| Bruce Cockburn – The Charity of Night Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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This is far from canonical, but I interpret "Night" in "The Charity of Night" to symbolize death. In the first stanza, I understand the protagonist to be killed by the predator, the gun is in the pocket of the man with the greasy beard. The last sensations of the dying man being the wind blowing, noticing the light pole, seeing glimmers of twilight on the pavement. Then Death gives its gift--the Clarity of Light, preserving silver strands of soul, memories of past life heaving like waves. The same theme works in the second stanza, where death comes in the form of gunships attacking some village in Central America. The killing is ugly. But Death brings kindness, generosity. The material world pays no attention to this mystical gift, evidenced by the lecherous drunken noises nearby, and the squeal of a pig, emphasizing this animalism. In the third stanza, there is no overt death so I am not sure the metaphor holds. Just the sensuality of well-to-do lust and passion. But it is possible that the candle dripping, by being black, is intended to imply that just beyond this moment of time, death, with its charity, its clarity, awaits these lovers as well. My interpretation might be stretching the text a bit, but the juxtaposition of the ugliness of the killing in this song seems to bring into focus the good that God holds out for us in death- the clarity of light that follows the damage and the dying, the silver strands of soul being preserved, as glasses are raised in a toast to the charity of Night (death) |
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