When my children were young and we went on road trips, I always
had music playing and from time to time my son or my daughter would ask what
the song was about. I would reply that the song was a story written by a songwriter
who put the story to music. I said it was our job to interpret the story as best
we could as the songwriter could not know to be asked.
I was introduced to Cohen’s music in about 2004 and I love
the use of metaphors and lyrics that makes listening to his songs a treat. I
was listening to his song “Closing Time” the other day and did some research on
the lyrics.
According to Ira Nadel’s 1996 Cohen memoir Various
Positions, Closing Time took two years to write with Cohen even starting over
from scratch on the song as late as March 1992. Cohen explained that it takes
him so long to finish songs because “Nothing works. After a while, if you stick
with the song long enough it will yield. But long enough is way beyond any
reasonable estimation of what you think long enough may be.
Closing Time is certainly an enjoyable listen. The following
information about Closing Time is from Song Facts:
It starts off as a euphoric track about a wild party.
The fiddler fiddles something so sublime
All the women tear their blouses off
And the men they dance on the polka-dots
As the song goes on, the scene evolves from the closing of
the bar to the concluding of a relationship, to the end of life.
I loved you when our love was blessed
and I love you now there’s nothing left
but sorrow and a sense of overtime
And I missed you since the place got wrecked
and I just don’t care what happens next
Looks like freedom but it feels like death
it’s something in between, I guess
It’s closing time
Cohen based “Closing Time” on a violin sample that came with
a Casio keyboard. “When he first started recording it, the sample was slowed
down,” engineer Leanne Unger told Uncut magazine. “It was very moody, with six-string bass, very vibey. I loved it.”
The song peaked at #70 in Canada. It was Cohen’s
second-biggest hit in his native country after “Hallelujah.”
The music video for Closing Time presented below won the
Juno Award for Best Music Video in 1993.
As stated, I think the first verse is about a great party at
the bar with a description of the singers partner, the band and the dancers at
the party.
Ah we're drinking and we're dancing
And the band is really happening
And the Johnny Walker wisdom running high
And my very sweet companion
She's the angel of compassion
She's rubbing half the world against her thigh
And every drinker every dancer
Lifts a happy face to thank her
The fiddler fiddles something so sublime
All the women tear their blouses off
And the men they dance on the polka-dots
And it's partner found, it's partner lost
And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops
It's closing time
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
Yeah the women tear their blouses off
And the men they dance on the polka-dots
And it's partner found, it's partner lost
And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops
It's closing time
The second verse becomes a bit deeper as the singer throws
in references about the game Snakes and Ladders which has many mythical and
religious connotations. The most widely known edition of Snakes and Ladders in
the United States is Chutes and Ladders from Milton Bradley (which was
purchased by the game’s current distributor Hasbro). It is played on a 10×10
board, and players advance their pieces according to a spinner rather than a
die. The theme of the board design is playground equipment–children climb
ladders to go down chutes. The artwork on the board teaches a morality lesson,
the squares on the bottom of the ladders show a child doing a good or sensible
deed and at the top of the ladder there is an image of the child enjoying the
reward. At the top of the chutes, there are pictures of children engaging in
mischievous or foolish behavior and the images on the bottom show the child
suffering the consequences.
In Closing Time” Cohen appears to throw in an apt metaphor
for this moment (or century) in human history. Even as we leave the stage, it
is good to bury our faces in the roses we found there.
Ah we're lonely, we're romantic
And the cider's laced with acid
And the holy spirit's crying, where's the beef?
And the moon is swimming naked
And the summer night is fragrant
With a mighty expectation of relief
So, we struggle and we stagger
Down the snakes and up the ladder
To the tower where the blessed hours chime
And I swear it happened just like this
A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
The gates of love they budged an inch
I can't say much has happened since
But closing time
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
I swear it happened just like this
A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
The gates of love they budged an inch
I can't say much has happened since
(I can't say much has happened since)
We're closing time
Closing time
The next verse is a lament about lost youth, beauty and love
as the singer mourns the loss of his love and her beauty but admits to having a
deep sense of loss and despair because he still loves even though the love is lost.
I loved you for your beauty
But that doesn't make a fool of me
You were in it for your beauty too
And I loved you for your body
There's a voice that sounds like god to me
Declaring, (declaring) declaring, declaring that your
body's really you
And I loved you when our love was blessed
And I love you now there's nothing left
But sorrow and a sense of overtime
And I missed you since the place got wrecked
And I just don't care what happens next
Looks like freedom but it feels like death
It's something in between, I guess
It's closing time
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
Yeah I missed you since the place got wrecked
By the winds of change and the weeds of sex
Looks like freedom but it feels like death
It's something in between, I guess
It's closing time
The last verse is a recognition by the songwriter that even
though there is a lot going on in the bar, it is a meaningless activity that is
beyond understanding except by those who are crazy or those who understand the
awful truth He also lets us understand that once the lights go on, people will understand,
and the party will end. He also admits that he is not attracted to his current partner,
but she is filling a need.
Yeah we're drinking and we're dancing
But there's nothing really happening
And the place is dead as heaven on a Saturday night
And my very close companion
Gets me fumbling gets me laughing
She's a hundred but she's wearing
Something tight
And I lift my glass to the awful truth
Which you can't reveal to the ears of youth
Except to say it isn't worth a dime
And the whole damn place goes crazy twice
And it's once for the devil and once for Christ
But the boss don't like these dizzy heights
We're busted in the blinding lights
Of closing time
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
The whole damn place goes crazy twice
And it's once for the devil and once for Christ
But the boss don't like these dizzy heights
We're busted in the blinding lights
(Busted in the blinding lights)
Busted in the blinding lights
Of closing time
Closing time
Oh the women tear their blouses off
And the men they dance on the polka-dots
It's closing time
And it's partner found, it's partner lost
And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops
It's closing time
I swear it happened just like this
A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
It's closing time (closing time)
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
(Closing time)
The gates of love they budged an inch
I can't say much has happened since
But closing time (closing time, closing time, closing
time)
I loved you when our love was blessed
I love you now there's nothing left
But closing time
I miss you since the place got wrecked
By the winds of change and the weeds of sex
