Kinky Cohen

  

Our perfect porn aristocrat

So elegant and cheap

I am old, but I'm still into that

A thousand kisses deep.
*

Leonard Cohen har i en mannsalder latt oss få del i sin mesterlige musikalske poesi. Han hylles for sine utsøkte tekster, med tilbakevendende temaer som sensualitet, tro, sex, kjærlighet og menneskets skrøpelighet. Det er imidlertid et annet sentralt tema i Cohens diktning som er langt mindre kjent.  
For de aller fleste vil Cohens tekster passere uten at man oppfatter disse hentydningene -som for andre vil fremstå som krystallklare referanser til handlinger, tanker og følelser innenfor BDSM og fetisjistiske relasjoner.
 
>LES MER: BDSM, Erotic Humiliation, and Role-Play in the Works of Leonard Cohen.
By Drew Cordes (2009)

Cohen has always been known as a songwriter who is unafraid of the graphically erotic. Where others typically stop at suggestion, he offers the explicitly sexual. "Chelsea Hotel No. 2," one of his more popular songs, is a well-known instance. Written about a tryst with Janis Joplin at the Manhattan building, Cohen wastes no time getting down to details: "I remember you well at the Chelsea Hotel/ You were talking so brave and so sweet/ Giving me head on the unmade bed/ While the limousines wait in the street." It is only one line, but its frank description of a sexual escapade signals to listeners that Cohen is unashamed of openly confronting sex in his work, in spite of the privacy and discreetness urged by society.

Lost beneath Cohen's undisguised scenes of love and intimacy, however, lies a more clandestine sexual world, unrecognized by listeners who have not walked its streets and alleys themselves. It is one thing to capture the feelings and enigmatic allure of sex in art or song, but it is another to consistently capture an entire range of sexual relations, from the familiar to the uncommon, misunderstood, and marginalized. Cohen champions this lesser-known world. He is a voice for those who can't speak to its magic themselves, due either to shame, societal constraints, or ball gag.
A close examination of Cohen's lyrics illuminates much of what lies hidden just beneath the surface. His songs disclose to the listener not only the technical and perfunctory aspects, but, more importantly, the highs, the lows, the desires, and the reasons why people practice such an incredible diversity of kinks. This is Cohen's arena to explore, and nothing will be left unsaid in his meditations.

- Domination and Submission

Going beyond the "vanilla" world of the sexually commonplace, Cohen is similarly unafraid to examine the aspects of relations in the "kinky" world. On his first album, 1968's Songs of Leonard Cohen, "Master Song" signals subject matter of a deeper nature. As the title itself spells out, a power exchange takes place between a yielding submissive slave, or "sub," and her dominant master, or "dom." Cohen paints a classic picture of the most widely recognizable dom-sub act: kneeling.

"And now I hear your master sing, you kneel for him to come/ His body is a golden string that your body is hanging from.../ Oh now I hear your master sing/ Your shirt is all undone."

This is clearly not just a case of a loose button. There is no mistaking that what's taking place is a master-slave, power-exchange relationship. The slave must kneel before her master, her shirt undone for him to see his prize — available and ready to please. The metaphorical "golden string" suspending her body is a symbol of his control over her. According to his whims, he may keep her secure or release the sting and let her fall. She is his to do with what he wishes.

The broader category in which a relationship such as this falls is referred to as BDSM, an all-purpose aggregate acronym, standing for bondage and discipline, domination and submission, and sado-masochism.
From dungeon to church, the act of kneeling pervades Cohen's work. When on stage performing the spoken-word version of "A Thousand Kisses Deep," Cohen himself has fallen to his knees to deliver the lines

"But you look good, you really do/ They love you on the street/ If I could move, I'd kneel for you/ A thousand kisses deep."

Sometimes it is used in its religious context, but in many others the act of kneeling is used as it is above: to symbolize a dom-sub or master-slave relationship, its aspects of surrender, vulnerability, and authority, as well as the deep levels of trust and devotion contained therein.

