These are all new songs written by Karl Ward using only the song titles from the original Leonard Cohen record and the sounds of New York City 1973-1978.

www.deathofaladiesman.com

—For Leonard Cohen, le meilleur forgeron

This project was realized while Karl Ward was a student and a musician in residence at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program. So much gratitude is due to the ITP family. http://itp.nyu.edu

Lyrics

She said “I will walk you down,
I will walk you down,
All the way down,
All the way down”

But it was one of those days
When I said goodbye to everyone
When each person I met
Was walking away
When turning on my heel
Just came naturally
Oh all the instruments agree
It was a dark cold day

Death of a Ladies' Man

These are all new songs written by Karl Ward using only the song titles from the original Leonard Cohen record and the sounds of New York City 1973-1978.

www.deathofaladiesman.com

—For Leonard Cohen, le meilleur forgeron

This project was realized while Karl Ward was a student and a musician in residence at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program. So much gratitude is due to the ITP family. http://itp.nyu.edu

Lyrics

I saw that place
Where you stayed at the end of the day
And I couldn’t help seeing
Your fingerprints on everything
I looked into your mirror
And I stared until I thought it might break
When I put back the pieces
I could almost see your face

It’s been so long since I held you
I can still feel your fingerprints
I don’t know why I was ever untrue

Here where you slept
Here where you walked
Here where you could have
Called on me
With my eyes closed
I can feel your hands
I feel you standing next to me

It’s been so long since I held you
I can still feel your fingerprints
But I’ll never tell you now
‘Cause you got away

Fingerprints

These are all new songs written by Karl Ward using only the song titles from the original Leonard Cohen record and the sounds of New York City 1973-1978.

www.deathofaladiesman.com

—For Leonard Cohen, le meilleur forgeron

This project was realized while Karl Ward was a student and a musician in residence at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program. So much gratitude is due to the ITP family. http://itp.nyu.edu

Lyrics

The night is all possibility
One more line, just one more drink
She says "Dance with me!
To whatever they're playing now!"
We push through the crowd, into the street
Crash through her door, into her sheets
And the night is full
So we follow desire down.
She wakes soft as I make to leave
Saying “Love can’t live in sunlight it seems.”
I say “Love can live until
Its name is spoken out loud.”

Now I’m staring at the wall,
Not thinking, not at all,
And the night is empty now

She said –

The next girl she smiles, says to me,
“Don’t think too hard about what this means,
It don’t have to mean
Anything at all.”
Her eyes meet mine and never leave.
The dress it falls down to her feet
And then it’s done and
I’m standing in the hall.

She says “stay a little while.”
But I can’t return her smile,
When the words have all run out.

She said –

Don't Go Home with Your Hard-On

These are all new songs written by Karl Ward using only the song titles from the original Leonard Cohen record and the sounds of New York City 1973-1978.

www.deathofaladiesman.com

—For Leonard Cohen, le meilleur forgeron

This project was realized while Karl Ward was a student and a musician in residence at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program. So much gratitude is due to the ITP family. http://itp.nyu.edu

Lyrics

Standing there looking too bored to live
You gonna stand around all night until it ends?
Or you gonna dance with me and ditch your friend?
Tell me what you gonna do?

I left a woman waiting as well
Tomorrow morning she’s gonna give me hell
But baby I can’t find heaven by myself
Can you?

I can feel your heart and mine
Beating in time
Every time the lights go out
You know what’s on my mind
But right now I just want to do
Anything you want me to
Whenever the music stops–
You know the music never stops

I Left a Woman Waiting

These are all new songs written by Karl Ward using only the song titles from the original Leonard Cohen record and the sounds of New York City 1973-1978.

www.deathofaladiesman.com

—For Leonard Cohen, le meilleur forgeron

This project was realized while Karl Ward was a student and a musician in residence at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program. So much gratitude is due to the ITP family. http://itp.nyu.edu

When you said “Take this string and know
It will lead you back to me,
If you don’t remember the way
As you’re carried away from me.”
Then I held it lightly, just like I’d hold
Something young and fragile and new,
And I knew it was your hand
Pulling me back to you.

The ground here is hot to the touch
And when night falls, it doesn’t fall on much
All around these city streets
The monsters have learned to speak and sing
And their old songs about young love
Flow through my memories like blood:
“Sweet Thing,” “Sweet Caroline,”
“Good times never felt so good,” never felt so good.

You don’t have to tell me which way to go
Don’t tell me how it ends, because I already know
I follow the string though I know where it leads
I know the future feels just like memories.

