Tag Archives: democracy

ANTHEM

4 Replies

Earlier today, I wrote an answer to Mark Aldrich who had sent me a video of Leonard Cohen singing “Democracy” as an answer to my yesterday’s essay entitled “The Three Stooges and Campaign Reform.” In today’s earlier post, I admitted I had more to say but had run out of time to say it, but that I’d be back.  Well, here I am.  I’m baa-ack!  Since Mark answered me with a song, I would like to reciprocate with lyrics by Leonard Cohen that I think offer a bit more hope that the lyrics of “Democracy.”

DSC09968

“Anthem”

The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don’t dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be.
Ah the wars they will
be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
bought and sold
and bought again
the dove is never free.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.

We asked for signs
the signs were sent:
the birth betrayed
the marriage spent
Yeah the widowhood
of every government —
signs for all to see.

I can’t run no more
with that lawless crowd
while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud.
But they’ve summoned, they’ve summoned up
a thundercloud
and they’re going to hear from me.

Ring the bells that still can ring …

You can add up the parts
but you won’t have the sum
You can strike up the march,
there is no drum
Every heart, every heart
to love will come
but like a refugee.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
That’s how the light gets in.
That’s how the light gets in.

                                                                                         –Leonard Cohen

Cohen is admitting that nothing is perfect and never has been.  If it weren’t for the evil in the world, good would not exist; for the very existence of the world depends on the movement between yin and yang, anima and animus, light and dark, positive and negative, good and evil.  But there is a crack in everything.  Both the good and the evil are vulnerable to permeation by the other.  The very liberty bell is, in fact, cracked.

I think he is saying to take heart.  The I Ching states that the universe is a pendulum and that whenever one force gets to its summit, the laws of nature dictate that it begins to change into its opposite, swinging farther and farther over to its antithesis. The “widowhood” of a government marks the end of its power.  Is Cohen saying that it is necessary for a corrupt government to fall in order to restore the good of the people?  Perhaps. But all he commits to is the effect it has had on him, personally.

I can’t run no more
with that lawless crowd
while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud.
But they’ve summoned, they’ve summoned up
a thundercloud
and they’re going to hear from me.

It certainly sounds like Cohen is talking about the hypocrisy of those who profess to be religious yet serve their own interest instead of the good of the people.  This thundercloud that is happening–is it merely his personal little cloud?  He says they are going to hear from him, and in this song, they certainly have.  But is he talking about a larger cloud?  One that will cause people to vote in the interest of the masses for once instead of the good of the vocal few who have convinced them that to vote to further the causes of the powerful and wealthy is in the best interest of ordinary citizens?

If liberty is cracked to the point where it is no longer functional, he calls upon people to still “Ring the bells that still can ring.”  In short, to do what we can.  No, our government is not perfect because nothing is perfect.  It is just not the way the world is set up.  We can take what power we do have, however, and vote.  This is a power that hasn’t been taken away from us.  If only, if only, the great majority of citizens would allow themselves to be enlightened–to let the light in–perhaps the change back towards democracy could start to happen.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/the-fun-platform/

DEMOCRACY

3 Replies
IMG_0606

When my sister Patti and her friend Karen Bossart were little girls, they were asked to sing a song for entertainment at the Republican Convention. Unbeknownst to those who asked them, my parents and hers were some of the few democrats in town. Imagine their surprise when my sister and Karen got up and sang wearing these badges! When we all got together earlier this summer, it just so happens that Karen had saved her badge, which now forms a reasonably appropriate illustration for this post.

In response to my today’s post “The Three Stooges and Campaign Reform,”  Mark Aldrich sent me a link to  THIS YouTube video of Leonard Cohen singing his song “Democracy.”  The lyrics are below:

“Democracy”

It’s coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It’s coming from the feel
that this ain’t exactly real,
or it’s real, but it ain’t exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It’s coming through a crack in the wall;
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don’t pretend to understand at all.
It’s coming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It’s coming from the sorrow in the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin’
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of God in the desert here
and the desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on
O mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
Past the Reefs of Greed
Through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.

It’s coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It’s here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it’s here they got the spiritual thirst.
It’s here the family’s broken
and it’s here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It’s coming from the women and the men.
O baby, we’ll be making love again.
We’ll be going down so deep
the river’s going to weep,
and the mountain’s going to shout Amen!
It’s coming like the tidal flood
beneath the lunar sway,
imperial, mysterious,
in amorous array:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on …

I’m sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can’t stand the scene.
And I’m neither left or right
I’m just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I’m stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I’m junk but I’m still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

I must admit that these lyrics puzzle me.  I think its message is pessimistic and ironic and to a degree hopeless.  Perhaps he is saying that everyone will get fed up enough with the decay of democracy in the U.S. to do something about it, but it still feels to me that the overall message is one of irony.  Everyone is fed up.  The hints of encroaching democracy are more obvious in China in Tiananmen Square (although I believe by the 1990’s democracy had been pretty much squelched in China as well) than in the land of democracy and opportunity for all.  Where is this change coming from?  It is obvious it is not coming from the power brokers and wealthy who have sold democracy for their own enrichment.  It must, then, come from us.

How then does Cohen see us–we who must bring back democracy? The family is broken, democracy ain’t exactly real and it ain’t exactly here. Gay rights seem dead (remember, this is 1990), the homeless fill the streets, auto companies are failing, wars are being waged, sirens are wailing (much like Cohen himself) and women are complaining in their kitchens. Everybody seems pretty unhappy. Even Cohen chooses to retreat into escaping into his TV set, declaring, all the while, that he is as indestructible as those garbage bags that will still be around for the judgement day.

To me, it looks like the outlook is pretty desultory.  But this was what–25 years ago?  What does the situation look like now?  Lest this post get too burdensome, and because I have an appointment in an hour, please come back later for my answer.  Yes, I do have the beginning of one in drafts.  Just not the time to complete it.

My thanks go to Mark Aldrich, one of the best commentators on the blogs today, for providing the impetus for this post.  Mark, you might have more illuminating words to speak about these lyrics. I welcome the input of all.  I am not as versed in politics as most.  I can barely stand to watch the news anymore, and I think I’m not alone in this.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t care what happens in this world.  I think we each do what we can in the way that most suits our personality. If you are reading this, chances are you have chosen the same way I have–blogging–and I thank Mark and all of the others out there in the world who bring us sound and fair reportage of what is going on.

Later tonight I am actually going to bring to you another Leonard Cohen song that I think perhaps holds out a bit more hope for us–and perhaps a few solutions.  Thanks for reading.  I welcome your comments.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/the-fun-platform/