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Came So Far for Beauty Lyrics

I came so far for beauty
I left so much behind
My patience and my family
My masterpiece unsigned
I thought I'd be rewarded
For such a lonely choice
And surely she would answer
To such a very hopeless voice
I practiced all my sainthood
I gave to one and all
But the rumours of my virtue
They moved her not at all
I changed my style to silver
I changed my clothed to black
And where I would surrender
Now I would attack

I stormed the old casino
For the money and the flesh
And I myself decided
What was rotten and what was fresh
And men to do my bidding
And broken bones to teach
The value of my pardon
The shadow of my reach
But no, I could not touch her
With such a heavy hand
Her star beyond my order
Her nakedness unmanned
I came so far for beauty
I left so much behind
My patience and my family
My masterpiece unsigned
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Cover art for Came So Far for Beauty lyrics by Leonard Cohen

Her name is "Wisdom". The subject of this song bemoans the sacrifices he has made in the quest for understanding (family, wife, children, a "normal" life) and laments the fact that his "sainthood" - self-righteousness and false humility - amounts to diddly squat in Her most perfect eyes. He soon discovers that she, the Virgin of virgins, will never yield to his false chastity...

...so he throws a temper tantrum and eats the "Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil". He becomes his own personal little god and is rewarded in vanity.

He chose his will over Hers and missed out on the best Wife a man could ever have.

it is beauty he's talking about, not wisdom.

track is stupid.

@Hack&Slash You say, "Her name is Wisdom", but the title is 'I came so far for Beauty'. Just substitute 'Beauty' for 'she' in each line. He did all this trying to achieve beauty, to possess beauty, to impress beauty, but beauty doesn't care because beauty alone has no substance.

 
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