"Lady Midnight," off Songs from a Room, depicts a male submissive kneeling in an attempt to earn his female domme's trust and prove himself worthy of her. The lyrics detail the scene:

I asked her to hold me, I said, ‘Lady, unfold me' …
Well, I argued all night like so many have before,
Saying, ‘Whatever you give me, I seem to need so much more.'
Then she pointed at me where I kneeled on her floor,
She said, ‘Don't try to use me or slyly refuse me,
Just win me or lose me, it is this that the darkness is for.'

The speaker begs the domme to hold him, needing the attention she has given him in the past. The domme then tells the kneeling sub exactly how he must treat her if he desires a relationship. She sets the terms of their interaction, saying not to "use her" or "refuse her." She is furthermore referred to in the song by the moniker "Lady Midnight," suggesting that the he refers to her only by this honorific to show his respect and subservience.

"Memories," off the Phil Spector-produced Death of a Ladies' Man, similarly shows a submissive man begging for affection:

"I walked up to the tallest and the blondest girl/ I said, ‘Look, you don't know me now but very soon you will/ So won't you let me see?' / I said ‘won't you let me see?'/ I said ‘won't you let me see/ Your naked body?'"

The repetition suggests the man is begging and pleading, the shameful nature of which is enjoyed by many a snickering dom. By the end of the song, the man recognizes he must pledge his faith and relinquish control in order to see what he wants: "In solemn moments such as this, I have put my trust/ And all my faith to see/ I said all my faith to see/ I said all my faith to see/ Her naked body." This illustrates the trust that must be in place between dom and sub before any genuine intimacy or true power exchange can begin.

A later Cohen track from 2001's Ten New Songs, "Boogie Street," reveals the aspects of service one would expect to see in such a relationship:

And O my love, I still recall The pleasures that we knew;
The rivers and the waterfall,
Wherein I bathed with you.
Bewildered by your beauty there,
I'd kneel to dry your feet.
By such instructions you prepare
A man for Boogie Street.

The cleanly domme in this scene already has outlined specific acts for her sub to perform. Upon exiting from bathing together, the sub dutifully kneels to dry his domme's feet, suggesting not only master-slave service but also aspects of foot worship and foot fetishes.



The ensuing couplet reveals this to be part of the instructions she has prepared just for him. This is often referred to as "protocol" within BDSM circles, the major facets of which are agreed upon orally or via slave contract between consenting masters and slaves. (Lawyers not required.)

While "Boogie Street" displays the acts of a master and slave in love and functioning healthily, "Leaving Green Sleeves" shows the power exchange gone wrong, full of lies and abuse. The song, off the BDSM-filled New Skin for the Old Ceremony, features the lyrics

"Now if you intend to show me disdain/ Don't you know it all the more enraptures me/ For even so I still remain your lover in captivity."

The lady shows her lover only contempt, and in return he craves the unhealthy emotions and confinement of his freedoms. The sub later confesses his dishonesty: "I sang my songs, I told my lies/ To lie between your matchless thighs."
The domme and sub in this relationship are enjoying true abuse and not abiding by the "safe, sane and consensual" code of conduct for BDSM and kinky relationships. Dishonesty is never a good idea, from saved soccer-moms in minivans, to slaves suspended from ceilings. Not that one can't be both.

Another song, "The Future," from the 1992 album of the same name, details the wild, forbidden fantasies of an out-of-control dom. While the broader scope of the song is an apocalyptic vision of the world's future, Cohen opens the song with the ramifications of the collapse on love and sex.

Give me back my broken night, My mirrored room, my secret life.
It's lonely here, there's no one left to torture.
Give me absolute control
Over every living soul,
And lie beside me, baby, that's an order!
Give me crack and anal sex.
Take the only tree that's left
And stuff it up the hole in your culture.

The dom's focus is solely on the off-limits and the taboo. Cohen explores society's unmentionable dark side with the speaker's desire to torture and his need for absolute control over everyone. In one of Cohen's most eyebrow-raising lines, the song's protagonist plainly demands crack and anal sex, a blunt means to convey the absence of cultural stigmas and precautions that once held populace in check.

