Leonard Cohen: “Democracy” to the rescue!
OK, you know I’ve been moaning about this election and the Death of Democracy, ad nauseum. But it’s a sunny October Saturday, and courtesy of my brother-in-law, a little hope just blew in, a reminder really, in the form of Leonard Cohen’s Democracy. Now, I can’t embed this video for you (I’m just not that good a hacker), but I heartily recommend following the link.
I think what makes me happiest about this song is how Cohen links this very abstract idea, democracy, with what it’s like to knock around on the ground in U.S.A. (or anywhere, really). And I especially like his suggestion of the erotics of democracy! (Its toward the end.)
October 25th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Thanks for sharing this. The Leonard Cohen lyrics that have come to my mind over, say the past eight years, are these from “Everybody Knows.”
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking/
Everybody knows that the captain lied/
Everybody’s got this broken feeling/
Like their father or their dog just died/
Everybody’s talking to their pockets/
Everybody wants a box of chocolates and a long-stemmed rose/
Everybody knows.
October 26th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
sometimes I think no one has it figured out quite like Leonard Cohen…
October 27th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Wait a minute … isn’t Leonard Cohen Canadian? (Lots of real Americans are, you know. Also, Canada is really close to Alaska, and I’m sure there’s something important about foreign policy in that fact. You can actually SEE Canada from parts of Alaska …)