Hello all,
I asked a question of Jarkko and was requested to post it here instead...
Does anyone know what the inspiration or story behind "First We Take Manhattan" is? It sounds like it must be based on something.
-- Kimberly Chapman
http://kimberlychapman.com
Manhattan
Hi Kimberley
Went to your web site and clicked on Corky and the Juice Pigs and looked at the lyrics to their songs.
Buddists
Suzanne
Eskimo (showed me a movie???)
Americans and diplomacy...not quite democracy
and I thought...'is there a cohen link here?'
and after closer examination I have to say that there is no link whatsoever but I really enjoyed having a read.
Nothing to do with 'First we take Manhattan' but I'm sure someone here will post a serious reply.
Thankyou for the link
Pete
Went to your web site and clicked on Corky and the Juice Pigs and looked at the lyrics to their songs.
Buddists
Suzanne
Eskimo (showed me a movie???)
Americans and diplomacy...not quite democracy
and I thought...'is there a cohen link here?'
and after closer examination I have to say that there is no link whatsoever but I really enjoyed having a read.
Nothing to do with 'First we take Manhattan' but I'm sure someone here will post a serious reply.
Thankyou for the link
Pete
Hi Kimberley
There's a quote in Ira Nadel's biography from an interview Leonard gave in Oslo regarding First We Take Manhattan.
"It plays with certain geo-political ideas then in the air, he explained to an Oslo interviewer: extremism, terrorism, fundamentalism. They are all attractive positions because they lack ambiguity; such dogmatism is always seductive, he added, because of its 'total commitment to a position without any qualifications, without any conditions....there is some kind of secret life we lead in which we imagine ourselves changing things, not violently, maybe gracefully, maybe elegantly in a very imaginative way and with the shake of a hand. The song speaks of longing for change, impatience with the way things are, a longing for significance; we deal in the purest burning logic of longing.' Two years later, he referred to the song as a 'demented manifesto'..."
In the text of the online chat on the Sony site, he says it is best understood as an examination of the terrorist mentality, but I don't know of any particular event that may have triggered the song.
There's a quote in Ira Nadel's biography from an interview Leonard gave in Oslo regarding First We Take Manhattan.
"It plays with certain geo-political ideas then in the air, he explained to an Oslo interviewer: extremism, terrorism, fundamentalism. They are all attractive positions because they lack ambiguity; such dogmatism is always seductive, he added, because of its 'total commitment to a position without any qualifications, without any conditions....there is some kind of secret life we lead in which we imagine ourselves changing things, not violently, maybe gracefully, maybe elegantly in a very imaginative way and with the shake of a hand. The song speaks of longing for change, impatience with the way things are, a longing for significance; we deal in the purest burning logic of longing.' Two years later, he referred to the song as a 'demented manifesto'..."
In the text of the online chat on the Sony site, he says it is best understood as an examination of the terrorist mentality, but I don't know of any particular event that may have triggered the song.
Linda
1972: Leeds, 2008: Manchester, Lyon, London O2, 2009: Wet Weybridge, 2012: Hop Farm/Wembley Arena
1972: Leeds, 2008: Manchester, Lyon, London O2, 2009: Wet Weybridge, 2012: Hop Farm/Wembley Arena
The subject of thgis song is meant to be insane, I read. Anyway, Manhattan is because it is heart of NY and USA (as we saw) and because there is heart of music industry (i.e. Sony). Berlin because Leonard had the hardest concerts there (he said that). And of course, the Berlin wall, I suppose.
Tom.
Tom.
Leonard Cohen Newswire / bookoflonging.com (retired) / leonardcohencroatia.com (retired)
Yours is the first that aligns more closely with my interpretation of Manhattan/Berlin, Tom. I first heard the song/album, absent any written information on Leonard for many years. The political implications of it totally eluded me. I heard it in terms of a music conquest ["first we'll take Manhattan], with New York being the acid test for that which has intrinsic value. If New York likes it, it'll probably be a success elsewhere. Likewise, with Berlin, perhaps being the hard-core capitol of the musical scene in Europe. Of course, from all I've read, here and elsewhere, it looks like I didn't go deep enough on it.
there are still few 'items' that i'm not sure about...
(1)
(2)
(3)
is the woman's voice meant to be a conversation? is she or him 'one of those'?
(4)
(1)
how can she stop him?Ah you loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win
You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline
(2)
what are these items? why does he laugh devilishly? will he hide explosives in these items?And I thank you for those items that you sent me
The monkey and the plywood violin
(3)
is the woman's voice meant to be a conversation? is she or him 'one of those'?
(4)
is this meant that the main character in a song is actualy Leonard after he goes mad? 'i used to be a singer named Cohen, but now i kill people'? this could relate to the first stanza:Ah remember me, I used to live for music
Remember me, I brought your groceries in
Well it's Father's Day and everybody's wounded
so he first tried to change the way people think trough his music, and living in this society, but they wouldn't change for 20 years, and now he'll show them...They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
For trying to change the system from within
I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin
There is a good explanation/interpretation of this song in the book by L S Dorman ancd C L Rawlins published in 1990, titled L C, Prophet of the Heart. The authors had lots of meetings with Leonard and his close friends and give the background to most of his songs and other writing.
Page 358 and 359 explain his 20 years of problems with the music moguls, ie. record company, based in Manhatton. Berlin was "the toughest city in the world to play" One time they insulted him by sending him a monkey and a plywood violin! But he is now going to show them all.
Fathers day could refer to the loss of his own father so young, and also "losing" his own children after breaking up with their mother, who considered him to be a loser. but he is now on the attack. and she doesn't have what it takes to stop him.
I hope this helps a bit.
Page 358 and 359 explain his 20 years of problems with the music moguls, ie. record company, based in Manhatton. Berlin was "the toughest city in the world to play" One time they insulted him by sending him a monkey and a plywood violin! But he is now going to show them all.
Fathers day could refer to the loss of his own father so young, and also "losing" his own children after breaking up with their mother, who considered him to be a loser. but he is now on the attack. and she doesn't have what it takes to stop him.
I hope this helps a bit.
Jurica
I got my book very cheaply at ebay in the final hour when no one else had shown any interest
You could also check out http://www.abebooks.com for any particular book if you put in either the title or the author's name. There is no auction, just a fixed price according to the books' condition or rarity.
margaret
I got my book very cheaply at ebay in the final hour when no one else had shown any interest
You could also check out http://www.abebooks.com for any particular book if you put in either the title or the author's name. There is no auction, just a fixed price according to the books' condition or rarity.
margaret
