Leonard Cohen - The Captain lyrics

Now the Captain called me to his bed
He fumbled for my hand
"Take these silver bars, " he said
"I'm giving you command"
"Command of what? There's no one here
There's only you and me
All the rest are dead or in
Retreat or with the enemy"

"Complain, complain
That's all you've done ever since we lost
If it's not the Crucifixion
Then it's the Holocaust"
"May Christ have mercy on your soul
For making such a joke
Amid these hearts that burn like coal and
The flesh that rose like smoke"

"I know that you have suffered, lad
But suffer this awhile
Whatever makes a soldier sad will
Make a killer smile"
"I'm leaving, Captain, I've got to go
There's blood upon your hand
But tell me, Captain
If you know of a decent place to stand"

"There is no decent place to
Stand in a massacre
But if a woman take your hand
Then go and stand with her"
"I left a wife in Tennessee and
My baby in Saigon - i risked my life
But not to hear some country-western song"

"Ah, but if you cannot raise your
Love to a very high degree
Then you're just the man
I've been thinking of
So come and stand with me"
"Your standing days are done, " I cried
"you'll rally me no more
I don't even know what side we fought on
Or what for"

"I'm on the side that's always lost
Against the side of Heaven
I'm on the side of snake-eyes tossed
Against the side of seven
And I've read the Bill of Human Rights
And some of it was true
But there wasn't any burden left
So I'm laying it on you"

Now the Captain he was dying
But the Captain wasn't hurt
The silver bars were in my hand
I pinned them to my shirt