Avalanche

This is a song about God, communicating to man.

"I sleep beneath the golden hill" - the Dome of the Rock, in Jerusalem, is a golden dome on the Temple Mount, which used to be the site of the Temple of Solomon... Where God was supposed to dwell.

"When I am on a pedestal, you did not raise me there" - God is not above us because we worship Him. We worship Him because He is above us.

"Your laws do not compel me to kneel grotesque and bare" - self explanitory.

"The crumbs of love that you offer me, they're the crumbs I've left behind" - God has given us the ability to love. We think that when we do acts of love, we are something special, but it is He who created goodness in the first place.

"Your pain is no credential here" - When the time for judgement comes, the self-flaggelating nuts will be judged along with everyone else. Their pain is not a substitute for righteousness.

"I have begun to long for you, I who have no greed; I have begun to ask for you, I who have no need" - As powerful as God is, he still oves us and wants us to love him in return.

"You say you've gone away from me, but I can feel you when you breathe" - We can try to hide from God, but as the examples from the bible show (Adam, Jonah, etc.), it is impossible.

"Do not dress in those rags for me, I know you are not poor; don't love me quite so fiercely now when you know that you are not sure" - Hypocricy will get you no where. As said before, your pain is no credential, so stop imposing suffering upon yourself. Do not act devoutly if you do not truly believe in God. He can tell you‘re faking.

I am not a religious person, but this explaination sort of just jumped out at me. I think it makes sense.

i think this song is about someone who is in a state of depression and because of that has caused him to become horrible to his wife, partner, lover... i think the depression "has covered up his soul" as ids described in the song. This "side A" of the album is known as the side of "hate" and the latter, "love". the "I" is more than likely cohen. The lyrics seems to suggest cohen is ashamed of his actions although that isn't for certain.

All words are symbols that merely refer to descriptions and actions in the illusory world of objects. In the spiritual world, they refer to communications between God and man. For example, Jesus was a man who realized that his body (an object) was a symbol for God (Spirit), and so became the Christ, the manifestation of God in the world of objects. He appeared in order to save people from their false beliefs in form, which imprisons them in hell. The Christ in Jesus recognized the Christ in all people, knowing that their bodies were illusory. People believe, as Jesus once did, that the world of objects exists as a temporal reality external to each individual mind. Jesus realized that the Christ within Him is an eternal light that shines away the illusory world of objects. The world of objects is symbolized by "darkness" since it is unilluminated. The Christ light dispels the darkness and experiences the reality of all people as the Christ (Spirit) within them. Since their bodies are illusory, all people are united in the one reality, the Christ (or Spirit, or Light). So the Christ in Jesus awoke (stepped into) in an avalanche of form. The false belief in the reality of form disfigures (as opposed to transfiguring) all who have not seen the light within them an others. The Buddha said that the world is pain. Who wishes to conquer pain? Who must learn to serve the Light of Spirit? Who needs company when All are One? And what of symbolizism of the centre of the world? Jewish tradition identifies the Golden Dome of the rock, in Jerusalem, as the foundation stone of the world.

I will continue later. As an aside, the name Leonard Cohen means "Lion Priest."

Have you noticed the amazing similarity to Segovia's Prelude No. 3?

Sorry, I should have made this a comment instead of a reply:

"You who wish to conquer pain, you must learn, learn to serve me well." The Christ is the manifestation of God in the world we perceive as objects (or more abstractly, of form). When Jesus looks at a person, He sees beyond the person's body, and sees only the Christ within ("Jesus" symbolizes any person imprisoned in the (false)reality of exteral objects, as most of us do; but our true reality is the eternal Christ that dwells within each of us). When we view the world as a world of objects, we see illusion. But what we really are (the Christ) trancends the world of objects. If we refuse to view the true reality of the unity of all people as the Christ, we suffer (as the Buddha said). We suffer only when we do not obey the law of our true being. Many use the word "God" as the symbol that created the laws of being (or of existence). When Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, they entered the world of objective "reality," and began to suffer pain. Adam and Eve are symbols which represent any of us currently imprisoned in the world of pain. Adam and Eve disobeyed the law of God. So if a person wishes to conquer pain, that person must learn to serve God well. The word "satan" symbolizes darkness, the absence of the Christ light. Satan is the belief in the world of objects as an external reality. The world of the belief in objects is hell.

I will continue later.

I'm not sure the narrator has any self-loathing here. Perhaps a mutual self-discovery. All the negative descriptions come with reference to her perception of him "that you see" or "at which you stare" It's not clear to me whether he saw himself clearly all along and had finally reached a breaking point to set her straight; or, if her view of him had infected his vision of himself.

As an additional thought: most of the reference is to wealth & poverty. I suspect the song could refer to class struggle nearly as easily as a romantic one.

