Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc was released as a single in March 1971 from Songs of Love and Hate. It has four stanzas of eight lines with a la-la refrain and is built as a dialogue between Joan and the fire consuming her at the stake. In it Joan says she is tired of the war and would rather wear a white wedding dress. Cohen told RTE in 1988 that he was thinking of a destiny that human beings have and how they meet and marry it. It was written at the Chelsea Hotel, and the song was apparently inspired by Cohen's love for the singer Nico.

Judy Collins sang it on her 1970 tour, and a live version appeared on her 1971 album Living. Jennifer Warnes covered it as a duet with Cohen on Famous Blue Raincoat, Fabrizio De Andre wrote an Italian translation, Giovanna d'Arco, for his 1974 album Canzoni, and Allison Crowe and Anna Calvi have also recorded it.