Heart With No Companion

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koegelwieck
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2012 9:00 pm

Heart With No Companion

Post by koegelwieck »

Dear all,

I would like to include a quotation from the song 'Heart With No Companion' in my Phd-thesis (Could not have written it without listening to Leonard Cohen!). I want to be sure to use the correct lines, but one of the lines puzzles me and maybe one of you can help me. The quotation I would like to include is the following:

"Through the days of shame that are coming
Through the nights of wild distress
Though your promise count for nothing
You must keep it nonetheless”

My question regards the third line. The lyrics on the "Leonard Cohen Files" mention the line as I wrote it and I think I hear LC singing it the same way, but should it not be 'counts' instead of 'count'? and if this line is the correct one, does it mean something else than the possible version with the added 's'?

It is a detail, but as a serious listener to LC's songs, I really want to be precise. Hope many of you had the opportunity to attend one or more concerts the recent years. They are unforgettable.

I hope someone can help me out,
thanks in advance,

Martijn
"Through the days of shame that are coming..."

Amsterdam 2008, Rotterdam 2008, Weybridge 2009, Amsterdam 2012
MaryB
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Joined: Sat Mar 08, 2008 5:40 am
Location: Columbus, Ohio USA

Re: Heart With No Companion

Post by MaryB »

The line is
Tho' your promise count for nothing
1993 Detroit 2008 Kitchener June 2-Hamilton June 3 & 4-Vienna Sept 24 & 25-London RAH Nov 17 2009 NYC Feb 19-Grand Prairie Apr 3-Phoenix Apr 5-Columbia May 11-Red Rocks Jun 4-Barcelona Sept 21-Columbus Oct 27-Las Vegas Nov 12-San Jose Nov 13 2010 Sligo Jul 31 & Aug 1-LV Dec 10 & 11 2012 Paris Sept 30-London Dec 11-Boston Dec 16 2013 Louisville Mar 30-Amsterdam Sept 20
seadove
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Location: Israel
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Re: Heart With No Companion

Post by seadove »

Now I greet you from the other side
Of sorrow and despair
With a love so vast and so shattered
It will reach you everywhere
And I sing this for the captain
Whose ship has not been built
For the mother in confusion
Her cradle still unfilled
For the heart with no companion
For the soul without a king
For the prima ballerina
Who cannot dance to anything
Through the days of shame that are coming
Through the nights of wild distress
Though your promise count for nothing
You must keep it nonetheless
You must keep it for the captain
Whose ship has not been built
For the mother in confusion
Her cradle still unfilled
For the heart with no companion
For the soul without a king
For the prima ballerina
Who cannot dance to anything
Now I greet you from the other side
Of sorrow and despair
Discover that love so vast and so shattered
It will reach you everywhere
And I sing this for the captain
Whose ship has not been built
For the mother in confusion
Her cradle still unfilled
For the heart with no companion
For the soul without a king
For the prima ballerina
Who cannot dance to anything
koegelwieck
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2012 9:00 pm

Re: Heart With No Companion

Post by koegelwieck »

Some searching on the Internet revealed an interesting answer on the use of 'count' (subjunctive) instead of 'counts' (regular). See the following link: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2089442.

In summary, the use of the subjunctive seems to indicate a hypothetical element in the sentence: maybe your promise counts for nothing, whereas the regular form 'counts' would have indicated directly that your promise counts for nothing.

Because I am not a native, I am not familiar with the possibility of the use of the subjunctive in these kind of sentences in English. Problem solved, it seems.

Bye
"Through the days of shame that are coming..."

Amsterdam 2008, Rotterdam 2008, Weybridge 2009, Amsterdam 2012
holydove
Posts: 1579
Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:38 pm
Location: Connecticut

Re: Heart With No Companion

Post by holydove »

koegelwieck wrote:
In summary, the use of the subjunctive seems to indicate a hypothetical element in the sentence: maybe your promise counts for nothing, whereas the regular form 'counts' would have indicated directly that your promise counts for nothing.

Bye
Yes, it is the subjunctive form of the verb, & it does indicate uncertainty - that the promise may, or may not, count for nothing. The absence of that little "s" makes it a much more interesting & nuanced statement, IMO.
John Etherington
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Re: Heart With No Companion

Post by John Etherington »

:lol:
holydove
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Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:38 pm
Location: Connecticut

Re: Heart With No Companion

Post by holydove »

Hi John,

I'm not sure I could explain why this is funny, but now that I see you laughing, I'm laughing too! So I must thank you for uncovering the delightful bizzareness of this discussion. :lol:
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joyezekiel
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Location: Magnolia, Texas USA (ex UK)

Re: Heart With No Companion

Post by joyezekiel »

Just as well we don't take ourselves too seriously, hey? ;-)

Joy
1976 Leicester 2008 London O2/Cardiff 2009 NYC/Austin/Weybridge/Nashville 2010 Ghent x 2/Las Vegas x 2 2012 Ghent x 2/Austin/Montreal/Quebec City/Boston x 2 2013 Memphis/New Orleans/Winnipeg/Birmingham/London O2/Amsterdam/Auckland
cohenadmirer
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Location: wirral, uk

Re: Heart With No Companion

Post by cohenadmirer »

holydove wrote:Hi John,

I'm not sure I could explain why this is funny, but now that I see you laughing, I'm laughing too! So I must thank you for uncovering the delightful bizzareness of this discussion. :lol:
IMO it's a question of standing back/distancing yourself from the discussion and managing to see that , just.... perhaps, there is something slightly 'over the top' maybe even a little absurd about it .
We should encourage someone to do a PhD on the use of the word ' count' in leonard cohen songs ( perhaps would be interesting to some :lol: )
Leonard's work resonates
Brighton 1979; Dublin , Manchester june 2008; glasgow, manchester Nov 2008; Liverpool july 2009 ; Barcelona Sept 2009 ;marseille, lille september2010: Ghent August 2012;Barcelona October 2012;Montreal x2 November 2012: 2013; Saint John NB April 2013; Brussels June 2013;Manchester August 2013; Leeds , Birmingham September 2013; Amsterdam September 2013
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