LYRICS C TO D

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Came So Far For Beauty

I came so far for beauty
I left so much behind
My patience and my family
My masterpiece unsigned
I thought I'd be rewarded
For such a lonely choice
And surely she would answer
To such a very hopeless voice
I practiced all my sainthood
I gave to one and all
But the rumours of my virtue
They moved her not at all
I changed my style to silver
I changed my clothed to black
And where I would surrender
Now I would attack
I stormed the old casino
For the money and the flesh
And I myself decided
What was rotten and what was fresh
And men to do my bidding
And broken bones to teach
The value of my pardon
The shadow of my reach
But no, I could not touch her
With such a heavy hand
Her star beyond my order
Her nakedness unmanned
I came so far for beauty
I left so much behind
My patience and my family
My masterpiece unsigned

CHELSEA HOTEL No. 2

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
you were talking so brave and so sweet,
giving me head on the unmade bed,
while the limousines wait in the street.
Those were the reasons and that was New York,
we were running for the money and the flesh.
And that was called love for the workers in song
probably still is for those of them left.

Ah but you got away, didn't you babe,
you just turned your back on the crowd,
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don't need you,
I need you, I don't need you
and all of that jiving around.

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.
And clenching your fist for the ones like us
who are oppressed by the figures of beauty,
you fixed yourself, you said, "Well never mind,
we are ugly but we have the music."

And then you got away, didn't you babe...

I don't mean to suggest that I loved you the best,
I can't keep track of each fallen robin.
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
that's all, I don't even think of you that often.

Clap! Clap! (Mirror Song) performed in "Night Magic")

(Michael) I never thought I'd get this far
(Audience) We always knew you would
(Michael) I've put a little weight on
(Audience) Not really, it looks good.
(Michael) These lines around my mouth are new
(Audience) They're the lines of wisdom
(Michael) This puffiness around my eyes?
(Audience) The burden of the kingdom!
(Michael) You know I like to talk with you
(Audience) We do too, we never knew
Someone who we could talk to
Who was quite as smart as you.

We would like to hear you talk all night
But tell us if we might
Interrupt you with applause
If you should chance to pause.
We would love to rock the walls
Again and again with curtain calls
And a standing ovation
For your brilliant conversation ...

(Michael) Clap, clap!
Now silence

Have you noticed people wear...

(Audience) Copies of your favourite hat?
(Michael) You have noticed that my dears?
(Audience) O yes we have noticed that.
(Michael) They wear copies of my shoes
(Audience) Two by twos they wear your shoes
(Michael) And they like to sing my blues
(Audience) Echoes of your ah's and ooh's.
(Michael) You know I like to talk with you
(Audience) We do too, we never knew
Someone who we could talk to
Who was quite as smart as you.

(Michael) I'm afraid that I've become
For nearly everyone
A model of behaviour
A devil or a saviour.

(Audience) He's afraid that he's become
For next to nearly everyone
The very latest model of behaviour
He's a devil, he's a saviour

(Michael) They read my news and
they hold their views
On whether I'm the devil
or a saviour

(Audience) He's afraid that he's become
For almost everyone
The very latest model of behaviour
He's a devil, he's a saviour

(Michael) I'm the very latest model of behaviour

But I've paid my dues

(Audience) We know you have!
We hold your views!
(Michael) You read my news?
(Audience) Of course we do!
(Michael) I've been a bum.
(Audience) How very, very, very, very far you've come!
(Michael) I've crossed this country on my thumb.
I've met a lot of people...
(Audience) Good and evil?
(Michael) Good and evil!
I've been up hills
(Audience) You've been down hills.
(Michael) I've been on junk.
(Audience) You've beaten junk.
(Michael) I don't mean pills
(Audience) You don't mean pills!
(Michael) I mean the needle
(Audience) He means the needle
He means the needle!
He means the needle!
(Michael) I've noticed my words on everyone's lips
And women are always leaving me slips
Of paper
I'm supposed to get back to them later
And sometimes I do
(Audience) It's only your due
After all that you've been through
To lie down with some grateful stranger

To think he honours someone's bed
With his wine and with his bread
And his legendary member
It is April in December

It's charity
It's religion
Saint Francis with the birds
Jesus with the leper
Please talk to us forever
And ever and ever

(Michael) Clap, clap
Now silence!

