Dress Rehearsal Rag

leonard cohen

four o'clock in the afternoon and I didn't feel like very much
I said to myself "where are you golden boy • where is your famous golden touch?
I thought you knew where all of the elephants lie down?
I thought you were the crown prince of all the wheels in Ivory Town?"
just take a look at your body now : there's nothing much to save
and a bitter voice in the mirror cries "hey prince, you need a shave"
now if you can manage to get your trembling fingers to behave
why don't you try unwrapping a stainless steel razor blade
that's right, it's come to this • yes it's come to this
and wasn't it a long way down? wasn't it a strange way down?

there's no hot water and the cold is running thin
well what do you expect from that kind of places you've been living in?
don't drink from that cup • it's all caked and cracked along the rim
that's not the electric light my friend • it's your vision growing dim
cover up your face with soap there : now you're Santa Claus
and you got a gift for everyone who will give you his applause
I thaught you were a racing man • but you couldn't take the pace
that's a funeral in the mirror and it's stopping at your face
that's right, it's come to this • yes it's come to this
and wasn't it a long way down? wasn't it a strange way down?

once there was a path and a girl with chestnut hair
and you passed the summeres picking all the berries that grew there
there were times she was a woman • there were times she was just a child
and you held her in the shadows where the raspberries grew wild
and you climbed the twilight mountains and sang about the wiew
and everywhere you wandered love seemed to go along with you
that's a hard one to remember • yes it makes you clench your fist
and the veins stand out like highways all along your wrist
and yes it's come to this • yes it's come to this
and wasn't it a long way down? wasn't it a strange way down?

you can still find a job • go out and talk to a friend
on the back of every magazine there are more coupons you can send
why don't you join the Rosicrucians ? they will give you back your hope
you can find your love in diagrams on a plain brown envelope
but you've used up all your coupons except the one that seems
to be written on your wrist along with several thousand dreams
now Santa Claus comes forward : there's a razor in his mitt
and he puts on his dark glasses and he shows you where to hit
and then the cameras pan • the stand in stunt man
dress rehearsal rag • it's just the dress rehearsal rag