Leonard Cohen ... Democracy

Leonard Cohen arrived on Hydra island as a young unknown poet in 1960. When he first saw Marianne Ihlen he thought she was the 'most beautiful woman he had ever seen'. It was love and lust at first sight.

the whole story in the link below...http://mail.uhfcom.com/hydra-story.htm?fbclid=IwAR1wDVlFxa_XhLirCqCHjKR2iz3VCfwCkB3Jm-cwHMCXVHcPtt1bmRCqaZE

“Democracy is coming to the USA” is the real Leonard Cohen lyric we should be listening to.....

O Leonard Cohen είναι Καναδός ... αλλά απαγορεύετο να εισέλθει στην Αμερική USA ...
κάποτε του έδωσαν την άδεια να κάνει μια συναυλία στην Νέα Υόρκη-New York ...
Η ημέρα και ο χώρος κανονίσθηκαν ...τα εισητήρια εξαντλήθηκαν sold out ... ο Leonard παίρνει το αεροπλάνο από τον Καναδά να πάει στην Νέα Υόρκη ... Όμως η CIA  άλλαξε γνώμη καθ' οδόν, δεν επέτρεψε το αεροπλάνο να εισέλθει στον εναέριο χώρο της Αμερικής...το αεροπλάνο επέστρεψε στον Καναδά...it's coming through a hole in the air ...αυτός είναι και ο λόγος που αμέσως μετά εμπνεύσθηκε και έγραψε το τραγουδάκι ....

" Democracy is coming to USA " ,,,

It's coming through a hole in the air, 
from those nights in Tiananmen Square. 
It's coming from the feel 
that this ain't exactly real, 
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there. 
From the wars against disorder, 
from the sirens night and day, 
from the fires of the homeless, 
from the ashes of the gay: 
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. 
It's coming through a crack in the wall; 
on a visionary flood of alcohol; 
from the staggering account 
of the Sermon on the Mount 
which I don't pretend to understand at all. 
It's coming from the silence 
on the dock of the bay, 
from the brave, the bold, the battered 
heart of Chevrolet: 
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. 

It's coming from the sorrow in the street, 
the holy places where the races meet; 
from the homicidal bitchin' 
that goes down in every kitchen 
to determine who will serve and who will eat. 
From the wells of disappointment 
where the women kneel to pray 
for the grace of God in the desert here 
and the desert far away: 
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. 

Sail on, sail on 
O mighty Ship of State! 
To the Shores of Need 
Past the Reefs of Greed 
Through the Squalls of Hate 
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on. 

It's coming to America first, 
the cradle of the best and of the worst. 
It's here they got the range 
and the machinery for change 
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst. 
It's here the family's broken 
and it's here the lonely say 
that the heart has got to open 
in a fundamental way: 
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. 

It's coming from the women and the men. 
O baby, we'll be making love again. 
We'll be going down so deep 
the river's going to weep, 
and the mountain's going to shout Amen! 
It's coming like the tidal flood 
beneath the lunar sway, 
imperial, mysterious, 
in amorous array: 
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Ordinary words have failed Americans a lot over the last few months. It seems that too often, rational thought and logic have been rejected in favor of fake news arguments and internet troll hysteria.

In the midst of this chaos, however, other forms of language are becoming increasingly resonant. As Canadian columnist Elizabeth Renzetti recently said, “Perhaps poetry can shed light where polling data failed.” Poets are our prophets now, and songs our strength.

One such prophet was Leonard Cohen. This gruffly spoken man slyly and wisely brought his poetry a lot of publicity last week by dying right when we needed to hear him most. His fans have responded by playing “Hallelujah” on repeat and echoing the ironic comfort of his famous line from “Anthem,” There is a crack, a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in.


But the song we should really be turning to is one from the 1990s: ”Democracy.”


My InterpretationTo me, this song is all about balance and good description of the USA and its people. It's all about hope about American (and in general) democracy and it's about hopelessness and strange things about the world in the USA. But ultimately, hope wins. Leonard wrote it in 1992, right in the middle of the Gulf War, waiting for the mid-term election in 1992 and the presidential election in 1994 - to bring about change in politics via democracy.

Here's my (subjective :)) analysis, line-by-line. This song has two meanings throughout: 1) images and happenings at home in the US and in 2) Gulf War in Iraq. 

Hear the marching drums - they herald how democracy will do away with the senseless war in Iraq (first Gulf War). 

