Cohen pursued a career as a poet and novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s; he did not launch a music career until 1967, at the age of 33. His first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967), was followed by three more albums of folk music: Songs from a Room (1969), Songs of Love and Hate (1971) and New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974). His 1977 record Death of a Ladies' Man, co-written and produced by Phil Spector, was a move away from Cohen's previous minimalist sound. In 1979, Cohen returned with the more traditional Recent Songs, which blended his acoustic style with jazz, Oriental, and Mediterranean influences. Perhaps Cohen's most famous song, "Hallelujah", was first released on his studio album Various Positions in 1984. I'm Your Man in 1988 marked Cohen's turn to synthesized productions and remains his most popular album. In 1992, Cohen released its follow-up, The Future, which had dark lyrics and references to political and social unrest.
Cohen returned to music in 2001 with the release of Ten New Songs, which was a major hit in Canada and Europe. His 11th album, Dear Heather, followed in 2004. Following a successful string of tours between 2008 and 2013, Cohen released three albums in the final four years of his life: Old Ideas (2012), Popular Problems (2014) and You Want It Darker (2016), the last of which was released three weeks before his death.
Leonard Cohen was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Westmount, Quebec, on September 21, 1934. His Lithuanian mother, Marsha Klonitsky ("Masha"; 1905–1978), was the daughter of a Talmudic writer, Rabbi Solomon Klonitsky-Kline, and emigrated to Canada in 1927. His paternal grandfather, whose family had moved from Poland to Canada, was Lyon Cohen, the founding president of the Canadian Jewish Congress. His father, Nathan Bernard Cohen (1891–1943), who owned a substantial clothing store, died when Cohen was nine years old. The family observed Orthodox Judaism, and belonged to Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, to which Cohen retained connections for the rest of his life. On the topic of being a Kohen, Cohen told Richard Goldstein in 1967, "I had a very Messianic childhood. I was told I was a descendant of Aaron, the high priest."
Cohen attended Roslyn Elementary School and completed grades seven through nine at Herzliah High School, where his literary mentor Irving Layton taught, then transferred in 1948 to Westmount High School, where he studied music and poetry. He became especially interested in the poetry of Federico García Lorca. Cohen involved himself actively beyond Westmount's curriculum, in photography, on the yearbook staff, as a cheerleader, in the arts and current events clubs, and even served in the position of president of the Students' Council while "heavily involved in the school's theater program". During that time, Cohen taught himself to play the acoustic guitar, and formed a country–folk group that he called the Buckskin Boys. After a young Spanish guitar player taught him "a few chords and some flamenco", Cohen switched to a classical guitar. He has attributed his love of music to his mother, who sang songs around the house: "I know that those changes, those melodies, touched me very much. She would sing with us when I took my guitar to a restaurant with some friends; my mother would come, and we'd often sing all night.
Cohen frequented Saint Laurent Boulevard for fun and ate at such places as the Main Deli Steak House. According to journalist David Sax, Cohen and one of his cousins would go to the Main Deli to "watch the gangsters, pimps, and wrestlers dance around the night". Cohen enjoyed the formerly raucous bars of Old Montreal as well as Saint Joseph's Oratory, which had the restaurant nearest to Westmount, for him and his friend Mort Rosengarten to share coffee and cigarettes. When Cohen left Westmount, he purchased a place on Saint-Laurent Boulevard, in the previously working-class neighbourhood of Little Portugal. He would read his poetry at assorted nearby clubs. In that period and that place, Cohen wrote the lyrics to some of his most famous songs.
Closing Time
Leonard Cohen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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
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
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
(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
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
(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
(I can't say much has happened since)
We're closing time
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,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
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
(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
Of closing time
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
(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)
Busted in the blinding lights
Of closing time
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 (closing time)
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
The gates of love they budged an inch
I can't say much has happened since
But closing time (closing time, closing time, 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
The lyrics to Leonard Cohen's song Closing Time paint a vivid picture of a bar at the end of the night. The scene is lively – people are drinking and dancing, the band is playing, and everyone is having a good time. However, there is a sense of desperation and sadness lurking under the surface. The singer's companion, the "angel of compassion," is rubbing half the world against her thigh as people lift their happy faces to thank her. The fiddler is playing something so sublime that it makes all the women tear their blouses off and the men dance on the polka-dots. But when the fiddler stops, it's hell to pay. Closing time is imminent, and the party must end.
As the partygoers make their way out of the bar, the scene shifts. It's lonely and romantic now. The cider is laced with acid, and the moon is swimming naked. The singer and his companion struggle and stagger down the snakes and up the ladder to the tower where the blessed hours chime. There, they share a sigh, a cry, and a hungry kiss. The gates of love budge an inch, but not much has happened since. The singer reflects on how he loved his companion for her beauty and body, but she was in it for her beauty too. There's a voice that sounds like God declaring that her body is really her. He loved her when their love was blessed, and he loves her now that there's nothing left but sorrow and a sense of overtime. He's missed her since the place got wrecked by the winds of change and the weeds of sex. The place is dead as heaven on a Saturday night, and there's nothing really happening. The boss doesn't like these dizzy heights, and they're busted in the blinding lights of closing time.
