The Future by Leonard Cohen Lyrics Meaning – Deciphering the Prophetic Vision of A Musical Sage

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Leonard Cohen's The Future at Lyrics.org.

Lyrics

Give me back my broken night
My mirrored room, my secret life
It’s lonely here
There’s no one left to torture
Give me absolute control
Over every living soul
And lie beside me, baby
That’s an order

Give me crack and anal sex
Take the only tree that’s left
And stuff it up the hole
In your culture
Give me back the Berlin wall
Give me Stalin and St. Paul
I’ve seen the future, brother
It is murder

Things are going to slide, slide in all directions
Won’t be nothing (won’t be nothing)
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
Has crossed the threshold
And it’s overturned
The order of the soul

When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant

You don’t know me from the wind
You never will, you never did
I’m the little Jew
Who wrote the Bible
I’ve seen the nations rise and fall
I’ve heard their stories, heard them all
But love’s the only engine of survival
Your servant here, he has been told
To say it clear, to say it cold
It’s over, it ain’t going
Any further (do, do, do)
And now the wheels of heaven stop
You feel the devil’s riding crop
Get ready for the future
It is murder (do, do, do)

Things are going to slide
Slide in all directions
Won’t be nothing (won’t be)
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
Has crossed the threshold
And it’s overturned
The order of the soul

When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant

There’ll be the breaking of the ancient
Western code
Your private life will suddenly explode (ooh, ooh)
There’ll be phantoms
There’ll be fires on the road
And the white man dancing

You’ll see a woman
Hanging upside down (ooh, ooh)
Her features covered by her fallen gown (ooh, ooh)
And all the lousy little poets
Coming round
Tryin’ to sound like Charlie Manson
Yeah, the white man dancin’

Give me back the Berlin wall
Give me Stalin and St. Paul
Give me Christ or give me Hiroshima (do, do, do)
Destroy another fetus now
We don’t like children anyhow
I’ve seen the future, baby
It is murder (do, do, do)

Things are going to slide, slide in all directions
Won’t be nothing (won’t be)
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
Has crossed the threshold
And it’s overturned
The order of the soul

When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant
When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)
I wonder what they meant

When they said (they said) repent (repent), repent (repent)

Leonard Cohen’s ‘The Future’ is a track that delves deep into the human condition, dripping with symbolism and prophetic undertones. A song teeming with raw emotional intensity and bold imagery, Cohen painted a vision of the world that has both captivated and disturbed listeners since its release.

In the dissonance of Cohen’s gravelly tones, there lies a nuanced dissection of control, prophecy, and a world on the brink of moral collapse. As the chorus hints at repentance, one can’t help but wonder—what exactly is Cohen urging his audience to reflect upon? His incisive lyricism demands a more profound examination.

Societal Control and Apocalyptic Overtures: A Dive into Cohen’s Dystopia

In ‘The Future,’ Cohen doesn’t shy away from conjuring up images of an apocalyptic world ravaged by man’s insatiable hunger for control. His yearning for ‘absolute control over every living soul’ emerges both as a mockery and a dire warning—a reflection on humanity’s perennial quest for dominion that is leading us to a tipping point.

In juxtaposing the desire for dominance against the backdrop of a world where nothing can be measured anymore, Cohen captures the futility of control in a reality where chaos reigns supreme. The ‘blizzard of the world’ he invokes is a metaphor for a civilizational storm that’s already breached its boundaries, upending the very ‘order of the soul.’

The Enigmatic Chorus: What Does Repentance Truly Mean?

Repeated like an incantation, the chorus ‘repent, repent’ assumes a haunting resonance throughout the song. While the call to repent typically reflects religious connotations of sin and redemption, Cohen’s iteration is enigmatic. It compels listeners to ponder deeper—beyond spiritual realms into the realms of societal and personal conscience.

Cohen forces an internal confrontation by repeatedly questioning the meaning behind repentance. It’s as if he senses the inadequacy of traditional repentance for the sins of a modern world; a world incapacitated by materialism, power struggles, and the neglect of sacred humanistic and environmental values.

The Stark Imagery of Decay: A Symbolic Weave through History and Culture

From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the invocation of Stalin and Christ, ‘The Future’ weaves through historical and cultural signifiers that operate as symbolic portents. Cohen isn’t just reflecting on past events; he’s suggesting a cycle of political and spiritual decay that perpetually haunts the future of humanity.

Dragging the listener through the sardonic line, ‘Give me crack and anal sex,’ Cohen’s imagery becomes a controversial canvas, representing a culture punctured by hedonism and self-destruction. It’s a grim comment on how society often fills its voids with superficial and destructive fixes rather than meaningful remedies.

Love Amidst the Ruins: The Hidden Engine of Survival

Amidst the despondent landscape Cohen paints, there exists a sliver of hope rooted in love—the ‘only engine of survival.’ This stark contrast illuminates Cohen’s belief that, within a world driven toward inevitable chaos, love endures as the primal, redeeming force capable of transcending the decay.

Cohen’s juxtaposition of love against the bleakness of ‘The Future’ reflects a dichotomy present across his oeuvre. Even as he critiques and laments the state of the world, he does not surrender to cynicism completely, allowing a thread of optimism to weave through the narrative—the possibility that love can uphold the soul against the tempest of time.

Memorable Lines: The Prophetic Mirror Reflecting Our World

‘There’ll be the breaking of the ancient Western code / Your private life will suddenly explode’—Cohen’s lyrics presciently echo the disintegration of privacy in an age of digital surveillance and social media oversharing. These lines capture the existential unease of a society grappling with the loss of its traditional moorings and its inevitable exposure.

‘Get ready for the future, it is murder,’ Cohen darkly declares, leaving a chilling pronouncement echoing in the listener’s mind. This statement becomes not only a memorable line but a prophetic utterance on the trajectory of human civilization. He conjures the stark image of a future where human life and connections are potentially severed as casually as one takes a life—an allegory for emotional and spiritual disconnection in our contemporary reality.