Suddenly the night has grown colder
The god of love preparing to depart
Alexandra hoisted on his shoulder
They slip between the sentries of the heart
Upheld by the simplicities of pleasure
They gain the light, they formlessly entwine
And radiant beyond your widest measure
They fall among the voices and the wine
It's not a trick, your senses all deceiving
A fitful dream, the morning will exhaust
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost
Even though she sleeps upon your satin
Even though she wakes you with a kiss
Do not say the moment was imagined
Do not stoop to strategies like this
As someone long prepared for this to happen
Go firmly to the window, drink it in
Exquisite music, Alexandra laughing
Your first commitments, tangible again
And you who had the honor of her evening
And by the honor had your own restored
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Alexandra leaving with her Lord
Even though she sleeps upon your satin
Even though she wakes you with a kiss
Do not say the moment was imagined
Do not stoop to strategies like this
As someone long prepared for the occasion
In full command of every plan you wrecked
Do not choose a coward's explanation
That hides behind the cause and the effect
And you who were bewildered by a meaning
Whose code was broken, crucifix uncrossed
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost
The god of love preparing to depart
Alexandra hoisted on his shoulder
They slip between the sentries of the heart
Upheld by the simplicities of pleasure
They gain the light, they formlessly entwine
And radiant beyond your widest measure
They fall among the voices and the wine
It's not a trick, your senses all deceiving
A fitful dream, the morning will exhaust
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost
Even though she sleeps upon your satin
Even though she wakes you with a kiss
Do not say the moment was imagined
Do not stoop to strategies like this
As someone long prepared for this to happen
Go firmly to the window, drink it in
Exquisite music, Alexandra laughing
Your first commitments, tangible again
And you who had the honor of her evening
And by the honor had your own restored
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Alexandra leaving with her Lord
Even though she sleeps upon your satin
Even though she wakes you with a kiss
Do not say the moment was imagined
Do not stoop to strategies like this
As someone long prepared for the occasion
In full command of every plan you wrecked
Do not choose a coward's explanation
That hides behind the cause and the effect
And you who were bewildered by a meaning
Whose code was broken, crucifix uncrossed
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost
Lyrics submitted by killingjuliet, edited by jensfiederer
Alexandra Leaving Lyrics as written by Sharon Robinson Leonard Cohen
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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Leonard Cohen changes Alexandria to Alexandra, making the loss more firmly that of love. The song, in Cohen's hands, becomes about how to face the loss of a lover and all the accompanying promises and expectations. The warrior's exhortation to face up to the loss of life on the eve of battle transforms into the lover's counsel to be strong and accept the loss of a relationship.
The song as written carries no particular significance to specific biographical events in Cohen's life but is more of a symbolic dirge carrying many layers of meaning.
Strange that others still ignore it after reading this exc. comment.
It would be more unusual if this song didn't work on multiple levels.
I've alway thought it was about the end of a relationship, the moment when you accept it's really over but you have yet to go through the motions (and still feel something for your partner)
Particularly
As someone long prepared for the occasion;
In full command of every plan you wrecked -
Do not choose a coward's explanation
that hides behind the cause and the effect.
i.e. face the fact that you need to end things.
I thought Alexandra leaving was metaphorical, your feelings for her are ending.
Anyway this is one of my all time favourite songs, absolutely beautiful.
I believe that the love affair was a long one, however, like Antony with the city of Alexandria, not a short one. Leonard is capable of writing very explicit sex scenes from time to time, and I think if this was about a one night stand there would be more of that. Rather, he says things like:
Even though she sleeps upon your satin;
Even though she wakes you with a kiss.
Do not say the moment was imagined;
I interpret this to mean that that it is the simplest mundane scene such as her lying in his bed, or a single kiss, that in her absence has become such a powerful and painful image that he considers anaesthetising himself by forgetting it or even denying that it ever really happened.
.
I believe the lover is dying or has died. The line "Alexandra leaving with her lord", suggests this to me. In the mind of the singer, she is ascending, rather than leaving with another guy. His constant exhortation to "say good-bye to Alexandra" also suggests to me that this is a final exit.
Just out of interest, I'm pretty sure the line is "Your FIRST commitments, tangible again", not "FIRM commitments". I see it written as "firm" everywhere. I am a singer, and had been performing the song with the word "first", when I read "firm" on Cohen's website.
I like "first" because it conjures up an image of a guy looking back on the earliest days of this beloved relationship, and recalling the promises they made to each other.
Of course I listened to it again to see if my interpretation changed, but it still sounds like "first" to me. That line is another reason why I think the relationship is not a one night stand.
I've enjoyed reading everyone's comments. This is my first!
