NEIL MCCORMICK
Leonard Cohen: Anthem (1992)
Leonard Cohen’s Anthem is a balm for the worried mind, a song of solace in dark times, a marching anthem for inner peace.
The inspirational centrepiece to The Future, Cohen’s darkly political 1992 album, Anthem, is a paean to endurance, hope and justice. Anthem’s key lines have become a much-quoted philosophical aphorism, illustrating the paradox at the heart of Cohen’s art, where imperfection and brokenness are key to redemption. “There is a crack in everything/ That’s how the light gets in.” In a moment of pessimism, Cohen finds cause for optimism.
The music moves gently yet purposefully forward, an elegant convocation of simple chords, stately rhythm, the humming of a choir swaying, ready to rise into action. It is a magisterial setting for that reassuring voice. Deep, grave and low, Cohen speak-sings in the tones of one who peered into the abyss and remained steadfast. His battered presence embodies empathy even as he struggles to carry a tune.
Anthem addresses the anxiety of troubled times, evoking a “lawless crowd”, “killers in high places” and apocalyptic signs: “The birth betrayed/ The marriage spent/ The widowhood/ Of every government.” Yet from a first verse as elegantly distilled as a Buddhist koan or Biblical psalm, Cohen points to the power of stoicism: “The birds they sing/ At the break of day/ Start again/ I heard them say.”
Like many of his most beloved songs, from Bird on a Wire to Hallelujah, it preaches the acceptance of imperfection. “Ring the bells that still can ring/ Forget about your perfect offering.”
Cohen didn’t always take his own advice, laboriously reworking songs for years. When an earlier version of Anthem was accidentally erased in the studio in 1983, Cohen took it as a sign that the song was not yet finished. Ten years later, actress Rebecca De Mornay – Cohen’s lover at the time – was given a production credit because she settled his doubts and told him it was done. Strings and choir were arranged by David Campbell, father of the musician Beck.
“It had an optimism but in a tarnished way,” said Campbell. “It seemed the most realistic view.”
“I knew that song was everything that my whole work and life had somehow gathered around,” said Cohen in 1995. “It is absolutely true to me.” It is a truth that still rings out loud today.