"If I Could Speak To Leonard" lyrics

If I could speak to Leonard
I'd don my finest suit
Wind my father's pocket watch
And shine my shoes to boot
I'd learn to tie that Windsor Knot
I've longed so to perfect
If not to win approval
At least the man's respect

You ask me why I've come this far
And what it is I seek
The answer to your question, sir
Is simple yet oblique
I've come in search of pathways
To the things I used to know
I'd love to speak to Leonard
Once before I go

If I could speak to Leonard
I doubt I'd hold my own
The sixteen years he has on me
The women that he's known
His symbolism consecrates
The arrow and the bow
His archer's eye sees through the sky
And bends the rivers flow

You ask me why I've come so far
And are my motives pure
My body longs for healing
My spirit for the cure
To put me in the state of mind
That elevates the heart
I need to speak to Leonard
My time is running short

Who more than the rabbi poet
Buddhist monk and sage
Divines, the deep and holy text
In song and on the page
Be still my comprehension cries
There's so much more than this
I'd love to speak to Leonard
Could you put me on the list

If I could speak to Leonard
Among the things I'd say
Would not be how I love your work
Or that strange guitar you play
Perhaps I'd bow in silence
And leave the man in peace
Content myself with what I know
Of Montreal and Greece

You ask me why I've come this far
By now, you might have guessed
I've come here for the work at hand
I've come here for the rest
The lost soul loves a ladies man
As much as any girl
I need to speak to Leonard
Before I leave this world