Night Comes On

Night Comes On
 By Leonard Cohen
 I went down to the place where I knew she lay waiting
 Under the marble and the snow
 I said, Mother I'm frightened, the thunder and the lightning
 I'll never come through this alone
 She said, I'll be with you, my shawl wrapped around you
 My hand on your head when you go
 And the night came on, it was very calm
 I wanted the night to go on and on
 But she said, go back, go back to the world
 We were fighting in Egypt when they signed this agreement
 That nobody else had to die
 There was this terrible sound, my father went down
 With a terrible wound in his side
 He said, try to go on, take my books, take my gun
 Remember, my son, how they lied
 And the night comes on, it's very calm
 I'd like to pretend that my father was wrong
 But you don't want to lie, not to the young
 We were locked in this kitchen, I took to religion
 And I wondered how long she would stay
 I needed so much to have nothing to touch
 I've always been greedy that way
 But my son and my daughter climbed out of the water
 Crying, Papa, you promised to play
 And they lead me away to the great surprise
 It's Papa, don't peek, Papa, cover your eyes
 And they hide, they hide in the world
 Now I look for her always, I'm lost in this calling
 I'm tied to the threads of some prayer
 Saying when will she summon me, when will she come to me
 What must I do to prepare?
 When she bends to my longing like a willow, like a fountain
 She stands in the luminous air
 And the night comes on, it's very calm
 I lie in her arms and says when I'm gone
 I'll be yours, yours for a song
 Now the crickets are singing, the vesper bells ringing
 The cat's curled asleep in his chair
 I'll go down to Bill's Bar, I can make it that far
 And I'll see if my friends are still there
 Yes, and here's to the few, who forgive what you do
 And the fewer who don't even care
 And the night comes on, it's very calm
 I want to cross over, I want to go home
 But she says, Go back, go back to the world
 end