The Future
Leonard Cohen - [www.xyTune.com] Lyrics

Give me back my broken night
I long for the darkness and despair of my past.

My mirrored room, my secret life
I want my private space and hidden identity back.

It's lonely here,
I am isolated and disconnected from others.

There's no one left to torture
I have lost my power over others and cannot cause them pain.

Give me absolute control
I crave power over every living being.

Over every living soul
I want complete domination over all living things.

And lie beside me, baby
Join me in my desire for control and domination.

That's an order
This is not a request, it is a command.

Give me crack and anal sex
I pursue pleasure and addiction.

Take the only tree that's left
Destroy the last bit of nature.

And stuff it up the hole
Force it into the empty void where nature once existed.

In your culture
This is the destruction of the culture and society.

Give me back the Berlin wall
Bring back the division and conflict of the past.

Give me Stalin and St. Paul
Return to a time of tyrants and religion.

I've seen the future, brother
I have a vision of the future.

It is murder
It is filled with pain, suffering, and death.

Things are going to slide, slide in all directions
Everything is falling apart in every way imaginable.

Won't be nothing
There will be no stability or consistency.

Nothing you can measure anymore
Value and meaning will be impossible to quantify.

The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
The chaos and turmoil of the world is like a blizzard.

Has crossed the threshold
It has reached a point of no return.

And it has overturned
It has completely destroyed and upended.

The order of the soul
The fundamental nature of humanity is in chaos.

When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
The call to repentance is meaningless and confusing.

I wonder what they meant
I am skeptical about the true message of repentance.

You don't know me from the wind
You cannot understand or comprehend me.

You never will, you never did
It is impossible for others to know me.

I'm the little Jew
I am a small, insignificant person.

Who wrote the Bible
I am a writer of important texts.

I've seen the nations rise and fall
I have witnessed the history of humanity.

I've heard their stories, heard them all
I have absorbed the collective knowledge and stories of humanity.

But love's the only engine of survival
Love is the only thing that can sustain us and keep us alive.

Your servant here, he has been told
I have been tasked with communicating an important message.

To say it clear, to say it cold
I must be clear and direct in my message.

It's over, it ain't going
The end has come, there is no going back.

Any further
There is no more progress or hope.

And now the wheels of heaven stop
The universe has halted.

You feel the devil's riding crop
Suffering and punishment are inevitable.

Get ready for the future
Prepare yourself for what is to come.

It is murder
It is going to be violent and deadly.

There'll be the breaking of the ancient
The established order will be shattered.

Western code
The traditional codes of the Western world.

Your private life will suddenly explode
Your personal life will become public and chaotic.

There'll be phantoms
The supernatural will emerge.

There'll be fires on the road
Destruction and chaos will reign.

And the white man dancing
Those with power and privilege will be heedless of the disaster.

You'll see a woman
You will witness the suffering of others.

Hanging upside down
In a position of complete vulnerability.

Her features covered by her fallen gown
Her identity obscured and her dignity destroyed.

And all the lousy little poets
Even the artists and creatives will be corrupted.

Coming round
Gathering to exploit and glorify the destruction.

Tryin' to sound like Charlie Manson
Attempting to mimic the violent and disturbed cult leader.

Give me Christ or give me Hiroshima
I see no difference between religious and nuclear destruction.

Destroy another fetus now
I support even the destruction of innocent life.

We don't like children anyhow
We have lost our compassion for the innocent and vulnerable.

I've seen the future, baby
I have a dark view of what is to come.

It is murder
It is filled with pain, suffering, and death.

When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
The call to repentance is meaningless and confusing.

I wonder what they meant
I am skeptical about the true message of repentance.