Show Me the Place
Show Me the Place - context Summary
Published in Old Ideas
Published in 2012's collection Old Ideas, Leonard Cohen's "Show Me the Place" frames a repeated, pleading refrain addressed to a commanding presence. The poem uses slave imagery and biblical gestures—"word became a man", rolling away the stone—to explore servitude, suffering, and longing for redemption. Its insistence and restraint reflect Cohen's late-career engagement with spiritual responsibility, memory, and the limits of personal agency.
Read Complete AnalysesShow me the place where you want your slave to go Show me the place I've forgotten I don't know Show me the place where my head is bendin' low Show me the place where you want your slave to go Show me the place, help me roll away the stone Show me the place, I can't move this thing alone Show me the place where the word became a man Show me the place where the suffering began The troubles came I saved what I could save A thread of light, a particle, a wave But there were chains, so I hastened to behave There were chains, so I loved you like a slave Show me the place where you want your slave to go Show me the place I've forgotten I don't know Show me the place where my head is bendin' low Show me the place where you want your slave to go The troubles came I saved what I could save A thread of light, a particle, a wave But there were chains, so I hastened to behave There were chains, so I loved you like a slave Show me the place Show me the place, help me roll away the stone Show me the place, I can't move this thing alone Show me the place where the word became a man Show me the place where the suffering began
Feel free to be first to leave comment.