Cohen is an amazing songwriter. I especially the feeling he puts into this song. The avalanche is the relationship: someone trying to keep himself or herself together to make things work, but constantly failing due to self-doubt; loathing; and a refusal to deal with those issues head on. S/he feels she has nothing of substance to offer anyone. I just dumped the most wonderful man who persued me and wooed me for 8 months online and 5 weeks in person (and whom I thought just might be in my life forever) but he has a disorder (like two people I previously befriended), and although it was not a deal-breaker by any means, he refused to let me into his emotional world. Been there. Done that. Ended it. When they toy with you and refuse to let you all the way in, you walk. And if they don't come after you, they don't want you bad enough. And Cohen, with this song, captures the pain and the sadness, but not on the part of the love interest; rather, the heartwreching pain of the one who suffers in silence and sets herself up for failure in relationships.

My interpretation is that it's an aspect of Chen's muse talking to him, and those inspired in a similar way. Which is not to say anyone else's is wrong or unsupported. But, recently, I hear the lines like this, possibly because I am a one man band partially named after this song:

Well I stepped into an avalanche, (I entered the world of senses) It covered up my soul; (but could not be properly expressed)
When I am not this hunchback that you see, (When I am not this negative ugliness I project) I sleep beneath the golden hill. (I remain as an eternal archetype of desire)

You who wish to conquer pain,
(To defeat what I express) You must learn, learn to serve me well. (You must find it's perfect expression through yourself)

You strike my side by accident (You come across my dark vein of creativity) As you go down for your gold. (As you search for your own voice and meaning/success L.C often said he got into music cause it paid better than poetry)

The cripple here that you clothe and feed (This archetype to which you give musical form) Is neither starved nor cold;
(Does not actually need you, many others do the same) He does not ask for your company,
(You are not necessary), Not at the centre, the centre of the world. [Because I (the archetype) am essential and eternal in the human spirit]

When I am on a pedestal,
You did not raise me there. ( I made you famous and relevant, not the other way around) Your laws do not compel me
To kneel grotesque and bare. (You can't invoke me for your art without experiencing me on my own terms) I myself am the pedestal (Everyone listens to your dark songs because I am inside them too) For this ugly hump at which you stare. (And that's why you find me compelling to write about)

You who wish to conquer pain,
You must learn what makes me kind; (If you want to stop suffering, find the key to the redemption of the archetype and it's real meaning.) The crumbs of love that you offer me, (Fake, maudlin, rehashed emotions will not do the trick) They're the crumbs I've left behind. (They have already been expressed.) Your pain is no credential here, (Your personal suffering is not special, and entitles you to nothing) It's just the shadow, shadow of my wound. (But it shows you where I am inside your psyche)

I have begun to long for you, (You are feeling the need to say) I who have no greed (What does not need or want to be said) I have begun to ask for you, (You are becoming a chosen vehicle of my expression) I who have no need. (Although I am omnipresent in everyone already) You say you've gone away from me, (You want to separate your life from the force you invoked, and find a gentler muse)
But I can feel you when you breathe. (But I'm in you now, constantly, like it or not.)

Do not dress in those rags for me, (Don't pretend your personal experience of suffering is unique and worthy of sympathy) I know you are not poor (It isn't, and we both know it.) And don't love me quite so fiercely now (I gave you ideas, and you were proud, but lose the pride) When you know that you are not sure, (You have not yet fully experienced me) It is your turn, beloved,
It is your flesh that I wear (But you will. And so will others, through you.).

My interpretation is that it's an aspect of Chen's muse talking to him, and those inspired in a similar way. Which is not to say anyone else's is wrong or unsupported. But, recently, I hear the lines like this, possibly because I am a one man band partially named after this song:

Well I stepped into an avalanche, (I entered the world of senses) It covered up my soul; (but could not be properly expressed)
When I am not this hunchback that you see, (When I am not this negative ugliness I project) I sleep beneath the golden hill. (I remain as an eternal archetype of desire)

You who wish to conquer pain,
(To defeat what I express) You must learn, learn to serve me well. (You must find it's perfect expression through yourself)

You strike my side by accident (You come across my dark vein of creativity) As you go down for your gold. (As you search for your own voice and meaning/success L.C often said he got into music cause it paid better than poetry)

The cripple here that you clothe and feed (This archetype to which you give musical form) Is neither starved nor cold;
(Does not actually need you, many others do the same) He does not ask for your company,
(You are not necessary), Not at the centre, the centre of the world. [Because I (the archetype) am essential and eternal in the human spirit]

When I am on a pedestal,
You did not raise me there. ( I made you famous and relevant, not the other way around) Your laws do not compel me
To kneel grotesque and bare. (You can't invoke me for your art without experiencing me on my own terms) I myself am the pedestal (Everyone listens to your dark songs because I am inside them too) For this ugly hump at which you stare. (And that's why you find me compelling to write about)

You who wish to conquer pain,
You must learn what makes me kind; (If you want to stop suffering, find the key to the redemption of the archetype and it's real meaning.) The crumbs of love that you offer me, (Fake, maudlin, rehashed emotions will not do the trick) They're the crumbs I've left behind. (They have already been expressed.) Your pain is no credential here, (Your personal suffering is not special, and entitles you to nothing) It's just the shadow, shadow of my wound. (But it shows you where I am inside your psyche)

I have begun to long for you, (You are feeling the need to say) I who have no greed (What does not need or want to be said) I have begun to ask for you, (You are becoming a chosen vehicle of my expression) I who have no need. (Although I am omnipresent in everyone already) You say you've gone away from me, (You want to separate your life from the force you invoked, and find a gentler muse)
But I can feel you when you breathe. (But I'm in you now, constantly, like it or not.)

