What does it mean?
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Up, Down.
"You'll never be forgiven for whatever you've done
with the keys."
Leonard Cohen, Light As The Breeze.
It's a great line ... unfortunately, like most of Cohen, it doesn't wash, but what a trip inbetween ...
She stands before you naked
you can see it, you can taste it,
and she comes to you light as the breeze.
Now you can drink it or you can nurse it,
it don't matter how you worship
as long as you're down on your knees.
So I knelt there at the delta,
at the alpha and the omega,
at the cradle of the river and the seas.
And like a blessing come from heaven
for something like a second
I was healed and my heart was at ease.
O baby I waited so long for your kiss
for something to happen, oh something like this.
And you're weak and you're harmless
and you're sleeping in your harness
and the wind going wild in the trees,
and it ain't exactly prison
but you'll never be forgiven
for whatever you've done with the keys.
O baby I waited so long for your kiss
for something to happen, oh something like this.
It's dark now and it's snowing
O my love I must be going,
The river has started to freeze.
And I'm sick of pretending
I'm broken from bending
I've lived too long on my knees.
Then she dances so graceful
and your heart's hard and hateful
and she's naked but that's just a tease.
And you turn in disgust
from your hatred and from your love
and comes to you light as the breeze.
O baby I waited so long for your kiss
for something to happen, oh something like this.
There's blood on every bracelet
you can see it, you can taste it,
and it's Please baby please baby please.
And she says, Drink deeply, pilgrim
but don't forget there's still a woman
beneath this resplendent chemise.
So I knelt there at the delta,
at the alpha and the omega,
I knelt there like one who believes.
And the blessings come from heaven
and for something like a second
I'm cured and my heart is at ease.
Today I read a few lines of an essay by Susan Sontag on meaning and form, something like Occam's razor - it came up in a search on Northrop Frye ... maybe later on I will find the references again - [Against Interpretation - Susan Sontag]... And later on, earlier tonight, sitting in a bar in Icarai up popped Cohen's line (as I was feeling with my fingernail the milled edge of a 50 cent piece and wondering why it was not regular) and I was tempted (and gave in) to analyse it in terms of this snippet of Sontag.
It stuck because I knew there had been some kind of negative left-lib reaction to Frye at some point, and I though maybe this was it ... but it turned out that Frye himself supported some of Sontag's notions. A few pieces of the jigsaw fell into place.
We have certainly fucked it up, between condoms and abortion, between one kind of chauvinism and another, somewhere between the age of 17 and 70 - we have thoroughly fucked it up. Was it ever un-fucked up? No way of knowing. Is anyone living without the fuck-up? Difficult to say, maybe not impossible.
"Everybody knows that the naked man and woman Are just a shining artifact of the past."
Leonard Cohen, Everybody Knows.
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that youve been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows youve been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows
And everybody knows that its now or never
Everybody knows that its me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when youve done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old black joes still pickin cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows
And everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows that its moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But theres gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows
And everybody knows that youre in trouble
Everybody knows what youve been through
From the bloody cross on top of calvary
To the beach of malibu
Everybody knows its coming apart
Take one last look at this sacred heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows
Oh everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes and
Everybody knows
Everybody knows.
Hermeneutic: Belonging to or concerned with interpretation; especially as distinguished from exegesis or practical exposition.
Exegesis: Explanation, exposition of a sentence, word, etc.; especially the interpretation of Scripture or a Scriptural passage.
Mimetic: Relating to, characterized by, or of the nature of imitation; specially representing, picturing, or presenting the real world in literature, art, etc.
(Also, ask somebody who thinks they are smart what is on the edge of the Brazilian 50 cent piece. Some information on this: Edges on Coins.)
Down.
"You'll never be forgiven for whatever you've done
with the keys."
Leonard Cohen, Light As The Breeze.
It's a great line ... unfortunately, like most of Cohen, it doesn't wash, but what a trip inbetween ...
She stands before you naked
you can see it, you can taste it,
and she comes to you light as the breeze.
Now you can drink it or you can nurse it,
it don't matter how you worship
as long as you're down on your knees.
So I knelt there at the delta,
at the alpha and the omega,
at the cradle of the river and the seas.
And like a blessing come from heaven
for something like a second
I was healed and my heart was at ease.
O baby I waited so long for your kiss
for something to happen, oh something like this.
And you're weak and you're harmless
and you're sleeping in your harness
and the wind going wild in the trees,
and it ain't exactly prison
but you'll never be forgiven
for whatever you've done with the keys.
O baby I waited so long for your kiss
for something to happen, oh something like this.
It's dark now and it's snowing
O my love I must be going,
The river has started to freeze.
And I'm sick of pretending
I'm broken from bending
I've lived too long on my knees.
Then she dances so graceful
and your heart's hard and hateful
and she's naked but that's just a tease.
And you turn in disgust
from your hatred and from your love
and comes to you light as the breeze.
O baby I waited so long for your kiss
for something to happen, oh something like this.
There's blood on every bracelet
you can see it, you can taste it,
and it's Please baby please baby please.
And she says, Drink deeply, pilgrim
but don't forget there's still a woman
beneath this resplendent chemise.
So I knelt there at the delta,
at the alpha and the omega,
I knelt there like one who believes.
And the blessings come from heaven
and for something like a second
I'm cured and my heart is at ease.
Today I read a few lines of an essay by Susan Sontag on meaning and form, something like Occam's razor - it came up in a search on Northrop Frye ... maybe later on I will find the references again - [Against Interpretation - Susan Sontag]... And later on, earlier tonight, sitting in a bar in Icarai up popped Cohen's line (as I was feeling with my fingernail the milled edge of a 50 cent piece and wondering why it was not regular) and I was tempted (and gave in) to analyse it in terms of this snippet of Sontag.
It stuck because I knew there had been some kind of negative left-lib reaction to Frye at some point, and I though maybe this was it ... but it turned out that Frye himself supported some of Sontag's notions. A few pieces of the jigsaw fell into place.
We have certainly fucked it up, between condoms and abortion, between one kind of chauvinism and another, somewhere between the age of 17 and 70 - we have thoroughly fucked it up. Was it ever un-fucked up? No way of knowing. Is anyone living without the fuck-up? Difficult to say, maybe not impossible.
"Everybody knows that the naked man and woman Are just a shining artifact of the past."
Leonard Cohen, Everybody Knows.
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that youve been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows youve been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows
And everybody knows that its now or never
Everybody knows that its me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when youve done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old black joes still pickin cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows
And everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows that its moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But theres gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows
And everybody knows that youre in trouble
Everybody knows what youve been through
From the bloody cross on top of calvary
To the beach of malibu
Everybody knows its coming apart
Take one last look at this sacred heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows
Oh everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes and
Everybody knows
Everybody knows.
Hermeneutic: Belonging to or concerned with interpretation; especially as distinguished from exegesis or practical exposition.
Exegesis: Explanation, exposition of a sentence, word, etc.; especially the interpretation of Scripture or a Scriptural passage.
Mimetic: Relating to, characterized by, or of the nature of imitation; specially representing, picturing, or presenting the real world in literature, art, etc.
(Also, ask somebody who thinks they are smart what is on the edge of the Brazilian 50 cent piece. Some information on this: Edges on Coins.)
Down.
