Like A Psalm

General discussion about Leonard Cohen's songs and albums
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Steven
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Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 12:32 am

Like A Psalm

Post by Steven »

Hi,

"If It Be Your Will," famously said to be like a prayer, is equally, or more so, akin to a Psalm. The
imagery, the resignation, humilty, are each a Psalm-like element, as is, of course, that the words have
dual applicability: song and recitation. Additionally, there's another similarity, as the lyrics allow for their
recitation as poetry outside of prayer (capable of affecting people with and without faith), as do those
of the Psalms.
Steven
Posts: 2140
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 12:32 am

Re: Like A Psalm

Post by Steven »

Hi,

Just a musing here. Were archaeologists to discover the musical score of the Psalms:
Would the music be dated or timeless? What would be the extent of interest in
hearing the Psalms in their original song based medium for most people? Unless the
music proved to be really compelling, I don't think that the majority of people would
care very much about it.
holydove
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Re: Like A Psalm

Post by holydove »

Hi Steven,

First of all, good point - I agree that Leonard's song is more of a psalm than a prayer, mainly because he wrote it as a song, with the intention of singing it, & a psalm is essentially a prayer that is meant to be sung :razz: .

And personally, I would love to hear the psalms in their original musical form - I think that would be quite amazing! I have to confess, I do not have anything close to thorough familiarity with the psalms & their layers of meaning, but with the little I know of them, they are fascinating; & I've been intending to do a more in-depth study of them, but haven't gotten around to that yet - but someday soon, I must make that happen. And I am fascinated by the character of David & though I know that there is some question as to whether he was the author of all, or some, of the psalms, I believe that he is the author of most, if not all, of them, & I would love to hear the music that he composed for them.
holydove
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Re: Like A Psalm

Post by holydove »

Hi,

I've been thinking, & what I said about a psalm being "a prayer that's meant to be sung", is not true, in that a psalm is not a prayer. They sometimes have elements of prayer, but a prayer is designed to ask God for something, & the psalms are more than that. Psalms are often called "songs of praise", but they are more than that too. So perhaps they are poetry/song/prayer/praise all mixed in together. It's been said that the full range of all possible human emotion is described in the psalms. That's all I have time to write at the moment; just wanted to correct my previous statement.
holydove
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Re: Like A Psalm

Post by holydove »

...
holydove
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Re: Like A Psalm

Post by holydove »

Did not mean to make another post. Deleting again. sorry.
Last edited by holydove on Tue Aug 02, 2016 3:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
holydove
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Re: Like A Psalm

Post by holydove »

Tried to edit but getting all confused, twice, so never mind. . .Deleted post.
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Hartmut
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Re: Like A Psalm

Post by Hartmut »

holydove wrote:And personally, I would love to hear the psalms in their original musical form - I think that would be quite amazing!
This is indeed a fascinating subject! - There have been some efforts to reconstruct the music of the Psalms. I have found some good information (including audio recordings!) about this at the following sites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalms#Th ... the_Psalms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzanne_H ... k-Vantoura
http://www.rakkav.com/biblemusic/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_5L0zl2xaU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRJ0osUNqBY
Steven
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Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 12:32 am

Re: Like A Psalm

Post by Steven »

Hi holydove and Hartmut,

Thank you for your replies. Will visit the sites that Hartmut linked to as time allows.
Looking forward to doing so, though may not be able to comment back about them.

Hi everyone,

There is an interesting biographical parallel in the lives of the biblical character King David
and Leonard Cohen... specifically, that both experienced depression and the lifting of it.
Will leave it there. Others can pick up on this if so inclined.
holydove
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Re: Like A Psalm

Post by holydove »

Great find, Hartmut - thanks for the links! The recordings, be they correct or incorrect interpretations - to my ears, they are beautiful!!

Steven, thank you for pointing out the parallels in the lives of David & LC - it is very interesting!
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