Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love
Oh, let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon Show me slowly what I only know the limits of Oh, dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the wedding now, oh, dance me on and on Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the children who are asking to be born Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn Dance me to the end of love
[Instrumental]
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in Touch me with your naked hand, touch me with your glove Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love
Background
"Dance Me to the End of Love" is a 1984 song by Leonard Cohen and first recorded by him for his 1984 album Various Positions. [1]
Although structured as a love song, "Dance Me to the End Of Love" was in fact inspired by the Holocaust. In a 1995 radio interview, Cohen said of the song:
It's curious how songs begin because the origin of the song, every song, has a kind of grain or seed that somebody hands you or the world hands you and that's why the process is so mysterious about writing a song. But that came from just hearing or reading or knowing that in the death camps, beside the crematoria, in certain of the death camps, a string quartet was pressed into performance while this horror was going on, those were the people whose fate was this horror also. And they would be playing classical music while their fellow prisoners were being killed and burnt. So, that music, "Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin," meaning the beauty thereof being the consummation of life, the end of this existence and of the passionate element in that consummation. But, it is the same language that we use for surrender to the beloved, so that the song — it’s not important that anybody knows the genesis of it, because if the language comes from that passionate resource, it will be able to embrace all passionate activity.
Meaning
The song may be about the Holocaust, or may be about love between lovers, but I would like to interpret the song to be about love in the broadest sense, or as Cohen puts it, about embracing all passionate activity.
All lives come to an end and many experience great difficulties; but there can be beauty in life even in difficult circumstances, thus "dance me to your beauty with a burning violin" and "dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in".
In the second verse, "witnesses" may be present in court, at a wedding or a crime scene; we can see the beauty in things without others being present. "Babylon" refers to a supposed place of evil as depicted in the Bible [2]. "Limits" refers to rules and restrictions.
In the third verse, the "wedding" does not have to be limited to traditional weddings; It may be about friendship, a hobby, a love of life, or love of one's belief. "Beneath and above our love" refers to the ways people conduct themselves, possibly fraudulently (beneath our love) and possibly idealistically (above our love).
The fourth verse appears to be talking about people in refugee camps. The "touch me with your glove" in the fifth verse may refer to people in hospital in their final days.
Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt
Who by avalanche, who by powder
Who for his greed, who for his hunger
And who shall I say is calling?
And who by brave assent, who by accident
Who in solitude, who in this mirror
Who by his lady's command, who by his own hand
Who in mortal chains, who in power
And who shall I say is calling?
Meaning
The song is inspired by a piyyut or a Jewish liturgical poem called Untanneh Tokef ("Let us speak of the awesomeness "), that has been a part of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy in some traditions of rabbinical Judaism for centuries. [1]
A section from Untanneh Tokef is as follows: "On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed – how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will die after a long life and who before his time; who by water and who by fire, who by sword and who by beast, who by famine and who by thirst, who by upheaval and who by plague, who by strangling and who by stoning. Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who will be harried, who will enjoy tranquility and who will suffer, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted. But Repentance, Prayer, and Charity mitigate the severity of the Decree." [1]
A song of Death, a song of Life
“Who By Fire” is a song of death, but each death has its life. So more importantly, it's a song of life as well.
"Who by fire" and "who by water" may be references to the ancient judicial practices of trial by fire and trial by water, or alternatively to natural disasters.
“Who by high ordeal” clearly refers to a form of trial in the medieval period such as trial by combat; which contrasts with "who by common trial".
The "merry merry month of May" refers to May day, the European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice.
In the next stanza, Cohen switched to modern parlance:
“Who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate?” are likely references to Marilyn Monroe.
"Who by avalanche, who by powder" could refer to people who do mountain climbing and other adventures. Powder possibly refer to gunpowder. "Brave assent" refers to people who volunteer to fight for their causes.
"Who in this mirror" probably refers to people who copy others. "Who in mortal chains, who in power" refers to people enslaved by power, ambitions or other illusions.
Blending these methods indicates the timelessness and ubiquity of death throughout history.
The line “Who shall I say is calling?” punctuates each verse as if the messenger is asking who they should say is deciding the way people would die.
This song was officially released on 11 August 1974. The year prior, Cohen spent some time in Israel, experiencing war first hand, which could be one of the inspirations behind this track. [2]
Furthermore, there is a book about that entire experience which is named after this song, i.e. Who By Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai (2022) by Matti Friedman.[3][4]
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