The Nits

THE NIHGT-OWL
BY THE NITS

We walk where the road is curling up
Like smokes above our heads
Here we stand with our backs
Against the wall of the house
Where the man once wrote Suzanne

With my friend from Finland
I went down
From Athens in the night
In a boat 2 pilgrims on a bench
To the island where the donkey
Is never shot

It breaks my heart
The night-owl sings
It breaks my heart
Ooohooo my heart

In the room the bird is on a wire
When we look outside
It's gone
It flies through the trees
With pomegranates
And it falls down
Like the moon
Into the sea

It breaks my heart
The night-owl sings
It breaks my heart
Ooohooo my heart

(where we go)
¨

From the album Giant Normal Dwarf by The Nits, CBS Holland 1990. Henk Hofstede, vocals. Written and produced by The Nits. The song was recorded in Amsterdam in 1990.

Some explanation might be necessary. The song tells about a trip to Hydra, to Leonard Cohen's house. Hank Hofstede was one of those two pilgrims, and the other guy came from Finland: Seppo Pietikäinen, a free-lance journalist and tv producer. Henk and Seppo made also a 30 min road movie Film from a room - A journey to the house of Leonard Cohen. This funny and also a little bit strange story has been shown in the Finnish television (and probably in Holland, too). It tells about two men meeting in the wilderness of Finland, planning together a trip to Hydra to see Leonard's house. Finally they reach Hydra, meet some of Leonard's old friends still living on the island, and find his house - with the help of a donkey.