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One of my favourite songs, but what does Leonard mean by the line, 'they touched both my eyes and I touched the dew on their hem' (?) Is he kneeling below them in the bed? Why is he not their lover? The song has strong sexual undertones for me. I'm sure Leonard must've made love to both of them! Maybe I'm just living vicariously! Help me out with this one folks!

I'd like to help. I acknowledge a lot of mystery in Leonard's writing, but these line I tend to take as close to literal. I envision him lying between them on a bed. Women get wet, you know, and I imagine his fingers on the inner hems of their undies, while their fingers are on his eyes. "Touch but don't look." There's some communication that would have been required to allow such a position, and maybe he's being symbolic about the position.

Hi Mark,

Personally, I don't take this totally literally. The symbolism of touching eyes is used in the Bible, which would fit with the religious aspects of the song (i.e. Matthew 20.34 - Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him). So perhaps this refers to the "sisters of mercy" giving Leonard the vision of the song. He has said that
despite his original erotic fantasies, the girls quickly fell asleep while he stayed awake writing the song. Hence the night turned out to be something completely different to what he had originally envisaged it might be. Dew is associated with the morning, so maybe
Leonard touched the girls gently to wake them (though he may have intentionally used words which could be interpreted to have an erotic meaning). By the way, my Leonard journey began with "Sisters of Mercy" and it is still my favourite song.

All the best, John E

I have heard/read Leonard recount the experience on which this song was based, and it was not a sexual encounter.It was unusual in that it was the only time that he wrote a song relatively quickly,over a period of a few hours.As you know he normally spends years crafting/perfecting a song.This is from an interview in 1997:

Cohen is full of envy for those who routinely pluck songs fully formed out of the ether.
"The only time that ever happened to me was 'Sisters of Mercy.' I was in Edmonton during a snowstorm and I took refuge in an office lobby.There were two young backpackers there,Barbara and Lorraine, and they had nowhere to go.I asked them back to my hotel room, they immediately got into the bed and crashed while I sat in the armchair watching them sleep.I knew they had given me something and by the time they woke up I'd finished the song and I played it to them."

I think the only 'wetness' would be from the snow!

Ha Ha! So cool! I love learning about this stuff.

Thanks guys for your responses. I like your take on the song Mana! Leonard certainly is a generous soul, inviting two young lady backpackers to take his bed! Who could live like that? Thanks John and Davido, your comments were enlightening. I think I share Leonard's vision of women, not only do they give life, they give us the gift of sight too, the gift to appreciate female beauty in all its manifestations.

I once heard Leonard on The South Bank Show introducing a song, I think it was Take This Waltz and (I think) he quoted Lorca with the lines: 'I want to pass through the arches of Elvira, to see her thighs and begin weeping'. Does anyone know which poem this line is from?

Hi Mark,

The poem is "Gacela Del Mercado Matutino" from "Divan Del Tamarit" (The Divan of Tamarit). Here's an English translation:

Through the Arch of Elvira
I want to watch you go by,
to ask you your name
and to break down and cry.
What grey nine o'clock moon
has bled your cheek?
Who is collecting your seed
that flashes in the snow?
What short cactus needle
is murdering your crystal?

Through the Arch of Elvira
I'm going to watch you go by,
to drink in your eyes
and to break down and cry.
What a voice for my punishment
do you raise in the market!
What an outlandish carnation
in the piles of wheat!
How distant I am with you,
how close when you leave!
Through the Arch of Elvira
I'm going to watch you go by,
to feel the touch of your thighs
and to break down and cry.

Thank you for this poem John. I definately have to read more Lorca.

I love this song and to my wife's annoyance often sing it through several times while watering the garden or pottering round the house (I'm ashamed to say it's one of only a few I can recite entirely).

The verse about eyes and hems has always intrigued me too. It may be an allusion to the Bible story:

And suddenly a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment; for she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made whole.” But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you whole.” And the woman was made well from that hour. (Matthew 9:20-22)

with Cohen somehow being healed by (metaphorically) touching the hem of the sisters' garments. I agree there are sexual overtones, too, but as so often with his lyrics there does not seem to be a single straightforward intepretation. Sometimes I think he likes to combine clusters of images and references which resonate together to create an impression or feeling rather than a specific idea.

Or maybe I've just been visited by the late running Ghost of Christmas Pretentious.


David

Hi David,

What you say seems accurate enough, and is totally consistent with my suggestion above concerning Jesus touching the blind man's eyes to give him the ability to see. Thus, both these images point towards a healing process. One of Leonard's greatest gifts is weaving together religious and erotic imagery in a powerful and affecting way.

All the best, John E

Poetry, song lyrics, literature, the Bible as well for that matter, shouldn't be taken literally.

If something is described in a song etc it doesn't mean it must have happened in real life - can have happened in your fantasy or can not have happened at all and is just a metaphor for something else.

The same peom etc can mean very different things to different readers - and i think that's good.

yah yah, I just meant that I got a real image from it. Literal wasn't the most accurate word to use, especially without explaining my position. Apologies, apologies. I prefer to make literal sense of something I read before I begin to think about it making symbolic/metaphoric sense. Otherwise we're again talking about word salads and guessing and getting far far afield with silliness.

Example.

They touch both my eyes
and I touch the dew on their hem.

Here's a metaphoric option that makes no literal sense:
He's a potato that nuns like to wrap in wet quilts.

I see.

Wasn't having a go at you though

Nah, we cool. Hope I didn't sound overly defensive.

Wow!!! What a sweeeeet discussion and analysis!! I am off to listen to Leonard with those sisters and appreciate it so much more!! Thank you!!