(Leonard Cohen / Patrick Leonard)
You said that you were with me
You said you were my friend
Did you really love the city
Or did you just pretend
You said you loved her secrets
And her freedoms hid away
She was better than America
That’s what I heard you say
You said how could this happen
You said how can this be
The remnant all dishonored
On the bridge of misery
And we who cried for mercy
From the bottom of the pit
Was our prayer so
damn unworthy
The Son rejected it?
So gather up the killers
Get everyone in town
Stand me by those pillars
Let me take this
temple down
The king so kind and solemn
He wears a bloody crown
So stand me by that column
Let me take this temple down
You said how could this happen
You said how can this be
The chains are gone from heaven
The storms are wild and free
There’s other ways to answer
That certainly is true
Me, I’m blind with death and anger
And that’s no place for you
There’s a woman in the window
And a bed in Tinsel Town
I’ll write you when it’s over
Let me take this temple down