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Hi Leslie,

The game was very interesting, but I'm sure we wouldn't be able to continue it.
The reason is expressed by Jarkko in the thread of another great Forum game: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=10371&start=17190#p351634

Thank you so much Roman. I must have missed that post from February and every so often would wonder what happened to the game. I played in it at times and learned about places I didn't know existed.
C'est la vie…thanks for letting me know.
Leslie

Hi,

A song character has experienced a spiritual revelation. The lyrics do not indicate that the
revelation is the result of study and intellectualizing. People can infer that the revelation
arose independently of those activities. Please name the song.

Hi,

Timed out. "Born In Chains" is the song. If a post ensues that indicates any real interest as to why,
I may elaborate.

Hi Steven,

You timed it out a little too fast ; I came here to say Born In Chains (which came to me at some point last night, when I was not at the computer), because of this verse:

"But in the Grip/ of Sensual Illusion/ A sweet unknowing/ Unified the Name".

Are those the lines you had in mind? Please do elaborate.

Hi holydove,

Those lines, yes, and many others in the song. It was a reconsideration of a
few words, though, that brought about seeing the song as a perfectly unified work.
The words are: "I cannot read the rest." They represent to me that the song
character does not want to lessen the extent of the spiritual-emotional experience
by turning up cognitive function and engagement. Also, "sweet unknowing," in the
same way, is benevolent here as it facilitated depth of experience, evidenced by
allowing for what got "Written on my heart." There's a unification the character
experiences. It's liberating. The song starts off by drawing upon the Passover liberation
story. The Passover Haggadah prescribes that people experience for themselves liberation
by way of the story and the seder. That experience also transcends head knowledge.
Certainly L.C. was influenced by the Haggadah, consciously or not, in the creation of
the song.

Thank you for your explanation, Steven. That's an interesting interpretation of "cannot read the rest" - I like it! I agree with all that you said. The analogy of the Exodus from Egypt, esp. as it comprises the opening verses, is definitely pertinent to the message of the song, & the use of the word "taken"(in the line, "I was taken out of Egypt") also corresponds to the actual words of the Exodus story, which I believe also says that the people were "taken" out of Egypt, which I think implies that the liberation did not come about, necessarily, because of any particular efforts on the part of the people, but because of G-d's mercy; & I think that fits in with what you said about the song character's experience of liberation not being due to any intellectual work on his part. I took "cannot read the rest" to imply something similar - that the character does not feel capable of intellectually understanding anything about the forces or events of his life, or what led up to the present experience, & the experience of unity - the Name unified & burned into his heart - is something that is beyond intellectual understanding. Thanks again for your wonderful elaboration.

I will offer another question: There are 2 songs, each of which contains a line that makes reference to 2 aspects of nature interacting with each other. The aspects are the same in both songs, & one is an image of a very tangible earthly element, & the other element is more ethereal & also more active.

Hmm ... Is one of these songs 'Light As The Breeze' ? (''and the wind going wild in the trees')

I think there's another song with a similar line ... But I can't remember.

Ha!

'Lullaby'
('The wind in the trees / is [they're] talking in tongues')

Yes, Harmut, you are absolutely unequivocally correct about both songs & both lines!

Great! Thanks.

There are (at least) seven songs in which Leonard mentions his own name.

Would you like to enumerate them?

(One of them is a bit tricky. And one of them I can't remember right now ...)

Hey Hartmut, I’ll go for these nine songs –

Famous Blue Raincoat
Ballad Of The Absent Mare
Going Home
Because Of
Nevermind
The Partisan
Lover Lover Lover
Love Itself
Blues By The Jews (Billy Sunday)

Hi Beverly,

Nine songs! How ... Oh, I see, you also included songs that use the words 'my name'. Clever.

But actually I meant only those songs that mention the names Leonard, Cohen, Norman, or Jikan.

So four of your songs are allowed to go backstage:

Famous Blue Raincoat
Ballad Of The Absent Mare
Going Home
Because Of

That means there are still two (or three) songs missing ...

Hartmut, I don't know if this would count for you, because it's not in the studio version, but in the most recent live performances of BOTW, Leonard sings:

". . .come on now, Leonard, you must not ask for so much. . ."

That's what came to mind for me immediately, at the moment; I'll have to think to come up with more.