The language used also helps to convey the unhealthy sense of sadism. Cohen makes use of the command "give me" three times, the exclamation "that's an order!" carries much weight, and his use of the phrase "stuff it up the hole" brings violent sexual images to mind. There is a difference between consensual BDSM play and true maladjusted sadism. The speaker of "The Future" is not playing. The complete disregard of others' well-being does well to introduce the listener to Cohen's vision of a world gone wrong.

From the 1988 album of the same name, the popular "I'm Your Man" demonstrates that, when things are going right, a master-slave or dom-sub relationship can be both hot and healthy.

If you want a lover, I'll do anything you ask me to. 

And if you want another kind of love, I'll wear a mask for you
If you want a partner, take my hand
Or if you want to strike me down in anger,
Here I stand.
I'm your man.

These opening lines display the slave's willingness and desire to please his mistress and subject himself to anything she asks of him. He submits if her wish is for an equal partnership, and he submits if her wish is to physically punish him. Either way, he stands ready for her. He is the mistress's property, as the possessive and de-personalized refrain "I'm your man" suggests. The nature of the relationship is revealed more explicitly in the song's bridge:

Ah, the moon's too bright, the chain's too tight The beast won't go to sleep
I've been running through these promises to you
That I made and I could not keep
Ah but a man never got a woman back
Not by begging on his knees
Or I'd crawl to you baby and I'd fall at your feet
And I'd howl at your beauty like a dog in heat
And I'd claw at your heart and I'd tear at your sheet
I'd say please.
I'm your man.

These lines can be interpreted in a number of ways, but through the BDSM lens, they involve not only domination and submission, but physical bondage. The slave lies awake at night, bound with a chain, thinking about things he has done to displease his mistress. He then runs through all the things he would do if they could make up for his disobedience. The slave would subject himself to shamelessly begging and pleading, kneeling, crawling, foot worship, and even the dehumanization of playing her loyal dog or pet. At the end, the possessive, de-personalized refrain again reminds the listener of the willing selflessness, devotion, and ownership present in the power-exchange relationship.

Many misperceive the slave as being the recipient of all a dom-sub arrangement has to offer; however, a master finds just as much pleasure in giving and manipulating as a slave does in receiving. The frenzy of the slave's desire in "I'm Your Man" is matched with the feelings of exaltedness mourned by the mistress in the New Skin song "Why Don't You Try."

Why don't you try to do without him? Why don't you try to live alone?
Do you really need his hands for your passion?
Do you really need his heart for your throne?
…
Do you need to hold a leash to be a lady?

Just as the slave relies on his mistress to inspire the feelings of servitude and submission he craves, the mistress also relies on her slave to inspire the feelings of power and supremacy she craves. This mistress pines for the partner who made her feel passionate, like a queen on her throne. The control she wielded with the metaphorical, or perhaps literal, "leash" is essential to her identity. If taken literally, the theme of bondage arises again. The mistress might derive pleasure and power from ordering her slave to crawl as she leads him by collar and leash. Regardless of the interpretation, what remains is the devastation from losing the outlet for her desires for power and control. She ceases "to be a lady" without it.
Master and slave are bound not just with rope and handcuffs; the intense emotional connection and complete devotion to one another unites the two in ways that supersede simple romantic love. Indeed, as "Why Don't You Try" demonstrates: without each other, master and slave are both are equally despondent and lost.

