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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

The line is
Tho' your promise count for nothing

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

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

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.

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.

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

Joy

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.

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 )