Leonard Cohen by Harry Freedman

Author:Harry Freedman [Freedman, Harry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

It Seemed the Better Way

You Want It Darker (2016)

Throughout his career Leonard Cohen drew freely on both Christian and Jewish sources, rarely differentiating or seeing a dividing line between them. He seemed to be as knowledgeable about the Christian faith as about the Judaism he was born into. He recognized the sanctity of Christianity, and he esteemed Christ as highly as he did any character from the Jewish tradition.

I don’t think in all of human history there has been a person who has so closely identified himself with the downtrodden, the outsiders, the victims, criminals, prostitutes.28

Cohen’s admiration for Christ may explain why he did not share the fearful antipathy of many Jews towards Christianity, a view they considered vindicated by centuries of persecution culminating in the Holocaust. Unlike some of his peers he saw Christianity in a positive light, as a product of Jewish ideas, a faith designed to disseminate the values of the Judaism that Jesus practised:

I love Christ. I see Christianity as the world historic mission of certain ideas that the Jews developed. Christianity is a mighty movement, and that is the way those ideas penetrated the world. Christianity is the missionary arm of Judaism. As Maimonides said, ‘We’re all working for the world to come.’29

Only occasionally did he express reservations about Christianity. Jennifer Warnes, his long-term collaborator and backing singer, recalled that when Bob Dylan converted to Christianity in 1979, Cohen would ‘wander around the house, wringing his hands, saying “I don’t get it. I just don’t get this. Why would he go for Jesus at a late time like this? I don’t get the Jesus part.”’30

Yet, if we are to take the song It Seemed the Better Way at face value, the thought of embracing Christianity does seem to have appealed to Leonard Cohen at some stage in his life, possibly when he was much younger.

It seemed the better way

When first I heard him speak

But now it’s much too late

To turn the other cheek

Sounded like the truth

… But it’s not the truth today.

It Seemed the Better Way is the penultimate track on You Want It Darker, the final album that Cohen issued before he died. It is a hymn rather than a song. The music was written by Patrick Leonard, who produced several of Cohen’s later albums. Behind Cohen’s voice we hear the choir of Montreal’s Sha’ar Hashamayim synagogue, the synagogue where he grew up, where his grandfather and great-grandfather had been presidents. The choir’s harmonies are eerily reminiscent of the music of the Day of the Atonement – the song could almost be interpreted as a confession.

There is not much in the song that tells us Cohen is singing about the possibility of converting to Christianity. The only hints are the line in the first verse – ‘it’s much too late, to turn the other cheek’ – and the final couplet evoking the Sacrament: ‘Lift this glass of blood, Try to say the grace.’ Without these, it could be a song about any ideology or faith that Cohen was contemplating signing up to.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.