But now I make my confession
Before all the mirrors of history
This power was given to me
It must have been given to me
For something more
Than a star on the door
And a foot in this shabby profession

(Audience) This is surely the sound
Of the most profound
Remark that has ever been made
From the pulpit or the stage
Or even the gates of heaven

(Michael) There's something waiting for me
There's something I must feel
There's something that must bend its knee
And I must see it kneel

There's nothing to be conquered there
A beast that keeps the crown
And marble steps into the air
And one man looking down

(Audience) He's smiling
He's smiling

There is something that is waiting for him
Something that he must feel
Something that must bend its knee
And it's he must see it kneel

There is something to be conquered there
There's a beast that keeps the crown
And marble steps into the air
And one man looking down

Smiling, smiling

(Michael) Clap clap!
(Audience) Smiling, smiling
(Michael) Clap, clap!

Closing Time

Ah we're drinking and we're dancing
and the band is really happening
and the Johnny Walker wisdom running high
And my very sweet companion
she's the Angel of Compassion
she's rubbing half the world against her thigh
And every drinker every dancer
lifts a happy face to thank her
the fiddler fiddles something so sublime
all the women tear their blouses off
and the men they dance on the polka-dots
and it's partner found, it's partner lost
and it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops:
it's CLOSING TIME
Yeah the women tear their blouses off
and the men they dance on the polka-dots
and it's partner found, it's partner lost
and it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops:
it's CLOSING TIME

Ah we're lonely, we're romantic
and the cider's laced with acid
and the Holy Spirit's crying, "Where's the beef?"
And the moon is swimming naked
and the summer night is fragrant
with a mighty expectation of relief
So we struggle and we stagger
down the snakes and up the ladder
to the tower where the blessed hours chime
and I swear it happened just like this:
a sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
the Gates of Love they budged an inch
I can't say much has happened since
but CLOSING TIME

I swear it happened just like this:
a sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
the Gates of Love they budged an inch
I can't say much has happened since
CLOSING TIME

I loved you for your beauty
but that doesn't make a fool of me:
you were in it for your beauty too
and I loved you for your body
there's a voice that sounds like God to me
declaring, declaring, declaring that your body's really you
And I loved you when our love was blessed
and I love you now there's nothing left
but sorrow and a sense of overtime
and I missed you since the place got wrecked
And I just don't care what happens next
looks like freedom but it feels like death
it's something in between, I guess
it's CLOSING TIME

Yeah I missed you since the place got wrecked
By the winds of change and the weeds of sex
looks like freedom but it feels like death
it's something in between, I guess
it's CLOSING TIME

Yeah we're drinking and we're dancing
but there's nothing really happening
and the place is dead as Heaven on a Saturday night
And my very close companion
gets me fumbling gets me laughing
she's a hundred but she's wearing
something tight
and I lift my glass to the Awful Truth
which you can't reveal to the Ears of Youth
except to say it isn't worth a dime
And the whole damn place goes crazy twice
and it's once for the devil and once for Christ
but the Boss don't like these dizzy heights
we're busted in the blinding lights,
busted in the blinding lights
of CLOSING TIME

The whole damn place goes crazy twice
and it's once for the devil and once for Christ
but the Boss don't like these dizzy heights
we're busted in the blinding lights,
busted in the blinding lights
of CLOSING TIME

Oh the women tear their blouses off
and the men they dance on the polka-dots
It's CLOSING TIME
And it's partner found, it's partner lost
and it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops
It's CLOSING TIME
I swear it happened just like this:
a sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
It's CLOSING TIME
The Gates of Love they budged an inch
I can't say much has happened since
But CLOSING TIME
I loved you when our love was blessed
I love you now there's nothing left
But CLOSING TIME
I miss you since the place got wrecked
By the winds of change and the weeds of sex.

