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First we take Manhattan...


edna

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People from a radio station ask me for some info about "First we take Mahattan, then we take Berlin", Leonard Cohen. I don´t really know the meaning of the words and couldn´t find any information in the web... Maybe some of you know more than I do? Thank you very much.

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Here's what I found. These are actual in-concert quotes from Leonard about the song. The dates and places are listed. Hope it helps, and sorry for the length of the post!

First We Take Manhattan (1988-2001)

Berlin April 9th, 1988

Berlin, at last, yes the final peace in my vast geopolitical jigsaw, Berlin at last, the worshippers of the bear, how happy I am to be among you.

Hamburg 14/4/88

Yeah, these are new songs, huh? Maybe lots of people think I didn't write anything after "Suzanne." But I wrote one or two songs after "Suzanne." Here's a song I wrote 20 years after "Suzanne." I had been driven over the edge and I had decided to take matters into my own hand. This is a geopolitical plan. People have asked me what it means. It means exactly what it says.

Antwerp 17/04/88

It's a curious song. I used to know what it means but I don't remember what it means anymore. And I think it was just a moment ago that I wrote it. I think I intended to take Manhattan and then Berlin.

London 01/06/88

Thank you so much, comrades. I do not concede the word "comrades" to the communists. I use it freely.Yes, why should they have special parts of the English language? And the extreme right too, why should they have blood and soil, honor, integrity, family? I like those words. I intend to use them freely. You're very kind and it's true, you are kind and very warm and it's not for me to stand up here and judge the people who come to see me. But I want to tell you that even though your hospitality is profound it will not detour me from my appointed task which is to take Manhattan, then Berlin and several other cities...

Toronto November 1988 FM Interview

Backstage Interview

I?m not sure of what it means right now because I had this long voyage from Chicago. I think it means exactly what it says. It is a terrorist song.

I think it's a response to terrorism. There's something about terrorism that I've always admired. The fact that there are no alibis or no compromises. That position is always very attractive. I don't like it when it's manifested on the physical plane - I don't really enjoy the terrorist activities ? buy Psychic Terrorism. I remember there was a great poem by Irving Layton that I once read, I'll give you a paraphrase of it. It was 'well, you guys blow up an occasional airline and kill a few children here and there', he says. 'But our terrorists, Jesus, Freud, Marx, Einstein. The whole world is still quaking...

Chat 2001, for the release of "Ten New Songs"

Answering a fan about the meaning of the song

Ever succeeding moment changes what has happened the moment before. In the stream of writing, all that is written changes its meanings by what is written subsequently. "First We Take Manhattan" might be understood as an examination of the mind of the extremist. In a way it's a better song now (*) than it was before and I would probably sing it in concert if the circumstances were appropriate.

(*) The Chat took place one month after the terrorist attacks in NYC and Washington D.C.

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  • 1 month later...

Hola edna

Supongo que a estas alturas igual ya sabes q existe una versión de la canción por la q preguntabas, realizada en 1996 por Enrique Morente y Lagartija Nick e incluída en el disco OMEGA. Es probablemente el mejor disco que escucharás en tu vida!flamenco-rock crepuscular de ciencia ficción, una joya por su intrepidez, originalidad, en fin...el mejor disco español delos 90 y no es exagerar ni un pelo.

La canción es un homenaje al inconformismo, la iconoclastia, la anarquía entendida fuera de idearios políticos sino como postura vital frente al mainstream, y sí..el terrorismo, pero no el estrictamente"físico" sino como posicionamiento existencial frente al aburrido convencionalismo del mainstream: rebeldía ante el adocenamiento del pensamiento único(otra referencias por este estilo: "ciudadano terrorista"de DEFconDos" y sobre todo "v de vendetta" de alan moore)

No dormirá la espada en mi mano

No cederé en el combate mental

Mientras Jerusalén no haya alzado, en Inglaterra,

sus verdes felices tierras

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Wow, this is really weird... :o :o :o :o That´s the first time I see a post in Spanish...

Gracias, Vendetta!!! Mind if I answer in English? This is an English speaking forum and I feel somehow "unpolite" hablando español... No, I didn´t know there was a version by Lagartija Nick & Morente, but I will pass the info and I´ll try to get it.

It must be funny though... :) :bow: :bow:

By the way, I love Salamanca! Such a beautifull city!!

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We´re so international!!! :: ::

I don´t speak much German neither... just did a couple of years at school... actually, I choosed Italian but there was no Italian teacher so I had to study german.

I guess I speak better Italian though I never learned... :P

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Oh, sure!!!! :laughing: :laughing: But I always loved medical investigation, I read a lot about it and I never miss the opportunity to ask about things I want to know...

And I watch ER!!! :laughing: :laughing: After all, you are billingual and I´m sure you speak some other language too...

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...ein bischen, ya...

...and I don´t even spell "Yes" in German as it is... :: it´s "Ja"...

My husband only speaks Spanish and a little German... he learned some English with me so he can understand the lyrics of the songs, he made lots of progress in the last years...

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