Songfacts®:

• Leonard Cohen volunteered for the Israeli army during the 1973 Yom Kippur War against Egypt. He didn't fight, but did go to Jerusalem, where he performed for troops.
  
  He wrote this song soon after, imagining himself as Field Commander Cohen, the most important spy on the Israeli side. After tales of silver bullet suicides and an encounter with Fidel Castro, Cohen turns it into a love song, addressing a woman.
• The line, "Workin' for the Yankee dollar" is a reference to the 1945 hit "Rum and Coca-Cola," where The Andrews Sisters sang:
  
  Both mother and daughter
  Workin' for the Yankee dollar
• In 2001, Cohen released a live album from his 1979 that he titled Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979. This song is the first track; he chose the title because the tour felt like going to battle, with those involved having what Cohen called "little breakdowns."