| Leonard Cohen – Last Year's Man Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This is such a mysterious song, I would love to figure it out but that's quite difficult because it is so personal. Snydal, I really do like your interpretation, looks like you've put a lot of thought in it! Here's mine: The rain falls down on last year's man, that's a jew's harp on the table, that's a crayon in his hand. I also think that last year's man refers to God, the jew's harp being an image for Judaism (king David) and the crayon for Christianity (Jesus). Now the rain falls down upon him, he is forgotten. And the corners of the blueprint are ruined since they rolled far past the stems of thumbtacks that still throw shadows on the wood. I agree with Snydal here, God's creation has grown out of his control. And the skylight is like skin for a drum I'll never mend and all the rain falls down amen on the works of last year's man. The 'I' person speaking here is God, the imaginary skin of the drum that covers God's creation is broken, but he won't mend it, so the rain falls through the holes on his creation. I met a lady, she was playing with her soldiers in the dark oh one by one she had to tell them that her name was Joan of Arc. I was in that army, yes I stayed a little while; I want to thank you, Joan of Arc, for treating me so well. Cohen stills speaks with the voice of God here, he was present when Joan of Arc was fighting in his name and he thanks her for that. And though I wear a uniform I was not born to fight; all these wounded boys you lie beside, goodnight, my friends, goodnight. I do not think the 'you' refers to Joan of Arc, since was a virgin and never died on the battlefield. I assume that it's a 'generic you'. The first sentence presents God as one who wears a uniform, he has got a certain task, but it is not fighting. I came upon a wedding that old families had contrived; Bethlehem the bridegroom, Babylon the bride. Great Babylon was naked, oh she stood there trembling for me, and Bethlehem inflamed us both like the shy one at some orgy. And when we fell together all our flesh was like a veil that I had to draw aside to see the serpent eat its tail. This is a hard verse to interpret, but, in the Bible Bethlehem is seen as the city of God, the place where David and Jesus were born. Babylon on the other hand is viewed as the Devil's city hence the orgy and Bethlehem being the shy one. The image of the serpent that eats its own tail symbolizes continuality and rebirth. So we've got a marriage of the spiritual and the physical, which represents and constitutes life itself. Some women wait for Jesus, and some women wait for Cain so I hang upon my altar and I hoist my axe again. And I take the one who finds me back to where it all began when Jesus was the honeymoon and Cain was just the man. And we read from pleasant Bibles that are bound in blood and skin that the wilderness is gathering all its children back again. The women who wait for Jesus are pure and spiritual, the ones that wait for Cain are physical. Cain being the first murderer and thus the prototype of evil. God hangs upon his altar and he hoists his axe for his judgement. The one who finds him is the spiritual religious person, He will take him back to a time where the deeds of Jesus and Cain where unknown, when there was no segregation between good and evil and the physical love was also spiritual hence Jesus being the honeymoon. The bibles that are bound in blood and skin might literally refer to the parchment on which they were written but they also symbolically refer to the terrible deeds that are described in the Bible. These deeds allude to the wilderness that is mentioned. The rain falls down on last year's man, an hour has gone by and he has not moved his hand. But everything will happen if he only gives the word; the lovers will rise up and the mountains touch the ground. But the skylight is like skin for a drum I'll never mend and all the rain falls down amen on the works of last year's man. God is able to change the fate of mankind, by his word 'everything will happen'. But he chooses not to. |
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| The Low Anthem – Don't Tremble Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This is such a cute song! I can so relate to it! I think it's about being in love with someone who is very insecure. He tries to comfort his loved one but eventually he is urging her not to stall. For he is waiting but he cannot wait forever. |
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