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The Window Lyrics
Why do you stand by the window
Abandoned to beauty and pride
The thorn of the night in your bosom
The spear of the age in your side
Lost in the rages of fragrance
Lost in the rags of remorse
Lost in the waves of a sickness
That loosens the high silver nerves
Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love
Oh tangle of matter and ghost
Oh darling of angels, demons and saints
And the whole broken-hearted host
Gentle this soul
And come forth from the cloud of unknowing
And kiss the cheek of the moon
The New Jerusalem glowing
Why tarry all night in the ruin
And leave no word of discomfort
And leave no observer to mourn
But climb on your tears and be silent
Like a rose on its ladder of thorns
Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love...
Then lay your rose on the fire
The fire give up to the sun
The sun give over to splendour
In the arms of the high holy one
For the holy one dreams of a letter
Dreams of a letter's death
Oh bless thee continuous stutter
Of the word being made into flesh
Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love...
Gentle this soul
Abandoned to beauty and pride
The thorn of the night in your bosom
The spear of the age in your side
Lost in the rages of fragrance
Lost in the rags of remorse
Lost in the waves of a sickness
That loosens the high silver nerves
Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love
Oh tangle of matter and ghost
Oh darling of angels, demons and saints
And the whole broken-hearted host
Gentle this soul
And kiss the cheek of the moon
The New Jerusalem glowing
Why tarry all night in the ruin
And leave no word of discomfort
And leave no observer to mourn
But climb on your tears and be silent
Like a rose on its ladder of thorns
The fire give up to the sun
The sun give over to splendour
In the arms of the high holy one
For the holy one dreams of a letter
Dreams of a letter's death
Oh bless thee continuous stutter
Of the word being made into flesh
Song Info
Submitted by
coow On Aug 29, 2010
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One of my favourites... (especially the live version from the Field Commander Cohen Tour album).
Unfortunately I have almost no idea what this song is about. Some beautiful poetry though, over a wonderful lullaby-melody.
Anyone got any ideas on this song?
A wonderful song, and yes the live version on the Field Commander Cohen Tour album is spectactular.
A wonderful song, and yes the live version on the Field Commander Cohen Tour album is spectactular.
My reading (and I think it's the right one!) is that the song is the despair at a partner who is depressed, almost determined to be depressed and not come out of it - abandoned to "beauty and pride", like there is some vanity to her depression. She "stands by the window" refusing to pass through it to a better place - "the new Jerusalem glowing". The image of a rose is used to symbolise the depression - its thorn is "in her...
My reading (and I think it's the right one!) is that the song is the despair at a partner who is depressed, almost determined to be depressed and not come out of it - abandoned to "beauty and pride", like there is some vanity to her depression. She "stands by the window" refusing to pass through it to a better place - "the new Jerusalem glowing". The image of a rose is used to symbolise the depression - its thorn is "in her bosom". The depression takes affect on the brain - "the high silver nerves".
He appeals to love, god or a spirit to "gentle this soul" and make her better. To coax her from the "cloud of unknowing" and make peace with her trouble by "kissing the cheek of the moon" - the symbol of sadness (or possibly the source of light and goodness, but I think the former). She of course doesn't, and in her pride, elevates herself through her tears, she comes to represent the rose - "silent, like a rose on its ladder of thorns" (one of the most elegant lines ever penned).
He tells her to sacrifice the depression - "lay your rose on the fire", this is in turn become the sun - the source of good, the source of splendour. The "letter" part, I don't follow, I'm afraid. This is some higher imagery. Interestingly in "The Favourite Game" Cohen describes a scar as the "word being made into flesh". Perhaps this is the "stuttering" process of scarring and healing.
Hope this makes it clearer for you and increases your enjoyment of this song.
This is actually a song about salvation, more specifically, a song about Jesus Christ. Cohen had two predominant themes in his writings: love and spirituality. Sometimes these would mingle and you could interpret the song as addressing one or the other, but this particular one is all about spirituality. Read the lyrics again and think about Jesus on the cross. The chorus in particular, tells you it's referring to the Christ:
Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love (Jesus, represents life (chosen one) and death (frozen) Oh tangle of matter and ghost (again, Jesus embodies both life and death, he is a tangle of these two dichotomies) Oh darling of angels, demons and saints (self explanatorg) And the whole broken-hearted host (The pain of humanity/God carried in Christ) Gentle this soul
Plug away at the rest: the rose on a ladder of thorns is Jesus at the cross.
Lay your rose by the fire - in the bible, fire represents the Holy Spirit and Christ baptizes with fire. The letter could be an allusion to the "word", which is Jesus: in the beginning there was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.
Now for the Window. You can look out of a window but it also reflects in to you. I think in the first stanza the window is a vehicle for the Christ's moment of doubt, caught in the vanity of wanting to live/doubting God's word, but darkness has fallen and the thorns are in his side. It is done. The second stanza opens with his resurrection into a New Jerusalem the cloud of unknowing is lifted (Jesus has overcome his doubts and now "knows" God).
Hope this helps.
@PicoMania -- nice explanation -- quite consistent with the detailed exegesis provided by Doron Cohen in the article "Speaking Sweetly from 'The Window': Reading Leonard Cohen’s Song," available for download at academia.edu -- https://www.academia.edu/8553088/Speaking_Sweetly_from_The_Window_Reading_Leonard_Cohen_s_Song
@PicoMania -- nice explanation -- quite consistent with the detailed exegesis provided by Doron Cohen in the article "Speaking Sweetly from 'The Window': Reading Leonard Cohen’s Song," available for download at academia.edu -- https://www.academia.edu/8553088/Speaking_Sweetly_from_The_Window_Reading_Leonard_Cohen_s_Song
Oh I forgot thsee lines:
Oh bless thee continuous stutter / Of the word being made into flesh = eternal life, death and rebirth, the continuous process of life and death that is why it is represented as a stutter because it repeats.
@PicoMania thank you very much for this explanation. I am usually averse to poetry, because I don't like ambiguity and verbosity. But somehow Cohen has always escaped my distaste, through his voice, his music and his words. Leonard made me appreciate poetry for the first time in my life. Only at a later age did I discover that prayer and poetry can convey meaning that is impossible to grasp in prose. But since I'm still new to it, I need help to understand it.
@PicoMania thank you very much for this explanation. I am usually averse to poetry, because I don't like ambiguity and verbosity. But somehow Cohen has always escaped my distaste, through his voice, his music and his words. Leonard made me appreciate poetry for the first time in my life. Only at a later age did I discover that prayer and poetry can convey meaning that is impossible to grasp in prose. But since I'm still new to it, I need help to understand it.
@PicoMania A lovely explanation. An in-depth examination with reference lots of Cohen's works here is thoughtful and it includes some words about the song by Leonard Cohen himself about this song. https://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/doron-window.pdf
@PicoMania A lovely explanation. An in-depth examination with reference lots of Cohen's works here is thoughtful and it includes some words about the song by Leonard Cohen himself about this song. https://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/doron-window.pdf