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what happens to the heart

from piano works by Kevin Finseth

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about

this song by Leonard Cohen arrived 3 years after his death. Its appearance shocked and affected me. I realized how much I had missed him, his viewpoint, his ability with words, his presence in the world. I learned this one Sunday in June and recorded it the same night.

lyrics

I was always working steady
but I never called it art
I got my shit together
meeting Christ and reading Marx
it failed my little fire
but it spread the dying sparks
go tell the young Messiah
what happens to the heart

there's a mist of summer kisses
where I tried to double park
the rivalry was vicious
the women were in charge
it was nothing, it was business
but it left an ugly mark
I've come here to revisit
what happens to the heart

I was selling holy trinkets
I was dressing kind of sharp
had a pussy in the kitchen
and a panther in the yard
in the prison of the gifted
I was friendly with the guards
so I never had to witness
what happens to the heart

I should have seen it coming
after all I knew the chart
just to look at her was trouble
it was trouble from the start
sure we played the stunning couple
but I never liked the part
it ain't pretty, it ain't subtle
what happens to the heart

now the angel's got a fiddle
and the devil's got a harp
every soul is like a minnow
every mind is like a shark
I've broken every window
but the house, the house is dark
I care but very little
what happens to the heart

then I studied with this beggar
he was filthy, he was scarred
by the claws of many women
he had failed to disregard
no fable here, no lesson
no singing meadow lark
just a filthy beggar guessing
what happens to the heart

I was always working steady
but I never called it art
it was just some old convention
like the horse before the cart
I had no trouble betting
on the flood against the ark
you see I know the ending
what happens to the heart

I was handy with a rifle
my father's 303
I fought for something final
not the right to disagree

credits

from piano works, track released July 26, 2020
music and lyrics by Leonard Cohen
arranged, performed and produced by Kevin Finseth

Kevin Finseth - piano, vocals, bass balalaika, marimba
A-dub - sound and colour

recorded at Crew Studios, North Vancouver
June 2020

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Kevin Finseth image

Kevin Finseth Vancouver, British Columbia

Greetings everyone, and welcome. I live in Vancouver where I run a music shop called Highlife Records. My recordings include:

The Return
The Captive Road
The Wounded Quartet
Book Of Waiting
Opium Hymns
Five Easy Pieces
Piano Works
Anatolia Suite
Seven Beauties
Herzog
The Idea Of East
Çiçek
I Dream In Winter's Light
I Was a Child
Distant Blues
Dunya
Silence ... more

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