- Humiliation and Cuckolding

A not-uncommon fetish both inside and outside of the BDSM community involves humiliation — being put-down or degraded during, or for the purposes of, erotic play. A man might get off on a woman telling him that his dick is puny and pathetic, even if it's 9-inches long. A woman, meanwhile, might get off on being called whore, bitch, slut or cunt, when in everyday life she'd rip someone's head off for calling her such names.
In both cases, one would be wise to ask first.
Cuckolding takes this principle a step further. A cuckold takes pleasure in knowing or watching their partner have sex with someone else. Often, they enjoy having it rubbed in their face by their partner afterward. Figuratively, that is. Well, okay, sometimes literally, too.
Just as the New Skin song "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" offers only a quick glimpse at the graphic with the sole line "Giving me head on the unmade bed," it similarly suggests a fetish for humiliation and cuckolding. The speaker recounts,

"I remember you well at the Chelsea Hotel/ You were famous, your heart was a legend/ You told me again you preferred handsome men/ But for me you would make an exception."

This is not something most people would enjoy hearing during sex. Clearly, there's something else going on; if the woman was not attracted to the speaker or didn't think he could satisfy her, she wouldn't be sucking his cock. She insults his looks and tells him of all the "handsome men" that please her because belittling his appearance and abilities is enjoyable for him.
Cuckolding surfaces repeatedly in Cohen's songs throughout the years. His album Death of a Ladies' Man was noted for its brazen sexuality and voyeurism, but the larger scope of the exploits described was lost in the shock of the audacious manner in which they are presented. "Paper Thin Hotel" spares no detail when recounting what the cuckold hears through his wall:

The walls of this hotel are paper-thin. 
Last night I heard you making love to him.
The struggle mouth-to-mouth and limb-to-limb,
The grunt of unity when he came in.
I stood there with my ear against the wall,
I was not seized by jealousy at all.
In fact, a burden lifted from my soul.
I heard that love was out of my control.

The dynamics of a regular, vanilla relationship would send the speaker into fits of rage, jealousy, depression, or denial upon hearing these things. Instead, the cuckold delights in the actions going on next door. He listens to them kiss and wrestle on the bed; he listens to the moans of the unknown man penetrating his beloved and climaxing inside her. For the vanilla, this would be quite a traumatic experience, but the speaker tells us this doesn't make him jealous or angry; it instead sets him free. For him, listening in on the betrayal provides the same cathartic release experienced by the two actually engaged in sex. The old saying holds true: Voyeurism is participation.

A later track on the same album, "Don't Go Home With Your Hard-on," deals solely with humiliation. The lyrics in the first stanza imply the speaker's mother was a prostitute, "My mother was a girl you could call on/ When you called she was always there." They continue to demean the speaker further in the song by showing his submission to women through the familiar themes of begging and kneeling:

 "I've looked behind all of the faces/ That smile you down to you knees/ And the lips that say, ‘Come on, taste us/ And when you try to they make you say please."

After belittling him and his mother, the song moves on to his marriage: "Here comes your bride with her veil on/ Approach her, you wretch, if you dare/ Approach her, you ape with your tail on/ Once you have her she'll always be there." The speaker continues to be demeaned and dehumanized as his wife falls into the world's oldest profession, just as his mother did.

A brief scene of erotic humiliation arises again, this time combined with bondage, in Cohen's nihilistic "The Future." While taking us through the nightmarish, carnal apocalypse, Cohen writes that "You'll see a woman hanging upside-down/ Her features covered by her fallen gown." The woman is bound in a position that allows passersby to view her genitals, while her face is blinded to her surroundings by her upturned dress. The humiliation of exhibitionism is an exciting prospect for many, though others enjoy it for the chance to show off and be the center of everyone's focus, giving fun new meaning to the term "attention whore."

"Everybody Knows," one of Cohen's more well-known songs off I'm Your Man, also displays instances of humiliation and cuckolding. The speaker talks of his private relationship with his woman becoming public knowledge and all the actions of infidelity aired for the world to see.

Everybody knows that you love me baby, 

Everybody knows that you really do.
Everybody knows that you've been faithful,
Give or take a night or two.
Everybody knows you've been discreet,
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes.
And everybody knows.

The constant refrain of the song celebrates the fact that "everybody knows" of this promiscuity. Cohen goes so far as portray the couple tallying the woman's betrayals in an update of the traditional notches on the bedpost.

"Everybody knows the scene is dead/ But there's gonna be a meter on your bed/ That will disclose/ What everybody knows."

