By The Rivers Dark
Leonard Cohen
By the rivers dark
I wandered on
I lived my life
In babylon
And I did forget
My holy song
And I had no strength
In babylon
By the rivers dark
Where I could not see
Who was waiting there
Who was hunting me
And he cut my lip
And he cut my heart
So I could not drink
From the river dark
And he covered me
And I saw within
My lawless heart
And my wedding ring
I did not know
And I could not see
Who was waiting there
Who was hunting me
By the rivers dark
I panicked on
I belonged at last
To babylon
Then he struck my heart
With a deadly force
And he said: This heart
It is not yours
And he gave the wind
My wedding ring
And he circled us
With everything
By the rivers dark
In a wounded dawn
I live my life
In babylon
Though I take my song
From a withered limb
Both song and tree
They sing for him
Be the truth unsaid
And the blessing gone
If I forget
My babylon
I did not know
And I could not see
Who was waiting there
Who was hunting me
By the rivers dark
Where it all goes on
By the rivers dark
In babylon