Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
As part of the album’s general theme, “Is This What You Wanted” is widely believed to be part of Leonard Cohen’s farewell message to his then-partner and mother of his two children, Suzanne Elrod.
Cohen compares himself to his partner, perhaps unfavourably, through a series of analogies which can b...
[Verse 1]
You were the promise at dawn
I was the morning after
You were Jesus Christ, my Lord
I was the money lender
You were the sensitive woman
I was the very reverend Freud
You were the manual orgasm
I was the dirty little boy
[Chorus]
And is this what you wanted
To live in a house that is haunted
By the ghost of you and me?
Is this what you wanted
To live in a house that is haunted
By the ghost of you and me?
[Verse 2]
You were Marlon Brando
I was Steve McQueen
You were K-Y Jelly
I was Vaseline
You were the father of modern medicine
Yeah, I was Mr. Clean
You were the Whore and the Beast of Babylon,
I was Rin Tin Tin
[Chorus]
And is this what you wanted
To live in a house that is haunted
By the ghost of you and me?
And is this what you wanted
To live in a house that is haunted
By the ghost of you and me?
[Verse 3]
You got old and wrinkled
I stayed seventeen
You lusted after so many
I lay here with one
You defied your solitude
I came through alone
You said you could never love me
I undid your gown
[Chorus]
And is this what you wanted
To live in a house that is haunted
By the ghost of you and me?
And is this what you wanted
To live in a house that is haunted
By the ghost of you and me?
I mean, is this what you wanted
To live in a house that is haunted
By the ghost of you and me?
That's right, is this what you wanted
To live in a house
Is This What You Wanted was written by Leonard Cohen.
Is This What You Wanted was produced by John Lissauer & Leonard Cohen.
Leonard Cohen released Is This What You Wanted on Sun Aug 11 1974.
Introducing the song in New-York November 1974:
This is a song which represents a dialogue between you and your ideal lover. The ideal lover is not present for this particular dialogue, if indeed your ideal lover exists at all.
And again in Boston, February 1975
This following song is a dialogue...