The act of pride usually performed by frat boys is turned on its head, as the cuckold and his partner relish the rising number and display it for all to see.

The aforementioned "Master Song" contains elements of cuckolding as well in its tale of a BDSM love triangle. While a woman's master lies ill, she submits to another man.

I believe that you heard your master sing When I was sick in bed.
I suppose that he told you everything
I must keep locked away in my head.
…
You met him at some temple, where
they take your clothes at the door.
…
Then he touches your lips now so suddenly bare
of all the kisses we put on some time before.
…
I loved your master perfectly
I taught him all that he knew.

The speaker here knows the other man and, in fact, purports to have mentored him. While he is incapacitated, he pictures the two together. He not only pictures sexual and submissive acts of his lover, but also the betrayal of his pupil divulging what he "must keep locked away in [his] head." Cohen has therefore made him a cuckold twice over: romantically and platonically. And unlike the sexual thrill that is present in other songs like "Paper Thin Hotel," the tone of this piece is noticeably melancholy. One gets the sense that the speaker has been betrayed against his will. Repeatedly referring to himself as a "prisoner" is a sign of the lack of his consent. He furthermore expresses his worry and desire for his slave to return to his control:

"I think you're playing far too rough/ For a lady who's been to the moon.../ And your thighs are a ruin, you want too much/ Let's say you came back sometime too soon."

The cuckold doesn't seem to be delighting in his partner's actions as other Cohen songs depict. Instead, he is concerned for her safety and hoping she will return to him. Cohen shows us not only the consensual and enjoyable side to BDSM, humiliation, and cuckolding play, but in "Master Song" he dives into the dark side of the kinky relationship gone wrong.

- Role-play

In addition to adopting the positions of dominant and submissive, many kinky folks enjoy other forms of erotic role-play -- the maid, the schoolgirl, the teacher, the doctor, the nurse, the daddy or mommy, the little girl or boy, the police officer, the cheerleader, the whore, the nun, the priest, and more are all characters enjoyed by many for sexual purposes. The level of role-play can range from complete devotion (attempting to make the scene as realistic as possible) to merely donning a slutty version of the traditional uniform or outfit of the character while still being one's self.

"I'm Your Man" is one of Cohen's more obvious pieces to address role-play. The opening lines of the song are a clue to the listener that the theme of shifting identities will be present,

"If you want a lover, I'll do anything you ask me to/ And if you want another kind of love, I'll wear a mask for you."
These words establish not only the service and devotion of a master-slave relationship, but the slave's willingness to adopt other roles for his mistress. The theme is spelled out more plainly in the following stanza:

If you want a boxer,
I will step into the ring for you. 

And if you want a doctor,
I'll examine every inch of you.
If you want a driver, climb inside,
Or if you want to take me for a ride,
You know you can.
I'm your man.

Subject to the whims of his mistress, the slave expresses his willingness to take on any number of roles she may request. He might be a boxer fighting for his mistress's honor, or a doctor thoroughly exploring her body. Many vanillas may be surprised to learn of the popularity of speculums in sex shops, as the physician fantasy has numerous fans.



Continuing on, the song's speaker offers himself as a simple servant such as the chauffeur and also consents to being ushered around himself. The slave offers his obedience for all of the above.

A more exaggerated version of role-play occurs in "Is This What You Wanted," the opening song of 1974's New Skin. The play expands from the usual kinky fare of maids, nurses, and dress-up to include the assignment of specific people, cultural figures, objects, and actions.

You were Jesus Christ my Lord, 
I was the money lender.
You were the sensitive woman,
I was the very reverend Freud.
You were the manual orgasm,
I was the dirty little boy.

Here we see perhaps an ultimate example of power-exchange role-play, as the mistress and her slave play out the biblical account of Jesus admonishing the money lender within the temple. It is difficult to assign one partner more power and control than that of a god, and many dommes actually instruct their subs to address them with the honorific "goddess."

