THE DOG YEARS
(written from start to finish on King St windowsill the day Leonard Cohen died)
I met a man via letter
I wrote him to ask if he thought
Things would get better
Replied in his own hand
His strange, familiar alphabet
I met a man via letter
He said,
Be still for now, try to heal
Try to feel what you feel.
Don't let the dog years cash in,
They've got to learn how to heel/heal.
I've got aches where I shouldn't
I'm still young
You should look after yourself little one
But I'm just too scared to think of life as just a bluff
Hey you live and die and why ain't that enough?
He said,
Be still for now, try to heal
Try to feel what you feel.
Don't let the dog years cash in,
They've got to learn how to heel/heal.
You can work like a hound
Til you're rough at the hand
You can sleep under stars
And in gutters and on trains
But you're mind can make good
Of the darkest of days
And write bright little notes
In the margins of pages
Oh I've never had anything to spare
No I've never had anything to spare
Please man, have you got a buck you could lend?
Please sir, have you got a fiver to spare?
We've both got these lessons to learn here my friend
So please man can I bum a smoke from you my good man?
Try to heal
Try to feel what you feel.
Don't let the dog years cash in,
They've got to learn how to heel/heal.
Oh be still for now, try to heal
Try to feel what you feel
Don't let the dog years cash in.