Do not dress in those rags for me, (Don't pretend your personal experience of suffering is unique and worthy of sympathy) I know you are not poor (It isn't, and we both know it.) And don't love me quite so fiercely now (I gave you ideas, and you were proud, but lose the pride) When you know that you are not sure, (You have not yet fully experienced me) It is your turn, beloved,
It is your flesh that I wear (But you will. And so will others, through you.).

To understand this lyric you have to get inside of the mind of LC. What did He knew about God. What was His take on Christ. As i listened this song when I was 18 i was puzzled and intrigued by the lyrics, the sinister voice, the musical composition, yet I couldn’t make a lot of sense of the lyric. At age 31 i studied the bible intensively and my life completely changed. Holy Spirit taught me, experiencing Gods presence, experiencing a lot of miracles, understanding God’s logic, etc. So… 40 years later, with renewed insight, Avalanche came to my mind. I listened and finally could master it.

I stepped into an avalanche It covered up my soul (A realisation that mankind lost the image and likeness of God in Adams fall) When I am not this hunchback that you see I sleep beneath the golden hill (Jesus looked defeated, yet conquered death, and restores us by His Spirit to Gen 1:27: His image His likeness. He is at rest beneath the Golden hill and so are we.) You who wish to conquer pain You must learn, learn to serve me well (A wrong assumption that God needs/wants to be served to bless. It is the other way round. In Christ we are restored to divine origin).

[Verse 2] You strike my side by accident As you go down for your gold (May point to the spearstrike afflicted on Jesus, “gold” came out, the once and for all perfect sacrifice was made) The cripple here that you clothe and feed Is neither starved nor cold (Own works to make you feel good, do not make you righteous and are often done just to be noticed) He does not ask for your company Not at the center, the center of the world (A wrong assumption that God doesn’t need your company. It is the other way round. After all: “It pleases the Father to give you the Kingdom, Holy Spirit, Divine nature back”.

[Verse 3] When I am on a pedestal You did not raise me there (Jesus is the pedestal, he need not be raised by our efforts)) Your laws do not compel me To kneel grotesque and bare (Correct insight. God doesn’t want to be glorified by man. He thrives in glorifying you, His creation.) I myself am the pedestal For this ugly hump at which you stare (Christ is the pedestal, even though He may not have the appearance of almighty God, He is God manifesting in human form).

[Verse 4] You who wish to conquer pain You must learn what makes me kind (Wrong assumption. God is kind. Always. That’s why he stooped down in Christ to restore us back to origin: 2 Cor 3:18. So we don’t learn what makes Him kind, we discover that He is kind wich is the biggest “painrelief”for you-manity) The crumbs of love that you offer me They're the crumbs I've left behind (Bears witness to the incomplete view LC had on Gods goodness revealed through Christ). Your pain is no credential here It's just the shadow, shadow of my wound (Again, limited insight. God cares highly for mankind. Considering the boisterous love expressds by Jesus hanging on a cross to give us back the original Zoe-life!) You might also like Sweet Lana Del Rey (You might as well, she is cute) Kintsugi (The art of brokenness. Limited insight. Not applicable on God. God restores you from the brokenness of mankinds fall. No need to embrace past scars. Zoe-life, the Kingdom has come) Lana Del Rey Paris, Texas Lana Del Rey [Verse 5] I have begun to long for you I who have no greed I have begun to ask for you I who have no need (True. God longs to share His Kingdom, Zoe-life back to you-manity) You say you've gone away from me But I can feel you when you breathe (Separation from God is an illusion. He is here right now working in the invisible to regenerate Gen 1:27 in us).

[Verse 6] Do not dress in those rags for me I know you are not poor (False humility doesn’t make you pious. No need to either. You are loved by God. A receptor of His Holy Spirit). And don't love me quite so fiercely now When you know that you are not sure (Again. No need to exaggerate your love for God, trying to please Him or trying to get noticed. Yet we may be very sure in loving God once we understand what He has done for you-manity.)
It is your turn, beloved It is your flesh that I wear (Epic truth! God dwells within you. When we change by His Spirit we become more and more an expression of our true self: The image an likeness of God. That would be Christlikeness. For Christ is the exact image of the invisible God… The image we were created after and…. Are being restored to by His life, words, prefect sacrifice, His Spirit. “Holy Spirit brings forth after His own kind”.)