Leonard Cohen’s New Album: You Want It Darker
Our friends over at Open Culture dropped another bombshell of Buddhist culture. It’s streaming on Spotify. The lyrics of the title track ‘You Want It Darker’ suggest that religions—including I would say, Buddhism—need people who are hooked, broken and weak in order to secure their devotion to a god, saviour or enlightenment that never comes. I wonder if Cohen has thrown off the robes and become somehow “post-Buddhist”?
| Leonard Cohen’s New Album, You Want It Darker, Is Streaming Free for a Limited Time
Posted: 21 Oct 2016 01:24 PM PDT
A quick heads up: Leonard Cohen’s new album You Want It Darker is streaming free online for a limited time, thanks to NPR’s First Listen site. Now 82 years old, and sensing that time is running short, Cohen offers, writes Rolling Stone, a “gift to music lovers: a realistically grim, spiritually radiant and deeply poetic worldview, generally spiked with a romantic thrum and an existential wink.” Hear the title track above. And stream the complete album right below using NPR’s free stream. Or another one provided by Spotify. You can purchase your own copy of Cohen’s album on Amazon and iTunes. We’d also encourage you to read this new profile of Cohen, written by The New Yorker‘s long-time editor David Remnick. It’s quite poignant. Follow Open Culture on Facebook and Twitter and share intelligent media with your friends. Or better yet, sign up for our daily email and get a daily dose of Open Culture in your inbox. And if you want to make sure that our posts definitely appear in your Facebook newsfeed, just follow these simple steps. |
You Want It Darker lyrics by 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 thy 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 struggled 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 thy 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
Hineni
Hineni, hineni
Hineni
Songwriters: Leonard Cohen / Patrick Leonard
You Want It Darker lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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