Night Comes On Lyrics - The Essential Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen

I went down to the place where I knew she lay waiting 

Under the marble and the snow 

I said, Mother I'm frightened, the thunder and the lightning 

I'll never come through this alone 

She said, I'll be with you, my shawl wrapped around you 

My hand on your head when you go 

And the night came on, it was very calm 

I wanted the night to go on and on 

But she said, go back, go back to the world 

We were fighting in Egypt when they signed this agreement 

That nobody else had to die 

There was this terrible sound, my father went down 

With a terrible wound in his side 

He said, try to go on, take my books, take my gun 

Remember, my son, how they lied 

And the night comes on, it's very calm 

I'd like to pretend that my father was wrong 

But you don't want to lie, not to the young 

We were locked in this kitchen, I took to religion 

And I wondered how long she would stay 

I needed so much to have nothing to touch 

I've always been greedy that way 

But my son and my daughter climbed out of the water 

Crying, Papa, you promised to play 

And they lead me away to the great surprise 

It's Papa, don't peek, Papa, cover your eyes 

And they hide, they hide in the world 

Now I look for her always, I'm lost in this calling 

I'm tied to the threads of some prayer 

Saying when will she summon me, when will she come to me 

What must I do to prepare? 

When she bends to my longing like a willow, like a fountain 

She stands in the luminous air 

And the night comes on, it's very calm 

I lie in her arms and says when I'm gone 

I'll be yours, yours for a song