Leonard Cohen - Story of Isaac

 

 

Well, the door it opened slowly, my father he came in I was nine years old.

And he stood so tall above me, his blue eyes they were shining and his voice was very cold.

He said, "I've had a vision and you know I'm strong and holy, I must do what I've been told."

So he started up the mountain, I was running, he was walking and his axe was made of gold.

The trees they got much smaller, the lake a lady's mirror, we stopped to drink some wine.

Then he threw the bottle over, broke a minute later and he put his hand on mine.

Thought I saw an eagle but it might have been a vulture, I never could decide.

Then my father built an altar, he looked once behind his shoulder, he knew I would not hide.

You who build these altars now to sacrifice these children, you must not do it anymore.

A scheme is not a vision and you never have been tempted by a demon or a god.

You who stand above them now, your hatchets blunt and bloody, you were not there before,

When I lay upon a mountain and my father's hand was trembling with the beauty of the word.

And if you call me brother now, forgive me if I inquire "just according to whose plan?"

When it all comes down to dust I will kill you if I must, I will help you if I can.

When it all comes down to dust I will help you if I must, I will kill you if I can.

And mercy on our uniform, man of peace or man of war, the peacock spreads his fan.

      Maybe the best anti-war song ever. It tells the story of Isaac in the Bible but it has a second meaning. It’s also about how an older generation send young people to war. He explains it in two lines at the beginning of this live version "This is a song called The Story of Isaac, and it's about those who would, ah, sacrifice one generation on behalf of another."