



H APPENS T O T HE H EART



I was always working steady

But I never called it art

I was funding my depression

Meeting Jesus reading Marx

Sure it failed my little fire

But it's bright the dying spark

Go tell the young messiah

What happens to the heart



There’s a mist of summer kisses

Where I tried to double-park

The rivalry was vicious

And the women were in charge

It was nothing, it was business

But it left an ugly mark

So I’ve come here to revisit

What happens to the heart



I was selling holy trinkets

I was dressing kind of sharp

Had a pussy in the kitchen

And a panther in the yard

In the prison of the gifted

I was friendly with the guard

So I never had to witness

What happens to the heart



I should have seen it coming

You could say I wrote the chart

Just to look at her was trouble

It was trouble from the start

Sure we played a stunning couple

But I never liked the part

It ain’t pretty, it ain’t subtle

What happens to the heart



Now the angel’s got a fiddle

And the devil’s got a harp

Every soul is like a minnow

Every mind is like a shark

I've opened every window

But the house, the house is dark

Just say Uncle, then it's simple

What happens to the heart



I was always working steady

But I never called it art

The slaves were there already

The singers chained and charred

Now the arc of justice bending

And the injured soon to march

I lost my job defending

What happens to the heart



I studied with this beggar

He was filthy he was scarred

By the claws of many women

He had failed to disregard

No fable here no lesson

No singing meadow lark

Just a filthy beggar blessing

What happens to the heart



I was always working steady

But I never called it art

I could lift, but nothing heavy

Almost lost my union card

I was handy with a rifle

My father's 303

We fought for something final

Not the right to disagree



Sure it failed my little fire

But it's bright the dying spark

Go tell the young messiah

What happens to the heart



June 24, 2016









Copyright © 2016 Leonard Cohen.

Posted on this site by permission of Leonard Cohen.

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