Who by Fire
A song that echoes the Yom Kippur prayer Unetaneh Tokef, sung with Janis Ian.
Leonard Cohen, from New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974)
- Written by
- Leonard Cohen
- Released
- 1974
- Length
- 2:32
- Album
- New Skin for the Old Ceremony
Who by Fire explicitly relates to Cohen's Jewish roots. It takes its name from the Yom Kippur prayer Unetaneh Tokef and is sung as a duet with Janis Ian. Cohen wrote it after the improvised concerts he gave Israeli soldiers in the Sinai during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
Coil covered it on Horse Rotorvator in 1986, Buck 65 recorded it as a duet with Jenn Grant on 20 Odd Years, and PJ Harvey sang it over the opening credits of the Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters in 2022. Matti Friedman's 2022 book Who By Fire tells the story of Cohen's 1973 tour of the Yom Kippur War front.
Covers and versions
- Coil (1986) On Horse Rotorvator.
- Buck 65 and Jenn Grant (2010) Part of the 20 Odd Years project.
- PJ Harvey (2022) Opening credits of the series Bad Sisters.
More songs by Leonard Cohen
Suzanne, So Long, Marianne, Famous Blue Raincoat, Hallelujah, Everybody Knows, You Want It Darker, Bird on the Wire, Joan of Arc, Dance Me to the End of Love, First We Take Manhattan, Tower of Song
Sources
- New Skin for the Old Ceremony, Wikipedia
- Leonard Cohen, Wikipedia