There are many wonderful songs comparing the loss of love to the loss of a kingdom or porperty (think Fleetwood Mac's "rulers make bad lovers/ you better put your kingdom up for sale"). The metaphor is very powerful in this song, and the writing is exquisite. I am a poet myself, and capturing that single important moment in time is the hardest thing to do. Cohen does this so beautifully here it makes my heart ache in its simplicity.
Now how can the lyrics on this site be corrected?
Thank you so much for sharing your interpretation.
This is my first comment in here as well.
One of my all time favourite songs.
In this version - youtube.com/… - Sharon Robinson sings "FIRST commitments" without a doubt :-)
Also, the word "again" suggest it being "first", although "firm" would be very cohen-esque as well ;-)
I particularly enjoy your thoughts on these lines (and I find your interpretation here rather beautiful) :
Even though she sleeps upon your satin;
Even though she wakes you with a kiss.
Do not say the moment was imagined.
This song really helped me through a heart break, a "love grief" as it's translated from Norwegian.
It's easy to say "the moment was imagined"; to downplay the significance of the relationship, in order to try to make it less hurtful now that it's over, and to focus on the negative things, and so on. "Maybe it wasn't as beautiful as I feel. Maybe it wasn't for her, maybe it wasn't for me..." Well, it was.
:-)
So let's do like Cohen, and do not stoop to strategies like this.
I do see your argument, that the song is about Alexandra actually dying; the final good-bye. However, the line "Alexandra leaving with her lord" can also point to "Lord = Love", as in the first verse: The god of love preparing to depart." So the line can be translated into "Alexandra leaving with her (divine) love".
Or "the lord" can mean a man, whom Alexandra is going to be subservient to, like a servant for her lord. I feel that Cohen was not a stranger to this concept in terms of love relationships. I guess that he found it rather romantic :-) Maybe this feeling and guess of mine is rooted in his song lyrics and poems. I think so, but I do not remember any examples.
The explanation that you suggest, is the most straightforward, and the simple is often correct ;-) I just wanted to share my thoughts on it. Now when I think about it, I do not want it to be the way you suggest, because that doesn't fit with My heart break ;-) :-p :-)
The following lines are very dear to me:
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost
First, one has to come to terms with the actual break-up.
Then, one has to come to terms with the sorrow, with the fact that now you are not together anymore.. :'-) This way, you can free yourself from the sorrow, let it go, and move on.
:-)
She will go, you are prepared to what will happen to you since you've been through this experience, but you will suffer anyway as the first day. And if you don't suffer the loss of love, you have not fallen in love.
"As someone long prepared for the occasion;
In full command of every plan you wrecked -
Do not choose a coward's explanation
that hides behind the cause and the effect".
You are prepared, but there are no excuses,
face the fact and suffer what you have to suffer.
You will suffer anyway.
"It's not a trick, your senses all deceiving,
A fitful dream, the morning will exhaust"
There is no way out, no trick, you have loved with all your senses,
wisdom will not help here, the light of the morning will make as real in all your flesh.
"Do not say the moment was imagined;
Do not stoop to strategies like this"
Don't fool yourself. Again the same message.
"And you who were bewildered by a meaning;
Whose code was broken, crucifix uncrossed -
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving.
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost"
Don't ask for a meaning. Just say goodbye.
Don't mix with explanations, don't stayed linked to the past,
even if it was an epiphany, .
Mourn it as much as you need, assume it,
code broken (no words to explain it),
no religion to relieve it (crucifix uncrossed),
reality is there with its full power,
whatever yoe ito with your mind.
Face it: It's the only way to be redeemed.
Beautiful words chosen by Leonard to say this.
My daughter is three. At the most bizarre hours she wakes me with a kiss, joins us in our bed, smashes me in the nose with a hardback storybook, and penetrates my armoured cynicism. The love of a father for his daughter is not sexual, but it is sensual in a non-rational and innocent way. When she told me she had a "boyfriend," my momentary impulse was jealousy: "who is this punk?" It turns out he was a younger man: only two. But a punk nonetheless, I say!
Losing her to another man, or to death (likely my own) is something that will be heartrending -- but natural and of course inevitable. I hope to face that moment with love, compassion and dignity; I will probably blub like a baby. That's what "Alexandra Leaving" says to me.
Firstly you cannot completely understand this song without knowing the background of the plutarch story and the Cavafy poem and the historical context. Cohen has mixed it up a bit. But here I agree with MichaelBarry about the range of interpretations. The mixing up is its essence. Multiple meanings are an inherent part of the appeal of literature and here it is mixed up so that we cannot tell what kind of loss it is but only very clearly that this is about facing imminent loss. Representing a city by a woman is a traditional literary device (it's Biblical even). There's support for an interpretation of losing the woman to another man, for her dying, for Alexandra to be the historical city and because of these ambiguities the song is therefore about all loss and especially Alexandra represents life itself and her loss is the occasion (death) for which each is long prepared. So it transcends the mere historical event and makes it timeless and something with which we can all empathise.
