Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker

[Stitch]

Temu ću neuobičajeno započeti, pjesmom pokojnoga kanadskoga glazbenika Leonarda Cohena You Want It Darker, koju smatram duboko religioznom iako sadržava svojevrstan prijekor upućen Bogu. Zapravo nisam načisto s tim kako da shvatim stihove, kao mirenje sa sudbinom i predaju Stvoritelju ("Hineni, hineni: I am ready, my Lord") ili kao razočaranost svime što je vidio i doživio ("A million candles burning for the help that never came / You want it darker - we killed the flame"). A možda je posrijedi oboje.

[Stitch]

You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen

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 idol claim
You want it darker
We kill the flame

They're lining up to 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 = here I am
Hineni is Hebrew for “here I am” and is the response Abraham gives when God calls on him to sacrifice his son Isaac. It is also the name of a prayer of preparation and humility, addressed to God, chanted by the cantor on Rosh Hashanah.