Leonard Cohen’s song “Sisters of Mercy” came to my mind. It has a beautiful melody.
My remembrance of the lyrics was garbled, so I looked them up. Always the sacred and profane together. I looked up the background of the song. The quote from Cohen was that two young women gave him shelter during a snowstorm in Edmonton. AI explains it:
“They were not lovers but provided a moment of comfort that inspired the ballad. The phrase also likely refers to the broader concept of women who offer comfort, much like the Sisters of Mercy religious order founded by Catherine McAuley in Ireland in 1831. “
Another story is that he said they were two backpackers in the hotel lobby and he invited them to his room where they fell asleep and he wrote the song. There are further variations on this as background to the song.
There are many interpretations of the lyrics. AI weighs in with its four-point overview of core theme, inspiration, symbolism and lyrics. Makes me think of first year English essays.
If you go to songmeanings.com website, you will find 24 interpretations/entries for the meaning of the lyrics. Reading through the comments is fascinating to a point - like reading more first year English student papers or listening to the discussion in an English class.
Are there Leonard Cohen jokes? Here’s one of his own:
“This is a song I wrote when I thought I might never be able to sing again - quite worrying when I never could sing in the first place.”
Let’s make a guess of what this is. It is the centre of a china “egg plate” - it has the indents for devilled eggs around the outside. One of the watercolour artist uses it to mix paint, so you can see all the colours.
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