| Leonard Cohen – Who by Fire Lyrics | 23 years ago |
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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..." |
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| Leonard Cohen – Bird on the Wire Lyrics | 23 years ago |
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Not much to say about the meaning, I just really love this song. It's especially brilliant when you're slightly stoned late at night in someone else's arms. I particularly like the part, "I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch, he said to me, 'You must not ask for so much.' And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door, she cried to me, 'Hey, why not ask for more?' " which I wrote on my wall with a purple pencil. |
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| Leonard Cohen – Chelsea Hotel Lyrics | 23 years ago |
| According to Cohen, this song is about his encounter(s?) with Janis Joplin at the Chelsea Hotel in NY in 67. The lyrics are really straightforward if you read them with that in mind. | |
| Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah Lyrics | 23 years ago |
| This song, one of my favourites, is a straightforward but deeply moving Biblical narrative about King David. It refers also to Batsheva ("saw her bathing on the roof..."). And there's some stuff about sex and love and faith in there somewhere. This is the first of at least a couple of versions of this song, with Cohen changing the lyrics on a live album. (Not to mention the multitudes of cover versions.) | |
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