©Leonard Cohen, released on Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)
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I met a woman long ago
her hair the black that black can go,
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Soft she answered no.
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I met a girl across the sea,
her hair the gold that gold can be,
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Yes, but not for thee.
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I met a man who lost his mind
in some lost place I had to find,
follow me the wise man said,
but he walked behind.
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I walked into a hospital
where none was sick and none was well,
when at night the nurses left
I could not walk at all.
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Morning came and then came noon,
dinner time a scalpel blade
lay beside my silver spoon.
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Some girls wander by mistake
into the mess that scalpels make.
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to break.
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One morning I woke up alone,
the hospital and the nurses gone.
Have I carved enough my Lord?
Child, you are a bone.
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I ate and ate and ate,
no I did not miss a plate, well
How much do these suppers cost?
We'll take it out in hate.
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I spent my hatred everyplace,
on every work on every face,
someone gave me wishes
and I wished for an embrace.
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Several girls embraced me, then
I was embraced by men,
Is my passion perfect?
No, do it once again.
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I was handsome I was strong,
I knew the words of every song.
Did my singing please you?
No, the words you sang were wrong.
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Who is it whom I address,
who takes down what I confess?
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to rest.
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Oh teachers are my lessons done?
I cannot do another one.
They laughed and laughed and said, Well child,
are your lessons done?
are your lessons done?
are your lessons done?
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