The Givers

[EuchridEucrow]

A few days ago, my mom and I discussed a certain episode of the I'm Your Man DvD, where Leonard talks about the Givers. He says: "...The givers started to give me things, then to take them away, the things that didn't fit, they put back into the emptiness of the void. The gifts were many and many were the warnings that came with them. We're giving you a good heart, but if you drink, you'll begin to hate the world. The moon is your sister, but if you take sleeping pills you'll yourself in the company of unhappy women. Every time you grab at love, you'll loose a snowflake of your memory..."

When I first saw the DvD, I believed the Givers to be his family and the people that surrounded him during his childhood. That they were the ones who gave him those rather specific warnings, as a part of his upbringing. Although, having seen it a couple of times, the Givers themselves come out as something far greater and far more important. My mother believes that Leonard Cohen has actually had a pre-life experience in which he remembers being given certain things by the Givers, as well as those warnings. Myself, I believe now that the Givers are indeed the Givers, that they gave him certain gifts before his birth and set him on a path on which he himself has little, if any, choice at all. The later two option are definitely noticeable in some of his lyrics.

"I was born like this
I had no choice
I was born like this
with a golden voice
and twenty-seven angels
from the great beyond
they tied me to this table right here
in the Tower of Song"

- Tower of Song (1988)

"I'm getting fixed
I'm back on Boogie Street
I guess they won't exchange the gifts
that you were meant to keep"

- A Thousand Kisses Deep (2001)

The question still remains, whether or not these are to be understood as an abstract poetic way of saying that he recieved certain gifts "from the great beyond" and he has no choice but to honour them, as Nick Cave must honour his muse, or if he actually remembers being given gifts by the Givers, maybe only remembering it in his later years or maybe, at some point, knowing it all along. What do you think?

[linda_lakeside]

Personally, I think (my opinion is one of many and it's only an opinion, of course), that he's referring to all things that we all are 'given' when we are born. Some of us are given patience, others good humour, some musical talent, etc. These 'gifts' or 'virtues' may come with 'warnings' as, if abused, they can lead one down the wrong path. How many who made much money on their 'talent', were led down the road to drugs and drink? Money and talent should come with a warning. But then, Leonard has a more mystical way of looking at life than I do. I simply think the 'Givers' is a metaphor for how we rec'd whatever attributes we have. Like people say things such as "where were you when 'they' were 'giving' out brains", you know that old joke. I don't, personally, think that the 'Givers' have any real existence in past life or present life. The man is a poet, and it's his job to express himself in a way others may not. It's simply a means of expressing how he came to have what he has. That's my view at least. I'm sure there are others.

Btw, nice to meet you, EuchridEucrow (that's not easy to type), you were Given a rather difficult moniker, I'd say.

Linda.