Leonard Cohen – Dress Rehearsal Rag Lyrics

“Songs of Love and Hate” was poorly received by the critics, and did not sell well. The public wanted another Suzanne, but this LP was darker.

This song laments on the isolation (verse 2) and insecurities (verse 1) that accompany fame and often poor critical reception.

Dress Rehearsal Rag Lyrics by Leonard Cohen

[Verse 1]
Four o’clock in the afternoon
And I didn’t feel like very much
I said to myself, “Where are you golden boy
Where is your famous golden touch?”
I thought you knew where
All of the elephants lie down
I thought you were the crown prince
Of all the wheels in Ivory Town
Just take a look at your body now
There’s nothing much to save
And a bitter voice in the mirror cries
“Hey, Prince, you need a shave.”
Now if you can manage to get
Your trembling fingers to behave
Why don’t you try unwrapping
A stainless steel razor blade?
[Hook]
That’s right, it’s come to this
Yes it’s come to this
And wasn’t it a long way down
Wasn’t it a strange way down?

[Verse 2]
There’s no hot water
And the cold is running thin
Well, what do you expect from
The kind of places you’ve been living in?
Don’t drink from that cup
It’s all caked and cracked along the rim
That’s not the electric light, my friend
That is your vision growing dim
Cover up your face with soap, there
Now you’re Santa Claus
And you’ve got a gift for anyone
Who will give you his applause
I thought you were a racing man
Ah, but you couldn’t take the pace
That’s a funeral in the mirror
And it’s stopping at your face

[Hook]
That’s right, it’s come to this
Yes it’s come to this
And wasn’t it a long way down
Wasn’t it a strange way down?

[Verse 3]
Once there was a path
And a girl with chestnut hair
And you passed the summers
Picking all of the berries that grew there
There were times she was a woman
Oh, there were times she was just a child
And you held her in the shadows
Where the raspberries grow wild
And you climbed the twilight mountains
And you sang about the view
And everywhere that you wandered
Love seemed to go along with you
That’s a hard one to remember
Yes it makes you clench your fist
And then the veins stand out like highways
All along your wrist

[Hook]
That’s right, it’s come to this
Yes it’s come to this
And wasn’t it a long way down
Wasn’t it a strange way down?

[Verse 4]
You can still find a job
Go out and talk to a friend
On the back of every magazine
There are those coupons you can send
Why don’t you join the Rosicrucians
They will give you back your hope
You can find your love with diagrams
On a plain brown envelope
But you’ve used up all your coupons
Except the one that seems
To be written on your wrist
Along with several thousand dreams
Now Santa Claus comes forward
That’s a razor in his mit
And he puts on his dark glasses
And he shows you where to hit
And then the cameras pan
The stand in stunt man
Dress rehearsal rag
It’s just the dress rehearsal rag
You know this dress rehearsal rag
It’s just a dress rehearsal rag