You Got Me Singing
You Got Me Singing - context Summary
Written Late in Cohen's Career
Written and published in 2014 in the collection Popular Problems, this short piece exemplifies Leonard Cohen's late-career voice. It frames a persistent, almost chant-like affirmation — the speaker keeps "singing" — against images of loss and decline. The poem balances personal attachment and a wider sense of calamity, turning a simple refrain into a small act of faith and endurance. Read as a late meditation on love, art, and mortality, it reflects Cohen’s recurring concern with how song and devotion can continue amid bleak personal and global circumstances.
Read Complete AnalysesYou got me singing even tho’ the news is bad, you got me singing the only song I ever had. You got me singing ever since the river died, you got me thinking of the places we could hide. You got me singing even though the world is gone, you got me thinking I’d like to carry on. You got me singing even tho’ it all looks grim, you got me singing the Hallelujah hymn. You got me singing like a prisoner in a jail, you got me singing like my pardon’s in the mail. You got me wishing our little love would last, you got me thinking like those people of the past.
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