Take this Longing

Well this post has been a long time coming... and then again... I only thought of it last Thursday... I don't know what I mean but that but I am sure I mean it.... Everyone who knows me knows that I like Leonard Cohen... but not everyone knows who he is or has even heard his songs... I know most people will probably skip this post but I think some of you should probably stick around... You might gain some insight on why things turned out the way they did...

This is a list of some of my favorite Leonard Cohen love songs... They are not the top ones because I could not find some of the ones I wanted... Like "Always"... Some of them are not even sung by Cohen and some are just fan made films... But its the essence of the song that must get through... The essence of the moment that must survive...

Really... really...


The Traitor: As long as there is a relationship... of any kind... there are expectations... No one says, "I love you." and not expect anything... And then proceeds to say, "I don't care." In the end just make sure to say you are sorry and that you enjoyed your time together before you say goodbye.
But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment
I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still
My falsity had stung me like a hornet
The poison sank and it paralyzed my will


Tonight Will Be Fine: Ok so these first two songs are not sung by Leonard but they are written by him. This like many songs from this list inspire hope... I think love, more than anything else, brings you hope... Hope that the future will be work out and that the past can change...
Oh sometimes I see her undressing for me,
she's the soft naked lady love meant her to be
and she's moving her body so brave and so free.
If I've got to remember that's a fine memory.


Hallelujah: I remember when I used to work in retail I used to listen to this song over and over again... There was this one Christmas... I walked out to my car listening to this song and I as I got to my car I broke down crying. I dropped my keys in the snow and I held myself up against the car by putting my hand on the window. By the time the song ended I had melted a hand print in the ice on the window with the heat of my hand. It was awful... But then again... This song was in Shrek. Remember.
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
but love is not a victory march
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah


Dance Me to the End of Love: This song says so much about a relationship. as many Cohen songs do. At the beginning you think that nothing will stop it and then the wrong thing happens and with one sentence it is all gone. I like this song because it speaks to the power or love as well as it's frailty. I remember walking through the empty hallways of the mall listening to this song over and over again like it was in some goddamn Fred Astaire dance studio.
Oh 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


So Long Marianne: At the end of any relationship you realized that you have to just let things pass. Hating the other person, or even being mean to them is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. This song really says that even though you are not as strong as the other person you still have hope enough that you will make it...
For now I need your hidden love
I'm cold as a new razor blade
You left when I told you I was curious
I never said that I was brave.


Chelsea Hotel 2: Occasionally a person looks back on their past and realizes that no matter how seedy or unconventional, it was all still considered love. A few nights or a few seconds can still amount to so much passion that will last for years...
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
you were famous, your heart was a legend
You told me again you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception


Take This Waltz: Sometimes as one looks back, there are some fun times that you will always remember... You romanticize something that was was never possible to begin with... The thing that this songs really says a lot of is that you have to look at that those moments with fondness no matter what...
Theres an attic where children are playing
Where I've got to lie down with you soon
In a dream of Hungarian lanterns
In the mist of some sweet afternoon


Be for Real: From the ashes of loneliness there are those times that you look for someone... Anyone... Someone to help you through that moment... But you really hope that the person is going to be there through the thick of it... Who will not just come back when they need you... Or when they have time for you... Kind of like purgatory...
I just would like to believe, ah what you tell me.
So don't give me the world today
And tomorrow take it away.
You see I, I don't want to be hurt by love again.


I'm Your Man: Cohen wrote this song when he had fallen in bad graces with the woman he loved... He wrote this song, as he said, "To worm his way back into her heart." I think sometimes you just have to let the other person know how you feel... And sometimes you have to be as blunt and as humble as possible at the same time... because that is what it takes...
Or I'd crawl to you baby and Id fall at your feet
And I'd howl at your beauty like a dog in heat
And Id claw at your heart and Id tear at your sheet
I'd say please, please. I'm your man


Ok thats enough... I can't talk right now... Don't write back...