Uploaded December 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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"Leaving The Table" is a track from the album 'You Want It Darker', Leonard Cohen's fourteenth and final studio album - released on 21 October 2016, by Columbia Records. The album was created while Cohen was dying and focuses on death, God, and humor. It was released to critical acclaim.

Leaving the Table
By Leonard Cohen
Produced By Adam Cohen

I'm leaving the table
I'm out of the game
I don't know the people
In your picture frame
If I ever loved you or no, no
It's a crying shame if I ever loved you
If I knew your name

You don't need a lawyer
I'm not making a claim
You don't need to surrender
I'm not taking aim

I don't need a lover, no, no
The wretched beast is tame
I don't need a lover
So blow out the flame

There's nobody missing
There is no reward
Little by little
We're cutting the cord
We're spending the treasure, oh, no, no
That love cannot afford
I know you can feel it
The sweetness restored

{Bridge}

I don't need a reason
For what I became
I've got these excuses
They're tired and lame
I don't need a pardon, no, no, no, no, no
There's no one left to blame
I'm leaving the table
I'm out of the game

I'm leaving the table
I'm out of the game