PicoBlog

Came across this on the Radio L’envie IG

https://instagram.com/radiolenvie?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

My initial thoughts were, I dug the incessantness of it. Constantly lurching forward. Just as we began to think about calling the cops he got all sexy with the bridge. Is that THE Laura Branigan singing back-ups with him? Then he cooled it down and got all sincere with it n’ shit. If I was the lover I think i’d be convinced. But, he’s got to know when to quit….What a shallow appreciation. Sometimes that’s how songs hit us. Until we decide to try and understand.

The more I listened to this song the more it stuck inside of me. I became obsessed over a few days. I’m sure my family became a bit annoyed at the song constantly chirping from my phone. When I get this way there’s only one thing to do. Learn the song!

In the Key of F it begins on the ii or Gm. And rolls back and forth between the vi or Dm. It’s insistence is that of marching determination. Tension forms each time as he speaks to his father

“I asked my father,
I said, "Father change my name."
The one I'm using now it's covered up
With fear and filth and cowardice and shame.

Then the big major IV (Bb) to the I (F) chorus really grounds it. Back and forth we go from tension, anguish, begging to the big major pop chorus that makes us feel good, releasing us finally with our honest desire to be reunited with the lover, the true self, God

Lover, lover, lover come back to me”

This is clearly no romantic love song. This is about something much more.

I looked into the possible meaning and found the story of Cohen’s concern for Israel when the Yom Kippur war broke out in 1973. It was a war in October of that year between Israel and an Egyptian led coalition of Arab states, including Syria. The goal of the war which began with a surprise attack on Judaism’s most sacred day of atonement, was to take a strategically strong position on the eastern side of the Suez canal. From there Egypt hoped to negotiate the release of lands won by Israel in 1967’s Six Day War; Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights. Unbelievably the attack was carried out during Islam’s holy month of Ramadan.

Cohen at the time was living on the greek island of Hydra. That fact is amazing to a bumpkin like me from Texas. I mean who does that? It’s like he’s living in Homer’s Odyssey with Omar Sharif and James Bond. It’s all very exotic to my imagination. As well he’s living there with his wife, Suzanne and their son, Adam. As a Cohen fan I gotta stop there again. THE SUZANNE?! And his son is named, Adam? One would think a guy like Leonard living such a beautiful life would, out of great concern for his people in Israel send a check or gather supplies to send to them. Maybe he would write an editorial denouncing Egypt and Syria. Leonard had recently said he was retiring and had nothing else to say. It seems he was in turmoil, depressed and was looking for an escape. That may be why the war attracted him. So he flies to Tel Aviv to physically try and help in any way he can. Not to play a benefit or make the talk show circuit. He knows that all able-bodied men are called to fight. Because of this the collective agricultural communities known at Kibbutzes are in need of laborers. He goes with the intention of working on a farm to help produce food. This fascinates me even more. Leonard Cohen, leaves his wife and son to go into a war zone to volunteer on a farm. It would be like, i don’t know, Neko Case going to Ukraine to work on a farm.

“He said, "I locked you in this body,
I meant it as a kind of trial.
You can use it for a weapon,
Or to make some woman smile."

Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me”

It should be known that Cohen is an established rock star at this point in his life. It would be assumed he has some connections in most places. At a cafe in Tel Aviv he is visiting with a well known actor when recognized by Israeli musician, Oshik Levi. Levi encouraged Cohen to forget the Kibbutz plans and join him in the Sinai to play for the troops. Leonard was unsure if his dark songs would inspire them. But, Levi assured him it would all work out. The band Levi was part of included one of Israel’s most revered music creators, Matti Caspi. Cohen joined them for several months playing music for the troops around the Suez Canal and the Sinai Desert. It was there he penned and performed this song for the first time not long after a horrible attack on a radar base. It’s not clear exactly where or when he played. There are no records of official musicians in any archives or records. This was no Bob Hope USO show. It seems they all just traveled around in Levi’s Ford Falcon looking for weary soldiers to play for. These soldiers were young men who could be dead within hours. Leonard was aware of this. He had gone from the Isle Of Wight Festival a couple of years before playing for 500,000 people to a war zone, standing on makeshift stages with nothing but a cheap guitar and some songs singing for handfuls of soldiers. Most of them had no idea who he was. Or even spoke english. He asked to be called by his Hebrew name of Eliezer while he served the troops. And ever after when he returned to Israel he would ask the same of the name. After learning these things it seems to me that this song is his personal conversation with God or his soul about his life at that point. I think he is reborn, or finds his true self in the shadow of the Yom Kippur War. Like all great songs the lyrics transcend their personal nature for a the universal message.

“Then let me start again, " I cried,
"please let me start again,
I want a face that's fair this time,
I want a spirit that is calm."

Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me”

"I never never turned aside, " he said,
"I never walked away.
It was you who built the temple,
It was you who covered up my face."

Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me”

The answer from God to Eliezer. I don’t understand the symbolism of the destruction of the second temple. Perhaps taken as an analogy for a life of a person it could play out this way. Leonard may have felt he turned his back on his self and was lost. But God has little mercy for his begging. Also it could be a universal feeling of all who faced their mortality there in the battle.

“And may the spirit of this song,
May it rise up pure and free.
May it be a shield for you,
A shield against the enemy.

Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me”

This speaks directly to the warriors i would think. As he stood before these soldiers facing annihilation he gave them hope and strength from the song to their swords. Cohen’s journey in the midst of this terrible moment in Israeli history is incredible and inspiring. As I said, initially I had no idea about any of this when hearing this song. But, I felt the immediacy of it driving out from the tune and his performance. Leonard Cohen once was contemplating retirement at 39 years old. In service to his people he found himself again. With a renewed self he went on to create a body of work that has stood the test of time. This song is a window into this transformation. It reminds me of the MLK quote, “If you have not discovered something you are willing to die for, then you are not fit to live.”

My sources for this story are both worth reading for a much better detail. The podcast with Matti Friedman on his book Who By Fire https://www.econtalk.org/matti-friedman-on-leonard-cohen-and-the-yom-kippur-war/

And Judy Malt’z telling of the story here https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/2016-11-11/ty-article/.premium/the-extraordinary-israeli-story-behind-leonard-cohens-lover-lover-lover/0000017f-db94-df62-a9ff-dfd778930000

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