Lyrics to
A Singer Must Die

This version of A Singer Must Die was released by Leonard Cohen in 1974.

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Now the courtroom is quiet, but who will confess.
Is it true you betrayed us? The answer is Yes.
Then read me the list of the crimes that are mine,
I will ask for the mercy that you love to decline.
And all the ladies go moist, and the judge has no choice,
a singer must die for the lie in his voice.
And I thank you, I thank you for doing your duty,
you keepers of truth, you guardians of beauty.
Your vision is right, my vision is wrong,
I’m sorry for smudging the air with my song.

Oh, the night it is thick, my defences are hid
in the clothes of a woman I would like to forgive,
in the rings of her silk, in the hinge of her thighs,
where I have to go begging in beauty’s disguise.
Oh goodnight, goodnight, my night after night,
my night after night, after night, after night, after night, after night.

I am so afraid that I listen to you,
your sun glassed protectors they do that to you.
It’s their ways to detain, their ways to disgrace,
their knee in your balls and their fist in your face.
Yes and long live the state by whoever it’s made,
sir, I didn’t see nothing, I was just getting home late.

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Leonard Cohen has released many songs over the years besides A Singer Must Die. Leonard Cohen released songs from 1967 to 2004 spanning across albums like Songs Of Leonard Cohen, Songs From A Room, Songs Of Love And Hate, New Skin For The Old Ceremony, Death Of A Ladies' Man, Recent Songs, Various Positions, I'm Your Man, The Future, Ten New Songs, and Dear Heather. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Leonard Cohen.

If you're a fan of 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1974 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and A Singer Must Die by Leonard Cohen

The lyrics to A Singer Must Die are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by Leonard Cohen in 1974. Elements of the lyrics to A Singer Must Die are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by Leonard Cohen and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for A Singer Must Die back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to A Singer Must Die by Leonard Cohen in a number of ways. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to A Singer Must Die" means the words set to the music of A Singer Must Die, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Leonard Cohen. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to A Singer Must Die and the lyrics to A Singer Must Die are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Leonard Cohen who came here looking just for the lyrics to A Singer Must Die, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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