So Long, Marianne Lyrics
Come over to the window, my little darling
I'd like to try to read your palm
I used to think I was some kind of Gypsy boy
Before I let you take me home
[Chorus]
Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we began
To laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again
[Verse 2]
Well you know that I love to live with you
But you make me forget so very much
I forget to pray for the angels
And then the angels forget to pray for us
[Chorus]
Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we began
To laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again
[Verse 3]
We met when we were almost young
Deep in the green lilac park
You held on to me like I was a crucifix
As we went kneeling through the dark
Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began
To laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again
[Verse 4]
Your letters they all say that you're beside me now
Then why do I feel alone?
I'm standing on a ledge and your fine spider web
Is fastening my ankle to a stone
[Chorus]
Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we began
To laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again
[Verse 5]
For now I need your hidden love
I'm cold as a new razor blade
You left when I told you I was curious
I never said that I was brave
[Chorus]
Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began
To laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again
[Verse 6]
Oh, you are really such a pretty one
I see you've gone and changed your name again
And just when I climbed this whole mountainside
To wash my eyelids in the rain
Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began
To laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again
About
Marianne is Marianne Ihlen, ex-wife of the Norwegian author Axel Jensen, who was a friend of Leonard. Leonard lived with Marianne in Greece together, in the 1960s, after Axel separated from her.
To quote Leonard (backcover of “Greatest Hits”, 1976):
I began this on Aylmer Street in Montreal and finished it a year or so later at the Chelsea Hotel in New York. I didn’t think I was saying goodbye but I guess I was. She gave me many songs, and she has given songs to others too. She is a Muse. A lot of people I know think that there is nothing more important than making a song. Fortunately, this belief arises infrequently in their conversation.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Cohen’s live prologues to the song are good guides for interpreting it. Sometimes he’s very brief but still illuminating. Berlin 24/09/74:
A song for a beautiful,gracious,eternal woman.
Frankfurt 06/10/74:
This is a song of forgiveness.
- 1.Suzanne
- 2.Master Song
- 3.Winter Lady
- 6.So Long, Marianne
- 9.Teachers