"It's coming through a hole in the air" 
<--- on the waves of radio or TV, or a major bomb explosion 

"From those nights in Tiananmen Square" 
<--- images of the crushed 1989 uprising, appreciates US democracy, US protecting democracy in Iraq

"It's coming from the feel That this ain't exactly real, Or it's real, but it ain't exactly there." 
<--- Reference to US marketing and optimism. Many things started then half finished or just existing as an idea. Or the alleged WMD in Iraq there were never there.

"From the wars against disorder, From the sirens night and day," 
<--- Big city image of constant fight against any disorder 

"From the ashes of the gay" 
<--- refers to the AIDS epidemic and/or homophobia 

"Democracy is coming to the U.S.A."

"It's coming through a crack in the wall" 
<--- reference of how invisibly it gets into our lives 

"On a visionary flood of alcohol" 
<--- people discussing, prognosticating about politics in a pub being a bit drunk 

"From the staggering account Of the Sermon on the Mount, Which I don't pretend to understand at all."
<--- Reference to Christian cults or the Book of Mormon which are not easily comprehensible to Leonard.

"It's coming from the silence On the dock of the bay" 
<--- Reference to the Ottis Redding song "Sitting on the dock bay", how nothing has changed at all 

"From the brave, the bold, the battered Heart of Chevrolet". 
<---America's fixation on cars, especially American made classic cars 

"Democracy is coming to the USA" 

"It's coming from the sorrow in the street," 
<--- reference to riots, or compassion towards homeless

"The holy places where the races meet" 
<--- America's churches (also gospel) playing the role of the family that's often far away 

"From the homicidal bitchin' That goes down in every kitchen To determine who will serve and who will eat."
 <--- The equality of women, who no longer just cook in the kitchen. Also, broader meaning of society: who will be rich and who will be poor. 

"From the wells of disappointment, where women kneel to pray" 
<--- supermarkets, stores where women shop to forget their agony of waiting for their husbands to return from the first Gulf War OR images of Arab women praying at a water or oil well 

"From the grace of God in the desert here" 
<--- Biblical reference to the desert, also hoping for success of military exercises in desert test ranges in Nevada, etc. 

"And the desert far away" 
<-- in the Iraqi desert in the first Gulf War, this song is in 1994 after the older Bush's presidency 

"Sail on, sail on O mighty Ship of State!" 
<--- reference to the USA (metaphor) and maybe also an aircraft carrier 

"To the Shores of Need Past the Reefs of Greed To the Squalls of Hate" 
<--- hopes for unity, compassion for the poor, the ethnic minorities and the people of Iraq 

"It's coming to America first"
 <--- the spirit of American innovation 

"The cradle of the best and of the worst" 
<-- America is the country of extremes

"It's here they got the range And the machinery for change"
 <--- Refers to the size of the US economy, economies of scale and the machinery of innovation, the nature of people who support change 

"And it's here they got the spiritual thirst" 
<-- mockery of American cults, hunger for self-improvement books to the point of stupidity 

"It's here the family's broken and it's here the lonely say That the heart has got to open In a fundamental way."
<--- references to places of worship and religion in the US that attempts to substitute family (everyone moves away from home and lives far away), naivete of beliefs how religion and self improvement, opening yourself up, etc. will change your relationship to the world when it won't 

"Democracy is coming to the USA." 

"It's coming from the women and men. O baby, we'll be making love again. We'll be going down so deep The river's going to weep And the mountain's going to shout Amen!". 
<--- Reference to the overblown interest to sex in the US. Also to the oversexualized media and the importance of raw and loud sex, loud orgasms in porn vs. emotions.with intimacy.

"It's coming like the tidal flood Beneath the lunar sway Imperial, mysterious, In amorous array" 
<-- Democracy is coming slowly, unnoticed, unstoppable like the tide rising but in a majestic way. 

"Sail on, sail on" 
<--- Ship of the US sailing on the sea of democracy, keep going with democracy 

"I'm sentimental if you know what I mean" 
<-- He loves this ambivalent world to a degree 

"I love the country but I can't stand the scene" 
<-- he hates politics and the then current state of affairs of 1992 

"And I'm neither left or right"
 <--- no political stance just fed up with the war 

"I'm just staying home tonight, Getting lost in that hopeless little screen".
<-- watching CNN on TV, just following what's going on 

"But Im' stubborn as those garbage bags That Time cannot decay" 
<--- environmental catastrophe, but still optimistic and stubbornly vouching for democracy 

"I'm junk but I'm still holding up This little wild bouquet" 
<-- power of nature, optimism, belief in the future 

"Democracy is coming to the USA." 
<-- Democracy's cycle will change and do away with all the bad things (Gulf War, racial hatred) in the USA soon.