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.
Lullaby
Leonard Cohen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The day’s on the run
The wind in the trees
Is talking in tongues
If your heart is torn
I don’t wonder why
If the night is long
Here’s my lullaby
Well the mouse ate the crumb
Then the cat ate the crust
Now they’ve fallen in love
They’re talking in tongues
If your heart is torn
I don’t wonder why
If the night is long
Here’s my lullaby
Here’s my lullaby
Sleep baby sleep
There’s a morning to come
The wind in the trees
They’re talking in tongues
If your heart is torn
I don’t wonder why
If the night is long
Here’s my lullaby
Here’s my lullaby
The lyrics of Leonard Cohen’s “Lullaby” are a soothing, tender and contemplative conversation between the singer and his sweetheart, assuming the role of a father figure lulling a baby to sleep with the promise of impending morning. The initial two verses describe the transition from a tiring day into a peaceful night. The wind in the trees, according to the singer, is talking in tongues, a symbolic reference to the natural world’s incomprehensible divine language that becomes more audible once the day’s noisy distractions are gone.
The third verse of the song tells the story of a mouse eating a crumb, followed by a cat which ate the crust. The song's narrative then jumps into a fairy tale with a happy ending: the cat and mouse falling in love and speaking in tongues. This scene presents the simplicity of love and how two entirely different entities can unite, celebrating how love overcomes barriers of difference. The comforting refrain “if your heart is torn, I don’t wonder why” sung throughout the song suggests that the listener's pain is understood and that the soothing sounds of the lullaby serve to comfort.
Line by Line Meaning
Sleep baby sleep
Calm down and close your eyes, my dear child
The day’s on the run
The day is almost over and coming to an end
The wind in the trees
The sound of leaves rustling in the night
Is talking in tongues
The rustling of leaves sounds like whispers in a foreign language
If your heart is torn
If you're feeling sad and heartbroken
I don’t wonder why
I understand why you feel this way
If the night is long
If your troubles seem endless and overwhelming
Here’s my lullaby
I'll sing you a comforting song to ease your pain and lull you to sleep
Well the mouse ate the crumb
A simple story to depict how unexpected love can be
Then the cat ate the crust
Another unexpected turn of events in the tiny tale
Now they’ve fallen in love
The surprise conclusion - the cat and mouse are in love
They’re talking in tongues
They communicate with each other in their own secret language, just like the wind in the trees
There’s a morning to come
Tomorrow is a new day with new possibilities and opportunities
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, ACUM Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JON COHEN, DP, HAYLEY WESTENRA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@rosieellenhollingsworth830
My beloved beloved darling
I passed out at ten o'clock
Sleeping from exhaustion
Only to wake up at one o'clock
Could I get back too sleep
No my legs would not stop twitching
So here I am listing too my Lullaby
From my beloved darling
I feel relaxed now
And can finally fall asleep again my darling
I love you with all my essence and more
Oh too be in your arms and sleep with my beloved
I will check in with you tonight
I'm going to sleep now
My legs are at rest
I love love you beloved one
Thank you for my Lullaby
I send you kisses and hugs of my pure love
FOR YOU
Night night till tonight
@debbyandvik
Sleep, baby, sleep (ooh)
The day's on the run (ooh)
The wind in the trees (ooh)
Is talking in tongues (ooh)
I don't wonder why
If the night is long (if the night is long)
Here's my lullaby
Here's my lullaby
Well, the mouse ate the crumb (ooh)
Then the cat ate the crust (ooh)
Now they've fallen in love (ooh)
And they're talking in tongues (ooh)
I don't wonder why
If the night is long
Here's my lullaby
Here's my lullaby
Sleep, baby, sleep (ooh)
There's a morning to come (ooh)
The wind in the trees (ooh)
They're talking in tongues (ooh)
I don't wonder why
If the night is long (if the night is long)
Here's my lullaby
Here's my lullaby
@pepotecoll7315
Lullaby (traducción al Español)
Artista: Leonard Cohen
Canción: Lullaby •Álbum: Old Ideas (2012)
Traducciones: Español+12 más
traducción al EspañolA A
Canción de Cuna
Duerme, bebé, duerme
Los días se están escapando
El viento en los árboles
Está hablando en lenguas
Si tu corazón está desgarrado
No me pregunto por qué
Si la noche es larga
Aquí está mi canción de cuna
Aquí está mi canción de cuna
Bueno, el ratón se comió la migaja
Luego el gato se comió la corteza
Ahora se enamoraron
Y hablan en lenguas
Si tu corazón está desgarrado
No me pregunto por qué
Si la noche es larga
Aquí está mi canción de cuna
Aquí está mi canción de cuna
Duerme, bebé, duerme
Los días se están escapando
El viento en los árboles
Está hablando en lenguas
Si tu corazón está desgarrado
No me pregunto por qué
Si la noche es larga
Aquí está mi canción de cuna
Aquí está mi canción de cuna
¡Gracias! ❤ facebook twitter
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Publicado por josevalquij
@rosieellenhollingsworth830
My beloved beloved darling
I could't sleep
I had to listen to
My lullaby
Now I'm relaxed
I will explain
When I awaken
I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU
MY BELOVED BELOVED DARLING
I'll listen one more time
To sleep with your
Voice in my head
Longing for you
Night night my beloved
@rosieellenhollingsworth830
My beloved beloved one
I'm listing to my Lullaby
I cold't sleep
Now I'll sleep
With you ringing
In my ears
Soon I won't be sleeping
Alone anymore
The mouse
And the cat
Will be taking
In tongs
Sleeping together
As they are so in love
Now more
feeling so cold
We'll be so
Warm in a blanket together
Made of the purest of love
Now more long lonely nights
I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU
GOODNIGHT MY DARLING DARLING
BELOVED BELOVED ONE
A MILLION KISSES
FROM ME TO YOU
TO KEEP YOU WARM
AND LOVED
ON THIS LONG LONLEY NIGHT
NIGHT NIGHT MY LOVE
@sidweightman851
My dog was named after Leonard Cohen and I played him this song every night at bedtime. When he was put to sleep I sang it to him when he sedated. I still play it at bedtime just in case he can hear it.
@CARS63
I think I've listened to this song a million times now since its release. Every time it's more beautiful and I am more deeply soothed. I miss you, Mr. Cohen.
@bonniebarr5003
It's my go to song to soothe my ragged soul...
@PammyDawn
I have recently discovered Leonard Cohens music and have fallen in love with that voice and there hasn't been a song that I haven't loved. He was such a handsome young man and just as handsome as he aged. I wonder, why had I never heard him or about his music in my 69 years? I could listen to that "golden voice" (like he said in Tower of song) forever!
@philipopruesse4259
Same here. Discovered at age 69 1 year ago
@collegeboy8671
Man with the golden voice
@ivanstephen206
I've been immersing myself in his music, and I think he did much of his best work in his last 25 years.
@pernilladagger-magnell5111
Leonard's voice, gets more beautiful by the year, decade, and hopefully a century...
@bigh9809
Eons, if not infinity
@kathrynaann2461
Definitely