Coming Back to You

Maybe I'm still hurting
I can't turn the other cheek
But you know that I still love you
It's just that I can't speak
I looked for you in everyone
And they called me on that too
I lived alone but I was only
Coming back to you
Ah they're shutting down the factory now
Just when all the bills are due
And the fields they're under lock and key
Tho' the rain and the sun come through
And springtime starts but then it stops
In the name of something new
And all the senses rise against this
Coming back to you

And they're handing down my sentence now
And I know what I must do
Another mile of silence while I'm
Coming back to you

There are many in your life
And many still to be
Since you are a shining light
There's many that you'll see
But I have to deal with envy
When you choose the precious few
Who've left their pride on the other side of
Coming back to you

Even in your arms I know
I'll never get it right
Even when you bend to give me
Comfort in the night
I've got to have your word on this
Or none of it is true
And all I've said was just instead of
Coming back to you

Coming Back (written by Cohen, performed in "Night Magic")

(Angels) You can't do this
You must do what
We must do what must be done

(Judy) I hear my baby calling
He is asking to be born
I see the curtains parting
That our kisses have outworn ...

(Angels) Kisses all outworn...

(Judy) I'll raise a tent of shelter
Now though every thread is torn

(Angels) Every thread is torn...

(Judy) I take my life from realms of light
And hang it on a thorn

(Angels) Hanging on a thorn...

(Judy) I hear the children calling
Asking to be born
I see the curtains parting
And my life upon a thorn

The stars have lost their fire
And the moon has lost her voice
And I'm coming back to find you
I have made the human choice.

(Angels) You've made your choice
The world you choose
Garlands of planets and starlight
Now you lose

(Judy) He's the only one who knows me
He's the riddle of my life
And they'll never tell the story
Of the husband and the wife

(Angels) The world she chooses, she loses...

(Judy) He's the stone that broke my heart
The foundation of my home --

(Angels) This we must do!

(Judy) He's the sweetness of the sweetness
Of the sweetness honeycomb

(Angels) We must do what we must do!

(Judy) And he's welcome to his glory
And he's buried in my life
And they'll never tell the story
Of the husband and the wife

(Angels) She takes her life from realms of light

(Valkyries) She hangs it on a thorn

(Angels) She disobeys the law

(Valkyries) The law is broken
You must get them

(Angels) Get him.

(Valkyries) Get them!

Messenger
Listen
Messenger
Do what must be done
And our will be done
Will be done

Dance Me to the End of Love

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
Dance me to the end of love
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
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, we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
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
Dance me to the end of love

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 or 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

Death of a Ladies' Man

Ah the man she wanted all her life was hanging by a thread
"I never even knew how much I wanted you," she said.
His muscles they were numbered and his style was obsolete.
"O baby, I have come too late." She knelt beside his feet.
"I'll never see a face like yours in years of men to come
I'll never see such arms again in wrestling or in love."
And all his virtues burning in the smoky Holocaust
She took unto herself most everything her lover lost
Now the master of this landscape he was standing at the view
with a sparrow of St. Francis that he was preaching to
She beckoned to the sentry of his high religious mood
She said, "I'll make a place between my legs,
I'll show you solitude."

He offered her an orgy in a many mirrored room
He promised her protection for the issue of her womb
She moved her body hard against a sharpened metal spoon
She stopped the bloody rituals of passage to the moon

She took his much admired oriental frame of mind
and the heart-of-darkness alibi his money hides behind
She took his blonde madonna and his monastery wine --
"This mental space is occupied and everything is mine."

He tried to make a final stand beside the railway track
She said, "The art of longing's over and it's never coming back."
She took his tavern parliament, his cap, his cocky dance,
she mocked his female fashions and his working-class moustache.

The last time that I saw him he was trying hard to get
a woman's education but he's not a woman yet
And the last time that I saw her she was living with some boy
who gives her soul an empty room and gives her body joy.

So the great affair is over but whoever would have guessed
it would leave us all so vacant and so deeply unimpressed
It's like our visit to the moon or to that other star
I guess you go for nothing if you really want to go that far.

It's like our visit to the moon or to that other star
I guess you go for nothing if you really want to go that far.

It's like our visit to the moon or to that other star
I guess you go for nothing if you really want to go that far.

