Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
A 1948 song by Dick Blakeslee covered live by Cohen who continued to play the piece at least into the 1980s.
In the 1979 book “The Song of Leonard Cohen-Portrait of a poet, a friendship and a film”, Harry Rasky quotes Leonard Cohen as saying:
The song “Passing Through” is a song I learned when I w...
[Verse 1]
I saw Jesus on the cross on a hill called Calvary
"Do you hate mankind for what they done to you?"
He said, "Talk of love not hate, things to do, it's getting late
I've so little time and I'm only passin' through."
[Chorus]
Passin' through, passin' through
Sometimes happy, sometimes blue
Glad that I ran into you
Tell the people that you saw me passin' through
(Come a little closer, friend)
[Verse 2]
I saw Adam leave the garden with an apple in his hand
I said "Now you're out, what are you gonna do?"
"Plant some crops and pray for rain, maybe raise a little Cain
I'm an orphan now, and I'm only passin' through, so are you"
[Chorus]
Passin' through, passin' through
Sometimes happy, sometimes blue
Glad that I ran into you
Tell the people that you saw me passin' through
[Verse 3]
I was with Washington at Valley Forge, shivering in the snow
I said, "How come the men here suffer like they do?"
"Men will suffer, men will fight, even die for what is right
Even though they know they're only passin' through"
[Chorus]
Passin' through, passin' through
Sometimes happy, sometimes blue
Glad that I ran into you
Tell the people that you saw me passin' through
[Verse 4]
I was at Franklin Roosevelt's side on the night before he died
He said, "One world must come out of world war two" (ah, the fool)
"Yankee, Russian, white or tan," he said, "a man is still a man
We're all on one road, and we're only passin' through"
[Chorus]
Passin' through, passin' through
Sometimes happy, sometimes blue
Glad that I ran into you
Tell the people that you saw me passin' through
Let's do it one more time
[Chorus]
Passin' through, passin' through
Sometimes happy, sometimes blue
Glad that I ran into you
Tell the people that you saw me passin' through
Passing Through was written by Dick Blakeslee.
Passing Through was produced by Bob Johnston.
Leonard Cohen released Passing Through on Sun Apr 01 1973.
This is a political song written by Dick Blakeslee that and went on to become a folk standard.
Ronald D. Cohen and Dave Samuelson write on their book “Songs of Political Action”:
Curiously, the most popular song to emerge from Chicago didn’t come from the downtown office, but from the city’s south...