I don’t need a guide, I remember the way,
But I hold on to the string just in case,
And the taxi cabs dodge me, they crash and collide
And the thousands of people all step aside
And this thread that leads me back to you
Takes me all around this town
And the sound it makes on my fingers
Could tear any man down.

You don’t have to tell me which way to go
Don’t tell me how it ends, because I already know
I follow the string though I know where it leads
I know the future feels just like memories.

I felt like a criminal then, I couldn’t even stand
Next to the window without drawing the curtains.
Then back in bed, and you sleeping,
I close my eyes for a while.
I pretend to remember all the other nights
We slept here side by side.
I pretend to remember all the years
I woke up to your smile.
But memories like these, they’re just dreams
That only make sense in the night,
Then they disappear into the night.

You don’t have to tell me which way to go
Don’t tell me how it ends, because I already know.

Memories

These are all new songs written by Karl Ward using only the song titles from the original Leonard Cohen record and the sounds of New York City 1973-1978.

www.deathofaladiesman.com

—For Leonard Cohen, le meilleur forgeron

This project was realized while Karl Ward was a student and a musician in residence at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program. So much gratitude is due to the ITP family. http://itp.nyu.edu

Lyrics

I was only pretending to be faithful
While you were playing hard-to-get
But faith is only found by the lucky
And luck has not come around here yet
I’m not offering any promises
Anyway there’s no one left for us to betray
The clock’s running out on the night now
Faster than it ran away from the day

Your eyes light the walls of this paper thin hotel
And you could burn down this city as well
Let’s burn down this paper thin hotel.

I came here to listen to your story
But not the one you would tell me in words
I’m listening for the real conversation
The one between my eyes and yours
You lay out your cards to tell my fortune
You know damn well it was stolen by thieves
I’m not interested in being your Magician
But call me your Fool, that’s alright with me

Your eyes light the walls of this paper thin hotel
And you could burn down this city as well
Let’s burn down this paper thin hotel.

Paper Thin Hotel

These are all new songs written by Karl Ward using only the song titles from the original Leonard Cohen record and the sounds of New York City 1973-1978.

www.deathofaladiesman.com

—For Leonard Cohen, le meilleur forgeron

This project was realized while Karl Ward was a student and a musician in residence at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program. So much gratitude is due to the ITP family. http://itp.nyu.edu

Lyrics

Begin on a day of mourning
When the shops are all closed
And there’s no one on the street
And the people are all standing in line
For the false miracles
I never thought I’d see you
Standing there
Waiting for the body
And the blood to sublime

There’s Jesus in the corner
Turning blood into wine
But me I’m lucky
If I can turn it into iodine

Everybody out there
Is looking for some way
To live through their mistakes
When every girl wants to be Norma Jean
Without the pills
And every boy wants to be James Dean
With the crash on the highway
Well I guess you went your way
And I’m going mine
But I’m looking for my big mistakes
While there’s still time

There’s Jesus in the corner
Turning blood into wine
But me I’m lucky
If I can turn it into iodin

Iodine

Music video for "True Love Leaves No Traces" at youtu.be/pOU0Odh3jgk

These are all new songs written by Karl Ward using only the song titles from the original Leonard Cohen record and the sounds of New York City 1973-1978.

www.deathofaladiesman.com

—For Leonard Cohen, le meilleur forgeron

This project was realized while Karl Ward was a student and a musician in residence at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program. So much gratitude is due to the ITP family. http://itp.nyu.edu

Lyrics

You say there’s nothing between you and the street
Just the air, and a window, then forty little feet
And you turn and you laugh the way that I like
Wild and crazy and free
And just at that moment I would never betray you
And you would never betray me

Down below in the streets the shadows are stealing
Every sad thing they can see
And I want so badly, just one more time,
For the shadows to take you and take me
And just at that moment, I would never tell you
What a fool I turned out to be

Let’s stand at the window
Naked as when we were born
Turn out the lights
And wait for the night to come
We’ll let the shadows erase
Every name, every face
When the Devil comes looking for us
In this place
Well let’s just hope that true love,
True love leaves no traces

Your eyes they light up like streetlights
In the better part of town
But I hold a brick in my hand
I can only look down at the ground
A ground that’s shattered and covered in pieces
Of the sky falling all around

Let’s stand at the window
Naked as when we were born
Turn out the lights
And wait for the night to come
We’ll let the shadows erase
Every name, every face
When the Devil comes looking for us
In this place
Well let’s just hope that true love,
True love leaves no traces

True Love Leaves No Traces

This is a Ninth Street Mission demo recording of "Running in a Dream" from 2007. This was performed once, and has remained in the vault until now. Adam Chimera on vocals, Quinn Raymond on acoustic guitar, Karl Ward on electric guitar.

Karl Ward

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