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.
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