Cohen pursued a career as a poet and novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s; he did not launch a music career until 1967, at the age of 33. His first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967), was followed by three more albums of folk music: Songs from a Room (1969), Songs of Love and Hate (1971) and New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974). His 1977 record Death of a Ladies' Man, co-written and produced by Phil Spector, was a move away from Cohen's previous minimalist sound. In 1979, Cohen returned with the more traditional Recent Songs, which blended his acoustic style with jazz, Oriental, and Mediterranean influences. Perhaps Cohen's most famous song, "Hallelujah", was first released on his studio album Various Positions in 1984. I'm Your Man in 1988 marked Cohen's turn to synthesized productions and remains his most popular album. In 1992, Cohen released its follow-up, The Future, which had dark lyrics and references to political and social unrest.
Cohen returned to music in 2001 with the release of Ten New Songs, which was a major hit in Canada and Europe. His 11th album, Dear Heather, followed in 2004. Following a successful string of tours between 2008 and 2013, Cohen released three albums in the final four years of his life: Old Ideas (2012), Popular Problems (2014) and You Want It Darker (2016), the last of which was released three weeks before his death.
Leonard Cohen was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Westmount, Quebec, on September 21, 1934. His Lithuanian mother, Marsha Klonitsky ("Masha"; 1905–1978), was the daughter of a Talmudic writer, Rabbi Solomon Klonitsky-Kline, and emigrated to Canada in 1927. His paternal grandfather, whose family had moved from Poland to Canada, was Lyon Cohen, the founding president of the Canadian Jewish Congress. His father, Nathan Bernard Cohen (1891–1943), who owned a substantial clothing store, died when Cohen was nine years old. The family observed Orthodox Judaism, and belonged to Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, to which Cohen retained connections for the rest of his life. On the topic of being a Kohen, Cohen told Richard Goldstein in 1967, "I had a very Messianic childhood. I was told I was a descendant of Aaron, the high priest."
Cohen attended Roslyn Elementary School and completed grades seven through nine at Herzliah High School, where his literary mentor Irving Layton taught, then transferred in 1948 to Westmount High School, where he studied music and poetry. He became especially interested in the poetry of Federico García Lorca. Cohen involved himself actively beyond Westmount's curriculum, in photography, on the yearbook staff, as a cheerleader, in the arts and current events clubs, and even served in the position of president of the Students' Council while "heavily involved in the school's theater program". During that time, Cohen taught himself to play the acoustic guitar, and formed a country–folk group that he called the Buckskin Boys. After a young Spanish guitar player taught him "a few chords and some flamenco", Cohen switched to a classical guitar. He has attributed his love of music to his mother, who sang songs around the house: "I know that those changes, those melodies, touched me very much. She would sing with us when I took my guitar to a restaurant with some friends; my mother would come, and we'd often sing all night.
Cohen frequented Saint Laurent Boulevard for fun and ate at such places as the Main Deli Steak House. According to journalist David Sax, Cohen and one of his cousins would go to the Main Deli to "watch the gangsters, pimps, and wrestlers dance around the night". Cohen enjoyed the formerly raucous bars of Old Montreal as well as Saint Joseph's Oratory, which had the restaurant nearest to Westmount, for him and his friend Mort Rosengarten to share coffee and cigarettes. When Cohen left Westmount, he purchased a place on Saint-Laurent Boulevard, in the previously working-class neighbourhood of Little Portugal. He would read his poetry at assorted nearby clubs. In that period and that place, Cohen wrote the lyrics to some of his most famous songs.
Who by Fire
Leonard Cohen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial
Who in your merry merry month of may
Who by very slow decay
And who shall I say is calling?
And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate
Who by avalanche, who by powder
Who for his greed, who for his hunger
And who shall I say is calling?
And who by brave assent, who by accident
Who in solitude, who in this mirror
Who by his lady's command, who by his own hand
Who in mortal chains, who in power
And who shall I say is calling?
The lyrics of Leonard Cohen's song, Who by Fire, reflect on mortality and the unpredictability of death, exploring various ways in which different people may meet their end. The song asks the question, "who shall I say is calling?" suggesting that death is an enigma, an unknown force that calls upon us unexpectedly. Cohen mentions different elements such as fire, water, sunshine, night time, high ordeal, and common trial, indicating that death can come from different places and circumstances. Some individuals may die from slow decay or loneliness, while others may pass away from barbiturate overdose, love, hunger, or greed. The line "Who by his own hand" is particularly poignant, suggesting suicide as a cause of death.
The song's melancholy tone is accentuated by Cohen's deep, brooding voice and accompanied by somber instrumentals. The themes in Who by Fire are evergreen and resonate with many people as a reflection on the temporariness and fragility of life.
Line by Line Meaning
And who by fire, who by water
Who will perish by flames and who will be drowned?
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time
Who will meet their end in broad daylight or under the cover of darkness?
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial
Who will be tested by great challenges and who by everyday difficulties?
Who in your merry merry month of may
Whose fate will take them in the cheerful month of May?
Who by very slow decay
Whose life force will gradually wither away?
And who shall I say is calling?
Who is ultimately in charge of determining each person's fate?
And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate
Who will pass away in bed alone and who by their own hand through lethal drugs?
Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt
Who will meet their end through romantic passion or by something as seemingly innocuous as a blunt object?
Who by avalanche, who by powder
Who will be buried under an avalanche or snuffed out by gunpowder?
Who for his greed, who for his hunger
Who will be punished for their avarice and who for their insatiable appetite?
And who shall I say is calling?
Who is ultimately responsible for bringing about each person's demise?
