Leonard Cohen: You Want It Darker Meaning

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Aug 21st 2017 !⃝

   The song is quite poetic , in reality we may never grasp what Cohen ment with it . It definitely have a personal message towards God in here .One part of the msg is that he had enough of this life and how is the same for most of us(the suffering the love story) and that his ready to die .the other part of the msg is toward gods way of work . God havent show love and help for the ppl who pray the most , and we are leaving religions behind(killing the flame) .but the realisation Cohen have is that is all by god intention, he want it darker.God is done from us putting him in human frame (being good or bad) and want the world to forget him , leaving us in the dark about his existence judging us by our actions whit out him in the world.

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Nov 18th 2019 !⃝

   This is a spiritual 3 way conversation between Leonard, Satan and God.
   
   Imagine him talking to Satan when he says “If you are the dealer I am out of the game” and “you want it darker”, then turning his head to talk to God and his sacrifice through Jesus his son in the human frame on the cross...and not understanding why Gods help never came to the millions of people whom prayed and lit candles for his help.
   
   Take that same thinking through the whole song and it makes sense.
   
   In essence he can see the complete and total evil in Satan and wants nothing to do with him and will cast his lot with God even though he does not understand God completely.
3. anonymous

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   Jun 25th 2020 !⃝

   Aware that his death is imminent, Cohen confronts his god, "the dealer," and says he is ready to die. But pondering his lifetime of observations and experiences, he has some questions. Born Jewish, but being a convert to Buddhism, Cohen perhaps questions the wisdom of the covenant god made with the "chosen people" and all the suffering they have subsequently endured. In reference to god's command for the people of Israel to be a "light among nations" -- i.e. provide the light to lead others out of the darkness -- he says: "You want it darker, we kill the flame." It's a warning of where the world is headed.
4. anonymous

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   Dec 5th 2019 !⃝

   Jewish sensibility ("Magnified, sanctified" is from the Jeiwsh (Aramaic) kaddish) is always to be arguing (Abraham and Sodom) and to acknowledge that apparent good and evil both come from God (see Job); Satan, in Jewish thinking, is "the adversary", but he is man's adversary, not God's.
5. dixocat

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   Oct 18th 2018 !⃝

   No idea if Cohen was referring to Ruwanda when he wrote this song but there's something very poignant in the line 'A million candles burning for the help that never came'. Estimated 800 000 dead in three months in 1994.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
6. anonymous

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   Jun 11th 2018 !⃝

   My interpretation of this song is that Leonard is showing all the bad that has happened in life so far and questioning if God wants it even worse before he returns. The Hebrew word he uses is not one to use lightly in that when you speak it, it means you are seriously following God and only doing that with your heart and soul, it is your only purpose on earth, to follow God. I do think people have a purpose on this earth and once it is done, they pass on and I think some know when that has happened but I'm not sure all people know. I think Leonard knew and I think he wanted people to know that he was happy to leave this world and be with God.
7. anonymous

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   May 27th 2017 !⃝

   I interpret "You want it Darker" is humanity is the devil. The devil is fighting with God. The Good want out of this struggle. The "Lover in the story but the story's still the same" is regardless of any good in this world is eclipsed by evil. Look at our world today. Leonard saw it coming last Summer. RIP Leonard.
8. anonymous

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   Apr 23rd 2017 !⃝

   Hineni means "here I am" in Hebrew.
   Leonard is Jewish but provokes god, what a strange god it is that wants the world to be darker.
   This god is the justification of some of the most horrible acts by Muslim terrorists and by the Nazis.
   Conclusion: there is another option... if god were to exist he would not want it darker.
   Leonard's Halleluiah is also not about biblical stories but about sexual irruption.
   Leonard is trying to explain that there is no god and the proof is the world we live in.
9. anonymous

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   Jan 21st 2017 !⃝

   One of the last songs of LEONARD COHEN before his death. May he always [R.I.P]. He's saying I'am here My Lord, but I'm out of the game if you are a Dealer wanting to make any deal concerning my soul. But if you are a Healer, meaning if God is. Then ''it means i'am broken and lame'' in front of you Lord. ''If Thine is the glory, then mine must be the shame''. Anotherwords throughout the song he is still willing to struggle,fight and argue with God for the life of his soul. All the while feeling it's not fair if God gets all the glory and he gets all the shame and guilt by all the sins committed in the past and throughout his life. I guess he want's God to take some responsibility? For wrongdoings in this song ''You Want It Darker'' that is also a song for the times in our time that ''flickered the flame'' of a warning little towards the dark side in reminder of PLSAMS 137 when Rabbi Hier inanugarl speech prayer touched all of us throughout the world on The Inauguration of our President Donald J. Trump of the U.S of America who is also backed up by prayers to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to watch over all of us.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
10. anonymous

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    Jan 13th 2017 !⃝

    I am thinking about it...
    Ultimately The Source God ... is of LIGHT LOVE and DIVINE POWER ... the Dark and the Light are all a part of CREATION ... What does Hieneni mean?
    
    More later...
    bel

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
11. anonymous

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    Dec 25th 2016 !⃝

    How could he know that he would perish, after a fall two weeks after he performed this song? Was he a biblical messenger? In the song you can hear Kol Nidre, the song for the dead in Hebrew. RIP

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