Ballad Of The Absent Mare-Leonard Cohen

[00:15.103] Say a prayer for the cowboy, his mare's run away [00:21.120] And he'll walk 'til he finds her, his darling, his stray [00:27.451] But the river's in flood and the roads are awash [00:32.810] And the bridges break up in the panic of loss [00:43.968] And there's nothing to follow, there's nowhere to go [00:49.986] She's gone like the summer, gone like the snow [00:55.887] And the crickets are breaking his heart with their song [01:01.414] As the day caves in and the night is all wrong [01:12.226] Did he dream, was it she who went galloping past? [01:17.397] And bent down the fern, broke open the grass [01:23.269] And printed the mud with the iron and the gold [01:28.208] That he nailed to her feet when he was the lord [01:38.954] And although she goes grazing a minute away [01:44.489] He tracks her all night, he tracks her all day [01:49.681] Oh, blind to her presence, except to compare [01:55.098] His injury here with her punishment there [02:05.141] Then at home on a branch, in the highest tree [02:10.971] A songbird sings out, so suddenly [02:16.074] Ah, the sun is warm and the soft winds ride [02:20.966] On the willow trees by the river side [02:31.352] Oh, the world is sweet, the world is wide [02:36.877] And she's there where the light and the darkness divide [02:41.951] And the steam's coming off her, she's huge and she's shy [02:47.245] And she steps on the moon when she paws at the sky [02:57.529] And she comes to his hand but she's not really tame [03:02.921] She longs to be lost, he longs for the same [03:08.069] And she'll bolt and she'll plunge through the first open pass [03:13.338] To roll and to feed in the sweet mountain grass [03:23.196] Or she'll make a break for the high plateau [03:28.520] Where there's nothing above and there's nothing below [03:33.250] And it's time for the burden, it's time for the whip [03:38.324] Will she walk through the flame? [03:41.928] Can he shoot from the hip? [03:48.274] So he binds himself to the galloping mare [03:53.666] And she binds herself to the rider there [03:58.794] And there is no space but there's left and right [04:03.885] And there is no time but there's day and night [04:13.766] And he leans on her neck and he whispers low"Whither thou goest,I will go" [04:24.187] And they turn as one and they head for the plain [04:29.361] No need for the whip, ah, no need for the rein [04:39.137] Now the clasp of this union, who fastens it tight? [04:44.310] Who snaps it asunder the very next night? [04:49.752] Some say the rider, some say the mare [04:54.424] Or that love's like the smoke, beyond all repair [05:04.229] But my darling says, "Leonard, just let it go by [05:09.476] That old silhouette on the great Western sky” [05:14.451] So I pick out a tune and they move right along [05:19.458] And they're gone like the smoke [05:22.907] And they're gone like this song