And who by brave assent, who by accident
Who will die willingly and who due to unforeseen circumstances or chance events?
Who in solitude, who in this mirror
Who will pass away alone and who, perhaps metaphorically, by their own reflection or identity?
Who by his lady's command, who by his own hand
Who will be a victim of their lover's bidding or of their own self-inflicted wounds?
Who in mortal chains, who in power
Who will die in captivity, and who while wielding great influence and authority?
And who shall I say is calling?
Who is the ultimate arbiter of fate, regardless of social status or personal circumstance?
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Leonard Cohen
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@FromHeadToHeart7
@@A.staris Thank you. Yes, i am fully aware that this song was inspired by the ונתנה תוקף prayer/chant. I also grew up with this prayer/chant and know it very well. The fact that this song is a commentary on this chant (and the worldview behind this chant) is very obvious and clear. However, what is usually not noted by those who have emotionally invested their indentity in a humanity-dividing, sectarian belief systems (and take any possible opportunity to distinguish themselves from the rest of humanity by using such non-sensical nationalist oxymoroms like 'the god of israel' or 'jesus calls on you to repent and come back to the christian faith' or 'muhammed is god's messanger, so repent and come back to islam', or being proud that someone mentioned a chant from their sectarian tradition), what is failed to be noted by such sectarian religious-nationalists is that he was actually NOT agreeing with this abusive fear-driven theology of god (that is promoted in the ונתנה תוקף chant) as a judgemental punishing vengeful entity (which is the common view in all sectarian exoteric religions that created god in the image of their traumatised, fearful, violent, possesive, tribalistic and unconscious psyche), and he was NOT agreeing with this reliance on fear and terrorizing as a means to acheive compliance (as is practiced by all psychologically-undeveloped exoteric religions. For example, if you'll study christian evangelism, you'll know that this ונתנה תוקף chant is IDENTICAL to their beliefs and practice of terrorizing/scaring the followers into "repentance" and compliance. It is the exact same judgemental, punishing, vengeful uncompassionate sectarian theology and set of beliefs (which are the POLAR OPPOSITE of what God actually is... even though both of these zealous sectarian mind-invented unconscious ideologies - both christian and jewish evangelism - place themselves as the gatekeeprs to God, pretend to speak for God and to represent God's will..)
PS. In case you are not familiar with the distinction i made above between exoteric religions (which are the POLAR OPPOSITE of God, and that move humanity away from God and the wholistic qualities of God) and esoteric religions (which do see and understand the non-sectarian nature of God) then I'll just quickly explain that exoteric religions are highly divisive and sectarian (and place a huge amount of value on 'the uniquness of our group and "our god").
Exoteric religions contradict the wholistic universal non-sectarian REALITY of God/Consciousness/Being.
Exoteric religion distort/turn on their head the original teachings of the mystics who were the original spark of all religions (distort them from a wholistic-unifying esoteric seeing of the nature of reality/God, into a sectarian humanity-dividing US-versus-Them right-wing conservative abomination and distortion of the nature of God)
Exoteric religion stays on the superficial level of culturally-specific rituals and conditioning. Its ideals are completely ego-bound and mind-created, and it doesn't go beyond the level of conceptual thoughts and the emotions that such thoughts generate.
Exoteric religion is a reflection of the wounded and unconscious human psyche which seeks safety and solace through beliefs, and therefore is highly reliant on judgement, punishment and the use of fear, shame and guilt to achieve compliance.
Lastly, exoteric religions always dwell in the past (judgement/condemnation/shame/guilt) and future (hope/anxiety), and move their followers' attention away the eternal present moment (which is where God/reality actually is).
Esoteric religions are unifying, non-sectarian and recognize the universal qualities of God/Consciousness/Being (which is non-sectarian and non-judgemental and not punishing and not cruel and not vengeful, which is unconditionally loving and is inseparable from what we are).
Esoteric religions have also realized the reality beyond the concepts and images of the thinking brain and the emotional attachments of the frightened and safety-seeking ego.
Esoteric religions also recognize that the present moment is all there is, the time-less reality in which God looks through our eyes (and all other senses) and percives these words on a screen..
Almost any religion on the planet has an exoteric side (which is extremely popular and which is practiced by the vast majority of the culturally-indoctrinated population) and an original esoteric side (which is the original insight of an heretic mystic or mystics - possibly as a result of an NDE in their life - before it was turned into an organized and ritualised religion with a large following. An esoteric side which is usually of interest only for a small number of mystics and not of interest to the vast majority of the population, who seem to crave security, safety, comfort, certainty, community of similarly-believing people, and soothing solace-giving concepts, more than anything else, and therefore gravitate to the exoteric part of the religion).
For example, the esoteric side of exoteric christianity, islam, judaism, buddhism, hinduism is (respectively) Gnosis, Sufism, Kabbalah, Zen/Daoism, Advaita-Vedanta/Non-Duality, respectively..
And of course there are also many indigenous shamanic wholistic ways of living on the planet which are almost entirely esoteric in their un-mediated connection to (and embodying of) Spirit/Being/God/Consciousnes and its manifestation as everything that exists..
❤
@Renaldo1269
We miss you Leonard, especially in these times of darkness
@thierryvanbiesen1025
C'est beau. Merci
@brahmani928
sure
@miguelaragones9649
@@brahmani928 00
@Benedict42
So say we all.
@bripan321
Yes we do.
@davidgreen8629
Sometimes it takes a lifetime to appreciate how brilliant Leonard was!
@misapachilala3702
Please don't say was
@phoenixblues111
Please don’t say
@winterfawn9762
Well, nice people.. he “ was “ “ is” “ and always will be “ a genius 🙏💕