Diamonds in the Lines : Leonard Cohen in his own live words

The Law (1985-1988)

Wiesbaden 02/02/85

Here's a new song that I wrote in the courtroom. It's called "The Law".

Vienna 07/03/85

Additional stanza

Now the solitudes vary
They go from nothing to loud
If you're buying lonely
Pick the one with the crowd
You can get solitary
But it is never your brain.

Hanover 13/03/85 later in Warsaw (see below)

additional verses

You can blame it on nature
Or you can blame it on God
You can say it's a creature
Just stepping out of the mud
But I ain't here cause a fossil
Has been found in the sand
There's a Law, there's an Arm, there's a Hand
There's a Law, there's an Arm, there's a Hand

Well I've done lots of time boys
Now I know why
You can turn on a dime
But on a dollar you die
This will never make sense
To the fat of the land
Ah but, there's a Law, there's an Arm, there's a Hand
There's a Law, there's an Arm, there's a Hand

Warsaw 22/03/85

Beyond the sovereignty of any nation, there is a judgment, there is a reward, there is a punishment, there is a Law, there is an arm, there is a hand....

Interview 1985 (French magazine "Paroles et Musiques")

I always felt this was a "post-guilt" song.There is an age of guilt, and we are in the age after. Guilt is too inflamed an emotion,even for us today. That's why "I don't claim to be guilty. But I do understand. There's a Law. There's an Arm. There's a Hand." I think we are now in some era where we attend the consequences of our deeds and, whether we admit our guilt or not, we have to assume it, even when the process of feeling guilty has been discredited... (And) I never knew how to separate the "individual" and the "general" because I feel what everyone feels. The character who says, "It wasn't for nothing they put me away" is quite conscious of his responsability in this matter. There has been no injustice for he adds, "I fell with my angel down the chain of command." The process of feeling guilty is not in the air and it's the last thing people want to be affected by.This song deals with this process and considers it as a legitimate experience, as a part of the moral universe.

San Francisco June 8th, 1985

This is a new song, it's called "There's a Law, There's an Arm, There's a Hand". It's about our current dismal catastrophe. It's about the Age of post-guilt. Guilt has been given a very bad name. There are entire medical industries that are devoted to describing guilt as a disease. Actually it's the only way that we know that we've done something wrong. This is the song "There is a Law, there is an arm, there is a hand".

Mannheim 12/04/88

This is a song about guilt. Yes guilt is a very under-estimated emotion. It has a lot of bad press today, guilt has. Actually, it is the only way we know when we're doing a wrong thing.

Koln 10/04/88

This is a song called "The Law". There is no escaping from the Law. There is a Law, there is an extension of the Law, and there is the actuality of the Law. There is a Law, there is an arm, there is a hand.

Antwerp 17/04/88

This is an old song,not so old. It's called The Law. There is a Law, there is an arm, there is a hand. We're not going to beat the rap. We're not going to evade the ancient law of cause and effect. We're going to buy it, we're going to bite the bullet. We can't escape.

The musical "Night Magic" included a song called "The Law"