Leonard Cohen Lyrics

Album: More Best Of

Democracy Lyrics

It's coming through a hole in the air, 

 from those nights in Tiananmen Square. 

 It's coming from the feel 

 that this ain't exactly real, 

 or it's real, but it ain't exactly there. 

 From the wars against disorder, 

 from the sirens night and day, 

 from the fires of the homeless, 

 from the ashes of the gay: 

 Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. 

 It's coming through a crack in the wall; 

 on a visionary flood of alcohol; 

 from the staggering account 

 of the Sermon on the Mount 

 which I don't pretend to understand at all. 

 It's coming from the silence 

 on the dock of the bay, 

 from the brave, the bold, the battered 

 heart of Chevrolet: 

 Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. 

 

 It's coming from the sorrow in the street, 

 the holy places where the races meet; 

 from the homicidal bitchin' 

 that goes down in every kitchen 

 to determine who will serve and who will eat. 

 From the wells of disappointment 

 where the women kneel to pray 

 for the grace of God in the desert here 

 and the desert far away: 

 Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. 

 

 Sail on, sail on 

 O mighty Ship of State! 

 To the Shores of Need 

 Past the Reefs of Greed 

 Through the Squalls of Hate 

 Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on. 

 

 It's coming to America first, 

 the cradle of the best and of the worst. 

 It's here they got the range 

 and the machinery for change 

 and it's here they got the spiritual thirst. 

 It's here the family's broken 

 and it's here the lonely say 

 that the heart has got to open 

 in a fundamental way: 

 Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. 

 

 It's coming from the women and the men. 

 O baby, we'll be making love again. 

 We'll be going down so deep 

 the river's going to weep, 

 and the mountain's going to shout Amen! 

 It's coming like the tidal flood 

 beneath the lunar sway, 

 imperial, mysterious, 

 in amorous array: 

 Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. 

 

 Sail on, sail on ... 

 

 I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean 

 I love the country but I can't stand the scene. 

 And I'm neither left or right 

 I'm just staying home tonight, 

 getting lost in that hopeless little screen. 

 But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags 

 that Time cannot decay, 

 I'm junk but I'm still holding up 

 this little wild bouquet: 

 Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.