Talk:First We Take Manhattan

Interpretation?

I love the song - but what's it about ? -- Beardo (talk) 07:08, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

It's about the madness of the riffraff. And citing the Guardian is just not tasteful.

I too would love it if someone would provide some analysis of what this song is about. I can't figure it out. -- Kellyoyo

I always saw it as an allegory for the Book of Revelation, not any past event. Some future time when a world dictator will arise to threaten the western world...this would dovetail well with some of Cohen's other writings, especially on "The Future" album. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.7.211.203 (talk) 17:53, 5 October 2014 (UTC)

Going by the bit about the line moving through the station "I was one of those", the reference to the fashion industry, and the end of the title "Then we take Berlin" I've always assumed it was a 'revenge for the holocaust' song. --Deke42 (talk) 19:42, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

Subject

The explanation of the song's lyrics leaves out the negative effects of the "drugs that keep you thin" on women in the fashion business... 20:27, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Agree... AnonMoos (talk) 01:23, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

What it's about?

To say the song is about the german Red Army Fraction doesn't make any sense. It is pretty obvious that the song is about israel and palastine. The german news you can hear at the beginning and the end of Jennifer Warnes' version of the song refer to an attack on the "german-arabian Association" in Berlin in march 1986. That was never related to the RAF. They also never had a connection to new york. I'd like to modify it, but to be honest, I don't really know, what it's all about. 77.185.210.44 (talk) 13:04, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

I wouldn't say it orefigures anything specific, but the way some of its verses seem to coalesce with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of Soviet control in Eastern Europe (still in the future even when Cohen recorded his version) is amazing. "You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline" - I actually remember quoting that line to mum in 1990, as we saw news footage of a street demonstration somewhere in the USSR and soldiers who kept from intervening - just a few years before they would have had no doubts about what to do and how to use their guns. Or "But you see the line that's running through that station/I told you, I told you i was one of those" - to me and many others it conjures up a throng of people moving up through a West Berlin metro station on their first legal visit there, wide-eyed. sweaty, excited. And, parallel with that, the image of a metro station that was actually kept closed because it happened to be situated in the zone near the wall (there was ta least one such "ghost station" in the centre of Berlin).

Of course there are apocalyptic tones here that could turn toward the West too, but the "pre-echoes" that relate to the east are the strongest ones for me. /83.254.157.223 (talk) 23:29, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

RAF

I just deleted the section "(The German language speech at the beginning and end of Warnes' recording is from a news broadcast about an attack by the Red Army Faction on the German Arab society of West Berlin in 1986.)" since it is simply wrong. The attack had nothing to do with the RAF. It was done by two terrorists from Jordan. 77.188.49.226 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 23:00, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

You won´t believe it

The song is of cabalistic / freemason nature ( you also won´t believe how many songs are, Manson was on the right track with Helter Skelter ). The speaker represents the Chosen One of freemasonry. The problem is: Western government knew about Chosen in advance ( that´s what Chosen is all about ). Chosen Ones are considered terrorists by the Western governmens. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.0.76.46 (talk) 16:25, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

You`re right - I don`t believe that lunacy for an instant. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.7.211.203 (talk) 17:51, 5 October 2014 (UTC)

Jennifer Warnes

Isn't the entry about the Warnes vesion a bit SRV-heavy? She barely gets a look in. I've just watched a Cohen tribute in which she explains why she wanted to do an album of his songs and he paid a tribute to her for staying on as his backing vocalist even though she was bigger than him at the time. Why isn't any of this on here? If I'd known I'd have made a try at taking it all down but since this was all archive material it never occurred to me that it might not be on here yet. Surely someone must have a copy of the original video? --Deke42 (talk) 20:08, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

Early Cohen version in a dance movie

Apparently, the song was included in the dance movie "A Moving Picture" by Jürgen Lutz which was released in 1989, copyright date 1987. See [1]. This version is available on youtube here. This rendition has a distinct 80's feel to it. ---<)kmk(>- (talk) 01:23, 22 April 2019 (UTC)