Who By Fire

  • Track

[Verse 1]

And who by fire, who by water

Who in the sunshine, who in the night time

Who by high ordeal, who by common trial

Who in your merry merry month of May

Who by very slow decay

And who shall I say is calling?

[Verse 2]

And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate

Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt

And who by avalanche, who by powder

Who for his greed, who for his hunger

And who shall I say is calling?

[Verse 3]

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?

And who shall I say is calling?

[Verse 1 repeated]

And who by fire who by water

Who in the sunshine, who in the night time

Who by high ordeal, who by common trial

Who in your merry merry month of May

Who by very slow decay

And who shall I say is calling?

And who shall I say is calling?


Name

Who By Fire

Description

“Who by fire” is Leonard Cohen’s version of the Hebrew prayer "Unetanneh Tokef", chanted on Yom Kippur. It was released in the 1974 album “New Skin for the Old Ceremony.” This is one of the main songs of the album and one of Cohen’s best known songs.

Types

Length

02:33

9

Statement

The prayer Cohen heard as a child in the synagogue describes God reviewing the Book of Life and deciding the fate of every soul for the year to come – who will live, who will die and how. The line: “And who shall I say is calling?” can be understood as a break from faith in God. According to Cohen that element of doubt is what made the song into a personal prayer for him.