Closing Time

By Leonard Cohen (fragment)

Ah we’re drinking and we’re dancing
and the band is really happening
and the Johnny Walker wisdom running high
And my very sweet companion
she’s the Angel of Compassion
she’s rubbing half the world against her thigh
And every drinker, every dancer
lifts a happy face to thank her
the fiddler fiddles something so sublime
All the women tear their blouses off
and the men they dance on the polka-dots
and it’s partner found, it’s partner lost
and it’s hell to pay when the fiddler stops:
it’s CLOSING TIME.

Ah we’re lonely, we’re romantic
and the cider’s laced with acid
and the Holy Spirit’s crying ‘Where’s the beef?’
And the moon is swimming naked
and the summer night is fragrant
with a mighty expectation of relief
So we struggle and we stagger
down the snakes and up the ladder
to the tower where the blessed hours chime
And I swear it happened just like this:
a sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
the Gates of Love they budged an inch
I can’t say much has happened since
but CLOSING TIME.

Balciu-i gata

Se danseaza, se pileste
si tarafu’ o chiteste
si din sfanta tuica boteza-ne-vom
Si draguta mea nurlie
plina de milostivire
cu-o coapsa fericeste orice om
Ori ca joaca, ori pilesc,
toti din ochi ii multumesc
iar scripcaru-i zice-n scripca fermecata
-Si rup camasa fetele
iar baietii-nvart bulinele
vin si zboara fustele
ne-am mancat daca scripcaru’ tace
BALCIU-I GATA.

Suntem singuri si romantici
si ne-au pus in vin vedenii
‘Unde-i slana?’ striga tare Sfantul Duh
Luna goala se tot scalda
si-i o boare-n noaptea calda
ce promite alinare de zaduf
Ma impiedic, ma praval
jos la vale, sus la deal
inspre turnul unde ceasul sfant sa bata
Si-ti jur c-asa s-a petrecut
cu un oftat si un sarut
cand Poarta Amorului s-a crapat
de-atunci mai toate parc-au stat
doar BALCIU-I GATA.
 

Translated by Ileana Grama