"Elaboration of a tube" line in "Going Home"?

Leonard Cohen's previous album (January 2012)
Post Reply
Mirek
Posts: 323
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 12:16 pm
Location: Poznan, Poland

"Elaboration of a tube" line in "Going Home"?

Post by Mirek »

Although there was already some discussion on that verse, but I guess it'd be better to have a separate thread about these words.

He will speak these words of wisdom
Like a sage, a man of vision
Though he knows he’s really nothing
But the brief elaboration of a tube

So, as Jarkko said - it is >tube<, not >tune<. In my opinion it's even better, 'cos elaboration of a tune wouldn't be hard to interpret.

What kind of tube did LC have in mind?

Cathode ray tube being a source of electrons? A scientific metaphor of a poet being a source of words? Someone has already mentioned that.

Elaboration of epithelial tube - biological metaphore of a developing living organism?

Other kind of >tube<? If so - what kind?


I am really interested in your opinions. Remember - I am not a native speaker of English, so my ideas might be absolutely false.
User avatar
Paul Zagreb
Posts: 459
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:51 pm
Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Re: "elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions

Post by Paul Zagreb »

Wow! First direct reference to a scientific text I have seen on here. I think your guess is a good as any. If it helps, in British English (not sure about Canadian) 'the tube' is an old slang phrase for the television (precisely because of the cathode ray). There is also the possible allusion to the fleetingness (almost Warhol's 15 minutes of fame) of 'youtube'. Like you, I like the lack of instant accessibility which the phrase "brief elaboration of a tube" suggests! By the way, I love the track and the idea of two voices works extremely well I think.
2008: Manchester 20 June /Vienna 24 September /Berlin 4 October / Cardiff 8 November/Manchester 30 November 2009: Liverpool 14 July / Belgrade 2 September / Barcelona 21 September 2010: Zagreb 25 July /Sankt Margarethan 5 September 2012: Ghent 12 August/Verona 24 September/Lisbon 7 October 2013: London 21 June / Berlin 17 July / Ljubljana 25 July / Pula 2 August / London 15 September
JudasPriest
Posts: 282
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:42 pm

"elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions?

Post by JudasPriest »

Test tube baby analogy? A reference to Len's public personna/costume being controlled?
francis
Posts: 26
Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:55 pm

Re: "elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions

Post by francis »

in popular French, "un tube" is a hit, a popular, succesful song
User avatar
jerry
Posts: 466
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 12:23 am
Location: New Jersey USA

Re: "elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions

Post by jerry »

I read it as the brief coming to life of nothing more than a bunch of chemicals mixed together which is really what the human body is after all.
Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.
Leonard Cohen
User avatar
friscogrl
Posts: 2411
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 6:07 am
Location: San Francisco, Ca.

Re: "elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions

Post by friscogrl »

I have actually heard humans being described simply as one big tube; things go in at the top and come out of the bottom.

Marsha
2008 Toronto June 6/ 2009 New York Feb 19 Oakland April 13 14 Coachella April 17 Ottawa May 25 26 Barcelona Sept 21 Las Vegas 11/12 San Jose 11/13
2010 Malmo Aug 4 Gothenburg Aug 12 Las Vegas Dec 10 & 11
2012 Verona 9/24 San Jose 11/7. Montreal 11/28 11/29/ 2013 Oakland 3/2 NYC 4/6
Hamilton 4/9
holydove
Posts: 1579
Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:38 pm
Location: Connecticut

Re: "elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions

Post by holydove »

Maybe - Fallopian tube, through which the egg travels from ovary to uterus.
hadley
Posts: 60
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:21 pm

Re: "elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions

Post by hadley »

HolyDove you just beat me to it! Though I was going to suggest Vagina :lol:

Definately agree with Jerry about the sentiment of the thing being about life and just being a bunch of chemicals
User avatar
Hartmut
Posts: 1438
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:08 pm

Re: "elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions

Post by Hartmut »

friscogrl wrote:I have actually heard humans being described simply as one big tube; things go in at the top and come out of the bottom.
This was also my first thought when I heard that line.

That concept is mentioned here, for example:
"The fundamental design of the human body is a tube - a doughnut with a hole in the middle."
http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/pu ... tips.shtml

And yes, there are some elaborations to that tube ...
User avatar
remote1
Posts: 2503
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:59 pm
Location: between the snowman and the rain

Re: "elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions

Post by remote1 »

I am still wondering whether there could be a typo on the CD booklet. Tube sounds odd to me... ;-)
"We are so lightly here"
User avatar
jerry
Posts: 466
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 12:23 am
Location: New Jersey USA

Re: "elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions

Post by jerry »

This is the definition of elaborate:
worked out with great care and nicety of detail; executed with great minuteness: elaborate preparations; elaborate care.
marked by intricate and often excessive detail; complicated.

Isn't that how Leonard writes his songs? Taking very long to write them and searching for the exact right words? So TUNE would make sense.

TUNE/TUBE. The B & N letters on a keyboard or typwriter are right next to each other also. A typo in the cd booklet?

My bets are still on TUNE.
Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.
Leonard Cohen
hadley
Posts: 60
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:21 pm

Re: "elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions

Post by hadley »

Actually the more I think about it the more the 'food goes in one end comes out the other' tube idea makes perfect sense from the context of what he was singing before. It's actually a pretty classy line. How many times have I heard him sing a new line and thought 'why didnt I write that?!' :lol:
User avatar
jerry
Posts: 466
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 12:23 am
Location: New Jersey USA

Re: "elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions

Post by jerry »

He will speak these words of wisdom
Like a sage, a man of vision

Wouldn't that refer to a song or tune?
Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.
Leonard Cohen
holydove
Posts: 1579
Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:38 pm
Location: Connecticut

Re: "elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions

Post by holydove »

I wonder if the "tube" might be a reference of a more cosmic nature. Apparently, physicists have created a "universe in a test tube", where they have created the atmosphere necessary for life as we know it, for the purpose of testing the "theory of everything". Here is a link to an article about this: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/scie ... heory.html Thus, I wonder if "tube" might refer to the whole universe, i.e., all of time & space.
Last edited by holydove on Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Mirek
Posts: 323
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 12:16 pm
Location: Poznan, Poland

Re: "elaboration of a tube" - any interpretation suggestions

Post by Mirek »

jerry wrote:He will speak these words of wisdom
Like a sage, a man of vision

Wouldn't that refer to a song or tune?
Right, jerry, but... don't you think this would be too obvious? In my opinion Leonard loves to include unexpected words and/or lines. And this is one of those cases.
Fans would discuss, interpret the line, connect it to other texts. That's poetry, I guess.
For me Paul's explanation sounds quite convincing.
Post Reply

Return to “OLD IDEAS”