Page 6 - Boca ViewPointe - February '23

Page 6, Viewpointe February 2023
Book Review

Songs Inspired By Rebellion Canadian military. Leonard traveled light sans guitar, to
Tel Aviv, Israel, which he termed his “mythic home”, and
And By Fire volunteered to pull his weight. He in turn was persuaded
to entertain the troops in the Sinai desert. Friedman seems
Matti Friedman. Who by Fire, Leonard Cohen in the Sinai. to argue that this experience marked a turning point in
New York: Spiegel and Grau, 2022. Cohen’s life and led to utilization of Jewish themes in
Bob Dylan. The Philosophy of Modern Song. New York: his repertoire including his later masterpiece.
Simon and Schuster, 2022. Bob Dylan, like Leonard Cohen, comes straight out of
“I asked my father I asked/ him for another name the backwaters of the American Midwest, embodied the
I said the one I’ve got is soiled with fear and shame.” rebellious period of the sixties, the anti-war movement.
Leonard Cohen The search for civil rights for women and blacks, but also
How many roads must a man walk down the acceptance of drugs as a psychedelic experience. Mr.
Before you call him a man? Dylan is very true to the spirit of America, he proudly
How many seas must a white dove sail the great art form of the twentieth century from Cecil de celebrates his American culture from the Mississippi
Before she sleeps in the sand? Mille, to Fellini, to Ingmar Bergman and Martin Scorsese. river to the films and pop culture of his times. He does
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly In any case. I could suggest that pop music was another not conceal or contain his prejudice against the so called
Before they’re forever banned? exceptional art form which evolved from the advent of high culture of theatre and literature (and his ambivalence
The answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind, radio and continue to draw the largest audiences. While about winning the Nobel Prize in that category). He is
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.” Bob Dylan cinema is decidedly a middle class art form, pop music from and for the working class, the folks who support
reaches a wider and more socially inclusive audience. his art and success.
By Dr. Ronald J. Meyers One thinks of the fifties and sixties, the rudiments of The Philosophy of American Song is a scrapbook of
pop music emerged with stars like the Beatles, Stevie his interests and opinions seemingly more in the pop-
Artists are perhaps Wonder, Ella Fitzgerald and, of course, Leonard Cohen culture range than deep philosophical thought. “Art is
rightly thought to (1934-2016) and Bob Dylan (1941). Disagreement, Money is Agreement.” That a love song
be products of their Two stars who represent the highest standard of can hide all other emotions like anger and resentment;
environment, which in pop music. Both are the products of the rebellion that or performance is therapy. Or more of a pedestrian range
turn is wedded to their occurred in the sixties, the decade of Woodstock, modern that the pop song Volare inspired the designation of a
times, talent and genius. troubadours living the life of sexual indulgence, sex, Plymouth automobile. He notes the abundance of songs
The musical culture that drugs, and rock and roll. They advocated freedom, at where the subject is footwear; that many songs are derived
dominated the Age of the same times, were pacifistic. They share their Jewish from other cultures and languages, like Autumn Leaves
Enlightenment inspired heritage, which they did not outright deny, but it surely and My Way. Overwhelming photographs profusely
Mozart and Beethoven, was latent rather than prominent, or manifest. Their illustrated with a plethora of Mr. Dylan’s scattered
the literary culture of the sixteenth century inspired lyrics and music identified with the spirited search for viewpoints, which has made his book a best seller for
Shakespeare, Cervantes and Montaigne, and it was the freedom (e.g. “nothing left to lose!”). While opposed his followers. The current of poetry in his songs runs
artistic culture of the Renaissance that inspired Leonardo, to the status quo, including anti-establishment politics, deeper. He at heart is a social commentator rather than
Michelangelo, and Raphael. The competition between organized religious practice, middle class morality (i.e. a revolutionary, and it is this social consciousness that
and among artists also affects the level of excellence. marriage), efforts by many artists of diverse faiths to be perhaps links him as a Jewish song writer. The conceit
And one of the chief purposes of Criticism is to point fully assimilated into North American culture of his notable “Blowing in the Wind” seems like it could
out and understand the relationship of the artist to his Matti Friedman, Canada born journalist living in have been derived from the philosophy of King Solomon
times, as well as his/her own uniqueness and other notable Jerusalem, traces a distinguishing moment in Leonard in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Mr. Dylan would continue to
biographical predilections. Cohen’s life. His career, according to Friedman, was remain true to his youthful artistic vision, and continues
It seems to me that an argument can be made for at an impasse in 1973. A complicated man in search of to draw huge audiences to celebrate with him
identifying the evolution of cinema which emerged as meaning and soul, he had vacated his home in Westmount After his involvement in the Sinai, Leonard Cohen
Canada, spent years as a struggling poet and song writer would return to the isle of Hydra, reunite with Suzanne and
in Montreal, New York City, and London. At thirty nine continue his search for validation and faith; he commenced
years old, he was now living on the eternally sunny, Greek the creation of his iconic “Hallelujah” in 1983. A decade later,
Isle of Hydra, with his new lady love Suzanne Elrod, he will continue the search, explore the faith of Buddhism in
the mother of his son and future daughter. Seemingly he immersing himself in a monastery and apprenticing himself
acts on the urge to react to discourteous surprise attack to a Master. In his later years, he performed in his signature
on Israel for Syria and Egypt on Yom Kippur, the holiest middle class suits with his signature fedora cap while
day of the Jewish year, in October 1973. Though himself his melodies and verses became ensconced in the Jewish
a descendant from rabbis, he earlier had had stirred synagogues and western musical art.
controversy when he speechified for a “moratorium for
all religious worship.” When he was nine years old, he Dr. Ronald J. Meyers, a resident of La Paz, is Emeritus
lost his father Nathan who had served with honor in the Professor of English. rmeyers@esu.edu. 

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