From there, Cohen writes of playing doctor again, this time with the famously sex-focused Sigmund Freud and patient. The mistress then is represented as sex itself, as Cohen refers to her as the "manual orgasm," the high point and catharsis of intercourse. While she is elevated to such a state, the speaker is put down as the "dirty little boy," suggesting shame and powerlessness as well as an element of age play. The designation of "little boy" could easily signify erotic pleasure from acting out age-regression fantasies or playing the part of a child.

This can be a sensitive topic, even within BDSM circles. However, unlike pedophiles and child molesters, the vast majority of those who engage in age play have no desire to harm or engage children sexually. It is important to remember that fantasy and reality are separate. Just because one enjoys calling their partner Daddy or Mommy, or wearing diapers, does not mean they are incest victims who spend their free time luring children into rusty, windowless vans with candy. It is merely a pleasant headspace for some to explore. The purpose is to enjoy feeling the innocence of a child and yielding complete control to one's partner, like a kid does with its parents. Such play need not even involve sexual contact. For the wide variety of those enjoying any form of kink, it's not necessarily the sex, but the wielding and yielding of power within the relationship that is their source of enjoyment. What is important to remember is that playing with this theme within the privacy of the home with one's self or a consenting partner is no different than any of the other activities enjoyed therein.

"Is This What You Wanted" continues its broad scope of role-play in the ensuing lines:

You were Marlon Brando, I was Steve McQueen.
You were K.Y. Jelly,
I was Vaseline.
You were the father of modern medicine,
I was Mr. Clean.
You where the whore and the beast of Babylon,
I was Rin Tin Tin.
…
You got old and wrinkled,
I stayed seventeen.

The dynamics of this particular section become muddled in the outrageous roles assigned. Who is dom and who is sub is thrown out the window, as the couple instead favors an abstract fetishistic exploration, taking on iconic actors, sex lube, historical figures, and a familiar bald, pierced corporate spokesman. Cohen creates a sense of mystery by letting these statements hang on their own, not justifying or expounding on the purpose of identifying as such. The later lines are more easily interpreted as sexually enjoyable. Both the man and woman are demeaned, as she is compared to the eschatological Whore of Babylon, while he falls under the repeated theme of dehumanization in his depiction as a dog. Age play then surfaces again, this time in the popular young boy/older woman fantasy. The speaker is never an adult within the relationship, "stay[ing] 17," while the woman enjoys seniority. Insert MILF or cougar joke here.

Age regression is present again in Cohen's 2004 work Dear Heather. In his song "Because Of," Cohen reminisces, as himself, about his sexual encounters with women over the years:

Because of a few songs 
Wherein I spoke of their mystery,
Women have been
Exceptionally kind
To my old age.
They make a secret place
In their busy lives
And they take me there.
They become naked
In their different ways
And they say, "Look at me, Leonard
Look at me one last time."
Then they bend over the bed
And cover me up
Like a baby that is shivering.

Cohen sets the scene with traditionally intimate images of a "secret place" and disrobing before sex. As the woman bends over the bed and asks Leonard to meet her eyes, the listener is set up to expect sex as the next logical step in the narrative. Instead, the song deviates completely from its trail of sexual images and ends with the maternal image of placing a blanket over a cold, sleeping infant. These lines might have been written as a metaphor for feeling secure and safe in the arms of a woman, but in a kinky light, they suggest a fetish for age regression and infantilism. It surely isn't Cohen's sole intent in the song, but within the context of his career and its predilection toward taboo sexual themes, it is not out of the question that he knowingly planted the seeds.

- Transcendence and Intimacy

Fetishes and sexual fixations make up a significant segment of the kink and BDSM community. However, many practice sado-masochistic acts not because of an explicit attraction to rope, chains, discipline, or domination, but rather an attraction to the resulting feelings and sensations produced by the body and mind while engaged in play. In scenes involving bondage or discipline, a dom will gradually increase the intensity or force of flogging, spanking, or other implementation of pain. This triggers the sub's body to respond with a flood of endorphins and adrenaline to dull the pain. The dom, too, will experience their own version of this rush from the exertion and the thrill of controlling and guiding the sub. Scientifically referred to as endogenous opioid polypeptides, the term endorphin is actually short for endogenous morphine. As both the words opioid and morphine suggest, these naturally produced chemicals can alter the moods, sensations, and perceptions in the very same ways drugs do. One could even think of BDSM as a natural, free, legal, low-risk drug wrapped in sex.

