Leonard Cohen died on the 7th of November of 2016, mere weeks after the release of his last record, You Want it Darker, and just in time so that he would not have to see Trump being elected into office the following day. The homonymous song of that record astonishingly revealed to me a Leonard Cohen that I was previously unaware of.
When I like the art produced by an artist, I try to confine my interest to the art, rather than the artist. I guess I picked up this habit when I was a teenager, after reading a book about the life of Jim Morrison. Contrary to all expectations that I had when I was buying the book, once I was done reading it I decided that there was really nothing to take home from it. This, then, became a broader theme throughout my life: I have always been very weary of cults of personality and I will very seldomly state that I am a fan of anyone. Furthermore, if I ever do state that I am a fan of someone, I will only do so posthumously, because it is only after someone's death that we can be sure that they will not do anything stupid and disappoint us. This is, for example, why I can say with confidence that I am a fan of Bertrand Russel, while I never said that I am a fan of Elon Musk. (And recent developments seem to vindicate my choice amply, to say the least.) Also, Richard Dawkins has certainly earned his laurels, but as far as I am concerned, he is technically on the waiting list for as long as he is still breathing.
So, the way it went with Leonard Cohen is that I have always liked his music, but I have known very little about the man. I have known him as Canadian, but that is the most basic thing you can know about someone. I have known that he owns a home on the island of Hydra, where he spent a part of his life, but that is something that you cannot fail to know about him if you are Greek.
I have known that he is Jewish, but I have not known whether he identified as such by religion or by culture, and I have not sought to clarify this, because I would rather leave his personal life alone. I have known him as a leftist, but there are many examples of leftists who were to some degree religious. I have known him as being anti-establishment, but I had no idea whether he considered god as part of the establishment. From all that I knew about him, I had no reason to believe that he had any beef whatsoever with religion, or with god in particular.
Now, it is worth noting that due to his deteriorating health near the end of his life, his mobility was very restricted. It is known that the living room of his home was turned into a recording studio to allow him to sing while seated or reclining. So, the record was created while Leonard Cohen was fully aware that his end was near. Keep this in mind, it is important.
When I discovered the song on YouTube I started playing it in the background, intending to do other things while listening to it, but when I realized what the lyrics were saying I jumped in my seat. I listened to it again. And again. I found the lyrics and read them. I was quite astonished to realize what the song was:
a fierce condemnation and rejection of the Judeo-Christian god.
The song is not directed so much towards organized religion; not even so much towards the followers; it is mainly directed to god himself. It is personal. And it is not just a denial; it is anathema. The song competes with, and surpasses, old favorites of mine like Dear God by XTC, Orgasmatron by Motörhead, and God Was Never On Your Side, also by Motörhead. I cannot imagine a more poetic way of telling god to, uhm, basically, fuck off.
Acknowledging the fact that Leonard Cohen's lyrics were often enigmatic, and the fact that we tend to interpret enigmas according to our own belief systems, I searched around for more information about the song, trying to find out what others were saying about it. Sure enough, various people appear to interpret the song in whatever way suits their own world views and prejudices. I found a religious web site where someone is interpreting the song as an affirmation of Leonard Cohen's faith; so, that person understood the exact opposite of what I understood from the song.
Clearly, there must be ways of interpreting the song that are right, and other ways that are wrong; but how can we tell?
Alexis Petridis, the head rock and pop critic of The Guardian has described the song as "a menacing critique of religion", according to Wikipedia. But what do critics know, right?
So, let us look at the lyrics.
Note: Hineni is a Hebrew word which means "here I am". It is the response given by various important biblical figures, such as Abraham, when god calls them in the bible. In Leonard Cohen's own words, (from the official You Want It Darker press conference,) it is "a declaration of readiness, no matter what the outcome."
Artist: Leonard Cohen Song: You Want It Darker (2016)
If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game If you are the healer, it means I'm broken and lame If thine is the glory, then mine must be the shame You want it darker We kill the flame
Magnified, sanctified Be the holy name Vilified, crucified In the human frame A million candles burning For the help that never came You want it darker
Hineni, hineni I'm ready, my Lord
There's a lover in the story But the story's still the same There's a lullaby for suffering And a paradox to blame But it's written in the scriptures And it's not some idle claim You want it darker We kill the flame
They're lining up the prisoners And the guards are taking aim I struggle with some demons They were middle class and tame I didn't know I had permission To murder and to maim You want it darker
Hineni, hineni I'm ready, my Lord
Magnified, sanctified Be the holy name Vilified, crucified In the human frame A million candles burning For the love that never came You want it darker We kill the flame
If you are the dealer, let me out of the game If you are the healer, I'm broken and lame If thine is the glory, mine must be the shame You want it darker
Hineni, hineni
Hineni, hineni
I'm ready, my Lord
To me, the meaning of most of the lyrics is as plain as daylight.
Here are the few bits that I am not entirely sure about, and my tentative thoughts about them:
There's a lover in the story / But the story's still the same
Who is the lover, what is the story, and in what sense is the story still the same?
The lover is quite possibly Jesus. This is not unthinkable, because elsewhere the song mentions crucifixion, so clearly, it takes a Judeo-Christian rather than strictly Jewish perspective. So, the story that is still the same may well be the Christian bible in its entirety, where the addition of Jesus does not erase the cruelty of the old testament, nor the historical cruelty of the followers of the religion.
There's a lullaby for suffering / And a paradox to blame
What is that lullaby, what is the paradox, and what is it to blame for?
The lullaby for suffering is probably a reference to the perverse fascination of the Judeo-Christian religion with guilt to the point of self-torture. So, the paradox is, quite possibly, the famously paradoxical concept of original sin.
I struggle with some demons / They were middle class and tame
What are these demons, and what is the significance of them being middle class and tame?
This phrase comes right after "They're lining up the prisoners and the guards are taking aim", which seems to be a reference to the holocaust, so the demons that were middle class and tame might be the conscience of those who witnessed this and kept minding their own business, allowing it to happen.
When I think about the song, I cannot help but wonder whether the flame, which appears to be irreconcilable with god, is the same as the flame mentioned by another favorite Jew of mine, in his own famous scathing critique of superstitious belief: The Demon-Haunted World (Science as a Candle in the Dark) by Carl Sagan.
What I find astonishing about this song is that usually, people on their deathbed do not tend to pick that as the best moment to break ties with god. (Or should I say, burn bridges with god.) (Or perhaps, should I say, napalm-bomb bridges with god.) The making of this song by Leonard Cohen at the very end of his life is the polar opposite of a death-bed conversion.
On 2026-03-16 I had a video call with a Jewish (by heritage) friend in the USA and discussed this with him; he explained to me that although Judaism has a concept of afterlife, there is no hellfire & brimstone kind of hell in it. So, Leonard Cohen's move is not as extreme as it would be from a Christian perspective; still, I believe it is a move that takes quite some character to pull.
Perhaps good old Leonard associated with religion during his life purely out of cultural interest, (like my own father did,) which may have given people some false impressions, so perhaps he wanted to set the record straight before departing.
He surely did.
In no uncertain terms.
I take my hat off to him.