Leonard Cohen — Please Dont Pass Me By A Disgrace

I was walking in New York City and I brushed up against the man in front of me I felt a cardboard placard on his back And when we passed a streetlight, I could read it, it said: "Please don't pass me by - I am blind, but you can see - I've been blinded totally - Please don't pass me by." I was walking along 7th Avenue, when I came to 14th Street I saw on the corner curious mutilations of the human form It was a, a school for handicapped people And there were cripples, and people in wheelchairs and crutches And it was snowing, and I got this sense that the whole city was singing this: Oh please, don't pass me by Oh please, don't pass me by For I am blind, but you, you can see Yes, I've been blinded totally Oh please, don't pass me by And you know as I was walking I thought it was them who were singing it I thought it was they who were singing it I thought it was the other who was singing it I thought it was someone else But as I moved along I knew it was me, and that I was singing it to myself It went: Please don't pass me by Oh please, don't pass me by, yeah For I am blind, but you, you can see Well, I've been blinded totally Oh please, don't pass me by Oh please, don't pass me by Now I know that you're sitting there deep in your velvet seats and you're thinking: "Uh, he's up there saying something that he thinks about, but I'll never have to sing that song." But I promise you friends, that you're gonna be singing this song: may not be tonight May not be tomorrow, but one day you'll be on your knees And I want you to know the words when the time comes 'Cause you gotta have to sing it to yourself, or to another, or to your brother You gotta have to learn how to sing this song It goes: Please don't pass me by Ah you don't have to sing this .. not for you Please don't pass me by For I am blind, but you, you can see Yes, I've been blinded totally Oh please, don't pass me by Well, I sing this for the Jews and the Gypsies and the smoke that they made And I sing this for the children of England, their faces so grave And I sing this for a saviour with no one to save Hey, won't you be naked for me? Hey, won't you be naked for me? It goes: Please don't pass me by Oh please, don't pass me by For I am blind, oh but you can see Yes, I've been blinded oh, totally Oh now, please don't pass me by Now there's nothing that I tell you that will help you connect The blood tortured night with the day that comes next But I want it to hurt you, I want it to end Oh, won't you be naked for me? Oh now: Please don't pass me by Oh please, don't pass me by For I am blind, oh but you, you can see Oh yes, I, I've been blinded oh, totally Oh please, don't pass me by Well I sing this song for you Blonde Beasts I sing this song for you Venuses upon your shells on the foam of the sea And I sing this for the freaks and the cripples, and the hunchback And the burned, and the burning, and the maimed, and the broken, and the torn And all of those that you talk about at the coffee tables, at the meetings And the demonstrations, on the streets, in your music, in my songs I mean the real ones that are burning, I mean the real ones that are burning I say Please, don't pass me by Oh now, please don't pass me by For I am blind, yeah, but you, you can see Oh now, I've been blinded oh totally Oh no, please don't pass me by I know that you still think it's me I know that you think that there's somebody else I know that these words aren't yours But I tell you friends one day You're gonna get down on your knees You're gonna get down on your knees You're gonna get down on your knees You're gonna get down on your knees You're gonna get down on your knees You're gonna get down on your knees You're gonna get down on your knees You're gonna get down on your knees You're gonna get down ... Oh please, don't pass me by Oh please, don't pass me by For I am blind, yeah but you, you can see Yes, I've been blinded oh, totally Oh please, don't pass me by Well you know I have my song and I have my poem I have my book and I have the army, and sometimes I have your applause I make some money, but you know what my friends, I'm still out there on the corner I'm with the freaks, I'm with the hunted, I'm with the maimed Yes I'm with the torn, I'm with the down, I'm with the poor Come on now ... Oh... Ah, please don't pass me by Well I've got to go now friends But, please don't pass me by For I am blind, yeah but you, you can see Oh, I, I've been blinded, I've been blinded totally Oh now, please don't pass me by Now I want to take away my dignity, yes take my dignity My friends, take my dignity, take my form, take my style Take my honour, take my courage, take my time, take my time, take my time 'Cause you know I'm with you singing this song And I wish you would, I wish you would, I wish you would go home with someone else Yeah, wish you'd go home with someone else. I wish you'd go home with someone else Don't be the person that you came with Oh, don't be the person that you came with Oh, don't be the person that you came with Ah, I'm not going to be. I can't stand him. I can't stand who I am That's why I gotta get down on my knees Because I can't make it by myself I'm not by myself anymore, because the man I was before, he was a tyrant He was a slave He was in chains He was broken And then he sang: Oh please, don't pass me by Oh please, don't pass me by For I am, yes I am blind, oh but you can see Yes, I've been blinded totally Oh please, don't pass me by Well, I hope I see you out there on the corner Yeah, I hope as I go by but I hear you whisper with the breeze Because I'm going to leave you now, I'm gonna find me someone new Find someone new And please don't pass me by