Leonard Cohen, interview with Gilles Medioni for L'Express
“[‘By the Rivers Dark’] is a reference to the Book of Psalms (Psalm 137): the children of Israel are in exile, their captors asked them to sing, but they refuse because they can not celebrate sacred songs in a foreign land. In the psalm it is said: ‘If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let me arm fall, my tongue cleave to my palate.’ I got this idea of applying Jerusalem to Babylon. this song is about reconciliation between the profane and the sacred.”
As you listen (above) to Leonard Cohen’s rendition of the psalm, consider the following questions:
In light of the quotation from Cohen (above), how does he describe his relationship to the Babylonian landscape in this song?
Elsewhere, Cohen writes of the importance of “living completely where you are” and not reserving “some mythical or spiritual refuge as an alternative.” How do you respond to this advice?
How does Cohen play with the image of playing lyres from the original psalm
Why do you think this modern psalmist entitled this song “By The Rivers Dark”?
