Interpretations of "Democracy"
Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 9:46 am
Hi, all Cohen fans
This is my first post on this forum. I am a Danish guy of 26 who grew up with Cohen's music and is still an avid listener - going to my first concert with him in Odense this Saturday.
Other than being a Cohen fan, I am a high school teacher, teaching Latin, Classical Greek and Classical Civilization. I often teach courses on ancient and modern democracy, reading various ancient sources (e.g. Herodotus, The Constitutional Debate; Thucydides, Pericles' Funeral Oration; Plato, The Republic) and some modern sources as well (e.g. Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address; Hal Koch What Is Democracy). Other than this, I have heard and read Leonard Cohen's Democracy with a couple of classes. Over the last couple of years, I have heard various interesting interpretations of the song from my students, and now I would like to hear some interpretations from fellow Cohen fans who, unlike my students, know the song well. Sadly, almost none of my students know any Cohen in advance, and they all think 'Hallelujah' was written by Jeff Buckley.
So, if you have any thoughts on the meaning of Cohen's Democracy and the attitudes towards democracy expressed therein, please share them here. Thank you!
This is my first post on this forum. I am a Danish guy of 26 who grew up with Cohen's music and is still an avid listener - going to my first concert with him in Odense this Saturday.
Other than being a Cohen fan, I am a high school teacher, teaching Latin, Classical Greek and Classical Civilization. I often teach courses on ancient and modern democracy, reading various ancient sources (e.g. Herodotus, The Constitutional Debate; Thucydides, Pericles' Funeral Oration; Plato, The Republic) and some modern sources as well (e.g. Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address; Hal Koch What Is Democracy). Other than this, I have heard and read Leonard Cohen's Democracy with a couple of classes. Over the last couple of years, I have heard various interesting interpretations of the song from my students, and now I would like to hear some interpretations from fellow Cohen fans who, unlike my students, know the song well. Sadly, almost none of my students know any Cohen in advance, and they all think 'Hallelujah' was written by Jeff Buckley.
So, if you have any thoughts on the meaning of Cohen's Democracy and the attitudes towards democracy expressed therein, please share them here. Thank you!