf that the seasons tear off and condemn

Ah they will bind you with love that is graceful and green as a stem.

Ra ra ra ra ra ra...

I left, they were sleeping, I hope you run into them soon.

Don't turn on the lights, you can read their address by the moon.

And you won't make me jealous if I hear that they sweetened your night:

Ah we weren't lovers like that and besides it would still be all right,

Ra ra ra ra ra ra...



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Hallelujah

Baby, I've been here before.

I know this room, I've walked this floor.

I used to live alone before I knew you.

Yeah I've seen your flag on the marble arch,

But listen, love is not some kind of victory march,

No it's a cold and it's a very broken Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, (Hallelujah...)

There was a time you let me know

What's really going on below,

Ah but now you never show it to me, do you?

Yeah but I remember, yeah when I moved in you,

And the holy dove, she was moving too,

Yes every single breath that we drew was Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Maybe there's a God above,

As for me, all I've ever seemed to learn from love

Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.

Yeah but it's not a complaint that you hear tonight,

It's not the laughter of someone who claims to have seen the light

No it's a cold and it's a very lonely Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

I did my best, it wasn't much.

I couldn't feel, so I learned to touch.

I've told the truth, I didn't come all this way to fool you.

Yeah even tough it all went wrong

I'll stand right here before the Lord of Song

With nothing on my lips but Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.



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I`m Your Man

If you want a lover, I'll do anything you ask me to

And if you want another kind of love, I'll wear my leather mask for you

If you want a partner, take my hand

Or if you wanna strike me down in anger, here I stand

I'm your man

If you want a boxer, I will step into the ring for you

And if you want a Jewish doctor, I'll uncover every inch of you

If you want a driver, climb inside

Or if you wanna take me for a ride, well you know you can

I'm your man

Yeah the moon's too bright

And the chain's too tight

And the beast won't go to sleep

I've been running through all these promises to you

That I made and I could not keep

Ah but a man never got a woman back

Not by begging on his knees

Or I'd crawl to you baby

And I'd fall at your feet

And I'd howl at your beauty

Like a dog in heat

And I'd claw at your heart

And I'd tear at your sheet

I'd say please

I'm your man

If you've got to sleep for a minute on the road, I will steer for you

And if you want to work the street alone, I'll..., I'll disappear for you

If you want a father for your child

Or only wanna walk with me another mile across the sand

I'm your man

Yeah the moon's too bright

And the chain's too tight

And the beast won't go to sleep

I've been running through all these promises to you

That I made and I could not keep

Ah but a man never got a woman back

Not by begging on his knees

Or I'd crawl to you baby

And I'd fall at your feet

And I'd howl at your beauty

Like a dog in heat

And I'd claw at your heart

And I'd tear at your sheet

I'd say please

I'm your man



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Who By Fire

And who by fire, who by water,

Who in the sunshine, who in the night time,

Who by high ordeal, who by common trial,

Who in your merry merry month of may,

Who by very slow decay,

And who..., who shall I say is calling?

And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,

Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,

And who by avalanche, who by powder,

Who for his greed, who for his hunger,

And who..., who shall I say is calling?

And who by brave assent, who by accident,

Who in solitude, who in this mirror,

Who by his lady's command, who by his own hand,

Who in mortal chains, who in power,

And who..., who shall I say is calling?

And who..., who shall I say is calling?

And who by fire, who by water,

Who in the sunshine, who in the night time,

Who by high ordeal, who by common trial,

Who in your merry merry month of may,

Who by very slow decay,

And who..., who shall I say is calling?

And who..., who shall I say is calling?



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One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong

I lit a thin green candle to make you jealous of me.

But the room just filled up with mosquitos,

They heard that my body was free.

Then I took the dust from a long and a sleepless night

And I have put it in your little shoe.

And then I confess that I tortured the dress

That you wore for the world to look through.

I showed my heart to the doctor: he said I just have to quit.

Then he wrote himself a prescription,

Your name was mentioned in it!

And he locked himself into a library shelf

Ah with all of the details of our..., our shabby honeymoon,

And I hear from the nurse, yeah that he's got much worse

And his..., his practice has fallen into ruin.

And I heard of a saint who'd loved you, yeah I studied all night in his school.

He taught that the duty of lovers

Is to tarnish the..., the golden rule.

And just when I was sure that his teachings were pure

He went and drowned himself in the pool.

His body is gone, yeah but back here on the lawn

his spirit continues to drool.

An Eskimo showed me that movie, he'd recently taken of you:

While the poor man could hardly stop shivering,

His lips, his fingers were blue.

I suppose he froze when the wind tore off your clothes

And I..., I guess he just never got warm.

But you stand there so nice, in your blizzard of ice,

oh please let me come into the storm.

I suppose he froze when the wind tore off your clothes

And I..., I guess he just never got warm.

But you stand there so nice, in your blizzard of ice,

oh please let me come into..., come into the storm.



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If It Be Your Will

If it be your will

That I speak no more

And my voice be still

As it was before

I will speak no more

I shall abide until

I am spoken for

If it be your will

If it be your will

If a voice be true

From this broken hill

I will sing to you

From this broken hill

All your praises they shall ring

If it be your will

To let me sing

If it be your will

If there is a choice

Let the rivers fill

Let the hills rejoice

Let your mercy spill

On all these burning hearts in hell

If it be your will

To make us well

and draw us near

Oh bind us tight

All your children here

In their rags of light

In our rags of light

All dressed to kill

And end this night

If it be your will

If it be your will.


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Heart With No Companion

Now I greet you from the other side

Of sorrow and despair

With a love so vast and so shattered

It will reach you everywhere

And I sing this for the captain

Whose ship has not been built

For the mother in confusion

Her cradle still unfilled

For the heart with no companion

For the soul without a king

For the prima ballerina

Who cannot dance to anything

Through the days of shame that are coming

Through the nights of wild distress

Though your promise count for nothing

You must keep it nonetheless

You must keep it for the captain

Whose ship has not been built

For the mother in confusion

Her cradle still unfilled

For the heart with no companion

For the soul without a king

For the prima ballerina

Who cannot dance to anything

Now I greet you from the other side

Of sorrow and despair

Ah with a love so vast and so shattered

It will reach you everywhere

And I sing this for the captain

Whose ship has not been built

For the mother in confusion

Her cradle still unfilled

For the heart with no companion

For the soul without a king

For the prima ballerina

Who cannot dance to anything



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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 she's half crazy

But that's why you want to be there

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

She gets you on her wavelength

She lets the river answer

You've always been her lover.

And you want to travel with her

You want to travel blind

You know 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 a 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

You want to travel blind

And you know he will find you

For he's touched your perfect body with his mind.

Suzanne takes your hand now

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..., our lady of the harbour

And she shows you where to look

Amid 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

You want to travel blind

And you know she will find you

For she's touched your perfect body with her mind.

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