Heck Of A Guy

Update 07 August 2010: A more recent revision of the lyrics can be found at Born In Chains – Updated Lyrics & Videos.

Born In Chains By Leonard Cohen – Background

“Born In Chains,” the new song by Leonard Cohen, has thus far been played in only one concert – the July 27, 2010 Salzburg, Austria show.¹  For the convenience of readers, I’ve consolidated the background, video, MP3 download, and lyrics of the song in this post.

This discussion of the genesis of the song by Tom Sakic was originally published in the February 7th, 2010 Heck Of A Guy post, New Leonard Cohen Album – Updated Possibilities:

“Taken Out Of Egypt”: the original version of “I Can’t Forget”, discarded in 1987-88. Also titled at one point as “Born in Chains”.

“[...] that song started off as a song about the exodus of the Hebrew people from Egypt. As a metaphor for the journey of the soul from bondage into freedom. It started out, I was born in chains but I was taken out of Egypt / I was bound to a burden but the burden it was raised / Lord I can no longer keep this secret / Blessed is the name, the name be praised. It went on like that for a long, long time, and I went into the studio and tried to sing this song about how “I was born in chains and I was taken…” But I wasn’t born in chains and I wasn’t taken out of Egypt, and not only that, but I was on the edge of what was going to become a very serious nervous breakdown. So I hadn’t had the burden lifted and the whole thing was a lie! It was wishful thinking. And this song, “Taken Out of Egypt,” took months and months to write. Nobody believes me when I say these things but I have the notebooks and I don’t fill them in an evening. And there were many of them. So it wasn’t as if I had an endless supply of songs: I had to start over. And I was saying to myself, “What is my life?” and that’s when I started writing that lyric: I stumble out of bed / I got ready for the struggle / I smoked a cigarette / And I tightened up my gut / I said this can’t be me / Must be my double / And I can’t forget / I can’t forget / But I don’t remember what. That was really true.” (Leonard Cohen, interviewed by Mark Rowland, “Leonard Cohen’s Nervous Breakthrough”, Musician, July 1988.
Source: http://www.leonardcohenlive.com/storero … ttakes.htm

I clearly heard Leonard mumbling these lines “I was born in chains” etc. to the unknown melody in Lian Lunson’s 2005 documentary Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man. At that point [in 2005] I firmly believed he’s gone back to that song.

Born In Chains By Leonard Cohen – Lyrics

Updated: July 31, 2010
The lyrics are the subject of this thread at LeonardCohenForum. There is an extensive and lively discussion of the likely lyrics, based not only on the audio track but also on fragments of the lyrics that have been published in interviews, parallels and allusions to lyrics of other Cohen songs, the song’s meter and time signature, … . Fans with an interest in “Born In Chains,” the latest song by Leonard Cohen (and those who just enjoy debating) may wish to review and participate in the ongoing deliberation at LeonardCohenForum.

As of today, the  most recent composite revision of the words of the full song, incorporating earlier versions and suggestions by others, is the iteration posted at LeonardCohenForum: Born In Chains by sue7 with contributions from scocoh, Hartmut, sturgess66, and mnkyface.

[SHARON, HATTIE AND CHARLEY]
I was born …

[LEONARD]
I was born in chains but I was taken out of Egypt
I was bound to a burden, but the burden it was raised
Oh Lord I can no longer keep this secret
Blessed is the name, the name be praised.

[SHARON]
I fled to the edge of a mighty sea of sorrow
Pursued by the armies of a cruel and dark regime [Sharon sings “waters,” but based on the line as quoted by Leonard in an interview, and the sense of the line, we think it’s “armies]
But the waters parted and my soul crossed over
Out of Egypt, out of Pharaoh’s dream.

[LEONARD]
Word of words and the measure of all measures
Blessed is the name, the name be blessed
Written on my heart in burning letters
That’s all I know, I do not know the rest

[HATTIE]
I was idled with my soul, when I heard that you could use me
I followed very closely, but my life remained the same
But then you showed me where you had been wounded
In every atom spoken is the name

[CHARLEY]
I was lost on the road, your love was so confusing
And all the teachers told me that I had myself to blame
But in the arms?? stands?? the?? illusion
The sweet unknowing unifies the name

[LEONARD]
Word of words, and the measure of all measures
Blessed is the name, the name be blessed
Written on my heart in burning letters
That’s all I know, I cannot read the rest

[LEONARD]
I heard the soul unfolds in the chambers of this longing
As the bitter liquor sweetens in the amber cup
Ah but all the ladders of the night have fallen
Just darkness now, to lift the longing up.

[LEONARD]
Word of words and measure of all measures
Blessed is the name, the name be blessed
Written on my heart in burning letters
That’s all I know, I cannot read the rest

[SHARON, HATTIE AND CHARLEY]
Just darkness now, to lift the spirit up

Born In Chains By Leonard Cohen – Video

Leonard Cohen – Born In Chains (Salzburg 7/27/2010)

Video from MaartenLC

Born In Chains By Leonard Cohen – Download MP3 File

Update: A summary of all MP3 downloads available as of August 30, 2010 for the songs introduced during the Leonard Cohen World Tour, “Feels So Good,” “The Darkness,” “Lullaby,” and “Born In Chains,” can be found at Leonard Cohen’s “Born In Chains,” “Feels So Good” “Lullaby”, & “Darkness” – Downloads Updated.

A mp3 version of “Born In Chains” was created by converting the above YouTube video. It can be downloaded through the following steps:

1. Right-click on the following link and then choose “Open link in new window” or “Open link in new tab” to open the download service pages in new windows or tabs (left clicking on the links may open the download service pages in this same window; in that case, click the “Back” arrow on your browser to return to this post):

Download – Born In Chains2.mp3

Update:  A second, improved recording of  “Born In Chains” from the Salzburg concert, courtesy of liverpoolken (via tomsakic), is now available at the following download page:

Download- Born In Chains (best).mp3

2. On the download service pages that open, click on this image:

Then choose “Save File.”

3. The file is downloaded as “Born In Chains2.mp3.” Update: the new, improved file is downloaded as “Born In Chains (best).mp3.”

4. Either file can be used in iPods and other MP3 players.  The appropriate tags (title, artist, etc) and art should display automatically when the files are loaded into an MP3 program such as iTunes.  The files can also be burned onto an audio CD.

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1. According to the report by Tom Sakic, “Born In Chains” was also played during the July 25, 2010 soundcheck at the Zagreb, Croatia concert. [↩]