Happens to the Heart (2019)
Leonard Cohen * Track #1 On Thanks for the Dance
Download "Happens to the Heart (2019)"
Album Thanks for the Dance
Happens to the Heart (2019) by Leonard Cohen
Performed by
Leonard CohenProduced by
Adam CohenAbout
The phrase “What happens to the heart”, which is repeated throughout the song, seems to refer to the question of “What happens to the meaning which we strive for in life, once life is over”.
Alternatively it could mean “What happens to the heart later in life, when we are no longer resilient and hav...
Happens to the Heart (2019) Lyrics
[Verse 1]
I was always working steady
But I never called it art
I got my shit together
Meeting Christ and reading Marx
It failed my little fire
But it's bright the dying spark
Go tell the young messiah
What happens to the heart
[Verse 2]
There's a mist of summer kisses
Where I tried to double-park
The rivalry was vicious
The women were in charge
It was nothing, it was business
But it left an ugly mark
I've come here to revisit
What happens to the heart
[Verse 3]
I was selling holy trinkets
I was dressing kind of sharp
Had a pussy in the kitchen
And a panther in the yard
In the prison of the gifted
I was friendly with the guards
So I never had to witness
What happens to the heart
[Verse 4]
I should have seen it coming
After all I knew the chart
Just to look at her was trouble
It was trouble from the start
Sure we played a stunning couple
But I never liked the part
It ain't pretty, it ain't subtle
What happens to the heart
[Verse 5]
Now the angel's got a fiddle
The devil's got a harp
Every soul is like a minnow
Every mind is like a shark
I've broken every window
But the house, the house is dark
I care but very little
What happens to the heart
[Verse 6]
Then I studied with this beggar
He was filthy, he was scarred
By the claws of many women
He had failed to disregard
No fable here no lesson
No singing meadowlark
Just a filthy beggar guessing
What happens to the heart
[Verse 7]
I was always working steady
But I never called it art
It was just some old convention
Like the horse before the cart
I had no trouble betting
On the flood, against the ark
You see, I knew about the ending
What happens to the heart
[Outro]
I was handy with a rifle
My father's .303
I fought for something final
Not the right to disagree
Happens to the Heart (2019) Q&A
Who wrote Happens to the Heart (2019)'s ?
Happens to the Heart (2019) was written by Adam Cohen & Leonard Cohen.
Who produced Happens to the Heart (2019)'s ?
Happens to the Heart (2019) was produced by Adam Cohen.
What has the media said about the song?
Rolling Stone ranked “Happens to the Heart” as the #26 song of 2019, saying:
Cohen wrote and recorded until his final breaths, and ‘Happens to the Heart’ is a magnificent parting shot that’s also that rare thing — a posthumous work that feels as alive and essential as anything issued in the artist’...
What did Leonard Cohen say about "Happens to the Heart (2019)"?
Anyone who knew Leonard Cohen at the end of his life knew that there was one song he was obsessively and compulsively writing and trying to perfect, and that was ‘Happens to the Heart.’ He was hell-bent—or heaven-bent—on completing it, and we just were unable to get a musical accompaniment that he w...