Never Any Good

I was never any good at loving you

I was never any good at coming

through for you

You’re going to feel much better

When you cut me loose forever

I was never any good

Never any good

I was never any good at loving you

I was dying when we met

I bet my life on you

But you called me and I folded

like you knew I’d do

You called my ace, my king, my bluff

Okay, you win, enough’s enough

I was never any good

Never any good

I was never any good at loving you

I was pretty good at taking out

the garbage

Pretty good at holding up the wall

Dealing with the fire and the earthquake

But that don’t count

That don’t count

That don’t count for nothing much at all

I was never any good at loving you

I was just a tourist in your bed looking

at the view

But I can’t forget where my lips

have been

Those holy hills, that deep ravine

I was never any good

Never any good

I was never any good at loving you

I was pretty good at taking out the garbage

Pretty good at holding up the wall

I’m sorry for my crimes against

the moonlight

I didn’t think

I didn’t think

I didn’t think the moon would mind at all

I was never any good at loving you

At doing what a woman really wants

a man to do

You’re going to feel much better

When you cut me loose forever

I was never any good

Never any good

I was never any good at loving you

Unreleased until included on More Best Of Leonard Cohen (1997), this song is an entertaining excursion to a familiar corner of the Cohen theme park. With all the confidence of a man who, having leant from his mistakes, can repeat them with precision, Cohen applies his considerable skill to seducing his beloved into leaving him. The card-playing imagery in the second stanza is a good example of Cohen’s literary skill – not only is the metaphor an effective one in itself but the ambiguity of “called” (matched a bet or telephoned/visited) and “folded” (declined a bet or crumpled) adds poetic value to the lyric.