For me this even makes the TS Eliot idea of building on previous literature seem a bit more justifiable.
Having understood the background of the plutarch story and historical context, in reply to andyhill interesting analysis (last year) I would say that "Do not say the moment was imagined" refers in fact not in fact to the past with Alexandra but to the moment of premonition (corresponding to the procession through the city) when you foresee the loss - this is "Alexandra leaving". Do not pretend you did not foresee her leaving, do not tell yourself that it is not going to happen. But the "drink it in" is also an exhortation to continue enjoying Alexandra (life) while fully facing the fact that you are about to lose her. The actual loss which will follow is "Alexandra lost".
I think, that AL is about feeling, that you get when you have to leave some beloved person. But it is not braking up, there is no fight, no argument, no bitterness. Of course, I was thinking of death. Especially when you read the poem, that inspired Cohen- The God abandons Antony by Constantine P. Cavafy. But it´s Alexandria, the town, that is dying.
The god forsakes Antony
When suddenly, at midnight, you hear
an invisible procession going by
with exquisite music, voices,
don’t mourn your luck that’s failing now,
work gone wrong, your plans
all proving deceptive–don’t mourn them uselessly.
As one long prepared, and graced with courage,
say goodbye to her, the Alexandria that is leaving.
Above all, don’t fool yourself, don’t say
it was a dream, your ears deceived you:
don’t degrade yourself with empty hopes like these.
As one long prepared, and graced with courage,
as is right for you who were given this kind of city,
go firmly to the window
and listen with deep emotion, but not
with the whining, the pleas of a coward;
listen–your final delectation–to the voices,
to the exquisite music of that strange procession,
and say goodbye to her, to the Alexandria you are losing.
But what about the last strophe? "You, who were bewildered by a meaninig, whose code was broken, crucifix uncrossed....." In this point of view it seems to me, that these two people are lovers and one of them, I suppose the man, has to get back to family, becouse of duty, becouse of illness, who knows. Once he vowed to stand by a woman-his wife, even though his heart is no more with her. He didn´t mean to be unfaithfull, but something happend (his moral code was broken).
But maybe (probably) Cohen didn´t mean some particular situation, he just used the poem, turn it a little bit to some other and slightly mysterious meaning just to make us feel the way we feel, when listening to it. The inevitable lost of something beautiful, of somebody deeply beloved, that will never come back.
To me, Alexandra is a lady who doesn't find the love she wants/needs with her partner, so she chooses true Love.
Her name alone: Alexandra, a name for queens! it's not (f.e.) Penny leaving...and: A leaves with her (not: 'a') lord, so she must be a lady. And she is sophisticated: evenings with her are an honor, there is company, wine and exquisite music. It's not about the nights, it's all about the magic evenings.
She brings beautiful things in his life and she is sweet: she wakes him with a kiss. What more could a man want?
And now: what is his input? She sleeps upon his satin so that means luxury. I think that's not what she wants. He is a broken man, his honor is gone or damaged (how? when? why?) : not a solid base for a relationship. He wrecks every plan, not by accident but in full command: he is destructive and he doesn't keep of remember his first commitment, only when it is too late. He clearly is no lord, the code is broken and the crucifix uncrossed.
I think it is his doing the relationship doesn't work out. It is not: A left (her doing) no it's A lost (by him and his doing). He didn't return the gifts she brought him.
No wonder she concludes: I have tried everything, now move on, and leave with Love itself. She doesn't believe anymore in this man, but still believes in love. Impossible to force someone to love or keep loving you, not even by putting sentries near the heart! Love will slip through.
The man realizes what is happening and although he saw it coming he is in denial: this can't be real, this is too awful to be real, when I wake up I'll find it was a nightmare... only now he remember his first commitments but alas: too little, too late.
But even in leaving A is gracious. She does it in the open, she gives him the opportunity one last time to hear the music of her laughter and to say goodbye with some dignity.
I feel sorry for the man, but I understand A: a girl's gotta do what a girl 's gotta do
i personally believe this song is about two lovers which have been separated due to the main character being imprisoned for something and alexandra his lover who comes to visit him on his last night."They slip between the sentries of the heart" suggests that they are being guarded yet alexandra manages to get in.. they spend the night with each other... and the next morning the main character is trying to contemplate whether tha evening actually did take place.
Matt, 15
(yes i know i may be only 15 but perhaps you should try reading between the lines)