I’d say it’s about terrorism, without any Nostradamus-style crystal ball.
9/11 were not the first terrorist attacks to happen. The original music video from 1987 (youtube.com/watch) begins with a radio announcer’s voice saying "Was die Attentäter betrifft, die in Berlin den Anschlag auf die deutsch-arabische Gesellschaft verübt haben, ist die Polizei einen Schritt weiter gekommen."
b-ray has already translated this statement. The attack mentioned happened on March 29, 1986, one year before the song was released.
Leonard Cohen himself is quoted (pagesperso-orange.fr/pilgraeme/1stwetake.htm):
“I’m not sure of what it means right now because I had this long voyage from Chicago. I think it means exactly what it says. It is a terrorist song.”
and
“Ever succeeding moment changes what has happened the moment before. In the stream of writing, all that is written changes its meanings by what is written subsequently. "First We Take Manhattan" might be understood as an examination of the mind of the extremist. In a way it’s a better song now () than it was before and I would probably sing it in concert if the circumstances were appropriate.”
() The Chat took place one month after the terrorist attacks in NYC and Washington D.C.
This website might be the one that losttango was talking about.
So I guess it is a song about terrorism; however, songs like “First We Take Manhattan” or “The Future” don’t make him a Nostradamus-like prophet. It just shows his ability to envisage what society could look like in the future, in the same way George Orwell did, or H.G. Wells and Jules Verne did concerning technology.
I’d say it’s about terrorism, without any Nostradamus-style crystal ball.
9/11 were not the first terrorist attacks to happen. The original music video from 1987 (youtube.com/watch) begins with a radio announcer’s voice saying "Was die Attentäter betrifft, die in Berlin den Anschlag auf die deutsch-arabische Gesellschaft verübt haben, ist die Polizei einen Schritt weiter gekommen." b-ray has already translated this statement. The attack mentioned happened on March 29, 1986, one year before the song was released.
Leonard Cohen himself is quoted (pagesperso-orange.fr/pilgraeme/1stwetake.htm): “I’m not sure of what it means right now because I had this long voyage from Chicago. I think it means exactly what it says. It is a terrorist song.” and “Ever succeeding moment changes what has happened the moment before. In the stream of writing, all that is written changes its meanings by what is written subsequently. "First We Take Manhattan" might be understood as an examination of the mind of the extremist. In a way it’s a better song now () than it was before and I would probably sing it in concert if the circumstances were appropriate.” () The Chat took place one month after the terrorist attacks in NYC and Washington D.C.
This website might be the one that losttango was talking about.
So I guess it is a song about terrorism; however, songs like “First We Take Manhattan” or “The Future” don’t make him a Nostradamus-like prophet. It just shows his ability to envisage what society could look like in the future, in the same way George Orwell did, or H.G. Wells and Jules Verne did concerning technology.