Various Positions:

Night Comes On

written by Leonard Cohen

Chords:

Dsus4:          xx0233
Dsus2:          xx0230
C/g:            332010   or   3x2013

Intro: D.. Dsus4..|D.. Dsus2..|  (x2)

        D            Dsus4
I went down to the place
          D           Dsus2
Where I knew she lay waiting
D          Dsus4           A
Under the marble and the snow
         D            Dsus4
I said, Mother, I'm frightened
      D              Dsus2
The thunder and the lightning
      D            Dsus4        A
I'll never come through this alone
     G             C/g
She said, I'll be with you
     G             C/g
My shawl wrapped around you
    G            C/g           G
My hand on your head when you go
         D
And the night came on
    Am
It was very calm
   F                      C
I wanted that night to go on and on
         G                             D   Dsus4   D   Dsus4
But she said, Go back, go back to the World

We were fighting in Egypt
When they signed this agreement
That nobody else had to die
There was this terrible sound
And my father went down
With a terrible wound in his side
He said, Try to go on
Take my books, take my gun
And remember, my son, how they lied
And the night comes on
And it's very calm
I'd like to pretend that my father was wrong
But you don't want to lie, not to the young

We were locked in this kitchen
I took to religion
And I wondered how long she would stay
I needed so much
To have nothing to touch
I've always been greedy that way
But my son and my daughter
Climbed out of the water
Crying, Papa, you promised to play
And they lead me away
To the great surprise
It's Papa don't peek, Papa, cover your eyes
And they hide, they hide in the world

Now I look for her always
I'm lost in this calling
I'm tied to the threads of some prayer
Saying, When will she summon me
When will she come to me
What must I do to prepare
When she bends to my longing
Like a willow, like a fountain
She stands in the luminous air
And the night comes on
And it's very calm
I lie in her arms and she says, When I'm gone
I'll be yours, yours for a song

Now the crickets are singing
The vesper bells ringing
The cat's curled asleep in his chair
I'll go down to Bill's Bar
I can make it that far
And I'll see if my friends are still there
Yes, and here's to the few
Who forgive what you do
And the fewer who don't even care
And the night comes on
It's very calm
I want to cross over, I want to go home
But she says, Go back, go back to the World