Guest Post by Edward Curtin
“There’s a blaze of light in every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah”
Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah
The last time I was in Montreal, Leonard Cohen, who had been dead two years, was on my mind. How could it be otherwise for one who has admired his songs since his first album.
My daughter is named after perhaps his greatest song – Suzanne – (a heresy to some in light of this article about “Hallelujah”), and all his work has enchanted not just me but millions of other music lovers who desire depth in song.
“You want it darker/We kill the flame,” he sings, as he goes very deep indeed. He is the king of darkness, perhaps matched only by Bob Dylan, who once wrote a seriously whimsical fantasy for the liner notes to John Wesley Harding:
And just how far would you like to go in?’ he [Frank] asked and the three kings all looked at each other. ‘Not too far but just far enough so’s we can say that we’ve been there,’ said the first chief.
Who wants to go deep? Who wants to go into the darkness? Who will go all the way in?
Who prefers to say “we’ve been there” when they only took a walk in the park?
Continue reading “Leonard Cohen in Joy and Sorrow: “Hallelujah””