Democracy

It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that this ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming through a crack in the wall;
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
It's coming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the sorrow in the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin'
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of God in the desert here
and the desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on
O mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
Past the Reefs of Greed
Through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.

It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the women and the men.
O baby, we'll be making love again.
We'll be going down so deep
the river's going to weep,
and the mountain's going to shout Amen!
It's coming like the tidal flood
beneath the lunar sway,
imperial, mysterious,
in amorous array:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on ...

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Diamonds in the Mine

The woman in blue, she's asking for revenge,
the man in white -- that's you -- says he has no friends.
The river is swollen up with rusty cans
and the trees are burning in your promised land.
And there are no letters in the mailbox,
and there are no grapes upon the vine,
and there are no chocolates in the boxes anymore,
and there are no diamonds in the mine.

Well, you tell me that your lover has a broken limb,
you say you're kind of restless now and it's on account of him.
Well, I saw the man in question, it was just the other night,
he was eating up a lady where the lions and Christians fight.

And there are no letters in the mailbox
and there are no grapes upon the vine,
and there are no chocolates in the boxes anymore,
and there are no diamonds in the mine.

(You tell them now)

Ah, there is no comfort in the covens of the witch,
some very clever doctor went and sterilized the bitch,
and the only man of energy, yes the revolution's pride,
he trained a hundred women just to kill an unborn child.

And there are no letters in the mailbox,
oh no, there are no, no grapes upon your vine,
and there are, there are no chocolates in your boxes anymore,
and there are no diamonds in your mine.
And there are no letters in the mailbox,
and there are no grapes upon the vine,
and there are no chocolates in your boxes anymore,
and there are no diamonds in your mine.

Die Gedanken Sind Frei

Die Gedanken sind frei! Wer kann sie erraten?
Sie fliegen vorbei wie naechtliche Schatten.
Kein Mensch kann sie wissen,
kein Jaeger erschiessen
mit Pulver und Blei.
Die Gedanken sind frei!

[Thoughts are free! Who can guess them?
They fly along like nightly treasures
No man can know them
No hunter can shoot them
With powder and lead
Thoughts are free!]

Ich denke, was ich will und was mich begluecket,
doch alles in der Still und wie es sich schicket.
Mein Wunsch und Begehren
kann niemand verwehren,
es bleibet dabei:
Die Gedanken sind frei!

[I think about what I want and what makes me happy
But everything quietly, and just how it comes.
To my wish and desire
Nobody can oppose,
It stays this way:
Thoughts are free!]

Und sperrt man mich ein im finsteren Kerker,
das alles sind rein vergebliche Werke,
mit Pulver und Blei.
Die Gedanken sind frei!

[And if they lock me in a dark dungeon
That is something that can be forgiven
Cause my thoughts
Tear up the bars
And walls.
Thoughts are free!]

Ich denke, was ich will und was mich begluecket ...

[I think about what I want and what makes me happy ...]

Und sperrt man mich ein im finsteren Kerker ...

[And if they lock me in a dark dungeon ...]

Ich liebe den Wein, mein Maedchen vor allen,
sie tut mir allein am besten gefallen.
Ich bin nicht alleine
bei meinem Glas Weine,
mein Maedchen dabei:
Die Gedanken sind frei!

[I love wine, my girl most of all,
Only me she pleases best
I am not alone
With my glass of wine
My girl is with me:
Thoughts are free!]

Drum will ich auf immer den Sorgen entsagen
und will mich auch nimmer mit Grillen mehr plagen.
Man kann ja im Herzen
stets lachen und scherzen
und denken dabei:
Die Gedanken sind frei!

[That's why I will never worry anymore
And I will never tease myself with whims anymore
Because in one's heart
One can keep laughing and joking
While thinking
Thoughts are free!]

Do I Have To Dance All Night

I'm Forty-One, the moon is full,
you make love very well.
You touch me like I touch myself,
I like you Mademoiselle.

You're so fresh and you're so new,
I do enjoy you, Miss.
There's nothing I would rather do
than move around just like this

But do I have to dance all night?
But do I have to dance all night?
Ooh tell me, Bird of Paradise,
do I have to dance all night?