Line by Line Meaning
Ah we're drinking and we're dancing
We are socializing and enjoying ourselves
And the band is really happening
The band is playing amazing music
And the Johnny Walker wisdom running high
We are drinking heavily, and feeling the effects of the alcohol
And my very sweet companion
I am with someone who is kind and understanding
She's the angel of compassion
My companion is empathetic to the struggles of others
She's rubbing half the world against her thigh
My companion is comforting many people
And every drinker every dancer
Everyone in the room who is drinking or dancing
Lifts a happy face to thank her
Everyone is grateful for my companion's kindness
The fiddler fiddles something so sublime
The fiddler is playing beautiful music
All the women tear their blouses off
The women are enjoying themselves so much that they are becoming uninhibited
And the men they dance on the polka-dots
The men are also having fun dancing
And it's partner found, it's partner lost
People are pairing up, and then separating again
And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops
When the music ends, the fun ends too
It's closing time
The party is over
Yeah the women tear their blouses off
The women are still enjoying themselves
And the men they dance on the polka-dots
The men are still dancing
And it's partner found, it's partner lost
People are still pairing up and separating
And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops
The fun will end when the music stops
Ah we're lonely, we're romantic
We are feeling lonely and longing for romance
And the cider's laced with acid
The cider we are drinking is mixed with a drug
And the holy spirit's crying, where's the beef?
Someone is expressing disappointment with the lack of substance in the situation
And the moon is swimming naked
The moon is shining bright in the night sky
And the summer night is fragrant
The warm evening air smells sweet and pleasant
With a mighty expectation of relief
We are hoping for some kind of release from our loneliness or discontent
So we struggle and we stagger
We are trying to cope with our feelings
Down the snakes and up the ladder
We are going through ups and downs
To the tower where the blessed hours chime
We are seeking out a higher place or a better state of mind
And I swear it happened just like this
This is a true story that happened to me
A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
I experienced a moment of deep emotion and passion
The gates of love they budged an inch
My feelings towards someone else intensified slightly
I can't say much has happened since
Things haven't really progressed since that moment
Yeah I missed you since the place got wrecked
I long for someone I was with before everything fell apart
And I just don't care what happens next
I am feeling hopeless about the future
Looks like freedom but it feels like death
The situation appears to be liberating, but it is really depressing
It's something in between, I guess
The reality is somewhere in between good and bad
I loved you for your beauty
I was initially drawn to you because of your physical appearance
But that doesn't make a fool of me
I am not foolish for being attracted to someone based on their looks
You were in it for your beauty too
The other person was also attracted to me for superficial reasons
And I loved you for your body
I was also physically drawn to the other person
There's a voice that sounds like god to me
I am hearing something that feels like an important message
Declaring, (declaring) declaring,declaring that your body's really you
The voice is telling me that someone's physical appearance is a true reflection of who they are
And I loved you when our love was blessed
I was happy with the other person when our relationship seemed promising
And I love you now there's nothing left
I still care about the other person even though our relationship has deteriorated
But sorrow and a sense of overtime
I am now feeling sad and like I have been working too hard for nothing
The whole damn place goes crazy twice
Everyone in the room is going wild
And it's once for the devil and once for Christ
People are experiencing highs and lows, positive and negative emotions
But the boss don't like these dizzy heights
Authority figures do not approve of this hysteria
We're busted in the blinding lights
We are caught and exposed for our wild behavior
Of closing time
The party is over
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Leonard Cohen
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Mark-ld5um
"I loved you for your beauty but that doesn't make a fool of me, you were in it for your beauty too". Amazing lyric
@richardmeyer6917
Had the honor to see him perform again here in Los Angeles a month or two before he died. During the concert, Cohen commented that he'd turn 80 the following week, "So now i can finally start smoking again and not give a shit." Along with wisdom, he always owned an now immortal sense of humor.
@richardsmith2684
my wife who i met when i was 16 died a few weeks ago,,now i started drinking again and dont give shit
@patagualianmostly7437
Yeah... we get that way...getting close myself... we don't give a shite.... .... People look aghast at me... BOH! WTF.? We all get here.
@patagualianmostly7437
@@richardsmith2684 Been there my Friend... still there. It's hard.... But it's not the way. Come on. Talk to me. We have issues. I am here for you....
@elainewilson3866
Cannot get enough of him...still feeling our loss...long live his music and poetry.
@Pureheart_gentlesoul
Hello Elaine
@markbunce3405
It always will 👍💛
@alexrozenbom3430
beautiful words. thanks
@sunshine999
Love so many of his songs!