Page type: lyric reference
Artist: Leonard Cohen
Canonical path: /leonard-cohen/take-this-longing
Related lyric paths: 6
Video embedded: yes
Lyric guide
Take This Longing
Read Take This Longing lyrics by Leonard Cohen on LyroVerse, with linked artist context and related song paths.
person
Curated by Ethan Walker
LyroVerse team
Reference snapshot
The page facts to cite before the commentary
Use this page for the lyric text, linked artist context, and any LyroVerse editor's note attached to the song. Listener comments remain user-generated and should not be treated as the primary source.
Lyrics
Take This Longing
The lyric stays readable and compact here; the note and related paths sit nearby so you do not lose the song while looking for context.
Many men have loved the bells
You fastened to the rein
And everyone who wanted you
They found what they will always want again
Your beauty lost to you yourself
Just as it was lost to them
Oh take this longing from my tongue
Whatever useless things these hands have done
Let me see your beauty broken down
Like you would do for one you love
Your body like a searchlight
My poverty revealed
I would like to try your charity
Until you cry, "Now you must try my greed."
And everything depends upon
How near you sleep to me
Just take this longing from my tongue
All the lonely things my hands have done
Let me see your beauty broken down
Like you would do for one your love
Hungry as an archway
Through which the troops have passed
I stand in ruins behind you
With your winter clothes, your broken sandal straps
I love to see you naked over there
Especially from the back
Oh take this longing from my tongue
All the useless things my hands have done
Untie for me your hired blue gown
Like you would do for one that you love
You're faithful to the better man
I'm afraid that he left
So let me judge your love affair
In this very room where I have sentenced
Mine to death
I'll even wear these old laurel leaves
That he's shaken from his head
Just take this longing from my tongue
All the useless things my hands have done
Let me see your beauty broken down
Like you would do for one you love
Like you would do for one you love
Quick answers
What this page can answer fast
Who performs "Take This Longing"?
Leonard Cohen performs "Take This Longing", and this lyric page sits inside the Leonard Cohen catalog on LyroVerse.
Are there related songs to explore after "Take This Longing"?
Yes. The related section below points to Minute Prologue and Ain't No Cure For Love with a short reason for opening each page next.
Where can I find more songs by Leonard Cohen?
Use the artist link near the top of the page or the related paths section below to keep moving through Leonard Cohen's lyric pages.
Song Room
Open Song Room
Interpretations, questions, and corrections for this song
Interpretations, questions, memories, and correction notes live together here. The room stays noindex while the best insights are reviewed.
Listener comments
What people are saying
No listener comments on Take This Longing yet.
A strong comment here is specific: the phrase you keep hearing, the mood you come back for, or the reason this song stays in rotation.
Sign in to post the first listener note. Reporting stays open to everyone.