Cohen cartoon

[Dem]

This was published in the major Greek newspaper TA NEA
on August 8 2006 http://tinyurl.com/jhr8k
by cartoonist Dimitris Hantzopoulos:





The Israeli soldier asks: "Do you like Cohen?"
and the Libanese militant answers:"I am dying!"

Dem

[Sue]

don't get it - please explain

[evelyn]

Yes Dem, explain it to me too.

evelyn

[Dem]

Well, I don't know how I can explain it more.
A cartoon is supposed to be self-explained.

It's just that it makes a pun:

In Greek we use the "I am dying!" phrase metaphorically
for something that we like very much:
"I am dying for ice-cream!"
"I am dying for classic music!"
while the people down there are dying literally.

It is also I think a sad and ironic comment on the situation
in the Middle East and in the world generally.

Cohen speaks for love while the "dancers" are hating and killing each other.

Dem

[lizzytysh]

Thanks for the explanation of the colloquial use of the phrase, Demetris. It helps for understanding the cartoon and it's no doubt self-explanatory for those who already know that usage.

I felt that there had to be at least a layer of 'meaning' related to the context about which the song was written, with the Holocaust and the Jewish people... with the tragic irony of the dance till execution involving both parties in the form of the dancers.

Also, it seemed there was an element of how can I be talking of my love for music when I'm literally dying.

I couldn't bring all these together all that well, though, so couldn't say I 'got it' ~ the irony of the common usage of the phrase helps.


~ Lizzy

[lizzytysh]

Today, at least New York City is honouring, through greater focus, the first responders to the September 11th tragedy. So many of these committed and brave people have gone on to suffer or die from the health problems associated with their inhaling pulverized concrete, glass, and many other toxic substances.

My heart is with all those people so directly affected by the destruction of the Twin Towers ~ the victims and their families and all of the first responders and many volunteers who followed; and my concern is with all New Yorkers who breathed that pollution-laden air, so soon after the tragedy. Who knows how long it really took to clear, if it ever really has, since particulates become embedded everywhere.

Love,
Lizzy

[Kush]

Obviously Greek cartoonists are not much good at it!

[Dem]

Not much good at what?

Hantzopoulos is one of the best cartoonists
working in some major newspapers/magazines.

And everybody in Greece (or anyone who speaks Greek)
can "get it".

I understand though that for the non speakers it can be difficult.

Dem

[SWITZ]

m..m..m.. kinda reminds me of a cross between the Simpson's and WWII stars and stripes cartoonist Bill Mauldin. ( This damn tree leaks )

After working daily with a couple crazy Greeks I came to the conclusion that they only have 187 words in their entire language.....most of which include curses, swear words, insults and crude gestures that I could never figure out. never laughed so hard in all my life

[Tri-me]

Thanks for that Dem, it is multi-layered and powerful. I did need the interpretation. μπορέστε παγκόσμια ειρήνη να έρθετε σύντομα ευθυμίες

From The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom by HH Dalai Lama, reading for September 11th:

“Since we have a natural compassion in us, and that compassion has to manifest itself, it might be good to awaken it. Violence done to an innocent person, for example, can make us indignant, scandalize us, and in so doing help us to discover our compassion. By its very violence, television might keep us in a state of alert. However, it is very dangerous if violence leads to indifference. Thus, a central point of our teaching is how to reach nonattachment without falling into indifference.”

[lightning]

Since Dance me to the end of Love is a song about death in Auschwitz ( schwitz means "showers") the cartoon is especilly chilling.

[Dem]

Excuse me, but why is "Dance Me To The End Of Love" a song about death in Auschwitz?

Or more correctly, why is it a song ONLY about death in Auschwitz?

Perhaps I am missing something here but the most
close reference by Leonard himself that I know is that :

> "This is a song that arose from a photograph that I saw when I was a child of
> some people in striped pajamas prison uniforms with violins playing beside a
> smoke stack and the smoke was made out of gypsys and children and this song
> arose out of that photograph, DANCE ME TO THE END OF LOVE

Now, a song that is INSPIRED by a photo from a concentration camp is something different from a song ABOUT a concentration camp, isn't it?

Even from this very same quote what I gather is that Leonard is inspired more from the love that can be found even in a death camp and not so much about the death itself.

And in my humble opinion, a piece of art is not what it's creator want's it to be but what the recipient finds in it.

And I don't think that the couples that choose this song for their weddings
have in mind the death in Auschwitz neitheir Jack Vetrianno when he titled his painting "Dance Me To The End Of Love":



Dem

[lightning]

I know someone who wrote a pacifist song with an ironic title which is now being used by right wing hate groups who don't see the irony. A bitter experience for an artist when people appropriate the art for their own and throw away the artist, or at least he intention and meaning. Dylan also complains of being haunted by things he never said somewhere in Modern Times.

[Dem]

Where and when did Leonard Cohen said that "Dance Me To The End Of Love" is ABOUT Auschwitz?

Dem

[lightning]

There is a site somewhere where he explains his songs and their origins. Maybe someone else can tell us where it is. When I have time I"ll look for it.