Full text of "Anna Christie"“Not me,” says the gambling manWith his ticket stub still in his hand“It wasn’t me that knocked him downMy hands never touched him noneI didn’t commit no ugly sinAnyway, I put money on him to winIt wasn’t me that made him fallNo, you can’t blame me at all” Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teethYou’re an idiot, babeIt’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe Every nerve in my body is so naked and numbI can’t even remember what it was I came here to get away fromDon’t even hear the murmur of a prayerIt’s not dark yet but it’s gettin’ there. Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son.”Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on.”God say, “You can do what you want, Abe, butThe next time you see me comin’, you better run.” You walk into the roomWith your pencil in your handYou see somebody nakedAnd you say, “Who is that, man?”You try so hardBut you don’t understandJust what you’ll sayWhen you get homeBecause something is happening hereBut you don’t know what it isDo you, Mister Jones?

How many roads must a man walk downBefore you call him a man?How many seas must a white dove sailBefore she sleeps in the sand?Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs flyBefore they’re forever banned?The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the windThe answer is blowin’ in the wind I wish that for just one timeYou could stand inside my shoesAnd just for that one momentI could be youYes, I wish that for just one timeYou could stand inside my shoesYou’d know what a drag it isTo see you. Well, he hands you a nickelHe hands you a dimeHe asks you with a grinIf you’re havin’ a good timeThen he fines you every time you slam the door Far between sundown’s finish and midnight’s broken tollWe ducked inside the doorways, thunder went crashingAs majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the soundsSeeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing. And she takes just like a womanAnd she aches just like a womanAnd she wakes just like a womanYeah, but she breaks just like a little girl.

Let me ask you one questionIs your money that good?curtains friern barnetWill it buy you forgivenessDo you think that it could?curtain rail for bay windows b&qI think you will findWhen your death takes its tollAll the money you madeWill never buy back your soulcirco chevron shower curtain Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,Let me forget about today until tomorrow.sailcloth curtains target Oh, but you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fearsBury the rag deep in your faceFor now’s the time for your tearstarget red rugby stripe shower curtain

It’s a restless hungry feeling that don’t mean no one no good,When everything I’m a-sayin’ you can say it just as good.ashton grommet window curtain panelsYou’re right from your side, I’m right from mine.curtains orewaWe’re both just one too many mornings an’ a thousand miles behind The bridge at midnight tremblesThe country doctor ramblesBankers’ nieces seek perfectionExpecting all the gifts that wise men bringThe wind howls like a hammerThe night blows cold and rainyMy love she’s like some ravenAt my window with a broken wing. Better stay away from thoseThat carry around a fire hoseKeep a clean noseWash the plain clothesYou don’t need a weather manTo know which way the wind blows The kerosene is brought down from the castlesBy insurance men who goCheck to see that nobody is escapingTo Desolation Row

Inside the museums, Infinity goes up on trialVoices echo this is what salvation must be like after a whileBut Mona Lisa musta had the highway bluesYou can tell by the way she smiles Twas in another lifetimeOne of toil and bloodWhen blackness was a virtueThe road was full of mudI came in from the wildernessA creature void of formCome in she said I’ll give yaShelter from the storm Come senators, congressmenPlease heed the callDon’t stand in the doorwayDon’t block up the hallFor he that gets hurtWill be he who has stalledThere’s a battle outsideAnd it is ragin’It’ll soon shake your windowsAnd rattle your wallsFor the times they are a-changin’. How can the life of such a manBe in the palm of some fool’s hand?To see him obviously framedCouldn’t help but make me feel ashamedTo live in a landWhere justice is a game I see a lot of peopleAs I make the roundsAnd I hear her name here and thereAs I go from town to townAnd I’ve never gotten used to itI’ve just learned to turn it offEither I’m too sensitiveOr else I’m getting soft

Every man’s conscience is vile and depraved You cannot depend on it to be your guide when it’s you who must keep it satisfied. You used to laugh aboutEverybody that was hanging outNow you don’t talk so loudNow you don’t seem so proudAbout having to be scrounging for your next meal Take a careless kiss Take a shaking fist Take my aim, I’ll miss Take a hard earned fall Take a curtain call Take a fool to brawl Take a Berlin Wall To lose sight of all this I’ll be your everything to lose I don’t mind asking if my heavens been made out to you Did I say id find my way to prove I don’t mind waiting for the colour to fade out of you I’m the proof you need We’re a dying breed To be bound and freed I’m a priceless bead Of the sweat you’ll need I’m a careless mess And the sweet caress How I feel it bestCanadian poet and songwriter Leonard Cohen has been called “The Poet Laureate of Pessimism” and “The Prince of Bummers."

His first studio album was dubbed “The Suicide Songbook” and “songs to slit your wrists to.” His rich lyrics are dark, although he claims he is no more depressed than anyone else. He considers his mode one of seriousness. He examines life with all its dark corners. However, this examination brings pain and suffering out into the light, and his songs reflect this hope for redemption. The following five songs are drawn from a deep catalog created over the past six decades. One of Cohen’s most popular verses urges us to accept our shortcomings with this superb metaphor — “Ring the bells that still can ring/Forget your perfect offering/There is a crack in everything/That's how the light gets in.” In interviews, Cohen says he agonizes over his verses, sometimes taking years with one song to perfect his meaning. “Anthem” gives us permission to express ourselves imperfectly. Human imperfection, after all, is what cracks open the self to reveal the soul’s inner workings.

2. “Bird on the Wire” Cohen wrote this while living on the Greek Island of Hydra. At the time, the island was just beginning to catch up with the 20th century by installing telephone lines. Cohen biographer Ira Nadel quotes Cohen as saying, “I would stare out the window at these telephone wires and think how civilization had caught up with me and I wasn’t going to be able to escape after all.” Cohen then noticed that the wires attracted birds, giving him the title and first line of his song. Like so many of Cohen’s lyrics, “Bird on the Wire” uses startling imagery to paint a world of despair — “Like a baby, stillborn/like a beast with his horn/I have torn everyone who reached out for me.” However, Cohen’s lyrics also offer hope for redemption — “But I swear by this song/and by all that I have done wrong/I will make it all up to thee.” Leonard Cohen, in a BBC interview, says he spent about four years writing “Hallelujah.” He ended up with 80 verses, six of which he actually uses.

He was searching for a secular way to give praise. “I filled two notebooks,” says Cohen, “... and I remember being in the Royalton Hotel, on the carpet in my underwear, banging my head on the floor and saying, 'I can't finish this song.'” The song, completed in 1984, was originally rejected by his record company. It has since been covered by more than 360 artists and is considered sacred in the world of pop music. The biblical references leave many puzzled, but the final verse, “And even though it all went wrong/I'll stand before the Lord of Song/With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah,” drives home the point of all the symbol-saturated lines. We suffer, we are in pain, but we still need to stand in awe of life and living. 4. “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.”