This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
And who by fire, who by water
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial
Who in your merry merry month of may
Who by very slow decay
And who shall I say is calling?
And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate
Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt
Who by avalanche, who by powder
Who for his greed, who for his hunger
And who shall I say is calling?
And who by brave assent, who by accident
Who in solitude, who in this mirror
Who by his lady's command, who by his own hand
Who in mortal chains, who in power
And who shall I say is calling?
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial
Who in your merry merry month of may
Who by very slow decay
And who shall I say is calling?
And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate
Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt
Who by avalanche, who by powder
Who for his greed, who for his hunger
And who shall I say is calling?
And who by brave assent, who by accident
Who in solitude, who in this mirror
Who by his lady's command, who by his own hand
Who in mortal chains, who in power
And who shall I say is calling?
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Based on the Yom Kippur prayer Unetaneh Tokef, part of which is as follows: "On Rosh Hashanah it is written and Yom Kippur it is sealed How many shall pass on and how many shall come to be; who shall live and who shall die; who shall see ripe old age and who shall not; who shall perish by fire and who by water; who by sword and who by beast; who by hunger and who by thirst..."
I wonder about the refrain, "and who shall I say is calling?". After the "who by ..." that opens every line, this "who" suddenly is a different one. A completely different "who". It is sarcastic change of the repetin "who". There is a a very polite question here, "who shall I say", with all due respect and humility, who is calling here. Who is the one that is behind all this, that calls us, whether we die from fire or from barbiturate. Cohen does not state this as a pure philosophical issue. It comes from a deep pain of the human state where one faces its unchallengeable end. Cohen, as I see it, does not accept the simplistic view of the faithful. He wants an answer that is acceptable and sensible for a modern person of our times. Even if he knows no answer would ever come, it is still his privilege, ours, to ask.
More specifically, in that last line "who is calling", Cohen tells us finally what is the scene where this questions are being asked. Of course the background is the Netane Tokef Prayer of the Jewish Yom Kipur. The final line regards the different verdicts as messages directed to any one of us, delivered in this dreadful day. And so when Cohen picks up this allegoric phone and receives the message for someone, a relative maybe, he does not just lamely says "got it". Instead he courageously, if somewhat humbly, without expecting any response, asks "an who shall I say is calling?"<br /> <br /> P.S. It is Hebrew New-Year eve today, ten days before Yom Kipur Taf-Shin-Samech-Alef (2010). Hag Sameach!
"Who shall i say is calling?"<br /> <br /> amazing lyric, as you say yaakov, switches completely from the verse. originally i interpreted it as: however you may die, are you going to heaven or to hell? ("who is calling - Satan or God?"). however now i also think it could be broader than that, in the sense of: who decides?, who is behind all this?<br /> <br /> thanks
I think of St. Peter at the gates of heaven, calling on those who are waiting to get in.
@nursejen <br /> I, having a baptist childhood, immediately thought of Saint Peter at the gates of heaven. I don't know if this is what Leonard meant, but it seems a crystal clear meaning to anyone who's been taught that all souls are judged before reaching their final (eternal) destination.
"your merry, merry month of May" - seems to me to be quite sarcastic, as in if you died in the month of May, it wouldn't be so merry after all. Again, saying that death can come at any time, and in any form.
"Who shall I say is calling?" - I agree with "track", he's questioning who is it that decides, the when and the where.
Fabulous, chilling stuff. Thank you , Leonard.
"who in your merry merry month of may,<br /> who by very slow decay,"<br /> <br /> I think it means who will die young in their prime (may implies spring time and youth) and who will die old and suffer through aging and gradual decline in health.
"who by avalanche" and "who in this mirror" are maybe referencing two songs on his Songs of Love and Hate album, "Avalanche" and "Dress Rehearsal Rag" respectively. Just a thought. Give them a listen, especially the latter.
I think you nailed it on the head!!
Unetaneh Tokef talking about god and that he is so strong and powerful and he decides everithing but leonard is asking "and who shall i say is calling"he means who decides people their own fate or god.
I think it's addressed to us, the listeners. Which one will YOU be, will you die by fire, by water.... So it's calling to mind the moment of our own death. A bit scary?
Good interpretations, I like the saint peter one alot. I first liked this song just because the girls voice is amazing now it is even better!
props to lady midnight...a lot of his songs are based in judaism
"Who by fire" is about death. Plain and simple. Cohen is saying that it is something the we all will face sooner or later and questions how we will die.
"Who shall I say, Is calling" = What will cause your own death.
I respectfully disagree that the song is about hell or sinners alone. See the lines:
"who by brave accent" "who by accident" "who in the sunshine, who in the nightime" "who in solitude, who in this mirror"
The overall meaning is that we all will die.
@fgv1977 yep, agree<br />