You Want It Darker

Leonard Cohen * Track #1 On You Want It Darker

Download "You Want It Darker"

Album You Want It Darker

ALBUM

Leonard Cohen

2016

You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen

Release Date

Wed Sep 21 2016

Performed by

Leonard Cohen

Produced by

Adam Cohen

Writed by

Patrick Leonard & Leonard Cohen

About

The title track to Leonard Cohen’s most recent album, announced on his 82nd birthday, “delves into an unflinching exploration of the religious mind,” according to a press release.

The artist’s son Adam Cohen produced the track to haunting effect, juxtaposing his father’s minimalist vocal delivery w...

You Want It Darker Lyrics

[Verse 1: Leonard Cohen]
If you are the dealer
I'm out of the game
If you are the healer
It means I'm broken and lame
If thine is the glory then
Mine must be the shame
You want it darker
We kill the flame

[Verse 2: Leonard Cohen]
Magnified, sanctified
Be thy holy name
Vilified, crucified
In the human frame
A million candles burning
For the help that never came
You want it darker

[Chorus: Leonard Cohen]
Hineni, hineni
I'm ready, my Lord

[Verse 3: Leonard Cohen]
There's a lover in the story
But the story's still the same
There's a lullaby for suffering
And a paradox to blame
But it's written in the scriptures
And it's not some idle claim
You want it darker
We kill the flame

[Verse 4: Leonard Cohen]
They're lining up the prisoners
And the guards are taking aim
I struggled with some demons
They were middle-class and tame
I didn't know I had permission
To murder and to maim
You want it darker

[Chorus: Leonard Cohen]
Hineni, hineni
I'm ready, my Lord

[Verse 5: Leonard Cohen]
Magnified, sanctified
Be thy holy name
Vilified, crucified
In the human frame
A million candles burning
For the love that never came
You want it darker
We kill the flame

[Verse 6: Leonard Cohen]
If you are the dealer
Let me out of the game
If you are the healer
I'm broken and lame
If thine is the glory
Mine must be the shame
You want it darker

[Chorus: Leonard Cohen]
Hineni, hineni
Hineni, hineni
I'm ready, my Lord

[Outro: Cantor Gideon Zelermyer]
Hineni
Hineni, hineni
Hineni

You Want It Darker Q&A

Who wrote You Want It Darker's ?

You Want It Darker was written by Patrick Leonard & Leonard Cohen.

Who produced You Want It Darker's ?

You Want It Darker was produced by Adam Cohen.

When did Leonard Cohen release You Want It Darker?

Leonard Cohen released You Want It Darker on Wed Sep 21 2016.

What did Leonard Cohen say about "You Want It Darker"?

Regarding the choice to include the Shaar Hashomayim Choir on the song, Cohen said:

Even as a boy, I loved their singing. It is what made compulsory synagogue attendance enjoyable. I’ve wanted to work with the cantor and the choir for a long time. The touring years interrupted this intention. On a...