Sometimes the rush a sub experiences is so intense and enveloping they enter what is known as subspace.

Also referred to as flying or sub frenzy, the aspects of the euphoric high will vary from person to person. Many report out-of-body experiences, inability to speak or think clearly, a spiritual or revelatory journey, or just a blissed-out state of contentment. Some have linked it with the popular phenomenon known as the runner's high, wherein the stress of a long, grueling race triggers a release of endorphins and adrenaline.

While subspace is undoubtedly a peak moment in a BDSM scene, it does correspond with a perilous valley called subdrop. If one lost in subspace is brought back down from such euphoric heights too quickly or carelessly, the sub may experience fear, sadness, anxiety, and general uneasiness, again similar to the effects of crashing or withdrawing from a drug. It is therefore very important for the dom to remain attentive and anticipate the needs of the sub. Even after the sub has come down for a three-point landing and the scene is over, the dom should continue to assuage the sub by cuddling, soothing, talking, or any other preferred method. This is known as aftercare, and despite public misperception of BDSM as all about pain and punishment, the profound sense of intimacy and security aftercare provides is an indispensable part of any dom-sub relationship.



Just as Cohen writes on the other myriad aspects of the kink lifestyle, so does he detail subspace, from the sexual to the existential. One particular stanza in "Master Song" can be interpreted as the dom guiding his slave through subspace:

And he took you up in his aeroplane, 

Which he flew without any hands,
And you cruised above the ribbons of rain
That drove the crowd from the stands.
Then he killed the lights in a lonely Lane
And, an ape with angel glands,
Erased the final wisps of pain
With the music of rubber bands.

Cohen uses the metaphor of flying to show her state of elation; the fact that the dom does this "without any hands" is a clue to this representation and rules out the improbable literal meaning. As she glides through the sky, Cohen issues a wonderful image to capture the master – "an ape with angel glands." The two sides of the master are shown here: the brutish, forceful actions inflicted upon his slave, and the heavenly effects of those actions. The dual nature continues in the last couplet as the slave is rendered completely free of pain, through the use of rubber bands. The last line sticks out as problematic and can surely be taken in various ways; in keeping with the chosen theme, however, one may imagine the "music" is that of the sadistic master snapping rubber bands on the skin of his slave to push her over the edge.

The closing track of I'm Your Man, "Tower of Song" is largely devoid of gratuitous sexual activity, although a few passing lines detail some aspects of subspace remarkably well. Cohen writes, "27 angels from the Great Beyond/ They tied me to this table right here/ In the Tower of Song." These three verses demonstrate spiritual connection in the form of the angels, while the imagined bondage has the speaker unable to move. These states of paralysis and other-worldliness are commonly described by subspace cadets.

More accounts of clarity, painlessness, and spiritual enlightenment are present in one of Cohen's most gratuitously sexual songs, "Paper Thin Hotel."

I listened to your kisses at the door 

I never heard the world so clear before
You ran your bath and you began to sing
I felt so good I couldn't feel a thing
…
It's written on the walls of this hotel
You go to heaven once you've been to hell

Subspace is not necessarily a state that one must be whipped into. Many slaves describe slipping into subspace through merely being restrained, reuniting with their master after time apart, or just the sound of their partner's voice. This is not an everyday occurrence; slaves do not disappear into subspace at the drop of a hat, but the associative properties that come into play in a BDSM relationship are very powerful for some people. The cuckold voyeur of "Paper Thin Hotel" is one that derives deep levels of pleasure just from what he hears through the door. He expresses feeling light and unburdened. The line "I never heard the world so clear before" smacks of the clarity of religious enlightenment, and the ensuing couplet speaks again of the theme of painlessness. Without a doubt, the cuckold is feeling unbounded joy and contentment. Although experienced through different channels than a bound and disciplined slave, the song's closing lines espouse the bondage and discipline dogma quite succinctly: Accept the pain so that you can break through to a higher plain.

