Words by Leonard Cohen, music by Adam Cohen
Dm... Gm... Bb... A...
Dm
I was always working steady
Gm
But I never called it art
Bb
I got my shit together
A
Meeting Christ and reading Marx
Dm
It failed my little fire
Gm
But it's bright the dying spark
Bb A
Go tell the young messiah
(A) Dm... Gm... Bb... A...
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 guard
So I never had to witness
(A) Bb
What happens to the heart
(Bb...) Gm... F... A...
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 a 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
The devil's got a harp
Every soul is like a minnow
Every mind is like a shark
We have 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 meadowlark
Just a filthy beggar guessing
(A) Bb
What happens to the heart
(Bb...) Gm... F... A...
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 knew about 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