WHO BY FIRE Cover – Originally by Leonard Cohen

This is a post about the song release. If you’d like to learn more about the story and analysis of the original song and this cover, please check out this page with more details of Who By Fire cover by Leonard Cohen.

WHO BY FIRE Lyrics

And who by fire, who by waterWho in the sunshine, who in the night timeWho by high ordeal, who by common trialWho in your merry merry month of mayWho by very slow decayAnd who shall I say is calling?
And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturateWho in these realms of love, who by something bluntWho by avalanche, who by powderWho for his greed, who for his hungerAnd who shall I say is calling?
And who by brave assent, who by accidentWho in solitude, who in this mirrorWho by his lady’s command, who by his own handWho in mortal chains, who in powerAnd who shall I say is calling?

More About WHO BY FIRE

This remains a meaningful song decades after it was written. The lyrics are relatively simple, or at least they seem simple, but the song structure is quite unique. Nearly every line starts with “who by” and asks mortal questions that make the listener take a deeper look inside themselves.

Of course, the word “death” is never mentioned in this song, but that’s what this song is about – who will die and under what circumstances. That’s what makes this song timeless. These types of questions remain deeply meaningful to each individual.

Here is a longer write-up about this Who By Fire cover.

More Cover Songs Of Great Poets

I like covering songs by singer-songwriters who were great poets. While Leonard Cohen is one of my favorite poets, the poet I cover the most is little-known in the west, but was very popular in Russian-speaking countries. His name is Bulat Okudzhava. Here is my page with all my Bulat Okudzhava songs translated to English.

If You Like Songs With Good Poetry

If you enjoy songs with great lyrics and poetry, here is a blog post with a collection of songs with meaningful lyrics. I personally enjoy such songs the most because they have a fascinating, different dimension to them.
I also curate a page with songs that have deep meaning. Please browse the songs there to see if you agree, and whether you think some additional songs may be added. I am in the early stages of putting that page together, so suggestions are very welcome.
Here is my blog post with a collection of the best and most emotional songs about war. And here is a link to a Russian-language song about war that I translated to English.

Leonard Cohen’s Best Song Lyrics

In my opinion, Leonard Cohen is the best poet of all singer-songwriters. While I do love the lyrics of Who By Fire, my favorite lyrics of his are in Halleluja. See my post about songs with the best song lyrics to see why I love Leonard Cohen’s poetry and music so much. Please also check out my post wish songs that have the most meaningful song lyrics. I discuss Leonard Cohen there too.

Who By Fire – Best Cover Song Collection

I love this song so much that I wrote a blog post with a collection of my favorite Who By Fire cover songs. People who sing Leonard Cohen’s songs sing them because they passionately feel them, and those songs resonate. Give them a listen.

You May Like: Poetry Book With Songs

You may also be interested in my poetry books with songs. It’s a unique poetry book where each poem has a song link on YouTube, so you can hear the poem as a song. Here is the post where you can learn more about this poetry book with songs.