Feelings of transcendence are also present in the song "If It Be Your Will," off 1984's Various Positions. Unlike the previous means explored, such as physical pain, bondage, and cuckolding, it is through service and obedience that this slave finds exultation.

If it be your will That I speak no more,
And my voice be still
As it was before,
I will speak no more.
I shall abide until
I am spoken for.
If it be your will.
If it be your will
That a voice be true,
From this broken hill
I will sing to you.
From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring,
If it be your will
To let me sing.
If it be your will,
If there is a choice,
Let the rivers fill,
Let the hills rejoice.
Let your mercy spill
On all these burning hearts in hell,
If it be your will
To make us well.

The slave demonstrates his commitment to his mistress by remaining silent unless otherwise directed and singing her praises when so prompted. Permission to speak is a common aspect of service upon which many master-slave participants agree. The repeated phrase "if it be your will" also echoes the refrains of "yes, master," "yes, sir," or "as you wish" in which some slaves are instructed to respond while serving their master. It is in the third stanza that elements of subspace are found. The slave reveals the jubilant, merciful and healing powers that his mistress holds for him. The mistress is able to make the slave's world one of joy and relief if she so chooses. It is her decision whether to let her sub linger with the "burning hearts in hell" or elevate him to the rejoicing hills.

The themes of transcendence and intimacy are most evident in Cohen's song "Light as the Breeze," off The Future. The explicit imagery and actions present are almost inarguably BDSM.

She stands before you naked 

You can see it, you can taste it,
And she comes to you light as the breeze.
Now you can drink it or you can nurse it,
It don't matter how you worship
As long as you're
Down on your knees.
So I knelt there at the delta,
At the alpha and the omega,
At the cradle of the river and the seas.
And like a blessing come from heaven
For something like a second
I was healed and my heart
Was at ease.

Kneeling in front of his naked mistress's vagina to "worship," the slave's service to his partner, his "alpha and omega," is exalted to the divine. The speaker's perception of the "cradle" introduces intimacy and security as the build-up continues. Finally, the slave experiences his epiphany as the scene yields "a blessing come from heaven," temporarily killing away all his pain and anxiety. Few songs in Cohen's repertoire describe the endorphin rush that is unique to BDSM as well as "Light as the Breeze." From the traditional starting point of many kink scenes, kneeling, to the wave of euphoria that washes over the willing slave, Cohen takes the listener on a fast-forward journey through its virtues.

- Snuggle and a Cigarette

Leonard Cohen's work is hardly one-dimensional. One source of his genius is the seamless blending of a variety of life's fundamental themes -- sex, love, faith, youth, aging, loss, happiness, depression. Although many songs may be interpreted in different ways, the presence of sex, kink, and BDSM among those interpretations is unavoidable. In this arena, Cohen has soared where others have barely lifted off. He does not limit himself to clever double-talk, suggestion, puns, or a passing graphic reference. Cohen embraces sex. He embraces the boundaries, misperceptions, joys, drawbacks, and virtues of sex.

Descriptions of intimate scenes do not stop at the surface in a Leonard Cohen song; the listener is presented with the entirety of the experience. The alluring risqué facade of kneeling, whips, restraints, and other easily recognized symbols are accounted for, but unlike most others, Cohen then delves into the effects, the purposes, and the meanings of their use. It is not just the actions, but the emotions -- elation, pain, anger, climax, fear, devotion, love, excitement -- that are detailed. In doing this, Cohen illuminates the importance, mystery, and obsession that all human beings associate with sex, be they kinky or not.

After hearing Cohen sing the praises of kinky sex though, one may opt to give it a shot.

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