You never really have to tell me what
you really think of me - alright.
Let's say I'm doing fine,
but do I have to dance all night?

Do I have to dance all night? ...

I learned this step a while ago.
I had to practice it while everybody slept.
I waited half my life for you, you know,
I didn't even think that you'd accept.
And here you are before me in the flesh
saying "Yes, yes, yes!"

But do I have to dance all night? ...

I learned this step a while ago ...

But do I have to dance all night? ...

Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On

I was born in a beauty salon
My father was a dresser of hair
My mother was a girl you could call on
When you called she was always there

When you called she was always there
When you called she was always there
When you called she was always there
When you called she was always there

Ah but don't go home with your hard-on
It will only drive you insane
You can't shake it (or break it) with your Motown
You can't melt it down in the rain

You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain

I've looked behind all of the faces
That smile you down to you knees
And the lips that say, Come on, taste us
And when you try to they make you say Please

When you try to they make you say Please
When you try to they make you say Please
When you try to they make you say Please
When you try to they make you say Please

Ah but don't go home with your hard-on ...

Here come's your bride with her veil on
Approach her, you wretch, if you dare
Approach her, you ape with your tail on
Once you have her she'll always be there

Once you have her she'll always be there
Once you have her she'll always be there
Once you have her she'll always be there
Once you have her she'll always be there

Ah but don't go home with your hard-on ...

So I work in that same beauty salon
I'm chained to the old masquerade
The lipstick, the shadow, the silicone
I follow my father's trade

I follow my father's trade
Yes I follow my father's trade
Yes I follow my father's trade
Yes I follow my father's trade

Ah but don't go home with your hard-on
It will only drive you insane
You can't shake it (or break it) with your Motown
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain

Dress Rehearsal Rag

Four o'clock in the afternoon
and I didn't feel like very much.
I said to myself, "Where are you golden boy,
where is your famous golden touch?"
I thought you knew where
all of the elephants lie down,
I thought you were the crown prince
of all the wheels in Ivory Town.
Just take a look at your body now,
there's nothing much to save
and a bitter voice in the mirror cries,
"Hey, Prince, you need a shave."
Now if you can manage to get
your trembling fingers to behave,
why don't you try unwrapping
a stainless steel razor blade?
That's right, it's come to this,
yes it's come to this,
and wasn't it a long way down,
wasn't it a strange way down?
There's no hot water
and the cold is running thin.
Well, what do you expect from
the kind of places you've been living in?
Don't drink from that cup,
it's all caked and cracked along the rim.
That's not the electric light, my friend,
that is your vision growing dim.
Cover up your face with soap, there,
now you're Santa Claus.
And you've got a gift for anyone
who will give you his applause.
I thought you were a racing man,
ah, but you couldn't take the pace.
That's a funeral in the mirror
and it's stopping at your face.
That's right, it's come to this,
yes it's come to this,
and wasn't it a long way down,
ah wasn't it a strange way down?

Once there was a path
and a girl with chestnut hair,
and you passed the summers
picking all of the berries that grew there;
there were times she was a woman,
oh, there were times she was just a child,
and you held her in the shadows
where the raspberries grow wild.
And you climbed the twilight mountains
and you sang about the view,
and everywhere that you wandered
love seemed to go along with you.
That's a hard one to remember,
yes it makes you clench your fist.
And then the veins stand out like highways,
all along your wrist.
And yes it's come to this,
it's come to this,
and wasn't it a long way down,
wasn't it a strange way down?

You can still find a job,
go out and talk to a friend.
On the back of every magazine
there are those coupons you can send.
Why don't you join the Rosicrucians,
they can give you back your hope,
you can find your love with diagrams
on a plain brown envelope.
But you've used up all your coupons
except the one that seems
to be written on your wrist
along with several thousand dreams.
Now Santa Claus comes forward,
that's a razor in his mit;
and he puts on his dark glasses
and he shows you where to hit;
and then the cameras pan,
the stand in stunt man,
dress rehearsal rag,
it's just the dress rehearsal rag,
you know this dress rehearsal rag,
it's just a dress rehearsal rag.

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