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

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Alexandra Leaving Lyrics as written by Sharon Robinson Leonard Cohen

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Alexandra Leaving song meanings

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This is one of my very favorite songs. Thespianphryne has done his/her homework. I studied the same history when I first fell in love with the song. Leonard took a fallen leader's love for his city and made subtle changes in the original poem to remake it into a deep and gorgeous song about a lost lover. There are several lines that are almost identical, lifted from the original poem. I am not suggesting it is plagiarized, but rather it is genious.
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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:
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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.

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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.
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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.
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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!
This is one of my very favorite songs. Thespianphryne has done his/her homework. I studied the same history when I first fell in love with the song. Leonard took a fallen leader's love for his city and made subtle changes in the original poem to remake it into a deep and gorgeous song about a lost lover. There are several lines that are almost identical, lifted from the original poem. I am not suggesting it is plagiarized, but rather it is genious. 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!

Reason:

andyhillon January 19, 2008 Link
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@andyhill

You and Thespian had some great points. I was intrigued by the poem imagery, but that fits perfectly. To me, this song is about that terrible moment when your lover stops loving you. The god of love departs, taking a man's beloved with him. That is the "lord". However, I would say this man is not innocent. The lines "in full command of every plan you wrecked" seem to indicate otherwise. This is a man who can't seem to get out of his own way in love (we all know someone like that, don't we?) He restores his status by having Alexandra, but she has ideas to leave. Even though she's still lying next to him in bed, and kisses him good morning, she's as good as gone. The man is intuitive enough to notice it (suddenly the night has grown colder...") 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.

hauntedfoxon March 19, 2009

The correct word is indeed "first," not "firm." It's in Sharon Robinson's exquisite rendering of the song on her "Everybody Knows" album, and you can find the Cavafy reference here leonardcohenfiles.com/alexandra.html and here leonardcohenfiles.com/cavafy.html. Now how can the lyrics on this site be corrected?

slowthighson March 19, 2010

@andyhill Greetings from Norway :-) 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/watch - 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. :-) 

steinar109on September 20, 2020