T E A C H E R S  - Leonard Cohen
    

Words and music by Leonard Cohen, © 1967.  From the album Songs of Leonard Cohen, 1968.


Played as if in Am, but capoed up two to Bm, as recorded.  


      Am           F              Am         F                        
1.  I met a woman long ago... Her hair the black that black can go...
        Am                    F       Am                                            
    Are you a teacher of the heart?  Soft, she answered No.

      Am            F                  Am        F  
2.  I met a girl across the sea... Her hair the gold that gold can be...
        Am                    F      Am      
    Are you a teacher of the heart?  Yes, but not for thee.

3.  I met a man who lost his mind...  In some lost place I had to find...
    Follow me, the wise man said...  But he walked behind.

4.  I walked into a hospital... Where none was sick and none was well...
    When at night the nurses left...  I could not walk at all. 	

5.  Morning came...  And then came noon...
    Dinner time a scalpel blade...  Lay beside my silver spoon. 

6.  Some girls wander by mistake...   Into the mess that scalpels make...
    Are you the teachers of my heart...?  We teach old hearts to break. 

7.  One morning I woke up alone...   The hospital and the nurses gone...
    Have I carved enough, my Lord...?  Child, you are a bone.

8.  I ate and ate and ate... No, I did not miss a plate... well,
    How much do these suppers cost...?  We'll take it out in hate.

9.  I spent my hatred every place...   On every work,  on every face...
    Someone gave me wishes... And I wished for an embrace.

10. Several girls embraced me, then...   I was embraced by men...
    Is my passion perfect...? No, do it once again.

11. I was handsome, I was strong...   I knew the words of every song...
    Did my singing please you...? No, the words you sang were wrong.

12. Who is it whom I address...?   Who takes down what I confess...?
    Are you the teachers of my heart...?  We teach old hearts to rest.

13. Oh, teachers are my lessons done...?  I cannot do another one...
    They laughed and laughed and said...  Well, child, are your lessons done?
    Are your lessons done?  
    Are your lessons done?  


editor's notes:

Transcription motivated by visit of Leonard Cohen fan Amy Neumuth, 2 March 2001.

LYRICS: From the liner notes to my brother Tom's copy of the LP, but verified against the recording. There are a few spots where the lyrics in the liner notes and the recording differ:

verse 5.  liner notes: "Dinner time the scalpel blade"
            recording: "Dinner time a scalpel blade"

verse 7.  liner notes: "The hospital, the nurses gone..."
            recording: "The hospital and the nurses gone..."

verse 13. liner notes: "Well, teachers are my lessons done...?"
            recording: "Oh, teachers are my lessons done...?"

In each case, I defer to the recording.
		
CHORDS: This is a bona fide two-chord song: Im and bVI ...and it's all just one part.. but what a part...

-- WA, 4 Mar 2001. Last edited 27 May 2001. Formatting last tweaked 27 May 2001.