I went down to the place
|
Where I knew she lay waiting
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Under the marble and the snow
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I said, Mother I'm frightened
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The thunder and the lightning
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I'll never come through this alone
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She said, I'll be with you
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My shawl wrapped around you
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My hand on your head when you go
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And the night came on
|
It was very calm
|
I wanted the night to go on and on
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But she said, Go back to the World
|
|
We were fighting in Egypt
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When they signed this agreement
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That nobody else had to die
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There was this terrible sound
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And my father went down
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With a terrible wound in his side
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He said, Try to go on
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Take my books, take my gun
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Remember, my son, how they lied
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And the night comes on
|
It's very calm
|
I'd like to pretend that my father was wrong
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But you don't want to lie, not to the young
|
|
We were locked in this kitchen
|
I took to religion
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And I wondered how long she would stay
|
I needed so much
|
To have nothing to touch
|
I've always been greedy that way
|
But my son and my daughter
|
Climbed out of the water
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Crying, Papa, you promised to play
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And they lead me away
|
To the great surprise
|
It's Papa, don't peek, Papa, cover your eyes
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And they hide, they hide in the World
|
|
Now I look for her always
|
I'm lost in this calling
|
I'm tied to the threads of some prayer
|
Saying, When will she summon me
|
When will she come to me
|
What must I do to prepare
|
When she bends to my longing
|
Like a willow, like a fountain
|
She stands in the luminous air
|
And the night comes on
|
And it's very calm
|
I lie in her arms and says, When I'm gone
|
I'll be yours, yours for a song
|
|
Now the crickets are singing
|
The vesper bells ringing
|
The cat's curled asleep in his chair
|
I'll go down to Bill's Bar
|
I can make it that far
|
And I'll see if my friends are still there
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Yes, and here's to the few
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Who forgive what you do
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And the fewer who don't even care
|
And the night comes on
|
It's very calm
|
I want to cross over, I want to go home
|
But she says, Go back, go back to the World
|
|
-----------------
|
Night Comes On
|
Leonard Cohen |