In 1984 one of the most beautiful love songs in the history of music was released. Thousands of people loved and sang "Dance me to the end of love" by Leonard Cohen. It was a hymn of love and life.
However, this song has a tragic story, as Cohen was inspired by the Holocaust. The lyric "Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin" says it all.
Leonard Cohen revealed the song's story in an interview. The idea came when he saw pictures of the crematories of the Second World War. Cohen read a lot of stories and watched many documentaries about how the Nazis treated Jews.
However, what stayed on his mind was a picture of a quartet forced to play classical music while Germans were burning the rest inmates. Then, it was the musicians' turn, until one Jew violinist was left, who knew that his turn was about to come. Cohen explained that the song talks of the beauty hidden behind life's end, life's completion. It's the same beauty and passion someone has when he/she lets go into the arms of his/her lover. In this context, the song is related to any passionate purpose.
The song was recorded on December 1984 for Cohen's album "Various Positions". Its rhythm reminds of a Greek dance called "Hasapiko", as Cohen used to love Greece. In 2006 a book called "Dance me to the end of love" was published. It featured Cohen's lyrics as well as several paintings by Henri Matisse.
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