The Future - Leonard Cohen

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Skipling

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Warning! Explicit lyrics have been censored. They scroll across the video and are quite utterly superb! This is a 1993 song which pretty much nails ponerisation to a tee.

"Things are gonna slide
Slide in all directions
Won't be nothing
Won't be nothing
You can measure any more
The blizzard
The blizzard of the world
Has crossed the threshold
And has overturned the order of the soul...

When they said REPENT, REPENT, I wonder what they meant..."

Man, I haven't listened to this in a while, an absolutley brilliant song. After just watching the video to High Hopes by Pink Floyd, which is a real treat for fans of Patrick McGoohan's magnum opus The Prisoner, (oh watch those wafting weather balloons... ;)), I was inspired to rember a song which typified the times, and this song, which featured on the end credits to Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers, seemed to really fit the bill. And so it does.

Leonard has come across in interviews as a truly lovely man, a deep, caring, good person, and his crafty wit and observational skills are on full display in this song. It is truly a magnificent achievement, a fantastic song, and for those tempted to view the vid, watch out for his tasty hot shoe shuffle, a nifty dance move which I think I'm gonna have to borrow!

Anyway enough of the waffle, here's the vid!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D97OxHZzBeQ
 
[quote author=Skipling]
This is a 1993 song which pretty much nails ponerisation to a tee.[/quote]

I totally agree. To me, "The Future" couldn't be more straightforward 'fatalist' in that distinctive Cohen style of satire. Of course it helps to know that he deliberately distinguished himself from his peer's counterculture-inspired rants of the 60's, OSIT.

I enjoy the contrast between the dark subject matter and the upbeat music, the cooing, almost saucy background vocals and programmed tracks.

Also, I get a distinct impression he is aware he has two audiences. For those who don't know what he's about, the expressions at 3:06 - 3:28 followed by the "hot shoe shuffle" and the expression at 4:42 - the almost amused, sneering tone in his voice (which suggests Mephistopheles as a singer), all seems to suggest the question: "You really don't get it do you?"

To me, all this and more suggests someone with wit and observational skills, as Skipling said, and an overview - indicating that he can see the writing on the wall.

To me, these lines...

"the blizzard of the world
has crossed the threshold
and it has overturned
the order of the soul"
Click to expand...

...say: All the evil from the past is nothing compared to what awaits us. "The blizzard of the world has crossed the threshold..." All the chaos and lack of empathy has finally reached it's breaking point and the soul will never be the same.

'Course, maybe it's just me. ;)
 
ishiki said:
I think it is bizarre that I was just listening to a song of Leonard Cohen, when scrolling down your post.
Click to expand...

The Universe does move in mysterious ways.... :halo:

Thanks for the link too. I need to check out far more from our man Len!

Bud said:
I enjoy the contrast between the dark subject matter and the upbeat music, the cooing, almost saucy background vocals and programmed tracks.
Click to expand...

Yes indeedy. Almost like cocktail jazz...with a foreboding travelogue. I think The Doors were the only other stars of 60's to truly nail that combination...such as Riders on the Storm. Not to mention the sense of one's audience really not getting the message being conveyed. I was often frustrated by the "oh why can't you just enjoy something for what it is" kind of complaint by people, but now, beyond my salad days, I find it wryly amusing. In order to enjoy something for what it is, you first need to understand what it is about!

To quote an old Doors lyric; "It's getting harder to describe sailors to the underfed". That's the kind of poetry only an abductee could write! Not the kind of thing that would be readily grasped by the flower children!

To be a cynic in a world in which the truth is perceived almost exclusively as darkside material means that a Mephistophelean demeanour is very much an asset.

Bud said:
'Course, maybe it's just me.
Click to expand...

Nah mate, not at all....the sense of witnessing a mass implosion is becoming painfully apparent, although I never underestimate the fact that such an implosion could also strike me at any minute. Life these days really does resemble going toe to toe with the Devil. It's obviously more than most people can take, because they have totally forgotten themselves in the main. Our culture reflects that. A moment with Cohen can peel a layer from the eyes for a moment, but hey, it's just a song, nothing to worry about...

Such a shame is fear. Those that cannot lose it are losing more than they can ever have.
 
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